CTX Seawater mode

Yesterday I was running the 6" coil in a small spot I've pounded for a few years with various machines.. Wasn't hitting much, the area is loaded with slag and small iron. Running in manual sens 28, open screen, combined with ferrous coin. The machine recommended a sensitivity of 14. I remembered reading that when a low sens is recommend that enabling seawater boosts the machines performance. Well, in 45 minutes I found two old tokens a 1930 wheat and a1920 merc plus a few neat old keepers, all in the 6-8 inch range. This is a spot I know real well, so I know I've had a coil over these targets before. Anyone else have experience using seawater?

Looks like you use the same settings that I do . This will be my 4th year using the ctx I started using seawater 2 1/2 years ago after Randy aka digger imformed me about it he wanted me to run some test using it and comparing signals with and without it enabled . That said I was always running higher sence 2 to 3 #s higher with it enabled than without because it would smooth out the sparky noise I would get with it not enabled from running my sence higher than the machine called for . I to have use the 6 inch coil about 95 percent of the time I hunt mainly thrash because that's where the coins are . What I would like to know is why minelab wants you to turn it off on dry land I have found I have a quieter machine and deeper machine because of it enabled since I am running higher sence than the machine calls for . The 6 inch coil is a killer for me most coins are in the 6 to 8 inch range I dig with a few in the 9 to 10 inch range these are rare but does happen . sube

Well, in 45 minutes I found two old tokens a 1930 wheat and a1920 merc plus a few neat old keepers

As a jumping off point (just to make a point): these kinds of evidences for a better setting, or superior coil, (or better detector) are specious, they don't help prove anything. If I found a gold coin with my Ace 250 after searching the area with my CTX I have not proved the Ace is superior, only that the Ace can find the coin. I have not proven or disproven anything about the CTX. Unfortunately, this fallacious methodology is used by treasure magazines (and others) to show how 'great' some new detector is.

Finding a dozen coins in a "worked out" site is charming, but completely unscientific and useless (how do you know how "worked out" the site is?) That is knowledge no one normally has, unless they rigorously grid-searched the area. If a site doesn't produce anything ... is it because the coil never made it over a target? Is it possible for someone else to have swept differently (slower) and have found the target? Or did the soil conditions/depth change since the last outing? Or is it because the target itself changed orientation over the ensuing weeks/months.

All variables must be accounted for or else the conclusion cannot be trusted.

Some of what is considered as the "best way" to do something originated as an anecdotal and untested notion based on false some erroneous cause-and-effect methodology that appeared to have some merit (but with no true correlation and is just a fluke or coincidence).
Fear of not having the 'right' or optimal setting makes the new "secret" setting or method popular, the new standard, and human bias and suggestibility (gullibility) does the rest.

So, there you go … just some happy musings...

Scientific or not, my point was that sometimes one tweak to your settings can help you hear things you didn't before. I was asking if others had tried the seawater mode in a non-seawater environment and seen a difference. Since I have no clue what the Seawater mode does and wouldn't think to enable a function that seems intended for another use, I found it's performance interesting. On this day, on this hunt, in a place I know well and had just hunted an hour earlier, I experienced what I felt was something unexpected. Don't know if this mode gave me a little more depth, better unmasking, or just made the audio more intelligible to my ears. So your "happy musings" are as "useless" to the question I asked as my unscientific observations are to you. But, hey, I'm glad you got the opportunity to vent.

as a full time beach hunter, on the rare occasions I do go inland to dirt fish, I would never even think/remember to turn Seawater off to try......all my programs have it enabled. Sensitivity in Auto is always much higher (on my machine), I've seen the suggested sensitivity of 14 while the machine purrs along at 20-25 without false signals, this is on sand in Florida.

Cliff

"It could happen...the soil in the spot you were in co-operated.
But, in the main, twas designed [ to eliminate falsing when the coil was covered by water, saltwater ]

I personally wouldn't recommend you have it on the entire time!"

Des D

Brilliant, Crosby! Congrats on your success!! Kinda like two tone ferrous on an E-Trac, trying different settings and modes can provide seemingly eye opening results sometimes. Looking forward to trying it! Thanks!

Des D I personally wouldn't recommend you have it on the entire time . Why would be my ?
I have done test on in ground targets with it enabled and not enabled since you can run higher sensitivity in seawater the signals are always better than without it .
The only thing minelab says about seawater is you need a faster sweep with it on to get more depth .
But going slow in my test is the same as going fast the signal is better , this is at all the sites I have been at in the last 3 years .
So I would value your opinion on what you have to say because I can't see a reason to not have it enabled . sube



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2015 11:58PM by sube.