Garrett CX3 tip

[Micheal]

I have had this machine for a while now and have finally discovered the secret to this machine....Although I have had this machine for a while I have always used it in quiet mode that is with the threshold right down on zero...and it still was a tad better than my whites GMT on sensitivity...the whites gmt when you increase threshold you lose sensitivity...But on the garrett when you increase the threshold to 10 or even maximum it becomes a real powerful VLF and it is extremely sensitive to small metals with fairly smooth threshold and when the VCO is turned on Auto GB and Auto threshold all turned on it becomes an absolutely Gem to use ...
The air test I have done are as follows..
.
5cents austrlian coin at 22cm max
20cents australian coin at 32cm max(20cm without any threshold)
1 dollar australian coin at 32cm max
and the small stainless washer weighing at 1/4 gram at 15 cm (awsome)
your machine might slighty vary from my results

So If you dont mind operating with the threshold tone and vco on (something alot of users of this machine dont know or use)....you will gain 10cm of sensitivity....So on small gold it should be magnificent and beats the gmt easily and up there with the best of the VLF machines ....
I hope this helps somebody
If you have any user tips also please put them here

 

[lazyaussie]

nice to see another Aussie on here thanks for the tip i almost bought one of these detectors a wile back but the boss put a stop to it as she recons i"v got to many.
lazyaussie

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Those are downright impressive figures! Not even the Ace with the 12in coil will mach that, although I suspect it would be close. I tested it out on a $2 coin in dry sand at the beach with 7 bars of sensitivity and got a max of 10in. Given that the $1 coin is a bit bigger, I'd sat that you'd get 11in+ though.
Do you find that the VCO helps you to figure out the gold coins from screw caps?
BTW. Welcome to the forum.
Hey Lazy. I hear you on the number of detectors that you have. I'm trying to keep my numbers down too, but I'm not being very successful.
Mick Evans.

 

[Micheal]

Hi there nice to meet an aussie aswell,I was almost selling mine until I realised what it can do so I sold the whites gmt instead.Its almost as powerful as a pulse induction detector but with a lot more benefits especially in the discrimination department .Its right up there with the latest most powerful VLF detectors easily.everyone says the GMT is probably the best vlf for small gold but I dont agree I have owned many detectors and this is the best VLF I have owned and wherever I have read anything on the net its always had bad reviews but none of the reviews have been done in this manner with threshold on vco& gb on and the beauty of this machine it has very quick threshold recovery due to its electronics.It took me a long time to realise how to use this machine properly .It is very underestimated which I cant understand,I absolutley love this thing now.Anybody that has one of these machines give it a go and watch the difference

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

I don't know why people bag out the Garrett machines, it must be ignorance because like you said, once you learn how to harness their abilities, you can do some pretty neat things with them.
Mick Evans.

 

[Micheal]

Hi there Mick and Lazy....
Mick I have not used the ace 250 but have read a lot about it but I cant make any comments but I can say that compared to the whites gmt which is a very popular gold machine and costs around $1300ozzy does not come close to my garrrett cx3 there is just no comparison at all .But I must say that mine is the later version with the so called POWER MASTER CIRCUITRY which is written on the machine and I dont know if the earlier models will be as sensitive.As to the VCO it helps because not when distinguishing coins or gold jewellery but because the threshold tone is running constantly the pitch change helps hear targets easier ,and I havent noticed any loss of sensitivity with the VCO on.As for the Graphic Target id does with the threshold on and as good as it does with the threshold off.And the discrimation target id meter when looking for gold specifically it is pretty accurate on the meter display and always on the same 3 notches,but pulltabs do appear there aswell at the beach or park.And I have found a lot of coins with this machine no problems

 

[Micheal]

I know poeple bag them out ,but i dont know why ,I have owned many different brands but no where on the net did I read on using this machine in this way not even in the instructions.I merely whilst mucking around with it discovered it and went whoah ,because lets face it VLF machines dont really go that deep compared to pulse induction machines have thier dissadvantages aswell , but when I saw the increase in sensitivity it blew me away ,The next thing I had to try was how quick was the threshold recovery and it is remarkeably quick.im wrapt with it .If anybody owns one please try it and let us know your results

 

[John-Edmonton]

You are so right. Charles Garrett had stated many times in his books to always run the threshold so you can hear it. Thanks for sharing

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah proper threshold is the key on that machine. Thanks for posting the tip.
bill

 

[metalhead]

Thanks for the tip. I still have one of those CXIII in storage. I've only used it a few times since the GTI 2500 came out and became my primary machine. I think I'll dust it off, take it out for a spin and try out your tips. It is a very good machine. As I recall that big 12.5" coil goes DEEP and pinpoints on a dime! Thanks again. Happy Hunting!

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

I was wondering how you got on with the VCO. The reason I mentioned it, is that with the X-Terra, a screw cap will scream harder than a coin. The same happens on my XLT, particulary if I reduce the DC sensitivity to 23. Screw caps become real easy to tell from coins. Mind you, the XLT collect dust most of the time. I prefer the GTI.
Mick Evans.

 

[Micheal]

In all honesty i dont use the VCO to distinguish between different metals because there is no real difference in tone that I have noticed ....The way I use the machine is in NON motion ..all metal..VCO...with maximum threshold 10 or 12, depth at 10 or 12 depends on the ground ..tone at minimum..volume at 6 plugged into an external amplifier( reason for this it drains less power from the battery and is easier to hear and also the less battery drain seems to stabilise the machine better)..manual ground balance is at 12... ground track on and make sure you ground balance it by pressing down on the (nonmotion ) fast track button untill you hear the 2 beeps... and on the screen id between notch 2+ , 3 , 3+ is where the gold shows and it is pretty accurate with it ( unfortunaley alluminium pulltabs and other alluminium targets can appaer in this range aswell) ,and in all honesty thats what gets me excited, anywhere else on the display I dont really get excited and if it show a coin I will dig it, if not if it shows next to the bottlecap its fairly accurate and I wont dig it up anymore.this thing has taken me a long time to figure out like any cx3 owner will tell you (I have had it for 4 years ).The other thing I can tell you I never use the machine in any other mode for example in motion mode with different combinations for me its too impractible to use I dont know about others..And the other thing about the cx3 is if anyone that owns one will have noticed it it seems to do funny things like noises and tone lock ...I have discovered in my machine that it cuased by weak batteries and as the voltage drops funny things happen thats why I use an external amp so more power goes to the detector than the amp part of the machines internal,so I have made 3 nicad battery packs for mine using dewalt battery cells and I use my dewalt charger to charge it up(charge time is 1 hour max for each pack ) and she runs very sweetly(they say this is Charles Garretts favorite machine I wonder if it is true)...Finally the coil I have is the standard 21cm diameter deepseeker ...I would love to hear results from any of you with the large coils...Hope this helps guys

 

[Micheal]

there is a comparison review done on the cx3 versus XLT but not using it the way I have mentioned however you can learn a few things about the cx3 and the whites xlt at http://www.proscan.gliwice.pl/titans.htm

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

After reading the attachment, (long read) I can see why Charles prefered it. It sounds like a great unit.
It sounds like you like to find gold rings. Good luck with it and I look forward to seeing your finds.
Mick Evans.
P.S. I wasn't thinking when I wrote about the VCO. The VCO on the Garrett machines don't offer the same information as the ones I mentioned. I should have realised that before I wrote about it.