My Search Programs for Minelab E-Trac and CTX 3030 Metal Detectors
SEARCH PROGRAM #1 Level 1 - "High Discrimination/Low Noise", page 6
Program Settings: EXPERT MENU
Expert Menu:
RECOVERY DEEP - OFF (page 70 of the E-Trac Instruction Manual)
CTX 3030:
RECOVERY DEEP - OFF (page 40 of the CTX-3030 Instruction Manual)
This setting should be used in OFF if you hunt at the junk-littered site because the numerous iron objects will not allow detection of deep targets, and additional filtering that causes slower reaction in target signal and target ID will make the microprocessor go berserk - it will produce a constant flow of false signals. If this happens, leave your E-Trac turned ON and motionless on the ground for a few minutes so that the microprocessor could "clean its brain". If you do not use 'RECOVERY DEEP - OFF', you will have to repeat this procedure many times.
Also, the 'RECOVERY DEEP - ON' skews the FE-CO numbers of targets buried deep in the high-mineralized ground, so instead of using 'RECOVERY DEEP - ON', your should set VOLUME GAIN to a higher level - from 25 to 28, and decrease Discrimination in order to hear deep targets better. VOLUME GAIN enhances the deep target signals the same way as 'RECOVERY DEEP - ON' does, but without the additional filtering. Also, it is not recommended to use both 'RECOVERY DEEP - ON' and 'RECOVERY FAST - ON' simultaneously on highly mineralized ground.
RECOVERY FAST - ON (page 71 of the E-Trac Instruction Manual)
CTX 3030:
RECOVERY FAST - ON (page 40 of the CTX-3030 Instruction Manual)
When the 'RECOVERY FAST - ON' is employed, no filtering is involved. This allows E-Trac (and CTX-3030) to react faster to target signals, and if, for example, a coin is buried in close proximity to an iron nail and not masked by it, you will be able to hear both. When the RECOVERY FAST is OFF, both target signals will blend, and you will hear only one signal and see "contaminated" Target IDs. With Trash Density set on HIGH ("HIGH TRASH" setting in the CTX-3030), RECOVERY FAST should be turned ON. I usually keep this feature ON while detecting at any former-settlement site.
TRASH DENSITY - HIGH (page 72 of the E-Trac Instruction Manual)
The TRASH DENSITY setting is not available in CTX-3030
CTX 3030:
TARGET SEPARATION - HIGH TRASH (in Target Separation Menu, page 41 of the Instruction Manual)
The 'TRASH DENSITY - HIGH' enables a metal detector to "pick up" accepted targets in the presence of ferrous objects through the soil with high mineral content and among abundant rejected targets. For example, if a coin lies next to a rejected iron nail, the detector will lock on an accepted target - a coin, even if its signal is weaker than of a nail, and its Target ID will be displayed at the end of detection. If the nail's signal is stronger than of a coin, there will be no "nulling" of Threshold at the end of detection, but the coin's Target ID will still be displayed.
If the nail's signal is stronger than of a coin, and TRASH DENSITY is set on LOW ("LOW TRASH" setting in CTX-3030, page 41 of the CTX-3030 Instruction Manual), there will be just "nulling" of Threshold at the end of detection, and the coin's Target ID will NOT be displayed. The 'TRASH DENSITY - LOW' setting will make the detector respond to whichever target has the strongest signal and ignore the other target.
The FE-CO coordinates of a detected target will be more stable with 'TRASH DENSITY - LOW' ("LOW TRASH" in CTX-3030).
E-Trac:
With TRASH DENSITY set on HIGH, the Target ID gets a little unstable; however, this setting can be used with slightly faster sweep speed.
CTX-3030:
The HIGH TRASH setting can be used with faster sweep speed as well and, more important, it offers improved Target ID stability in the highly mineralized ground.
The LOW TRASH setting can be used only in areas with 1) low trash, otherwise a rejected target with a stronger signal will mask out a coin lying in close proximity and emitting a weaker signal, and 2) low to medium levels of ground mineralization.
For better target separation from iron, you may want to use an advanced FERROUS-COIN (FC Separation) setting (page 41 of the Instruction Manual) available in the Target Separation Menu. This setting minimizes the blending of ferrous- and coin-type signals even when, for instance, a nail and coin are positioned on top of each other in the low-mineralized ground. Both targets will be more accurately identified, and their cursors (Target Crosshairs) will be displayed simultaneously on Detect Screen: the non-ferrous target will be shown with red signature, and the ferrous target's signature will be displayed in blue color. If both targets happen to be accepted, the Target ID number displayed will be from the coin-type object.
It has been observed that under the same metal detecting conditions, such as LOW-MINERALIZED ground, and in conjunction with minimum Discrimination and "50 tone CO" setting, the FERROUS-COIN mode produces much better results than the HIGH TRASH. And the FE value of a non-ferrous target would not be averaged between its true FE value and the FE value of an adjacent iron object. However, be prepared to receive and observe some iron falsing - the coin-like signatures appearing on the Smartfind 2 window, if the 'FERROUS-COIN' mode is used on the HIGH-MINERALIZED ground. Also, the 'FERROUS-COIN' mode may not always provide audio when deep targets are detected.
