Minelab CTX 3030 vs Fisher CZ3D vs Tesoro Tejon

[Colosprings73]

Hey All,

Here are are the videos that some of you were asking me to do to show a true comparison of these 3 detectors.

I have to break this into 2 threads as I can only post 5 Videos at a time.

I live in NC so the ground has red clay and ground can be ok.

We made a test bed with clad coins at various depths.

Depths were 6", 8" and 11".

I made sure ALL machines were ground balanced and noise cancelled if possible.

The tests finally prove what I should in my air tests.

Of the 3 machines:

CTX 3030: I most proficient at the CTX 3030. I have to come to know its language very well and know what I am digging 95% of the time. The draw back is the depth. I again can verify that the CTX does NOT go as deep as other machines. Its major advnatages are that it DOES let you know whats in the ground PROVIDED it is not too deep, it has GPS and can plot the finds you make on the GPS map and upload them to your PC to overlay them on Google Earth and it has the ability to have updates uploaded to the CTX for better performance. I just recently did the most recent update and it changed my pinpoint system and made it MUCH better. Major downside is.......you guessed it......WAY TOO EXPENSIVE!!!

CZ3D: This machine I am getting better and better at it the more I use it. There is a DVD that you can get really help you with the use of the CZ as it is a very good and somewhat popular machine to those who have been in this for a while. The major plus to the CZ is that it is a Nickle magnet....seriously!!! Downside is the WEIGHT....it is really heavy with the large 11" coil, so I have to mount the box on a belt..PITA!!! There is a Mod so you can mount it under the shaft and have the display on the top, however I read it is a hard mod and you need parts.

Tesoro Tejon: I have to say I LOVE this machine and the Tesoro brand of machines. Out of all 3 I tested...the Tesoro was the CLEAR winner at depth. The more you use the Tejon the better you will become at knowing if it is a coin or not. It does have a large learning curve and is NOT just a beep and dig machine. The Tejon has a language all its own. You have to decipher the sound to gain a better idea of what is in the ground. It is soooooo light weight...I can swing it for hours with no problem. Lifetime Warranty to boot, wow I am sold!!! I plan on getting some more Tesoro units to fill my arsenal. Will be using Tesoros until the end.

Here are the 3 overviews of the 3:

ID'ing Learning Curve Depth Price

CTX 3030: GREAT MODERATE AVERAGE VERY HIGH

CZ3D: AVERAGE MODERATE GOOD MED/HIGH

Tesoro Tejon: AVERAGE HARD GREAT LOW/MED


Here are the videos from the Test Bed and I hope this helps any of you looking at any of these machines.










Just a side note I am not affiliated with any of these companies nor have a vested interest in one company or the other.......just a fair and honest comparison to show you the pros and cons of all three machines that I WILL keep and use.

Thanks for watching and HH.

 

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[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Nice videos!

You realize to be a valid test those targets need to be in the ground at LEAST 1 year before you get a accurate reading?

 

[Colosprings73]

Bart,

BTw thanks again for the CTX...I bought it from you in July.

I do know.......however these conditions still showed the same readings behave found in the field.

We shall see in a year how the readings city compare.

HH

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

I would run a hose on a very slow drip on them and repack the ground several times. It helps speed up the process.

 

[Colosprings73]

Bart,

The ground is very wet and we packed it down hard.
Should mimic the year ling conditions you spike...mimic not exact.
It is a good bench mark to start with.
At minimum it helps with numbers fir tg e CTX sounds for the Tejon and practice for all three.

HH

 

[Jackalope]

***You realize to be a valid test those targets need to be in the ground at LEAST 1 year before you get a accurate reading?***

A freshly buried coin may not be an "accurate" reading as compared to a coin buried for years and years - but, the reading between machines is "accurate" relative to the identical target they must locate. In other words, it may not represent precisely real world conditions but it does accurately represent detector capabilities, enough to draw valid conclusion between differing models and types.

After several years, should the compacted soil and other factors make the coin slightly easier (or harder) to detect - then each machine should also find the coin, all things being equal, to be easier (or harder) to detect. It would be unlikely for a coin to become harder to detect for detector A while easier to detect for detector B. They should all find it either harder or easier - not necessarily to the same degree but certainly tending in the same direction.

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

It would be unlikely for a coin to become harder to detect for detector A while easier to detect for detector B. They should all find it either harder or easier - not necessarily to the same degree but certainly tending in the same direction.

I respectively disagree. Minelabs do not air test well nor do they test well on freshly buried objects. However they do very well on targets that have been in the ground for awhile. The difference is very apparent. I have not seen this same thing on single frequency machines although I have not tested them all.

I have proven this many times to myself and customers in my test gardens. I can not tell you why this is but it is. I suspect it had somethign to do with the FBS technology and the 28 freq they run.

 

[Hosensack]

Bart is right on Minelab air testing, I don't know exactly what it is either, but not sure its the FBS. I have air tested X-terra's that if I were to base the machine depth on the air test it would have been shipped back and never mentioned again. But in the field its a very different story all together.

 

[Colosprings73]

Hey all,

To give you an update..

I recently went hunting in VA behind my parents house and found a virgin Civil War site...check my posts on Today's Finds it was awesome and unbelievable......
Anyways.....
The CTX 3030 did AMAZING...pulling bullets at 13" yes 13" see videos on my posts.
The CZ3D got no more than 8-10"
The Tejon got about 12"

I was amazed the CTX3030 did this well.

I was going over spots that my brother had gone over with the CZ3D and found bullets he missed.

To say the least the CTX 3030 was the clear winner in this amazing hunt.

Hope this aids in tg is discussion on my thread.

HH

 

[Jackalope]

*** I suspect it had somethign to do with the FBS technology and the 28 freq they run.***

OK. Thought he had done an in-ground test between detectors, not an air test.

E-trac air tests should reveal better results than in ground testing where signal loss is expected (no matter the detector).

That is, in-ground the detector has to adjust to minerals and iron contamination, which the E-trac handles better than most single-freq detectors and can surpass them in mod-bad dirt (not so much in good dirt where certain detectors do much better). In reality, the E-trac uses only two freqs (yes, there are harmonics but they are not used) and a third for ground. When testing in the air there is no ground interference so this should be the best distance possible. The problem, I think, is that the evaluations are done indoors or nearby to buildings. Unknowingly, EMI can (and does) reduce sensitivity and can hamper target depth, sometimes quite significantly.

 

[stasys]

From my experience for now FBS is most versatile detectors with any original coil even in iron, Tejon with 12x10 coil is only good in clean grounds -not iron spots where usually best finds are. Both detectors are useful and good, but if you have just one FBS is better.