Detector delima

[cooper1841]

I know I will get 100 different opinions but here goes. Two years ago I purchased an Etrac, learned it pretty fast, and in two years have made some great finds. Added two other coils,on lower rods, and wireless head phones, Andy's book made it easier, I love this setup and am very confident in its ability. BUT......... I would like a CTX 3030 I have an AT Pro for fresh water hunting, which I don't do much in the water hunting.mostly beach hunting. I could keep both,Etrac and the 3030, but why? I am sure the Etrac would be a closet queen if I got the 3030 Am I missing anything, that I can't do with what I have? It is tough being retired, with all this time to ponder important stuff like this I just dont need a $2500 machine that will do the same as what I have!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[Charlesp54]

I can't help you with your problem at all but if you sell the Etrac I would like first chance at it.

Sent from my SM-G550T using Tapatalk

 

[Jason in Enid]

I had the same fear when buying the CTX 4 years ago. I did keep my E-Trac as a backup, but after it sat untouched for a full year I sold it. The CTX is better than the E-Trac and it will be better than the ATP. Why carry 2 detectors, multiple battery and headphones to carry, all different coils for each detector..... just get the CTX and do it all with one.

 

[cooper1841]

I had the same fear when buying the CTX 4 years ago. I did keep my E-Trac as a backup, but after it sat untouched for a full year I sold it. The CTX is better than the E-Trac and it will be better than the ATP. Why carry 2 detectors, multiple battery and headphones to carry, all different coils for each detector..... just get the CTX and do it all with one.

My thought as well Jason, My grandson already has his eye on the AT Pro, but I know this Etrac and all the extras I have for it will just sit! I should have got the 3030 instead of the Etrac, like I was going to Your opinion is much respected, thanks

 

[cooper1841]

I can't help you with your problem at all but if you sell the Etrac I would like first chance at it.

Sent from my SM-G550T using Tapatalk

PM sent

 

[fbjr]

I also have the e-trac and have had much success with it. I just bought a CTX 3030 last summer......honestly, it's not as easy as I thought it would be. Although the settings seem similar, the machines are really different. I can tell you that the CTX seems to be more sensitive which is good but I don't feel as confident when I'm digging targets. The settings probably need to be re-adjusted again. My biggest issue is that for whatever reason, nails sound really good on the CTX and fools me every time. Never had this problem with my e-trac and it's getting to be very frustrating. One other thing to keep in mind about the CTX, it's not waterproof right out of the box. You have to prep it for submersing it first, be it the waterproof headphones or using the plastic plugs it comes with. In my opinion the AT Pro is a little easier in this aspect. I know and understand I just need more time to adjust to the CTX and really like the ergonomics of it compared to the e-trac. Have also bought both of the books by Andy as his book for the E-trac is spot on and helped me in a major way. It has helped me a bit with the CTX but can't seem to figure out the right settings for my area yet. Not giving up on it but for me it's definitely more difficult than the e-trac.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I too went from the Etrac to the CTX.

I don't have any problem with nails on mine, maybe one of the reasons I'm slower than my hunting buddy is that I spend too much time listening to the signal!

I will also agree, the machine is much more difficult to learn than the Etrac.

But there's no way I'd go back to the Etrac. I sold that, or rather morphed it into an Excal II

 

[Jason in Enid]

I also have the e-trac and have had much success with it. I just bought a CTX 3030 last summer......honestly, it's not as easy as I thought it would be. Although the settings seem similar, the machines are really different. I can tell you that the CTX seems to be more sensitive which is good but I don't feel as confident when I'm digging targets. The settings probably need to be re-adjusted again. My biggest issue is that for whatever reason, nails sound really good on the CTX and fools me every time. Never had this problem with my e-trac and it's getting to be very frustrating. One other thing to keep in mind about the CTX, it's not waterproof right out of the box. You have to prep it for submersing it first, be it the waterproof headphones or using the plastic plugs it comes with. In my opinion the AT Pro is a little easier in this aspect. I know and understand I just need more time to adjust to the CTX and really like the ergonomics of it compared to the e-trac. Have also bought both of the books by Andy as his book for the E-trac is spot on and helped me in a major way. It has helped me a bit with the CTX but can't seem to figure out the right settings for my area yet. Not giving up on it but for me it's definitely more difficult than the e-trac.

Here are the tips for dealing with nails.
1- look for solid responses. If it's inconsistent one way and silent the other way, it's almost certainly iron
2- look for a solid target trace build. iron gives you a random "shotgun pattern", a solid conductive target gives you a defined target blob on the screen
3- watch your coil in relation to the ground. good targets sound off in the same exact spot each time. iron falses will appear to be jumping around by several inches.
h
put all those together an you have about a 95% chance of a good target. A few nails, and especially screws, will still sneak through but you will avoid the majority of iron trash. Could you possibly be ignoring a super deep, on-edge coin next to iron using these methods? yes, you could, but you have to take that chance some times. The more "iffy" targets you dig, the less chance of missing something, but you exponentially increase the amount of trash you will dig.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Here are the tips for dealing with nails.

Great tips Jason. That covers the technique pretty simply.

I've recovered quite a few good targets with nails right on top of them just by paying attention to the signal. Your 3 tips are what I've been doing without giving thought to why I was doing it that way. I guess when I approach a signal maybe I look for reasons not to dig.

I'm looking at the FE/CO numbers now. I'm not really paying attention to the numbers, but more in the solidity of the signal. I've just about quit digging zincolns - based on the numbers. But if something about the sound tweaks my curiosity, I still end up digging a few.

I just tumbled about a thousand zincs. I just wasted the electricity. The majority won't spend.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Great tips Jason. That covers the technique pretty simply.

I've recovered quite a few good targets with nails right on top of them just by paying attention to the signal. Your 3 tips are what I've been doing without giving thought to why I was doing it that way. I guess when I approach a signal maybe I look for reasons not to dig.

I'm looking at the FE/CO numbers now. I'm not really paying attention to the numbers, but more in the solidity of the signal. I've just about quit digging zincolns - based on the numbers. But if something about the sound tweaks my curiosity, I still end up digging a few.

I just tumbled about a thousand zincs. I just wasted the electricity. The majority won't spend.

Oh, you just reminded me of tip #4.... Pinpoint depth. The deeper the target, the more chance you should dig. A zincoln signal at 2 inches will often get ignored, a zincoln at 8 inches is a guaranteed dig for me.

It's a different mindset with an FBS detector. With regular VLF detectors you have to dig a bunch of "iffy" targets, the FBS "iffy" is almost always garbage. If its a solid hit on the CTX, it should be dug.

A note about the silver dime numbers here. The E-Trac had much tighter FE-CO responses, if it was below a CO 44 you could ignore it (when silver picking). The CTX has a wider spread of numbers. Thinner and damaged coins get a lower CO number. I have dug extremely thin dimes that respond with a CO 39, so that is where depth comes in. The deeper it is, the more you should be digging.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Oh, you just reminded me of tip #4.... Pinpoint depth.

Interesting! I've really not been using the "Pinpoint" feature. I've still not finished Andy's book yet either, puts me to sleep! My eyes aren't what they used to be (however I do get cataract surgery in about 3 weeks).

I've used the PP feature maybe 4 times, but only to pinpoint. And now you mention Pinpoint depth. Obviously I need to struggle through reading that book!

 

[Jason in Enid]

just for the sake of clarity, when I say "pinpoint depth", I am talking about using the pinpoint feature to get the target centered under the coil. This is the most accurate location for measuring the depth of the target. I know that many people pinpoint off the notch, but you can't gauge the depth when using that method.

 

[penzfan]

Zincs

I just tumbled about a thousand zincs. I just wasted the electricity. The majority won't spend.

I just wrap all my zincs and bring them to the bank once a year. They spend just like bills...

 

[Mach1Pilot]

Cooper -

One thing that is an advantage of the Etrac is the wide variety of coils available for it, whereas the CTX 3030 is limited to four at the moment. Those four are all good ones, but it would be interesting to see more options for this detector.

I agree with all of the comments posted so far, but here's a few more thoughts. The CTX is a different detector than the Etrac... If you set it up like an Etrac you will get Etrac like performance. However once I expanded my options and made some adjustments and utilized some features not found on the Etrac, I found that I like the CTX 3030 a lot better than the Etrac. In my opinion it is both more capable and also easier to use and understand than the Etrac.

 

[penzfan]

And we can drop our CTX in the H2O if we choose...

Cooper -

One thing that is an advantage of the Etrac is the wide variety of coils available for it, whereas the CTX 3030 is limited to four at the moment. Those four are all good ones, but it would be interesting to see more options for this detector.

I agree with all of the comments posted so far, but here's a few more thoughts. The CTX is a different detector than the Etrac... If you set it up like an Etrac you will get Etrac like performance. However once I expanded my options and made some adjustments and utilized some features not found on the Etrac, I found that I like the CTX 3030 a lot better than the Etrac. In my opinion it is both more capable and also easier to use and understand than the Etrac.

 

[ChampFerguson/TN]

Sell the eTrac, get the CTX and keep the ATP as a backup/loaner machine.

 

[slick356]

Go back and reread what
Fort Bedford detectors said. People say the sounds are not the same etc... etc...,He is right it is not an Etrac that they relabeled. I had an Etrac and had read so much about the Ctx and watched a lot of videos. I was still unsure if I should up grade to the Ctx. I went and visited Kieth and Fort Bedford detectors. After he went over the Ctx and he showed me the difference between the machines. I wish I would have bought the Ctx first.