The CTX 3030 and XChange2 Software - A Perfect Match

For my first blog on the Treasure Talk team, allow me to tell you a little bit about myself, and why I love this hobby so much, then why I find the CTX 3030 and XChange2 software combination so useful.

I started out detecting a bit over 30 years ago, and bought my first “proper” detector in 1985, that was a shiny new Minelab Goldseekers 15000, and I still have it too!

I found gold with it, as well as old coins and relics. I spent many years detecting around country Victoria and South Australia, before taking a break from detecting for a while when I moved to Western Australia, but in the last few years, have gotten back into the swing of things, so to speak.

The one thing that I always enjoy about the items I find is the history attached to them. I love to sit and think about who owned them, whether it’s an old harmonica reed on the gold fields or a piece of long lost jewelry, these items all have a story to tell. While old coins are always fun to find, it’s the relics that inspire me to delve into history and find and record as much information about them as I can.

While at university studying for a Science Degree, I found that one of the benefits of studying was learning to gather information and to record things in an organized way. The side benefit was spending each day in a large library full of books about local history! Learning about the history of an area, and where to source that information from plays a large part of my detecting hobby. I spend many hours researching sites before I head out the door to detect a site.

As for the recording of data, I remember my Dad telling me once, that I should write down where and when I found things as I would one day forget; of course I new better and said “I won’t forget”. But naturally over the years I did. So now I make a point of recording detailed information about where and when finds are made.

I used to keep this information in a notebook, this progressed to a spreadsheet, but all of this changed when I bought my CTX 3030. Naturally I love the detector, but the XChange2 software that is supplied with it is brilliant!

I can now find an item and with the press of a couple of buttons have an accurate location of where I found it, along with the time and date. Once back home I can then select the find, add in detailed information about its history and add some photos of it as well.

Apart from keeping all of my finds data in one handy location, this information also aids in improving the amount of finds I make. It has been discussed about the benefit of locating a site of interest using the mapping feature in XChange2, then adding the coordinates into the CTX 3030 to get to a site. However this can work in reverse as well. If you often search in the same parks/fields, by recording where you find old coins, you can over time see patterns emerge.

For example, I found in one old park that a pattern developed that showed I was finding coins in a line roughly parallel to a road in what is now open lawn, so I focused on this line and found more old coins, I later learned that about 50 years ago there had been a line of shady trees there and the coins I had been finding were obviously from where people used to picnic.

I also use the GeoTrail feature to map where I have been at a site, so I can keep track the ground I have covered as well as any areas I have missed.

Keeping track of your finds needn’t be a chore with the combination of the CTX 3030 and Xchange2 software.

Until next time, enjoy the history!

View FAQs for XChange 2 here. 

Mark Gerlach