CZ3D Tips - Dave WVAdirtdigger
Raymond’s comparison
Hi. I am sneaking onto my wife’s computer again! Doesn’t happen often. I am a occasional forum lurker. Can’t stand typing! And I mostly lurk the Minelab forums. Got several experiences that I want to share, so I must type. I’m a recently retired civil attorney on a fact finding mission.
Personally, I needed burden-of-proof to know which of my 3 detectors shined the most. I’m probably going to bash all three, and also praise all three. I have the most hours, probably about 650 hours, on the Explorer. This makes me more partial towards the Explorer. Sorry.
Cut to the chase. Took all three detectors to several areas during the past 2 weeks. A good friend came along a few times with his CZ-70. The first area, I found eleven targets that I marked with poker chips. Found these targets with the CZ-3D with sensitivity on 5, volume on 3, enhance mode, and ground balance on 5. The first target was 8 inches deep and registered coins-all. The Explorer said 8 inches deep and upper-right coin reading. The C$ said 16 for signal strength and the ID numbers were bouncing between 16 and 51. The CZ-70 said coins-all and also 8 inches deep. Recovered the target. A 1944 wheat penny. All detectors made a good call.
The next target was awesome! The CZ-3D said 9 inches deep nickel, hi-tone. The CZ-70 said it was foil, medium tone. The Explorer also said about 9 inches, but ID‘d the target as something just barely above iron, not where nickels normally hit. The C$ was weird. I was on the 5/25 setting and could not detect the target. Jumped to 7/25. No target. Jumped to 9/25 and still no target. Jumped to 9/5 threshold. Now I was occasionally hearing something, but nothing I would dig. Then I changed to a threshold setting of zero and kept sensitivity on 9. Now the Coin$trike would see the target every time, but the numbers were jumping between negative and positive. Still nothing I would dig. Sensitivity on 10, and still no change of status. Switched back to the CZ-3D and recovered the target. Turned out to be a 1889 V nickel. Wow! The CZ-3D trumped all the other detectors and got one!
Next target turned out to be a 3 inch deep aluminum screw-cap off of a soda bottle. All of the detectors called it a coins-all. Not good!
Next item read nickel at 7 inches on the CZ-3D. The Explorer said it was about where a aluminum tongue off of a ring-tab would be, and also about 8 inches deep. The CZ-70 said 8 inches deep, but was bouncing between foil and nickel. The Coin$trike gave a signal strength reading of 30 and the ID numbers were bouncing consistently positive and between 04 to 29. The target turned out to be a 1936 buffalo nickel. I failed to try the CZ-3D in the Salt mode when the target was still in the ground. I did air test the nickel with all of the detectors once it was out of the ground, and all detectors reported nickel.
Next target. CZ-3D reads about 11 inches deep and zinc penny. Explorer read the target as a soda tab, except the ID would occasionally drop down into the foil range. Explorer was in manual sensitivity 32 and Audio 1. The CZ-70 barely gave a reading, but was indicating a relic beyond 10 inches deep. The C$ would never detect the target, I tried all setting combinations again. With a 10/0 setting, I would occasionally receive a audio burp, at best, but never a ID. Recovered the target. Turned out to be a copper token about the diameter of a nickel. Don’t know what to think. Hung jury.
Next target was another eye-opener. CZ-3D consistently reads zinc penny at 7 inches. Coin$trike bouncing between 06 to 51. Explorer is bouncing between soda tabs and about a zinc penny. CZ-70 was almost always reading a relic soda tab. All detectors had a fairly strong signal. Recovered the item. It’s a 1928 mercury dime! What’s up with that? Out of the ground, all of the detectors read the silver dime perfectly. The CZ-3D takes the cake again.
Next target was a 1920 wheat penny at 6 inches. CZ-3D said coins-all. CZ-70 read zinc penny. Explorer registered good coin. C$ said 18 to 31. Good detectors, good calls. No complaints.
Next few targets were clad coins about 4 inches deep. All detectors came clean with correct ID. Seems anything beyond about 6 inches is where different things start to happen. With these 4 inch deep targets, the C$ numerically locked on to each target nicely.
Next target was a bronze washer the diameter of a penny and about 8 inches deep. The CZ-3D reported zinc penny and the Explorer called it a soda tab. The CZ-70 reported a relic reading. The C$ was bouncing between 14 to 30. Don’t know what to think. Could have been a Indian head penny. I think that I would want a coin reading on a round bronze disc the size of a penny. I am also curious why the Coin$trike does not numerically lock on to targets a bit better, especially when they are 6 inches deep, or deeper.
Several other days, and several more comparing hunts, I continued to have similar results. Found another silver dime that read coins-all on the CZ-3D, but the Explorer and Coin$trike were bouncing between soda tab and zinc penny. Not sure why this is happening. Also found a pair of Indian head pennies stuck together that the CZ-3D was bouncing between zinc penny and coins-all, and the Explorer and C$ were reading soda tab. Recovered a silver Washington quarter that was on edge where the CZ-3D was a constant hi tone, but the Explorer and C$ were jumping everywhere on the meter, except iron.
I did find a few other aluminum trash items that fooled all of the detectors, but really not enough to be concerned about. The Coin$trike seems to find more tabs than nickels, when looking for nickels. Marked a bunch of nickel reading targets with the C$. The Explorer was fooled on a couple of them, but the CZ-3D called every one of them a soda tab. Dug every one, and the CZ-3D gets a 100% score in this local test. All were tabs. Now I am beginning to understand why some folks choose to not say anything about the CZ-3D. Don’t want to let the opponent know about the defendants trump card!
To the best of my abilities, it appears to me the CZ-3D is only about an inch deeper than my Coin$trike. The Explorer and the CZ are nearly identical in depth abilities. At times, I thought the CZ has a slight edge over the Explorer, but, in a court of law, the evidence is weak. The Fisher coil actually measures 7.5 inches and the stock Explorer coil is 10.5 inches. I am not sure how much difference 3 inches makes for depth performance. I do not own a 10.5 inch CZ coil yet.
I have a buddy who exclusively hunts with a Coin$trike. He digs all positive ID numbers. Sometimes he finds great stuff. Most of the time, he recovers junk. Couldn’t I do the exact same thing with my CZ & Explorer by digging everything except iron? Or, seems to me, you could buy a cheap, deep detector, set the discrimination to reject only iron, and dig everything else. Though, I believe the CZ and Explorer would handle bad minerals and trash better, and maybe go a bit deeper, IMHO.
Love how the CZ-3D locks on to targets, yet I have a complaint. When the depth needle is pointing on the upper half of the number 8, the target is usually 8 inches deep. When the needle is centered over the number 8, the depth is actually closer to 10 inches deep. When the needle is pointing on the lower half of the number 8, the target is closer to 11 inches actual depth. When the needle is below the number 8, no telling what the actual depth really is, usually it’s about a foot deep. Inaccurate depth needle. I know; moot point.
My Explorer gives much more information compared to all other detectors, but now, I question its accuracy. The CZ-3D trumped it on more than enough occasions to be more than just a mere coincidence. Yet, would you believe that I still feel more comfortable with my Explorer! Maybe more time with the CZ-3D, and I may have a change of heart. NASA tom, I know you invented the CZ-70 and the CZ-3D. No insult, but the CZ-3D trumps the CZ-70 with more accuracy, especially with the deeper targets.
