Advantages of the Coiltek 10” x 5” CTX Coil

Are you spending too much time digging those deeply buried nails?  Here are some ways you can fine-tune your techniques, when using the Coiltek 10”’ x 5” elliptical coil for the CTX 3030.

The reasons I wanted to get the Coiltek 10” x 5” elliptical coil for my CTX were two-fold…..a smooth bottom for gliding around the stubble fields AND a larger footprint than the Minelab 6” round coil.  The elliptical coil is extremely stable, and a bit more sensitive than my Minelab coils.  Where I am typically able to run with an Auto +3 on the Minelab coils, I find I need to back this coil down to Auto +2 to minimize chatter.  The depth of detection is slightly more than the 6-inch Minelab coil, with the ‘left to right’ separation on par.  As anticipated, the TID characteristics for US coins are quite accurate, very similar to the Minelab coils.  The only ‘problem’ I had with the coil initially, was the same ‘problem’ I’ve encountered with all of my CTX coils……digging deeply buried, bent iron nails.  Over the years, I've dug enough iron trash to usually feel confident walking past most of those squeakers. But on the other hand, I've found enough old silver coins ‘on edge’ that I don’t like to pass any of them up.  

After many frustrating hours of trying to learn a proper “combination” of settings to reduce the number of nail ‘false positives’, and having dug a bucket full of them, I finally came across a combination of settings that I find most effective.  I set Pattern 1 with some discrimination and Pattern 2 wide open. I like Ferrous/Coin Separation and Combined audio for most sites, with a low tone on the ferrous targets. I typically hunt in discrimination if the trash is abundant. And I hunt with no discrimination if targets are few and far between.  Although I had been running with Fast OFF, feeling the CTX 3030 was keeping up just fine, I decided to switch to Fast ON.  With this combination, and a slower sweep speed than normal, I’ve been able to hear that old familiar ‘grunt’ on those deep nails.  With these settings in mind, when I detect a target in one Pattern, I will confirm the TID in the other Pattern. Usually, with Fast ON, if a target ‘squeaks’ in discrimination, it will grunt in non-discrimination. If I am still unsure of the target properties, I will tip the elliptical coil up on its nose, and trace the exact location of that target using Pin Point with Target Trace. When the target remains in the same location as it appears to be when I sweep with the coil flat, it is likely something I would want to dig. If, however, tracing the target with the tip of the coil recognizes the target to have moved an inch or so, it has usually been one of those old nails.

If you’re hunting sites where the deeply buried nails are driving you nuts, I encourage you to give these settings a try with the Coiltek CTX coil.