My buddies and I run Etracs. Great machines. But, they constantly beat me in finds. When the machines are the same the user makes the difference. I am just not as patient as they are. I somehow had to even the playing field. The CTX 3030 gnawed at me all last winter. I read everything I could. It seemed there were as many people praising it as ripping it. Anyway, I picked one up. I was really hoping that it what not a blinged out ETRAC and would perform better than I had hoped.
My buddies and I constantly look for new places to go but always fall back on our old standbys. We have absolutely punished some of these places. Well, on the first hunt we put in some time on a picnic ground that we have plundered in the past. I managed to squeeze out a silver 50s Rosie dime. The next adventure was at a one room school house empty lot in the country. This was a new spot. My buddy found a couple mercs and wheaties and called me over to share the ground. I started over in a spot he had just finished. Out popped a 20s Merc and then 3 feet over a silver Rosie. This morning I went over to my parents old farm house. This spot has been pounded by us for years. There should be nothing left to find. Especially in the front yard where most of the goodies were found on previous hunts. IT can't be much bigger then 30'x30'. It took me 15 minutes to find two Indians. One was an 1896 and the other looked like it was flattened by a train, it had no date though. I had bought a new garrett pinpointer and was trying to figure out the best way to use it. I had been accustom to using a SunRay target probe. So, I wasn't sure how to use the Garrett. In the holes with the Indians I was surprised to see all the iron the Garrett was finding. The one hole had a 1" in diameter rusty bolt head sitting by the Indian. I am thoroughly impressed with the ability of the 3030 to work through the iron patch and uncover the hard to get iron masked coins. I will try to post back in a few weeks with updates on my impressions when I get more hunts under my belt and learn to handle the machine better.
I have read a few opinions about using a smaller diameter coil on the 3030. Has anyone been running one with any success? What brand do you recommend. I had a White's XLT before the Etrac. It too was a good machine. I had a 6" coil with it, but really did not see any improvements in finds while using it.
Thanks,
My buddies and I constantly look for new places to go but always fall back on our old standbys. We have absolutely punished some of these places. Well, on the first hunt we put in some time on a picnic ground that we have plundered in the past. I managed to squeeze out a silver 50s Rosie dime. The next adventure was at a one room school house empty lot in the country. This was a new spot. My buddy found a couple mercs and wheaties and called me over to share the ground. I started over in a spot he had just finished. Out popped a 20s Merc and then 3 feet over a silver Rosie. This morning I went over to my parents old farm house. This spot has been pounded by us for years. There should be nothing left to find. Especially in the front yard where most of the goodies were found on previous hunts. IT can't be much bigger then 30'x30'. It took me 15 minutes to find two Indians. One was an 1896 and the other looked like it was flattened by a train, it had no date though. I had bought a new garrett pinpointer and was trying to figure out the best way to use it. I had been accustom to using a SunRay target probe. So, I wasn't sure how to use the Garrett. In the holes with the Indians I was surprised to see all the iron the Garrett was finding. The one hole had a 1" in diameter rusty bolt head sitting by the Indian. I am thoroughly impressed with the ability of the 3030 to work through the iron patch and uncover the hard to get iron masked coins. I will try to post back in a few weeks with updates on my impressions when I get more hunts under my belt and learn to handle the machine better.
I have read a few opinions about using a smaller diameter coil on the 3030. Has anyone been running one with any success? What brand do you recommend. I had a White's XLT before the Etrac. It too was a good machine. I had a 6" coil with it, but really did not see any improvements in finds while using it.
Thanks,
