With the CTX 3030 on the market, river detecting has never been more accessible here in the UK. In this third blog I’ll run through my setup, settings and extra tips for using this great metal detector.
Setup
The only optional accessory you require to go wading in water is a good pair of waterproof headphones. Your Minelab dealer can supply you with a pair of the excellent Koss underwater headphones, fitted with an eight pin waterproof connector.
Koss headphones connected to the CTX 3030
To fit the headphones; remove the headphone module and screw the eight pin connector into the back of the detector… check the battery seal is connected correctly… and that’s it, you’re ready to dive in!
When searching very shallow streams (under two-feet), you can go wireless with the WM 10 module. The CTX 3030 is quite happy running wireless up to the point the control pod is fully submerged.
Settings
The settings you use can be exactly the same as the ones used on land. The only difference is you’ll probably want to drop your sensitivity to the low 20’s or even search in auto-sensitivity. Rivers and streams tend to have concentrated amounts of metals in the riverbeds, much more than on the fields they flow through.
Another reason for lower sensitivity settings is to limit depth of the targets you dig. If you are in five-foot of water, you don’t want to be digging eighteen-inch deep holes!!!
My favourite river program
For rivers I prefer a program based on four-tone conductivity sounds. The lowest tone is setup for foil and small hammered. This is important because if I find myself chasing foil signals downstream, I can be confident enough to leave them. Small hammered coins tend not to float away like foil often does. The middle two-tone areas are setup with mid-tones. The forth area to the right is setup to give a high-pitch squeal, and occupies 48-50 CO section.
Tone ID Profile
My discrimination patterns are quite aggressive, a lot more than I use on land. The reason again is for an easier life, in what can be a challenging environment. I don’t want too much noise, and I don’t need to run my detector too sensitive to the really deep targets.
Pattern 1
Pattern 2
What’s waterproof?
The main detector and its electronics are fully protected in a waterproof housing.
If you were to remove the battery pack and headphone module, and then dropped your CTX 3030 into water it would be fully protected. The parts not waterproof are the battery packs themselves (once removed from the detector) and the WM 10 wireless module. Drop either of these in water, and you’ll be ordering replacements from your local Minelab stockists.
The CTX 3030 is a great water machine and has the potential to find many treasures lost though the millennia... You just need to take the plunge.
I have already found my most valuable coin ever, a unique Viking halfpenny of Aethelstan II (Guthrum) AD 878 – 890, while searching in water… so they are out there!
Coin of Guthrum
Keep safe and be lucky.
Now get out there and find something!
Gordon Heritage
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