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im going crazy i think!!

M

MEV

New member
Hello guys, i have been making a lot of questions on youtube . friends, and other forums about ctx 3030 , like if is it a good detector, or if it is easy to use, or if it is overprice etc etc.....

50% tell me it is a very good detector , 50% that it is very hard to use, 50% tell me its overprice ........i have the money with me, im always one step to buy it but i back off cause the 50% negative stuff they tell me about this detector .......im going nuts really about this decision . :blink:....sorry for my english
 
Buy the CTX I promise you will not be disappointed
 
Hello Mev
Welcome to the forum for the CTX. We could go on and on telling you all the great things about the CTX. What are some of the negative you have heard besides it being a difficult machine? Honestly I think it would be a bit difficult to learn for someone that had never detected before but for someone with experience and with so many YouTube videos out there especially on this forum showing you how to use it properly it wouldn't be that difficult to get yourself started.
 
you'll go crazy if you don't do it !! :crazy:
but really, it's a fantastic machine and tho it seems confusing at first, you will figure it out pretty quickly especially with the help of the great peeps on this forum.
 
You won't regret it
 
The CTX's capabilities amaze me every time I take it out.
In my opinion, it's not hard to use (functionally) - it does take time to understand what it's telling you.
I wouldn't feel content running any other machine.
 
Got mine first part of June last year after using an Minelab se for 3 years.....First silver with the ctx was June 18 after getting used to the ctx....Since then 183 silver coins and a lot of wheats and Indians later can't image using anything else....The 3 years with the se brought me 70 silver coins......I have went out a lot more since getting the ctx because I'm finding deeper and older coins........Sure makes detecting a lot more fun..........Hope this helps.....................
 
MEV, what kind of hunting do you plan on doing? It does make a difference as not all detectors have the same strengths.

The FBS machines are great for coins, especially silver and other high conductors. Due to the low op freq they handle ground minerals and iron very well. The FBS machines also have accurate TID to greater depth than most VLF machines due to the unique way the received data is measured and processed. The TID is superior to most VLF displays due to the Fe-Co grid that provides far more intelligent information than the typical phase angle display used in other detectors. The CTX is better balanced, though heavier, than the E-Trac but has less felt weight due to the distribution of weight being further toward the end, which helps balance the detector. Thus, it is less tiring on the arm to use.

The drawback - the FBS machines do not register most small jewelry or thin rings. Again, this is due to the very low op freq - so if you are a beach hunter you might want to look elsewhere. The CTX is superior to the E-Trac at separating non-ferrous targets in a field of ferrous (iron) and will get a bit more depth (1/2 - 1") over the E-Trac. That is, where the E-Trac will null the CTX will still produce audio and TID - at least to a higher degree than the E-Trac.

As for depth, the FBS machines are in the top bracket. There are other machines that also go deep but they usually can't provide accurate ID beyond 5-6", so the FBS machines have the edge.

In my opinion, the CTX and E-Trac are extremely simple to operate. The settings are simple and rarely need changing once set. You get your various custom patterns and audio bins set (about 45 mins work) and you're all set for just about any kind of hunting. I fail to understand why people complain about how difficult it is - it is about fully automatic and the menu structure is intuitive. Compared to some White's models where every last thing is adjustable and you never can be sure if you've got the best setting the FBS machines are child's play.

I would look for a used CTX - they are out there at a good price. If you buy new the price is steep compared to some other great machines that are half the cost. So, you have to decide if you need the extra depth and the better TID. Many people do just fine with the AT-Gold/Pro, Omega, or some Tesoro models. It isn't like other machines pale drastically in comparison. Honestly, the difference in machine technology isn't that great and most reputable manufactures produce machines that are more than capable for coin hunting. With these you may miss a few deeper coins if it is displayed as ferrous when it was non-ferrous, and you pass it by. Or you may get a few more gold rings because the VLF machines hit hard on them whereas the FBS is weak.

In the end, you are not married to the machine. If you try it for 6 months and put over 100 hours into it, yet you aren't satisfied - sell it. You probably aren't going to lose much - especially if you bought used to start with. You really can't go wrong. If the FBS isn't your thing then sell and buy something else. Once you start comparing machines and see how close the field really is you wonder why you were fretting at all.
 
I bought mine from Bart at Big Boys hobbies He gave me a great deal! I had my v3i for about 3 years and did good with it but never really learned or liked having to adjust every setting for the first 15 minutes of hunting and getting a good ground balance for it to work right , the ctx is soo much easier to use as well as programing it is a snap, I sold my v3i and have been hunting with the ctx for about a month now and it gets better each time I go out, You will love it.
 
Hey just look at some of the finds made with this detector! I feel assured it is the best metal detector out, the price well again it is the best. I have found silver coins with rusty nails in the same hole. My honest answer to you is this,ask yourself these questions and answer them honestly: How much detecting do you do? What do you like to hunt for, old coins and relics or jewelry and clad or relics mostly? How many hours per week will you spend detecting? If you only casually hunt a couple hours a month and/or you only want clad or modern jewelry then the CTX is probably overkill for you. If you plan to dedicate several hours per week and are wanting to find old coins jewelry and relics then this is the detector you want. If your time is going to be more limited to only a couple hours a week then you may be happier with the AT Pro or Gold honestly. Those are great detectors and very user friendly and there is pretty much no learning curve. They do not have all the features of the CTX and they may have slightly less detection depth but they are very capable detectors. It all really depends on your amount of time you have and your willingness and ability to learn the CTX. It is not a super complicated detector, of course I had the Etrac before so it was a very easy transition for me, but it really is not that difficult. Good luck with your decision, whatever it may be.
 
Johnnyanglo said:
The drawback - the FBS machines do not register most small jewelry or thin rings. Again, this is due to the very low op freq - so if you are a beach hunter you might want to look elsewhere. The CTX is superior to the E-Trac at separating non-ferrous targets in a field of ferrous (iron) and will get a bit more depth (1/2 - 1") over the E-Trac. That is, where the E-Trac will null the CTX will still produce audio and TID - at least to a higher degree than the E-Trac.
Click to expand...

I am no expert here, but my findings say otherwise. In a month's time with the CTX, I have found some of the smallest and thinnest gold that I have ever seen. I found one gold chain that was hair thin and several very thin gold rings that weigh a gram or less. I have even found several small gold earring backs. If anything, my CTX loves very tiny gold targets to the point that some of them are very difficult to locate in the scooped out sand.

Before my CTX, I used an older model excal 100 for over four years. I never once found a gold chain with this machine.
 
When I bought mine I quickly became convinced Minelab should stop selling anymore and recall all but mine.
 
Well Mev, second post in I had asked you about the negatives that you had heard about the machine but you haven't responded? Granted you have heard a lot of great things about it as stated above by the other avid users on here but as I understand your original question it was the negatives that are holding you back.
 
Hey guys thanks for your response it really helps me a lot............some of you are telling me that if i am going to use only a couple of hours a month i should not buy it...........well let me tell you that right now i have a very good job but it will only be for 2 more years , i know that if don't buy it today , in 2 more years i will not have the money anymore , its a lifetime opportunity to me to buy this detector, i have an x terra 705 i love this machine buy i want a rolls royce ........what it is stopping me to buy it is that is overprice that i should by an etrac , that it is hard to use and that it is very erratic sometimes .................opss and one more thing one of the responses told me this ......Again, this is due to the very low op freq - so if you are a beach hunter you might want to look elsewhere......doesnt the ctx 3030 one of the best on the beach............is it true
and GKMan its not really negative things they told its only the over price, hard to use and erratic sometimes

Thanks
 
Well, no one here can say that it is a cheap machine. It sounds like you would be willing to put the time and effort into learning it since... As far as erratic goes.. I don't know why they would say that.
 
Just buy the Damn thing already :rant: now that's the truth.... I'm just playing you won't have a hard time selling it if you don t like it. Dude you have some heavy hitters on here telling you great stuff about this machine. What more do you need to hear, become a Ctx owner learn it then make the other jealous of your finds.
 
The thing with most all the higher end Minelabs is they do have a lot of info it is giving you and unless you spend the time to use it and understand it it can take you quite a while to really get to know it and do well with it. This is why some say if you are going to only use it a couple hours a month you may be better off with a different detector that just beeps and tell you to dig. With the higher end Minelabs they give you the info and let you decide if you want to dig and unless you use it and get to know it you wont understand what to dig when you get those iffy signal. The E-Trac to me is more stable than the CTX, but I am still learning on the CTX with less than 40 hours on it. I do know of one guy that had a E-Trac and got a CTX 3030 and after 2 weeks sold the 3030 and went back to his E-Trac because he understood it better and could do better with the E-Trac.
There is a wold of difference in the 705 you have and a E-Trac or a CTX 3030, so it will be a learning experience if you get a CTX 3030, so you have to have some patience and get out to use it to help understand it.

If you have the money and have the patience to learn this detector I would go for it and you should be happy with it.

Rick
 
MEV, find a used CTX-3030 and get a pinpointer and go to a nearby school, you'll do just fine.

However, if you are primarily a beach hunter there are other detectors more sensitive to small jewelry. The CTX is more sensitive than the E-Trac but no up to some others. But if you are an all-around hunter just get the CTX and learn it. By the way, the CTX (or E-Trac) is not erratic. It can be made erratic if you increase the sensitivity too much, which is true of any detector. Neither is the CTX hard to learn - it is rather simple, really. However, if you have a microwave with a flashing 12:00 because you can't figure out how to set it, there are other detectors that have few settings. But again, there aren't much fiddling with settings. Once you set up the detector you don't normally make large changes - it's set for most situations. I might switch Trash High to Low or load another pattern depending upon the circumstances - but a 5 yr old could do figure it out.
 
It comes down to how much you hunt. If you love to detect and do it all the time you will not find a better coin hunter out there. If you just want to do your yard to see if you like the hobby don't buy a CTX. The detector is a serious investment for the serious coin hunter. If you are going to do salt water beaches the CTX will work great, but other detectors can do it for less money. Beach hunting requires less bells and whistles. There are used ones coming up all the time in the forums.
 
The first thing you have to adk yourself is what kind of hunting are you going to do. If you are a coin a relic guy the answer is pretty simple. If you are a strictly gold guy then you may want a different machine. The CTX is the most advanced machine available today. It's build quality is excellent. The learning curve is a little steep, but if you dig this hobby you can learn it in a month or so.. This machine is no where as complicated as the MXT or DFX . I tried both and got rid of them. If I can learn this, and I'm no expert at it yet, then you can, cause I'm pretty lame when it comes to learning a new machine. I say go for it. What's 2 grand among friends. A set of golf clubs cost that much.
 
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