Locating target with Minelab CTX 3030

sdprospector · Sep 11, 2016

Stupid question but I am having trouble locating exactly where to dig the plug when my CTX 3030 beeps and shows multiple/single good targets.

Does the middle center line of the coil indicate where to dig the target?

Rattlehead · Sep 12, 2016

Yes the center of the coil. One method is to locate your target's best response in one direction, then turn 90 degrees and sweep across the target again making an X. At the center of that X is your target. There's also the "wiggle back" method which doesn't even require the use of the pinpoint button. Just narrow down the target to a slight wiggle of your coil, then while still wiggling the coil, slowly move it backwards until the tone is gone. When the tone disappears, the target should be right at the tip of your coil. This method works good for pinpointing a target that has iron or other metal trash around it.

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budaf250 · Sep 12, 2016

A good way to check where your coil pin points. Is to mark a cross on a hard surface. Just make sure that there is no metal in the surface you are using. Take a quarter and put it in the center of the cross. Sweep your coil from side to side over the coin. Till you get the loudest response from pin pointing. Then pull the coil either forward or backward. Till the pin point dots both reach center. Then look and see where on the coil the coin is at. Hope this helps.

robby4570 · Sep 12, 2016

Maybe this will help?

flyguy784 · Sep 12, 2016

I've found that the pin pointing on the CTX almost always dead nuts at the center of the coil. By and large when she's screaming and the two little balls meet in the middle, the target is at the center of the coil. There are times where nearby, errant targets, iron, aluminum etc will shift it off center a little but I've gotten used to the effect. As was suggested, play with it on the lawn with a couple coins etc. Once you get the hang of it, it's really good at target location.

sdprospector · Sep 12, 2016

Thanks! I find target location much more difficult at the beach in dry sand especially compared to normal ground. Beach hunting is super tricky compared to land. At least I don't feel bad about yesterday's San Diego beach hunt. I was with the SD Coinshooter gang and not one found anything good that I am aware of and these are folks with 10+ years of hunting. I think San Diego beaches are getting picked clean and need to find more isolated places to hunt that have not been fished out.

adamBomb · Sep 12, 2016

A few things have helped me a lot and I rarely dig more than 2 scoops to recover anything from the beach on my 17'' inch coil now...

I set my pinpoint to sizing so that I could see the size and I set the response to long so that I could hear where my target was and if there were multiple. Normal pinpoint didn't work well for me because I kept losing the target too fast. I had response set to pitch hold but the pitch also made me keep losing my target when I would go over it multiple times and it was getting various signals. When I first started I was digging like 10 holes to find anything now its 1-2 at most even for very deep targets.

Locating target with Minelab CTX 3030

sdprospector

Junior Member

Rattlehead

budaf250

robby4570

Elite Member

flyguy784

Elite Member

sdprospector

Junior Member

adamBomb

Senior Member

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