Ocean hunters using the 3030...... is it everything you were hoping it would be.....

[Mark ( ohio )]

so, for guys that have been able to put some serious time on the new unit.. has it turned out to be better then antisipated ocean hunting?? I seen a few gents from VA beach gave up early on with theres and went back to the excals.. I have to believe maybe not enough time was spent exploring all thats offered with the 3030..

Inland guys are just killing it with the new detector, and that where the majority of my hunting will be too, but when I hit the ocean for a few wks a yr taking just 1 detector istead of 2-3 will sure lighten the load..

Any thoughts before I depart with some hard earned green backs??

Mark ( ohio )

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

I have about 130 hours use in the wet sand knee deep water, in NJ To answer the question I can say yes. I never thought it was going to compete with the Excalibur, I don't think it was ment to. I believe it was sold as a water proof detector that can be use any wheres any time. The 3030 just can't seem to handle the minerals associated with the saltwater. It works well, but strickly for the beach there are alot of water proof detectors in the 600 dollar range that can compete with the 3030 thus far.I have 38 years under my belt detecting mostly surf. I will still hunt with it and see if it can prove to be compendent detector on the beach.This is not due to the items found but more the amount of items found per hunt. I still can go out and find 250 targets with th Excal. and hunt the next day and only find 80 with th 3030. Done this many times back to back and has followed the same patten. I also can't seem to dig more than one scoop for a target in depth.Many of the Excaliburs targets are a true 3 scoop dig.Now I might have a different answer in 6 months as the moe time I put in the more I learn.
IMHO BCNJ

 

[Mark ( ohio )]

Would I be correct in assuming that you've tried just about all the features and combinations stacked together that are available on the 3030??? One scoop retrieval on the sand isn't punching deep at all.. You are correct in saying 2-3 scoops with the excal ( also the sov, and explorer models ) are very do-able.... Could it be that you just haven't walked over the deeper digs yet?? Have you maybe done a side-by-side comparison with the excal and the 3030 to see if one sees it and the other doesn't ??

Sorry for so many questions, but this is big $$ to me.

Mark ( ohio )

 

[Larry (IL)]

This might not be much help for you in the surf but I just got back from taking the CTX on it's maiden fresh water hunt today and I was digging quarters past 12 inches that were loud and clear. The CTX was running smooth as silk, stock beach program Auto +3.

Have I mentioned how much I love this CTX?

 

[Diggin-it]

No..ran it against an Excal in freshwater and the Excal still trumps it...PERIOD!! As far as inland killing it...what on coins?? Pretty expensive coin hunter...definitely will not pay for itself. Do not buy this machine without testing it in the field first! I have one so I damn well better be allowed to throw my 2 cents in! Let the haters start their rant.......

For the record I am NOT a ML hater....just feel this model as been overhyped alot. PM Gravedigger to get his off the forum opinion of the machine in the ocean. This is just my opinion, for your hunting needs it may be the peferct detector. As always its best to try and test any machine first if possible.

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

Mark that is the issue at hand. This last month I have traded off betwen the two machine and hands down the Excalibur out hunted the 3030 in amount of target alone. I spend 30 hrs a week on the beach. I really think its beach dependented? No I have not tried even a sampling of the features.There are so many combo's I could get sick trying them. I have tried differnt things and I have settled on a few. Here's my big problem,the 3030 will not tell you what the target is by tone. You tell the 3030 what you want the tone to be and set it.You could use 50 tones and then you stand a chance of figuring out which tones are what. But after setting a nickel at a tone of your choice its that tone every time if its 12 inches deep or 1 inche deep. I have hunted 38 years and have become so use to working a deep ring out of the sand orthers pass up. To me thats hunting! I have yet to hear a target that sounded deep or I had to work to dig. Yes I see posted deep dirt finds of 12 inche's, thats great but to me 18 inches on a target is great. Hasn't happened. I did dig a sweet target with the Excalibur I don't thing the 3030 would have seen.Another hunter gridded that same area two different directions and missed it with an Excal.. I credit the Excalibur and my coil control on the find. It was the third scoop in solid wet sand.The 3030 is affected by the ocean and salt conditions. I will tell you I have dug coins and iron in the same scoop. But I do that with the GT and Excal. I still need more time on the machine.
BCNJ

 

[Uncle_Fester]

Ran mine over targets V's a Excal, Aussie beaches.
Beach Mode, Auto+3, hit and ID'd everything the Excal found, was able to tell what they were, where the Excal it was just a target.
One target a tiny 925 silver ear ring at about 4", I could call it as silver with the 3030, mate with Excal could only just pick it up and admitted he would no have herd it and would probably not have dug it if he did.

Please not these are Aussie beaches with light to mild mineralization.
Also have pulled plenty from 10" in wet sand, iron all around and through 2 distinct layers of black sand.
Cant fault the machine on my beaches.

 

[ronfin]

No..ran it against an Excal in freshwater and the Excal still trumps it...PERIOD!! As far as inland killing it...what on coins?? Pretty expensive coin hunter...definitely will not pay for itself. Do not buy this machine without testing it in the field first! I have one so I damn well better be allowed to throw my 2 cents in! Let the haters start their rant.......

For the record I am NOT a ML hater....just feel this model as been overhyped alot. PM Gravedigger to get his off the forum opinion of the machine in the ocean. This is just my opinion, for your hunting needs it may be the peferct detector. As always its best to try and test any machine first if possible.

Interesting take, because mine is completely different. Haven't hunted in sand yet, but on land this thing beats the ETRAC hands down in you name it. Coins? I've found more silver in pounded spots I worked for 6 months in two days than entire months. Gold? Hitting a gold ring in the exact spot I found a Barber dime that the ETRAC missed. You're entitled to your 2 cents. If you were experiencing what I have been while using the CTX over an ETRAC you might have to rethink your tance.

PS, my ETRAC paid for itself twice in 6 months, and at the rate I'm going with the CTX I'll give it less than that. Happy hunting! lol

 

[etracjoe]

Have to agree with Ronfin. If your looking for zincons and other modern coinage it will take allot of time to pay off this machine. I'm pretty sure the normal guy with his CTX is looking for older coinage in worked out spots that no other detector will find. Pretty worth it if you ask me. And besides I'm not looking to "pay off" my machine, at least not in dollar signs. For that matter it has already paid for itself the first day I used it with the enjoyment of being fortunate to swing such a fine piece of Minelab machinery. And as stated before, we don't think Minelab introduced the CTX to put the Excal on the back shelf. They both have their place. I ran the CTX this weekend on a Connecticut beach and worked just fine using 28 auto sensitivity and my gain was at 24. But I will tell you one thing for sure.......you will not beat the CTX on land with any other machine that I know of.

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

Have to agree with Ronfin. If your looking for zincons and other modern coinage it will take allot of time to pay off this machine. I'm pretty sure the normal guy with his CTX is looking for older coinage in worked out spots that no other detector will find. Pretty worth it if you ask me. And besides I'm not looking to "pay off" my machine, at least not in dollar signs. For that matter it has already paid for itself the first day I used it with the enjoyment of being fortunate to swing such a fine piece of Minelab machinery. And as stated before, we don't think Minelab introduced the CTX to put the Excal on the back shelf. They both have their place. I ran the CTX this weekend on a Connecticut beach and worked just fine using 28 auto sensitivity and my gain was at 24. But I will tell you one thing for sure.......you will not beat the CTX on land with any other machine that I know of.

That's amazing 28 sens 24 gain. I am lucky to see 18 sens and 19 gain without the machine going crazy in the ankle deep surf.As a matter of fact I can't get within 15 ft of wave action with the gain above 22.Most of the time the machine is reccomending 14 sens.All these numbers will vary from week to week as sand conditions change that quickly.Now the dry sand is way different than wet I can run everything higher.As far as paying for itself its well on its way The gold count is around 400 and the clad count is about 200 bucks so its just a matter of time.
BCNJ