First Hunt with My New CTX and First Impressions...

[Erik in NJ]

I had to take the new unit out today on its maiden voyage. Here are some of my first impressions...

I love the wireless module. Not being ties to the detector gives you a real feeling of freedom! Excellent feature!

The pinpoint trigger is great, much better that a front panel button with an on off mode. It's a bit awkward to use as it's not really in the right place to grab easily. A real "trigger" would have been better. Regardless I like it!

Screen is very nice and backlight is great. I like the color and the data displayed is better in many respects except it would be nice to have had an option to see a depth gauge vs an inch reading for depth. Minelab really dropped the ball with the software on this thing! There was so much that could have been done! They really need to hire some top notch GUI guys and software engineers. The iPhone I could use without reading directions, this thing I can't and many of the options are not easy to find and counter intuitive. Testers here on the forum....can you provide some color here?

Pinpoint detuning is fast, much faster than SE. Maybe too fast as I found pinpointing a bit tougher than on the SE. Maybe it takes some getting used to.

What the heck happened to Iron Mask and Conductive mask? One of the better features on the Minelab line.....sure you can edit a pattern to simulate IM -22 etc.....but it's so nice to be able to set this in the field. Testers and comment here?

Nice weight and feel. It's a little lighter than the SE, but cetainly not like swinging air. The physical engineering on this model is very nice. Very modular and I like the headphone jack module. What's that plastic Phillips head screw inside the thing for? Nice job overall Minelab.

The Pro Find pinpointer by Minelab sucks! God I miss my X-1 as the depth is less than the X-1 and you can barely feel the vibrations.....I can get used to this, but not the reduced depth. I had a hard time finding targets with it and could not find some. Minelab if you're reading this: for God's sake put a wireless X-1 clone on your machine.....there's tons of room for better aestetics and functionality, but the X-1 is the only game out there right now. I'll switch over to the Garrett and if that doesn't work, I have to go back to the SE or e-Trac. Target recovery time is the name of the game and today it was at least doubled or tripled.

The CTX was much better than the SE in a high EMI area near this house. I could not hunt some parts with the SE due to the extreme EMI.....CTX handled it quite well! Great job!

Again, being a computer scientist I'm going to pick on the software. Like the eTrac, the Ferrous and Conductive axes have been rotated 90 degrees transposed. This is a huge paradigm shift for guys like me that have been using Explorers for over a decade. I know why you did it as the X-axis of the screen has greater resolution than the Y-axis (should have been 48x32 not 50x35....oh well). You wanted more Conductive resolution. OK that's fine, but it would have been trivial to provide an option to normalize the screen for Explorer guys so we don't feel like a fish out of water. Sure we lose some resolution on the screen, but audio is king....I only go to the screen to verify a target. You did very well since 1998 with sonification algos.....don't force the new paradigm on users...there's no need for it. It's just a minor change to the software to make it so much more flexible. Testers any comment here?

The color screen adds a third dimesion to the Conductive/Ferrous (was called Inductive) that was not exploited ..... there's a lot of information that could have been conveyed with color of the cursor and cursor shape (a 4th dimension). Timbre could have added another audio dimension.

The machine is very stable and falses less than the SE Pro....I'm hoping (and I expect that) as I tweek the settings, that it will perform even better than it did today. I like the stability.

The 12th line compression is a bad idea that was put in the e-Trac. The original S-shaped finds curve on the Explorer line conveys more information and was a much more elegant implementation. I'm hoping that the firmware on this machine can be updated without sending the unit back in to Minelab. Anyone know the story here? Overall I like the improvements and I hope some of the critiques will make it to Minelab for firmware updates. I'm happy I got the machine as it is beautifully engineered and a fine piece of equipment with some well thought out improvements over the SE Pro and eTrac. I'm looking forward to getting to know it better until it speaks to me like the SE Pro.

Looking forward to feedback on my post from other CTX users.

 

[GateKeeper]

Slow down there tiger. Just your first day. This machine takes some time getting used to. See how
you feel after a month or two. The Garrett pinpointer is much better. Get one. I do agree that Minelab
should incoporate a pinpointer like the Etrac. Only time will tell if one gets made.

Happy Hunting with your new toy.

 

[Erik in NJ]

I think it was a very well balanced review meant to help others based as I said on my "first impressions" of the machine. The biggest complaint I had was the lack of an X-1 type device which so sorely needed on this machine. Overall it was very favorable review of the CTX. If this was meant to be a "CTX Sunshine" forum I won't be posting here...

 

[sube]

Great post Erik this detetector has some great things going for it the more i dig the more it gives . I have been digging lots of different #s and learning the In's and outs of this detector.Much different beast compared to the ex 2 i had for 5 years, i think your going to like this one.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks Sube--have been watching your posts and it seems you are doing really well with it! I'm glad I got the machine and I'm sure I'll like it more and more as I learn what it's telling me. Look forward to learning a few things from guys like yourself!

 

[Porschephile]

Great review Erik!!

Thanks for taking time to let us know. I am pretty sure the firmware will be up gradable using a pc rather than returning the machine.

One important point I didnt see in your review though... Did you find anything?

HH

 

[earthmansurfer]

Nice and balanced review. I can't read too much into reviews that sound like they come from treasure mags and this one was not that! Thanks for your honesty.

I think the normal pinpoint mode is great when there is iron around. I bet you find that to be true as well. I use sizing when iron is bad, which is most of the time. Agree with your pinpoint button comment.

I have an IT background too (way back though). I very much like your idea that Minelab should have done more with the display. For the money I thought it would have been a given. Something along the lines of what you said regarding cursor shape to give a 4th dimension would have been nice. I do like the target splatter in that regard. I do like your idea regarding opening and untwisting the display as an option. I do wonder if, starting with the E-Trac, users were missing a bit of information due to normalization of that Fe line.

The CTX is the best machine I have yet used. My only real complaint is that it doesn't break down smaller and is heavy (though the balance fixes most of that, but not on really long hunts - but I have a sensitive back). I do hope Minelab does something special with their first update. I think that will mostly depend on sales to be honest. If sales are hot I don't expect and great new features that would take a lot of work. But if sales are down I think they might want to spice the machine up, a bit along the lines of what you mentioned.

I look forward to hearing more from guys who used the Explorer II and SE regarding how the sound compares to the CTX. The CTX does have a digital sound, albeit a clean and descriptive one.

Another bad "review" regarding the Pro-Find. I just don't understand, they had years to improve on the Pro Pointer and clearly missed. Well, money talks with corporations, so if sales fall on the pinpointer (and with all the bad reviews surfacing, I think that is a safe bet), perhaps Minelab does something to address the issue. I had one on order but canceled it, just because of the bad reviews very much outnumbering the good ones.

Thanks,
Albert

 

[Ray-Mo.]

over the E-Trac. I am finding it to be much more accurate ID wise with a very narrow window on good targets.With the CTX the ferrous number 12 actually means more than just a vague general indicator of a good target .
I am finding the CTX has a lot to offer but requires a bit more time to grasp compared to the much more simple to operate Explorers.....
It is enough different to actually require reading/studying the manual as much as I resisted doing so at first .

Looking forward to your take on the CTX after you get some hours on her

PS. Did you notice the vast improvement in recovery speed ???

 

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks Albert for the kind words! I just wanted to present my honest first impressions of the machine and it's good to see so many positive responses to my post. Yes, I think it's overall a good review of the machine and I do like the machine for many reasons. I suspect I will like it better as I get more time on it and it starts to feel more natural to me. In the mean time I'll be trying to learn as much as I can from guys like you that have logged some real time on this unit.

Best, Erik

 

[Erik in NJ]

Hi Porschephile,

Thanks for your post! I did find a few things, but I didn't want to taint my original post with finds (and because they weren't cleaned yet ). I found a small coin spill with a 1957-S dime and two wheat cents. A 1908 IH cent and the spoon part of an old spoon. I have pounded the front yard of this place with the SE and I want to go over the ground with the CTX once I have it tuned and see if I can find anything. I'd also like to find some deeper targets and check them with both machines. Pic of my finds a bit later

Best, Erik

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

What is the point of a 2d screen when you are only using one line of pixels for majority of the targets. Heck, why not make all conductive values the same?

I'm not flaming the Etrac or the CTX, just wondering what possible advantage this offers? How is this better? Anyone?

Keep us posted as you get more hours on the machine Erik

Chris

 

[wildherre]

What is the point of a 2d screen when you are only using one line of pixels for majority of the targets. Heck, why not make all conductive values the same?

I'm not flaming the Etrac or the CTX, just wondering what possible advantage this offers? How is this better? Anyone?

Keep us posted as you get more hours on the machine Erik

Chris

When ever the question came up of what we wanted in a new Minelab, my first item was make it dual mode, either Explorer like or Etrac like..I actually got this idea from my dealer & and thought it would be a great way to satisfy more people with one machine ..I still greatly prefer the old Explorer fe/co layout but now have all but given up on it being implemented back into a new machine.... wildherre

 

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks Chris!

You are right in that I have never seen good reasoning for the FE-12 line. My understanding was that since the Iron Mask feature was perfectly vertical (parallel to the conductive axis on the Explorer) that eventually, as you increased it, it would clip part of the natural S-finds curve that is found on the Explorer line. So they also straightened out the S-finds curve to be linear and put it on FE-12. Two things, 1) they could have allowed you to rotate the Iron Mask line by n degrees which would have been the better solution and 2) there unfortunately is no more Iron Mask (or Conductive Mask) feature on the CTX. Besides who used that much Iron Mask anyway where it would interfere with the S-finds curve?!?! Most use an IM setting of 22 or so which leaves most of the screen open.

I can envision a variability setting that would either expand or compress the S-finds curve where a setting of 0 would compress it to be linear. This would have been a great software feature as well us having the ability to transpose the axes.

Wildherre,

Yes an Explorer compatibility mode would have been very nice and would have been a natural upgrade path for tons of Explorer users. I suppose they could add this to future versions of the software or just allow users to download Explorer-emulation software to the unit. That would be cool....for a machine that already has a "wow" factor. While we are dreaming, how about an option to put an iPhone running a CTX app in place of the main control unit? It wouldn't be water-proof at this point, but that cost of the machine would potentially come way down and have a "super wow" factor

 

[Erik in NJ]

Hi Ray,

You are one of the best with the e-Trac (and probably with the CTX) so I respect your opinion on these things. I was in pretty clean ground so couldn't really compare the recovery speed. The pinpoint detuning was much faster than on the SE. Would love to hear more details when you have a chance on your take on the improved target ID. I have a lot to learn here as I resisted using my e-Trac in favor of the much more familiar SE Pro...

I agree with your assessment in needing more time to actually read the manual (I just skimmed over the others) for this machine. Will keep you posted as I log more time with this unit, which I intend to do.

 

[earthmansurfer]

What is the point of a 2d screen when you are only using one line of pixels for majority of the targets. Heck, why not make all conductive values the same?

I'm not flaming the Etrac or the CTX, just wondering what possible advantage this offers? How is this better? Anyone?

Keep us posted as you get more hours on the machine Erik

Chris

I never had an explorer and worried about losing something in the normalization of the 12 Fe line. But, here is my take:

When you are in clean ground and on non silver items, I don't think it will make a huge difference as most of those targets will lock on the 12 line. But silver coins can hit higher on that line (lower Fe number). That is just giving you more information. Now, related to this, in my somewhat iron mineralized ground & on the E-Trac or CTX in high trash, the deeper coins will often bounce around. That is a telling thing to me. The CO number is more consistent, but you can almost connect the dots with a bouncing Fe number to aid in deep coin detection.

In the CTX in ferrous coin, those bounces seem gone. I'm not sure if the bounce will come back some when targets are around or beyond the "thunk" sound (targets at the fringe of detection). I have heard that even FBS machines will ID coins as iron when they get beyond a certain depth. But, I haven't found that to be true (yet). Would love more info here as the question above, regarding the 12 Fe line, is a good one.

Finally, hard to describe, but a 2D screen just gives you more information, even with the normalized 12 Fe line. (Coins bounce and silver can hit higher as I stated above.) That said, running the CTX in ferrous coin is much more stable in my ground and everything seems to lock on the 12 Fe line, so perhaps just a conductive number would suffice. But I only have 50 hours and wonder what happens on deeper coins with the ferrous coin setting.

Albert

ps - Raymo - I have mentioned before, I think the faster recovery (and better unmasking) is what sets the CTX really apart from the E-Trac. It is MUCH faster in my opinion. That said, the E-Trac still seems to hit on most of what the CTX does (judging by me usually just pulling a few more coins out of spots hit hard with the E-Trac. When the mineralization dropped (sandier soil) the CTX pulled many more coins at my 9" max level though.)

 

[Porschephile]

Hi Porschephile,

Thanks for your post! I did find a few things, but I didn't want to taint my original post with finds (and because they weren't cleaned yet ). I found a small coin spill with a 1957-S dime and two wheat cents. A 1908 IH cent and the spoon part of an old spoon. I have pounded the front yard of this place with the SE and I want to go over the ground with the CTX once I have it tuned and see if I can find anything. I'd also like to find some deeper targets and check them with both machines. Pic of my finds a bit later

Best, Erik

Outstanding first hunt!!!
Look forward to more impressions of the new machine vs. the SE!!

Mike

 

[grouser]

-put your thumb on the front of the panel when using the PP button,,,,, it is MUCH more user friendly there and intended to be that way IMHO
-Iron mask is there with a touch of a button,,,, it's called mode II, just hit the detect button to switch
-

 

[EtracTom-AdirondacksNY]

It's pretty slick to be able to set it in Gone Huntings Combined mode and or the Coins Factory mode and then go hunting and if in the Coins mode just push the detect button once to go to an open screen with your same user settings to double check bouncy targets. Then hit the little person button on the far right and set that to last mode so you can quickly change to another hunting pattern/mode and hit it and go to either the coins mode or Gone's pattern so you can literally check targets in 3-4 different patterns and or mode settings like ferrous ground and high trash and ground coin and see the results over a target when hunting to see what works best at that spot.

 

[earthmansurfer]

Tom - you have described a typical process of learning the machine for me. But, I never see bouncing crosshairs in ferrous coin, just in high trash or a bit in ground coin; Therefor, I am rarely if ever, using the second pattern (open) just the...Little person button - LOL I love it. Eheheh

Albert