Request For Experienced Opinions On Detectors With 2-d Graphics

[steveg]

19 hours ago, mcjtom said:

I looked at CTX3030 manual trying to figure out what the 2D detecting screen shows, and I'm still not sure what the vertical scale 'ferrous characteristics' actually show.  It seems that its values increase from top to bottom (with the horizontal conductivity scale going traditionally from left to right).  So the way I understand it non-ferrous targets should show on top of the screen with the horizonal courser position showing the increasing conductivity (size in a way) from left to right.  Is that correct?

Is this convention the same in Manticore?  i.e. does the vertical scale have the same meaning, with the increasing ferrous component from top to bottom?  Somehow I was under the impression that in the Manticore screen the non-ferrous targets would display along the middle line, with those showing ferrous characteristics departing from it up and down, but I'm not sure if this is true.  

mcjtom --

The ferrous numbers on a CTX run from 0 to 35, along the "y-axis," with "0" at the top, and increasing to "35" at the bottom.  HOWEVER, unlike what might seem "logical," a non-ferrous target does NOT register near zero, for its ferrous number, on the CTX, but instead, will read roughly "12."  For whatever reason, Minelab chose to "normalize" the FE number of most non-ferrous targets to read "12."  So, a "good" target on a CTX will generally plot about 1/3 of the way down the screen, at 12 FE -- along what folks call the "12 line" (the horizontal line running left and right across the screen, at the "12" location on the y-axis). 

SO, "good" targets will generally NOT be at the "top" of the screen, as you thought.  Instead, since the FE number of "good" targets is "normalized" to "12" on the CTX, these targets (as noted above) will appear about 1/3 of the way down the screen, on or near the "12" line.   Meanwhile, typically, targets which appear well above the "12" line, near the top of the screen (i.e. ferrous numbers in the single digits), will generally be iron targets.  Silmiliarly, targets well below the "12" line (i.e. ferrous numbers in the upper teens, 20s, and 30s), will also generally be iron targets.

THEREFORE, things will not be entirely different on the Manticore.  Like on the CTX, targets registering near the top of the screen will generally be iron, and targets registering low on the screen will also generally be iron (dependent of course on the accuracy of the discrimination algorithms).  The "middle" of the screen, similar to the "12" line on the CTX, will be where "good" (non-ferrous) targets will usually register (again, depending upon the accuracy of the discrimination algorithms).

Now, on BOTH the CTX AND the Manticore, conductive numbers increase from left to right along the x-axis (as you noted).  This will be easier for most users to interpret.  Low CO numbers (and those with "non-ferrous" indication, thus plotting roughly "centered," from a top to bottom sense, AND near the left-hand side of the screen due to low CO number) will likely be foil-type targets, as one would expect, and high CO numbers (and those with "non-ferrous" indication, thus plotting roughly "centered," from a top to bottom sense, AND near the right-hand side of the screen due to high CO number), will be targets like big silver coins, etc. -- again, as would be expected.

Make sense?

Steve

[OCBeepDigger]

On 11/22/2022 at 5:07 PM, steveg said:

mcjtom --

The ferrous numbers on a CTX run from 0 to 35, along the "y-axis," with "0" at the top, and increasing to "35" at the bottom.  HOWEVER, unlike what might seem "logical," a non-ferrous target does NOT register near zero, for its ferrous number, on the CTX, but instead, will read roughly "12."  For whatever reason, Minelab chose to "normalize" the FE number of most non-ferrous targets to read "12."  So, a "good" target on a CTX will generally plot about 1/3 of the way down the screen, at 12 FE -- along what folks call the "12 line" (the horizontal line running left and right across the screen, at the "12" location on the y-axis). 

SO, "good" targets will generally NOT be at the "top" of the screen, as you thought.  Instead, since the FE number of "good" targets is "normalized" to "12" on the CTX, these targets (as noted above) will appear about 1/3 of the way down the screen, on or near the "12" line.   Meanwhile, typically, targets which appear well above the "12" line, near the top of the screen (i.e. ferrous numbers in the single digits), will generally be iron targets.  Silmiliarly, targets well below the "12" line (i.e. ferrous numbers in the upper teens, 20s, and 30s), will also generally be iron targets.

THEREFORE, things will not be entirely different on the Manticore.  Like on the CTX, targets registering near the top of the screen will generally be iron, and targets registering low on the screen will also generally be iron (dependent of course on the accuracy of the discrimination algorithms).  The "middle" of the screen, similar to the "12" line on the CTX, will be where "good" (non-ferrous) targets will usually register (again, depending upon the accuracy of the discrimination algorithms).

Now, on BOTH the CTX AND the Manticore, conductive numbers increase from left to right along the x-axis (as you noted).  This will be easier for most users to interpret.  Low CO numbers (and those with "non-ferrous" indication, thus plotting roughly "centered," from a top to bottom sense, AND near the left-hand side of the screen due to low CO number) will likely be foil-type targets, as one would expect, and high CO numbers (and those with "non-ferrous" indication, thus plotting roughly "centered," from a top to bottom sense, AND near the right-hand side of the screen due to high CO number), will be targets like big silver coins, etc. -- again, as would be expected.

Make sense?

Steve

Another excellent and thorough explanation from Steve.

I have my Manticore ordered and paid for already. I'm coming from a Nox800 as the only machine I've used to date so while in waiting mode I've been trying to educate myself a bit and understand exactly what the additional info given to us on the 2D screen actually means in real world hunting... your explanation is one of the more concise and understandable explanations I've read to date. Thanks Steve!

btw... repeat customer here ?

[steveg]

WalkInH2o, 

THANKS for the very kind words!  I appreciate that, and glad that I've been able to help a bit in giving some degree of better understanding of a 2D "smart screen," to those who have no CTX experience.

And THANK YOU for being a customer -- I appreciate you!

Steve