Even if the modification works perfectly and no problems are induced, at minimum you will still need two detectors. One to hunt with, while the other is being repaired (sigh). In my opinion, the achillies heal of the pod design is the cable that connects the battery pod to the control pod, as it has to be constantly connected and reconnected to charge the batteries. At least this is true in my case having had to return it twice to be repaired (I found buying the one year extension in warranty a wise decision).
Then there is all that exposed cabling which can easily be cut by sharp coral, or tugged/snagged resulting in a broken connection. Plus the knobs can be easily damaged if dropped /or over torque when adjusting when cold or excited. Even if none of the above happens switches stick, pots wear out and adjustments go out of tolerance as a result of aging. Then there are the seals my oh my - IIRC there are one or more O ring seals under each knob, plus O rings inside of one end of each Pod to keep water out and a Heco seal for the battery. Over time these seals become brittle and must be replaced before leakage occurs.
I am not complaining, I am just stating the facts. I consider the Excalibur the best shallow water hunter with discrimination there is. It is a proven design, and will continue to meet my needs as long as Minelab does not lower its standards (which is not the case).
I love to hunt with Excalibur and will continue to do so as long as it is supported and long after thru cannibalization after the supply of parts dry up.
It is not a matter of if, but when it will fail.
It is also matter of who will do the repair.
If it has not been modified Minilab will do the repair.
Mine lab may repair a modified Excalibur after it is out of warranty,
But it will come back stock, so you will be back to square one and
Either you or someone in the cottage industry will have to modify it again.
I also hunt with a CTX 3030 and love it for its flexibility, selectivity and sensitivity.
It has capabilities that neither the Excalibur nor the Sovereign have.
However, I do not consider it a suitable alternative or substitute for the Excalibur.
Even though the CTX 3030 is well balanced, it is heavy – very heavy. Its sweep cannot be extended nor can you improve the balance point further as you cannot add a longer shaft. The drag of the wider diameter lower shaft is noticeable. It takes a surprising amount of effort to sweep even the small 6” smart coil in the water. One would have thought that they would of made the lower shaft smooth to reduce drag.
Further the ergonomics of the CTX 3030 are wrong, very wrong for me for shallow water hunting.
Common guys, who likes to have to hunt bent forward just to see a Visual Display.
In addition to tracking the tides, I also need to track cloud cover, or look for shade as I cannot see the display in sunlight.
Worse, since you cannot see the display thru Polaroid’s, you loose the capability of easily seeing the reef bottom in the water.
Sun glasses do not work for me either as I have to wear reading glasses to scroll thru the menus.
Further at night, I find the glare from the display blinding (I prefer red light) so that I do not lose my side vision.
It is true that you can hunt with the display off, however doing so – negates the improved discrimination features of the CTX 3030, which is the reason for buying it.
This is so important its no wonder why Minelab doesn't offer this. But they would rather sell another type detector.
