Hosensack
Hero Member
- Apr 20, 2007
- 752
- 107
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab Etrac, Safari,X-Terra 705, Tesoro Tejon, Whites DFX, Garrett AT Pro, GTI 2500, 250, Fisher Gold Bug DP,F75 Limited
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
I've taken it to a couple of my regular spots so far and it handles itself well.
I also did some general air tests etc. to try out some of the features. I did these side by side with the Etrac.
It is to early to make any sort of proclamations but here are my honest feelings, findings so far:
Air Test (stock coin mode):Targets 1975 Penny, Nickel, Clad Dime, Quarter/ Wheatie, Buffalo, Rosie, Standing Liberty Quarter, Kennedy Silver Half, Morgan
CTX was about 1" deeper on smaller coins (dimes, pennies) than Etrac. Everything else was either dead heat or up to an inch advantage CTX(two larger silvers were dead heat).
Note: This was just my findings and it is only an air test not making any claims here. They are so close that any given machine could go one way or the other on this I'm sure.
With a junk target and coin up to 1/2" away they both disc. roughly the same as far as tones are concerned. Target Trace is very helpful and will come in handy in real world application, but if you are a seasoned Etrac user your ear will do the same on most. It will be the tougher question mark targets where Trace will shine.
The amazing feature that I expected to be "to good to be true" is the Ferrous/Coin. I took a round piece of junk iron larger than the Morgan, and placed it both under and over each coin, the Etrac and CTX were dead silent(CTX showed reject cursor), once I switched to Ferrous/Coin it saw the coin perfectly every single time the accept target cursor was in proper location for the coin being used and was full of color each time. However the machine did not give an audible response. I don't know if this is a quirk that settings will fix, or if it is how it is. (if any body else has tried this please reply with your feedback so I and others can adjust accordingly.) If it is not a quirk and it is just the way it is, it will be amazing yet you will have to keep your eye on the screen.
In the field I love the new pinpoint, it, for me at least, is much nicer and easier.
I found the machine to be very "stable" I hate to use that term because it implies the Etrac is unstable, which couldn't be further from the truth. But if you've been doing this long enough you know what I mean, when you are swinging a detector and the sound and feel is just dead on.
What I'm excited about is the sound adjustment. If you are a tone hunter you can customize the CTX almost any way you see fit, and that is no exaggeration. If you like 2TF you can adjust the Ferrous to any level you want for example to read high tone at 25-40 etc. you can keep the ferrous tone where it normally would be or adjust it, and then give each conductive it's own tone, essentially hunting in multi tone/ ferrous, the options are nearly limitless.
I don't really think I need to talk about waterproof that is self explanatory.
Bottom Line so far:
If you own an Etrac and plan to hunt only where the Etrac can already go, and are fairly confident with it I can't justify making the switch they are too close in those situations.
If you find yourself struggling to grasp which questionable signals to dig and which ones to leave whether you have an Etrac or not then the CTX3030's target trace may be for you.
The Ferrous/coin is so surprising that it would benefit anyone, but it stands out from the Etrac only when the coin is directly below the trash, I don't know if the price tag is worth this feature alone(for an Etrac owner) unless you suspect a large amount of targets in this position in your hunting locations, and it is not recommended for highly mineralized ground.
I was literally a week or so away from adding a nice water machine for shallow water hunting(creeks, beach, lake swimming areas) when Minelab made the announcement, so for me and a situation like that the CTX3030 was perfect.
I also did some general air tests etc. to try out some of the features. I did these side by side with the Etrac.
It is to early to make any sort of proclamations but here are my honest feelings, findings so far:
Air Test (stock coin mode):Targets 1975 Penny, Nickel, Clad Dime, Quarter/ Wheatie, Buffalo, Rosie, Standing Liberty Quarter, Kennedy Silver Half, Morgan
CTX was about 1" deeper on smaller coins (dimes, pennies) than Etrac. Everything else was either dead heat or up to an inch advantage CTX(two larger silvers were dead heat).
Note: This was just my findings and it is only an air test not making any claims here. They are so close that any given machine could go one way or the other on this I'm sure.
With a junk target and coin up to 1/2" away they both disc. roughly the same as far as tones are concerned. Target Trace is very helpful and will come in handy in real world application, but if you are a seasoned Etrac user your ear will do the same on most. It will be the tougher question mark targets where Trace will shine.
The amazing feature that I expected to be "to good to be true" is the Ferrous/Coin. I took a round piece of junk iron larger than the Morgan, and placed it both under and over each coin, the Etrac and CTX were dead silent(CTX showed reject cursor), once I switched to Ferrous/Coin it saw the coin perfectly every single time the accept target cursor was in proper location for the coin being used and was full of color each time. However the machine did not give an audible response. I don't know if this is a quirk that settings will fix, or if it is how it is. (if any body else has tried this please reply with your feedback so I and others can adjust accordingly.) If it is not a quirk and it is just the way it is, it will be amazing yet you will have to keep your eye on the screen.
In the field I love the new pinpoint, it, for me at least, is much nicer and easier.
I found the machine to be very "stable" I hate to use that term because it implies the Etrac is unstable, which couldn't be further from the truth. But if you've been doing this long enough you know what I mean, when you are swinging a detector and the sound and feel is just dead on.
What I'm excited about is the sound adjustment. If you are a tone hunter you can customize the CTX almost any way you see fit, and that is no exaggeration. If you like 2TF you can adjust the Ferrous to any level you want for example to read high tone at 25-40 etc. you can keep the ferrous tone where it normally would be or adjust it, and then give each conductive it's own tone, essentially hunting in multi tone/ ferrous, the options are nearly limitless.
I don't really think I need to talk about waterproof that is self explanatory.
Bottom Line so far:
If you own an Etrac and plan to hunt only where the Etrac can already go, and are fairly confident with it I can't justify making the switch they are too close in those situations.
If you find yourself struggling to grasp which questionable signals to dig and which ones to leave whether you have an Etrac or not then the CTX3030's target trace may be for you.
The Ferrous/coin is so surprising that it would benefit anyone, but it stands out from the Etrac only when the coin is directly below the trash, I don't know if the price tag is worth this feature alone(for an Etrac owner) unless you suspect a large amount of targets in this position in your hunting locations, and it is not recommended for highly mineralized ground.
I was literally a week or so away from adding a nice water machine for shallow water hunting(creeks, beach, lake swimming areas) when Minelab made the announcement, so for me and a situation like that the CTX3030 was perfect.
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