Is the ctx3030 as good as you thought it would be?

[Buried Crap NJ]

I think if you lower the volume gain even further you will get the lower volume on deeper targets. You might try it next time you come across a target that is deep.

Thanks i'll give it a try

 

[C&RHunter]

Screen Quality - For a color screen it is subpar in my opinion. Had I not had a V3i I might not say that. (The V3i is how many years old now and the CTX's color screen, though it clearly has more pixels, is just kind of blah.) Sort of sad considering the cost of the machine. (Now, if the sun is just coming up or about down it looks pretty good). If they could add some contrast and more vibrant colors I will change my opinion. But the colors and contrast is sort of flat - Just look at most of my videos. I mean, there IS NOT a contrast adjustment - that is weird. It's a bit hard to see where your disc pattern is at times as it is sooo faint. (Depends on outdoor conditions though.) I switch between patterns fairly often and sometimes am in the wrong one as one is minimal and the other open (when sun or the like is out it is easy to do). The VID numbers mostly cover the clock and if you run hot (like I do), the clock is almost always covered - hope they allow us to move something in an update.

Earthmansurfer, Have you tried different backlight settings, for "contrast" adjustment? I have finally set mine 7 for an average setting. At the very first, I didn't even have the backilight on, until I got in the shade and could barely read the screen. In the sunlight it seemed fine to me. So now, I set the backlight to an acceptable setting for shaded areas, in order to be able to read the screen in low light conditions.

I hold low on the handle, so the pinpoint button seems high to me as well. I guess I should try holding high on the handle and see how that woks. I would guess a persons hand size and grip location on the handle, may dictate weather the button seems to high or not. Next time out, I guess I'll try a high hold on the handle. By hold, I mean a very light grip, basically with two fingers actually doing the "holding", the others just keeping the machine stable. I found if I grip too tightly, my hand and arm get tired much quicker.......

 

[earthmansurfer]

C&R Hunter - Thanks for the ideas. I played with the backlight setting when I first got the CTX and found 10 to be best. But, to be honest, I haven't touched it again but promise to do so now, in light of your comments.

I carry the machine mostly using just a few fingers and it is mostly effortless in the hands (agreed, you don't want to grip it hard). I generally have no problem with the button, only if my "grip" ends up being a bit low on the handle - as you said. What I found early on, if you have a problem getting the pinpoint button in, is just to use your thumb on the lower left corner of a faceplate as a lever of sort. Works fine but not I don't find it necessary.

Albert

 

[mcb613]

No, I am using it and find myself trying to apply Etrac methodology. I think the key is using the different separation modes properly. I did sell the Etrac, so for now I'm moving forward, but not as well as I thought. Found only 3 silvers in the first 5 weeks. None of which were from my personally pounded sites that the Etrac excelled on. If your thinking of moving up from the Etrac, I wouldn't suggest it. Just my early opinion.

 

[Old California]

The CTX has met and exceeded my explanations for water hunting, both fresh and California west coast.

It's a joy to use for fresh water hunting, and now with the 6" coil love how easily it glides through the water especially detecting in neck level water.

Salt water, it fares the same in ocean surf as my waterproof Sovereign does. Some wave interferance but so does my Sov, After lowering the sens on both the CTX & waterproof Sov the interference was eliminated. That was important to me, heard allot of CTX users experiencing wave fasling so I was glad both Sov and CTX fared the same here at central Calif coast in the waves.

No issues in open ocean wet sand, ran near or full sens.

Paul (Ca)

 

[ronfin]

Since tweaking my settings a bit I've noticed the CTX is finding deeper coins in areas I had pounded with my ETRAC, and those once iffy "trashy" targets on the ETRAC are now solid stable numbers on the CTX. When I first took it out I wasn't impressed, but then I didn't know the machine yet and was trying to use it like the ETRAC which was a mistake. It's not an ETRAC and it needs to be learned like any MD you get. So once I was confident in the CTX's abilities I ran it over some of my once producing spots, and in 3 days I pulled 14 silver dimes, 1 silver ring, 1 Large cent (my first), 1 gold ring (my first), and numerous Wheat pennies, most of which were deeper targets than I was used to finding in this heavy trash area, so I can say without hesitation that the CTX is a better machine than the ETRAC and not be biased. I owned both, and have worked the same patches of dirt with both, and the CTX goes deeper better because of it's faster processor, and stable target numbers.

 

[earthmansurfer]

C&R Hunter - Thanks for the ideas. I played with the backlight setting when I first got the CTX and found 10 to be best. But, to be honest, I haven't touched it again but promise to do so now, in light of your comments.

I carry the machine mostly using just a few fingers and it is mostly effortless in the hands (agreed, you don't want to grip it hard). I generally have no problem with the button, only if my "grip" ends up being a bit low on the handle - as you said. What I found early on, if you have a problem getting the pinpoint button in, is just to use your thumb on the lower left corner of a faceplate as a lever of sort. Works fine but not I don't find it necessary.

Albert

C&R Hunter - Well, for whatever reason, you were right! I played around with the backlight in the morning on a few hour hunt and 7 was better than 10. It did seem to adjust the contrast in a round about way. My apologies to Minelab (almost, I'd still like some more direct contrast). I tried 6 as well and for some reason 7 was a bit better. Thanks for the suggestion, I got to avoid more bad habits like that. (Hey, I even tried low trash on some deeper targets I found today - it was bouncy, won't do that again, but I can say I tried ;-)

Albert

 

[wildherre]

The good
The ergonomics are great.. For such a heavy machine you can swing it forever with out wearing on your arm..
The ferrous coin and ground coin modes have both showed there worth to me.. It will find more stuff than previous FBS machines..
Much faster recovery speed
Its waterproof
The GPS , geohunts & find points are great features for those that take the time to use them.
Update-able.... has proved to be a big asset already...

The not so good
Still not real completely sold on the WM10 module, though it works well electronically, a nice set headphones with the module built in would be less cumbersome, and for just the module with no headphones its pretty expensive...
I would like to have a 1 step toggle button to switch from manual to auto sens like on the Etrac....seems like a step backwards here..
The screen is a big improvement but .is not as viewable or as impressive as the Vision/V3.
The Pin Point button could be better designed.. not nearly as comfy as on the Whites.. I would almost rather have the old Explorer/Etrac type button
CTX lacks fully assignable tones . Why would you go half way on such an awesome feature?
The new PRO-FIND 25 pinpointer does not work wirelessly with the WM10 module..What on earth were they thinking?? With all of the X-1 users out there that want a deep pin-pointer with sound to their headphones, Minelab really missed the mark here...
Car charger.. You have to take whole bushel basket full of stuff to charge your battery in your car..The old FBS charger could be tucked away anywhere..The CTX battery does last along time though..
The Xchange 2 software works but is not very intuitive and Im guessing a large number of users will never take the time to learn how to use it beyond doing the updates

The headphone compatibility issue.. Was there going to be a fix via software update???..Minelab waited way, way to long to explain the situation.. Minelab knew their customers wanted and answer but the information had to be dragged out of them. Minelab needs a spokesman for situations like that....

All in all, its as good as I expected, but not as good as it could have been or could be... Its still the best coin detector I have ever used ....wildherre

 

[C&RHunter]

The not so good
CTX lacks fully assignable tones . Why would you go half way on such an awesome feature?

The Xchange 2 software works but is not very intuitive and Im guessing a large number of users will never take the time to learn how to use it beyond doing the updates

Your personal assessment of the CTX is appreciated...Can you elaborate more on what you mean on the two quotes above from your assessment? ...I like the ability to change tones for the different bins provided in the Tone ID Profile. I personally would like to have a couple of more bins in the CO range, but that might be a programmers nightmare. I don't know, since I'm not a programmer.
I thought the XC2 application was very good, with the ability to create/modify programs etc., view Finds/GeoHunts on google map etc. Also the ability to save to the computer for safety, or put in a Collection for easy access in the XC2 app. Those are just my personal likes.....Everybody has different views/likes, and that is understandable..........HH

 

[jimzilla]

The CTX by far is the best machine out there. I am not a beach hunter so I am only talking about land. The CTX is awesome in target separation, and easily gets thoe older coins. I have read several posts regarding difficulty pinpointing, but I have yet to see it. I can pinpoint a target so easily to where I can literally dig a hole the diameter of the coin and it will be right at the bottom. Maybe some users arent spending enough time with the machine to fully get to know it.

 

[mcb613]

Pkug the size of a coin? You must be talking about a 10,000 silver bulliojh Peso... 3"'s. He He

 

[ramer]

What's a person to believe anymore? Previous to the 3030, the etracs, explorers, etc, were said to be the best. After purchasing the 3030, owners of the etracs and explorers are complaining that they were too heavy, were arm busters, too awkward, too slow.. They missed targets at 3 or 4 inches that the 3030 easily found. Previously hunted out areas by the etracs suddently came back to life using the 3030.
So apparently the etracs/explorers were not that great after all (missing all those targets at 3 inches). I wonder how many people purchased those detectors based on the poster's claims?
Myself, I don't get wraped up in all the hype, especially coming from brand loyalists. If this post upsets some people, well, that's what I think.

 

[MXTerer]

n/t

 

[sube]

Good one MXTerer Those targets could have been missed with any detector mabe the ctx is just that good who knows.

 

[Larry (IL)]

It is good that you don't get wrapped up in hype but little of what you read on here is hype but the voice of experience, ramer. The day of the brand loyalists is pretty much gone as well, as many of us are multi-brand owner/users. You can be a sideline naysayer or you can try a CTX and draw your own conclusions as most of us has.

 

[ronfin]

What's a person to believe anymore? Previous to the 3030, the etracs, explorers, etc, were said to be the best. After purchasing the 3030, owners of the etracs and explorers are complaining that they were too heavy, were arm busters, too awkward, too slow.. They missed targets at 3 or 4 inches that the 3030 easily found. Previously hunted out areas by the etracs suddently came back to life using the 3030.
So apparently the etracs/explorers were not that great after all (missing all those targets at 3 inches). I wonder how many people purchased those detectors based on the poster's claims?
Myself, I don't get wraped up in all the hype, especially coming from brand loyalists. If this post upsets some people, well, that's what I think.

3 inches? Try 10". I'm finding dimes at 9-10" in a trashy area where I never heard them with the ETRAC. It's not hype, but reality. I loved the ETRAC, but the CTX is a better machine.

 

[Gonehunting]

What's a person to believe anymore? Previous to the 3030, the etracs, explorers, etc, were said to be the best. After purchasing the 3030, owners of the etracs and explorers are complaining that they were too heavy, were arm busters, too awkward, too slow.. They missed targets at 3 or 4 inches that the 3030 easily found. Previously hunted out areas by the etracs suddently came back to life using the 3030.
So apparently the etracs/explorers were not that great after all (missing all those targets at 3 inches). I wonder how many people purchased those detectors based on the poster's claims?
Myself, I don't get wraped up in all the hype, especially coming from brand loyalists. If this post upsets some people, well, that's what I think.

3 inches? Try 10". I'm finding dimes at 9-10" in a trashy area where I never heard them with the ETRAC. It's not hype, but reality. I loved the ETRAC, but the CTX is a better machine.

I definitely agree. There is a lot of experienced Trac'rs now that sure have been finding some really great finds with the Ctx. Just like the Trac did (and still does) when it first came out. Hype I don't think so. What it is, is another great machine by a company that has again stepped up and smacked another home run...

 

[HaroldILL.]

I tried one and found a couple silvers and wheat cent 9'' with it in a hunted out spot. The only problem I had was even though it is balanced good for a machine of it's weight,For my bad shoulder it was just too much. Let me say with the E-trac I used the x-8 Sunray coil 80% of the time. But even with the pro coil for me the E-trac was just easier to swing. I guess every arm is different. Also I missed the Minelab silver warble that the E-trac\ Explorer's have. So I sold the CTX 3030 and got another E-trac. But like I said it had nothing to do with the performance of the detector just my arm shoulder issue and missing that sweet silver warble I'm addicted to!