BIGGER COIL FOR CTX 3030 FOR THE BEACH

treasurehunter1957

Jr. Member
Apr 9, 2020
26
32
hampshire united kingdom
Detector(s) used
minelab ctx3030 , minelab sovereign gt.
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
COULD ANY ONE TELL ME WHY THERE IS NOT A LARGE 20 INCH COIL FOR BEACH DETECTING FOR THE CTX 3030 , I MUST ADMIT IM NOT TECHNICALLY MINDED , BUT SOME BEACHES ARE LIKE SMALL DESERTS AND GROUND COVERAGE IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS DEPTH ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE TIME LIMITED DUE TO TIDES , I MYSELF USE THE CTX3030 AND FOUND IT TO BE EXCELLENT ON THE BEACH AND I HAVE HAD A REASONABLE YEAR SO FAR WITH GOLD AND PLATINUM RINGS AND COINAGE ON THE SOUTH COAST OF THE UK , SO IM INTERESTED TO KNOW IF FELLOW BEACH DETECTORIST HAVE SIMILAR THOUGHTS ON A BIGGER COIL FOR THE CTX 3030 .:icon_thumright:
 

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bklein

Full Member
Feb 15, 2012
165
83
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I’d like a Bigfoot type of coil for my CTX and EQ600. I have one meant for a TDI on my gp Extreme and it’s great except not good in the water. Wonder if true of all detectors and this type of coil?
 

sandmartin

Sr. Member
Feb 20, 2015
296
284
Scarborough, England
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 900.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
COULD ANY ONE TELL ME WHY THERE IS NOT A LARGE 20 INCH COIL FOR BEACH DETECTING FOR THE CTX 3030 , I MUST ADMIT IM NOT TECHNICALLY MINDED , BUT SOME BEACHES ARE LIKE SMALL DESERTS AND GROUND COVERAGE IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS DEPTH ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE TIME LIMITED DUE TO TIDES , I MYSELF USE THE CTX3030 AND FOUND IT TO BE EXCELLENT ON THE BEACH AND I HAVE HAD A REASONABLE YEAR SO FAR WITH GOLD AND PLATINUM RINGS AND COINAGE ON THE SOUTH COAST OF THE UK , SO IM INTERESTED TO KNOW IF FELLOW BEACH DETECTORIST HAVE SIMILAR THOUGHTS ON A BIGGER COIL FOR THE CTX 3030 .:icon_thumright:

Hi mate I can't speak on the CTX but I see you have a Sov GT, why not try a bigger coil on that for the beach? I have a NEL Attack coil on mine and with the depth mod it's very deep with great coverage and on the beach it should be as good as the CTX?
 

JohnnyRox

Greenie
Aug 29, 2020
11
5
LI
Detector(s) used
Equinox, Sovereign
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Hi mate I can't speak on the CTX but I see you have a Sov GT, why not try a bigger coil on that for the beach? I have a NEL Attack coil on mine and with the depth mod it's very deep with great coverage and on the beach it should be as good as the CTX?

Hey, just wondering what the "depth mod" is for the Sovereign?
 

Mr.Excavator

Full Member
Jun 24, 2013
199
192
NorthEast, Florida coast
Detector(s) used
CTX3030 (4)Excal 1000, (2)Garrett Sea Hunter mark II,
(2) E-trac's
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
There is a 17 or 18" coil for the 3030 do not remember the size off hand. I have one, but mostly use the 11" . If I want to use a BIG coil, I have a 15x18 SEF on my Excal.
 

bigscoop

Gold Member
Jun 4, 2010
13,373
8,689
Wherever there be treasure!
Detector(s) used
Older blue Excal with full mods, Equinox 800.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Larger coil? Just be mindful that there can be some significant tradeoffs when going to a larger coil, especially on highly mineralized saltwater beaches. The larger the coil the greater amount of data that has to be processed, this usually resulting in the user having to reduce machine sensitivity in order to achieve smooth operation. As a "coverage" tool the larger coil can be effective. However, one really has to consider the larger coil's performance on smaller and/or deeper items where returns can often be quite faint, thus a reduction in sensitivity in order maintain machine stability might actually come the cost of filtering out these fainter and weaker returns. I saw this all the time when I was hunting the east coast of Florida on a daily basis, the reality being that I could hunt deeper and with greater sensitivity with the stock 8" or 10" coil then I could with any of the larger coils I had in my Excal arsenal. So I eventually accepted that the larger coil, with the exception of those rare absolute perfect conditions, was a coverage tool that simply allowed me to cover more ground in search of recent drops. Larger coils can be effective but the use of them can also come a cost at the working end of the machine. Just same food for thought.......
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,430
54,808
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have been using large coils for years on salt beaches, I want use anything less than about 12" on the beach. I have used the 17" CTX 3030 on the beach and it works just fine. I own 4 excals, 2 have 15" round WOT coils, one has 12x15 coil and one has stock 10 inch coil.
 

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treasurehunter1957

Jr. Member
Apr 9, 2020
26
32
hampshire united kingdom
Detector(s) used
minelab ctx3030 , minelab sovereign gt.
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
HI PAUL
THANKS FOR THE REPLY , I MUST ADMIT NOT USED MY GT FOR WHILE AS I HAVE BEEN REALLY PLEASED WITH THE CTX , I WILL CONSIDER LOOKING AT THE NEL ATTACK COIL , JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY WHAT DO YOU FIND OUR THE BEST SETTINGS FOR THE GT ON WET SANDY BEACHES, WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR EXPERIENCE.:occasion14:
 

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treasurehunter1957

Jr. Member
Apr 9, 2020
26
32
hampshire united kingdom
Detector(s) used
minelab ctx3030 , minelab sovereign gt.
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
HI AND THANKS FOR YOUR FEEDBACK , YES I DO AGREE THAT THE LARGER THE COIL THE MORE INFORMATION NEEDS TO BE PROCESSED IN THE CONTROL BOX ,BUT AS EACH GENERATION OF MINELAB MACHINES COME OUT THE PROCESSORS ARE MUCH QUICKER IN DEALING WITH INCOMING SIGNALS , ALSO THERE IS AN AUSTRALIAN TELEVSION PROGRAMME CALLED AUSSIE GOLD HUNTERS WHERE SOME DETECTORIST ARE USING MONSTER SIZED COILS AND STILL PICKING UP ON VERY SMALL FLAKES OF GOLD , ANYHOW I WILL DROP DOWN TO THE 11 INCH COIL ON THE CTX AND PERCEVERE IN GETTING TO THOSE DEEPER AND FAINTER SIGNALS , ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPLY AND GOOD LUCK ON THOSE FLORIDA BEACHES.:thumbsup:
 

LawrencetheMDer

Hero Member
Feb 22, 2014
982
2,392
Ohio and Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Minelab Manticore, Minelab CTX3030 w 11" and 17" DD coils,
Minelab Excalibur II w 10" coil, Equinox 800 (4) w 11" and 15" coils,
Troy Shadow x2 w 7" coil, Pointers; Garrett Carrot, Pro Find 35,
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I've used the 17" coil on my CTX 3030 and 15" on the Equinox 800 for 4 yrs mostly in the water but also 100s of hrs on the sand. I hunt for 4 - 7 hrs and you have to really build up stamina and muscles over time to handle those size coils on those machines. It gets even more challenging to use these bigger coils in the surf, which I also do for hrs. A 20" coil on either machine would most likely tax the shafts, particularly in water, but it would take a well fit MDer to swing larger coils for extended periods of time. I've raised more than a few eye brows over the yrs from fellow detectorist about my use of particularly the 17" coil on the CTX in the surf - a true challenge w the waves and surges. But I love the coverage. Bottom line - there is a limit to coil size in terms of optimal hunting. For extended hunts, a real large coil will wear you out, possibly before you find silver let alone gold.
 

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