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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[chinchilla]

thanks for that nice test! never tried the 10x12dd on my vaquero, did you notice an increase of depth comparing it with the stock on the Tejon?

 

[Colosprings73]

Yes there was an increase in depth. About 1-2 inches. The 10x12 coil is the best one to use....in my opinion.

 

[chinchilla]

Yes there was an increase in depth. About 1-2 inches. The 10x12 coil is the best one to use....in my opinion.

thanks! very nice to hear, I guess by this being a DD coil it should also improve the handling of nasty hotrocks

 

[nuggetshooter323]

The 10x12 does not like trash. In the trashy areas I switch to the 8" DD, it's still big enough to cover some ground but small enough to pick out individual targets in bad areas.

 

[Colosprings73]

Agreed that the smAller coil would be much better in high trashy areas.....however I have still done great with the 10x12 in trashy areas.

 

[chinchilla]

Interesting topic

My case I will get the 5.75dd or the 10x12dd next for my vaq and I would loved to try the 10x12, but never used a dd of that size before, Have you compared the sensitivity to small targets with the 10x12 and the stock?

 

[SpiritRelic]

Interesting topic

My case I will get the 5.75dd or the 10x12dd next for my vaq and I would loved to try the 10x12, but never used a dd of that size before, Have you compared the sensitivity to small targets with the 10x12 and the stock?

I have,I also like the 10x12 very much on the vaq and tejon.The sensitivity is just as good on the 10x12 as the stock on small targets.DD,s do not lose sensitivity to small targets the bigger the coil like concentric coils do.If one hunts on mild ground,the stock concentric will be the deepest coil you can get on the vaq.But this can change if any at all minerals are present in the ground.Then the DD will beat the stock concentric.Detectorist overlook the 10x5 elliptical coil that comes stock on the lobo.This coil is awesome on the vaq and tejon.I live on mild ground but like to hunt with DD,s,because of the trash factor and also even in the woods relic hunting because of the fast scan pattern of the coil.Anyway i am going to take a look at these vids.I knew the vaq and tejon was probably deeper than the ctx.The vaq and tejon are hard to beat in the depth department.:-D

 

[lonewolfe]

Hey COsprings - cool vids man - look forward to more from you :-)

I just bought a Tejon (it's on its way to me as we speak)!

But anyway -

in your vid of the Tejon where you mention that you don't know what the setting on the 2nd disc. is when you set it on "S cap"

I just want/ed to let you know in case you haven't figured it out yet - that is an old-skool setting for "Steel Bottle Caps" as back in the day - all bottle caps were made of steel and they rusted and were a pain in the A$$ to ignore (they fooled the detector into thinking there was a coin under it) and that's when they put that setting on the disc.

Every now and then you (at least I do) still dig an old steel bottle cap as they still fool some of the detectors (especially when shallow).

I may be PM'ing you when my Tejon arrives to get some tips/pointers from you if that's ok - it seems to be an animal all its own an is my 1st Tesoro machine ---- I have always been a whites, fisher, garrett, and minelab guy (fisher & garrett mainly) so - I may need a bit of help to get going - will let you know!

HH

 

[Tnmountains]

I just like Tesoro and have so much confidence in it. I know it will find what is in the ground and they are deep. Easy to learn the sound of iron or just tune it out. Now large iron or real wet iron can fool you though. Better to dig real quick just to make sure. Thanks for this good post.

 

[shanegalang]

I would like to know how the Cibola would do up against all three of these........I have owned a deleon, A cortes and have used a silver u max...........none of those came even close to the depth on the super tuned Cibola. Also, can you super tune a Tejon or any other Tesoro for that matter? Thanks for the write up and test._ Shanegalang

 

[Pulltab Parson]

When I was running the Tejon, that is one thing I can say for it, it was a Quarter magnet. I can't begin to tell you how many quarters I dug with mine, it coudl sniff them out no problem. I just couldn't get use to it in all the other respects, a great detector, just not for me!

HH

Pulltab

 

[SpiritRelic]

I would like to know how the Cibola would do up against all three of these........I have owned a deleon, A cortes and have used a silver u max...........none of those came even close to the depth on the super tuned Cibola. Also, can you super tune a Tejon or any other Tesoro for that matter? Thanks for the write up and test._ Shanegalang

The vaquero and cibola are the current supertunners.The tejon is factory supertuned.The other current umax models such as the Outlaw and Golden supertunning has no positive effect.Almost a more negative effect on the other models.

 

[shanegalang]

The vaquero and cibola are the current supertunners.The tejon is factory supertuned.The other current umax models such as the Outlaw and Golden supertunning has no positive effect.Almost a more negative effect on the other models.

Thanks Happy hunting, Shane

 

[Beach Papa]

My take away on the CTX, since you did not video the CTX detecting the 11" test targets is that it did not find the targets at 11" and you said the CTX was only average on depth. I assume 8" is as good as it gets. However, you did say you were considering reducing the depth of the 11" targets to 10". Is that saying that it might pick out the targets at 10" but not 11"? I salt water beach hunt mostly. However, I do live in an area of a lot of history so I sure would like a detector that discriminates better than what I have now. I am considering purchasing the CTX 3030 but don't want to sacrifice depth on gold on the beach for accurate discrimination that I would love to have for a land hunt. Gold is a highly sought after target on the beach as well as in the mountains of NC. I have had a difficult time finding objective gold depth test information for the CTX, and would welcome anyone who has done that testing to chime in. By the way, I really appreciate the time you put into your video documentary. It was very informative. Happy hunting to you. Papa

 

[Colosprings73]

Papa,

It has been a while since I have posted here.

The Ctx 3030 does get to 11" although it is an iffy high tone signal and I need to video this.

I did get the 17x13 coil a few days ago and it does fantastic. I was able together all my targets at 11 " with no problem.

The large coil in 2 days of hunting has produced 6 silver coins. It is fantastic for covering ground. If you listen carefully and swing slow you can pick through trash and find good targets . I really like this coil so far.

I get my 6 " coil today and do not have a test garden to test it at home so I will have to the trashy park I goto..

Will post more videos soon.

HH

 

[Detector Wars]

The Ctx 3030 does get to 11" although it is an iffy high tone signal and I need to video this.

I did get the 17x13 coil a few days ago and it does fantastic. I was able together all my targets at 11 " with no problem.

The large coil in 2 days of hunting has produced 6 silver coins. It is fantastic for covering ground. If you listen carefully and swing slow you can pick through trash and find good targets . I really like this coil so far.
HH

Would you say your 17x13 coil on the CTX, now goes deeper than the Tejon with it's big coil? Its seems it's all about the size of the coil regarding depth. Did you know you can get a 13" DD round for the Tejon, which is bigger than the one you had in your clips?

 

[SpiritRelic]

Would you say your 17x13 coil on the CTX, now goes deeper than the Tejon with it's big coil? Its seems it's all about the size of the coil regarding depth. Did you know you can get a 13" DD round for the Tejon, which is bigger than the one you had in your clips?

Were do you get a 13" round?.I have heard of the hunter and the sharpshooter for the tejon.

 

[Detector Wars]

Were do you get a 13" round?.I have heard of the hunter and the sharpshooter for the tejon.

It exists, but as to where you get it, good question. I have emailed the company but got no reply. They give a list of dealers, there's only one in the US (kllyco doesn't count) and they don't have the coil on their website. In Australia, there seem to be no dealers.

Honestly, some detectors/coil accessories are harder to get than weapons grade plutonium.

Here it is:
http://www.detech-metaldetectors.co...rticle/34/81-13q-ultimate-dd-detech-coil.html

Alright alright, you can get it here if you want :

As you can see, even though they make this coil for Tesoros, there's nowhere you can buy them:
http://www.kellycodetectors.com/excelerator/excelerator-13_ultimatedd.htm
http://www.kellycodetectors.com/excelerator/excelerator-13_ultimatedd.htm