CTX 3030 raw power

[lookindown]

I'm pretty sure my whites beach hunter id300 would have gotten it as well, and loud at that. But it has a 12 inch concentric coil as opposed to a 10inch dd. I can't complain though, my sovereign has found me plenty of gold in the short time I've had it. I'll take coverage over depth any day. If it was all about depth I'd just get a pi machine and dig to china.

Yeah, most of the stuff at the beaches we hunt are fresh drops and not that deep...Ive got the 10 1/2 inch coil on my 21...if I was going for depth I think I would use a PI like you said.

 

[NWMP]

i'd sell my wife to get one of those if thats true.

Does the price include shipping ?

I don't doubt that the CTX is a powerful unit. But she's a wee might pricey for this ol' boy.

 

[mrwilburino]

i'd sell my wife to get one of those if thats true.

How about some stats, nomad?

Height?

Weight?

Hair Color?

 

[lookindown]

How about some stats, nomad?

Height?

Weight?

Hair Color?

Forget all that...can she cook?

 

[Higgy]

And my Deus would have told ya if it Washington was facing up or face down in the dirt!

That's nothing! My AT Pro would have told you what year it was!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

The CTX has a new Seawater mode that allows it to run at higher sensitivity. It also uses FBS2, an upgraded version of the FBS technology....

Hey Wayne, please elaborate on the "seawater mode" . Is that strictly to help deal with salt ? (like what the CZ6 has, for example). Or is it to help deal with wet minerals ? Because if it's just to help deal with minerals, what difference would that be, versus just putting it in auto mode when you run into nasty beach minerals ? Of course going into "auto" mode on the Explorer or Excal, will reduce depth a lot. But sometimes it's the only way to hack black mineralized sand.

Does the CTX have some sort of better ability in wet salt mineralized sand? WITHOUT LOOSING DEPTH ALA: "AUTO" type mode ? I realize they can never be as good as a pulse in nasty wet minerals, but ......... please let us know a little more about this "seawater" mode.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Hey Wayne, please elaborate on the "seawater mode" . Is that strictly to help deal with salt ? (like what the CZ6 has, for example). Or is it to help deal with wet minerals ? Because if it's just to help deal with minerals, what difference would that be, versus just putting it in auto mode when you run into nasty beach minerals ? Of course going into "auto" mode on the Explorer or Excal, will reduce depth a lot. But sometimes it's the only way to hack black mineralized sand.

Does the CTX have some sort of better ability in wet salt mineralized sand? WITHOUT LOOSING DEPTH ALA: "AUTO" type mode ? I realize they can never be as good as a pulse in nasty wet minerals, but ......... please let us know a little more about this "seawater" mode.

Conductive salts are completely different from iron mineralization, but both will screw up a detector not adjusted for them. The problem is that land detectors are created to eliminate the iron. You can use the same process to eliminate the salt to it REALLY cuts your depth ability.

The saltwater mode for the CTX was developed to handle to conductive nature of the salt with the lack of "mineralization" that it normally looks for.

Don;t know how it works with beaches that have both. I don't have to deal with that problem here! LOL

 

[Tom_in_CA]

thanx Jason, I sort of suspected that there wasn't a "new mousetrap" in that regard, when it comes to the CTX.

There was a beach I was trying to work, after the last swell to graze and erode some CA beaches. And I ran into some nasty sand, that caused me to have to drop my Explorer sens. down to 10 or 12. Eventually I just gave up and ran it in auto mode. And even then had to sweep very slow, hovering the coil, and perpetually checking re-scanning every flutter for repeatability. I suspect my depth on coins was now down to ~5" or so, tops.

That would have been a case for a pulse, I know. But the thought of having to dig hair pins and nails makes me stubborn enough to write off such conditions (which are rare here) as flukes. So when I saw about the "saltwater mode", of the CTX, I wondered. But like the CZ6, it will just dumb down the machine, and now you can't catch flitty smaller jewelry (foil-ish type signals at depth, etc...).

Oh well, the price we pay to have great TIDs, doh !

 

[Jason in Enid]

Personally I don't care about TID, I just want whatever will let me disc iron and get as deep as possible. I dig everything conductive on the beaches.

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

Tom, the seawater mode was developed after release of the product. Certain beaches were experiencing some salt mineralization performance issues. The new feature was released as a downloaded software update. It dramatically improved the quietness of the unit in salt water. Most of us hear nothing in the water unless there is a target.

Wayne

Www.metaldetectingstuff.com

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Hello,

Very interesting post, I love when machines are tested side-by-side in the field. In my experience with the V3i (stock coil) a 10 inch quarter is no problem if the machine is correctly setup and the operator is skilled with the machine. Also, I am wondering why the Excal II didn’t pick-up on the quarter. I have seen this machine make their owners dig some deep holes in the sand for things much smaller than a quarter. Nevertheless, I think the CTX-3030 is an interesting machine and perhaps in the future may add it to my arsenal.

Regards,

Professor

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Tom, the seawater mode was developed after release of the product. Certain beaches were experiencing some salt mineralization performance issues. The new feature was released as a downloaded software update. It dramatically improved the quietness of the unit in salt water. Most of us hear nothing in the water unless there is a target.

Wayne

Www.metaldetectingstuff.com

thanx Wayne !

 

[Auger tones]

I take my ctx to Mexico every year and hunt around town . It's paid for itself about 6 times! Gold silver platinum !!!!

 

[bigscoop]

I think there is a big misconception regarding the CTX and depth as it really isn't hunting any deeper then some of the other top of the line machines. However, where the CTX provides certain advantage is in its ability to separate and process weak returns. In reality the CTX isn't hunting any deeper then some of these other machines as this would require more power output. The CTX just has the built-in ability to boost and to process these traditionally weaker returns, if that makes any sense. It's not really an issue of more raw power and greater depth. At least this is the way I understand it.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I think there is a big misconception regarding the CTX and depth as it really isn't hunting any deeper then some of the other top of the line machines. However, where the CTX provides certain advantage is in its ability to separate and process weak returns. In reality the CTX isn't hunting any deeper then some of these other machines as this would require more power output. The CTX just has the built-in ability to boost and to process these traditionally weaker returns, if that makes any sense. It's not really an issue of more raw power and greater depth. At least this is the way I understand it.

thanx for the in-put big-scoop. If that's the case, then a lot of it boils down to ability of a person to interpret what they're hearing on their own machine. In fact, I almost DON'T LIKE it when a machine "boosts" faint whispers, or does too much controlling, boosting, enhancing, etc... Because then in a way, it's taking out the human element. I almost prefer to have the whispers, so that it's me (rather than a computer) deciding things.

The control is there on many machines, with signal boosts, "deep on", and so forth. But a lot of guys actually prefer NOT to use them (as counter-intuitive as it sounds). Because then you loose the human element of knowing deep versus shallow, etc.... at a certain point. Not saying that the CTX "makes them all sound the same" (Fisher Co. infamously did that on one of theirs, where all signals, no matter how deep, had the same exact sound/amplification). But ... just saying .... that I love the ability to grasp for those whispers.

When I tried the CTX, I couldn't figure that I was getting any more depth. But now that you mention it, it might be exactly as you say: That each one "got the deepie whisper", but that the CTX did it with more balls/louder, or whatever. But in the end, not actually *deeper*. The exception, of course, would be with the 17" coil. But sheeks what a PIA to be swinging around, trying to pinpoint, blah blah

 

[lockster99]

Yeah but sometimes you cant really hear the faint whispers, be it in a park or a roaring beach situation. That can make the difference between digging or not. Going home with a keeper or not. If I want to know how deep it is....I look at the depth indicator. I've read where some people experience the depth being off some. I've had that happen at the beach, but not more than a little bit in the dirt. I know if I'm off on the pinpointing just a little, it's off on the indicator a lot.

Do any of you with a CTX have the depth problem being off from what it actually is? Just wondering.