Anyone that has a Deus try the CTX 3030 yet... Any advice?

[fsuhunter]

I am looking to upgrade from my xterra 705. I was set on the XP Deus until I started hearing reports on the CTX 3030. Most of the hunting I do is in Denmark- farms with low mineralization and not too much iron as long as I am not too close to buildings. I am mainly interested in a detector that performs well in open fields, but also one that would allow me to detect closer to buildings in iron infested areas. All types of finds interest me- but coins are my favorite (followed by bronze relics). Foil and pull tabs are a constant headache for me and my xterra, but I guess that headache remains for both the XP and CTX (it would be a big selling point though if one was better than the other in this regard)? At the moment I am not too interested in beach/water hunting (this could change of course), but being rain proof is a plus. I have already saved enough to buy one or the other, so for this decision, money is not an issue for me.

So for those of you that have tried both, which one do you prefer and why? Given the conditions I hunt in and what I am looking for, any thoughts on which one I should go for?

 

[JBM]

The Deus has proved itself for 2.5 years.
Its super lightweight.
It Ideal for inland detecting.
It has an in built clock.
Its totally cordless
Its recovery speed is second to non.
That for starters and for a bonus in the UK the owners save

 

[Andy Sabisch]

The CTX 3030 utilizes the Minelab FBS circuitry (OK, now called FBS2) but one issue that the Explorer and E-Trac does suffer from to some degree is when hunting plowed fields . . . . the ground matrix being tilled and altered causes the circuit to lose soem of its performance. The Deus performs better under these conditions. If you have a friend that owns an Explorer or E-Trac, tru to borrow it for s spin on the sites you hunt and see what you get in terms of performance.

You don't mention if weight is / might be a factor or how long you hunt at a time . . . balanced or not, the CTX 3030 does weigh nearly 3 pounds more than the Deus - and even a bit more if you remove the control unit from the Desu and hip mount it or leave it off all together.

You mentioned you hunted coins - the problem is that foreign coins can and often do read much differently than the targets the US coin hunters are looking for . . . . where do the type of coins you are searching for tend to register on your 705? That may help us provide some input as where they register may tip the scales as well.

Hope this helps a tad

Andy Sabisch

 

[fsuhunter]

Game set and match.Jerry.

Good points! Would you say the recovery speed of the XP is a bigger advantage in iron than the CTXs target/pinpoint trace?

You don't mention if weight is / might be a factor or how long you hunt at a time . . . balanced or not, the CTX 3030 does weigh nearly 3 pounds more than the Deus - and even a bit more if you remove the control unit from the Desu and hip mount it or leave it off all together.

Yeah, weight is important to me, sometimes I hunt for 10 hours in a day with only short breaks. I read the weight on the CTX is a non-issue due to "perfect balance" (I even read on one forum that it feels as light as the XP)?

You mentioned you hunted coins - the problem is that foreign coins can and often do read much differently than the targets the US coin hunters are looking for . . . . where do the type of coins you are searching for tend to register on your 705? That may help us provide some input as where they register may tip the scales as well. Andy Sabisch

Using the 18.75 elliptical coil, silver coins ID between 18 and 22 for me, bronze relics around 6-12, copper coins in the 30s.Interesting point on the uneven plowing affecting the performance of the e-trac. One guy i detect with has an etrac and he always finds interesting relics in the plow fields, but not many coins (it seems to be the opposite for me).

Thanks for the replies! Still on the fence though. I want to like the XP more, but they are making a damn good case for ctx in the other forum.

 

[Andy Sabisch]

When you are talking a high-end detector, the deciding factors can often be subtle as they all offer performance and features that fit certain niches or applications just a little better than the compeition . . . . across the board, not sure the perfect all around detector has been built yet.

As far as your points . . . . . .

WEIGHT & BALANCE

The weight (or lack of it) and balance of the Deus is legendary and hunting with it from sun up to sun down has been one of the areas where users rave. Even with the control unit mounted on the shaft, it weighs just 2.2 pounds. The larger coil does throw the balance off a bit but the adapter piece from the UK solves that issue niceley.

The CTX 3030 is clearly better balanced than the Explorer and E-Trac FBS models but it does weigh 5.3 pounds with the stock coil. There's a saying that goes "What weighs more, 1 pound of lead or 1 pound of feathers?" and the answer is they both weigh the same. At the end of the day, you will still have been carrying around a 5.3 pound detector which may feel lighter than the E-Trac but is still heavier than the Deus.

IMPORTANCE OF SPECIFIC FEATURES

Look at the features both detectors have and make a list of them. Put a check next to those that you feel will be important and an X next to those that won't. Some may be "gimmicks" that will really not help you find more in the ground so leave them off the list unless you feel you really want them.

You mentioned that the water resistant feature on the CTX 3030 was not really important to you now but remember, the Deus is waterproof as well - by slipping the control unit in an iPod water case ($50 or less) and an antenna wire, you can actually do well shallow water hunting with the detector. It also allows one to hunt in the rain without fear of damaging the unit. I put the case in my pack when I go relic hunting so that if a storm comes up and I am a mile from the truck, I can keep hunting.

Without having extensive time with the CTX 3030 in iron infested sites, I can't comment on how the screen trails / trace function aids one in locating targets in close proximity to iron but not sure how many hunters want to search staring at the screen when they get into high trash. The E-Trac and Explorer do fine in these areas with 1) a smaller coil and 2) slowing way down to hear signals being hidden in the trash. If you go to the Explorer forum and look at some of the posts from Bryce Brown, you will see what one can and does find in iron with one of these FBS detectors.

I can say that I have extremely impressed with the Deus in iron and that has been echoed by users here as well as overseas for years. Before I can really render an opinion on any detector I like to have 50+ hours on the unit in a wide range of sites and using the Deus for many months I can give you that impression. But I have found a great many relics and coins with both my Explorer and E-Trac in sites most hunters ignore completely. Don't write off getting one of the other FBS detectors (and of course a copy of my book ) as they are by far not obselete and will still serve you well as well as having a wide range of coils and options readily available.

---

Forums are a great source of information but they are not gospels . . . . . weigh the information you obtain and use that as a factor in making your purcase decision. A detector that may be the "best thing ever built" in say Dallas, Texas might not serve your needs searching the fields in Denmark. Also consider how much run-time is out there yet . . . the CTX 3030 has generated a great deal of interest and buzz on the forums but it has only been in the hands of actual customers that had to pay for the unit themselves for a week or so now (released to the public on May 28th) . . . . unless you are in a rush to get one or the other, why not wait to see what the tone is a month from now. Is there a chance of trying either yourself first?

You may also want to post a question on the CTX 3030 forum asking specifically how it works in the areas you are searching and ask for details not just "it should be great for you" . . . has anyone used it in your application. Time in the field will be the true test of any new detector - posts from testers simply shows how it was used in a limited number of sites and as experienced hunters know, a site 50 miles away can be totally diferent in terms of how a detector performs.

Hope this helps

Andy Sabisch

 

[targets]

anyone can ramp up the CTX but few head to head or provable videos as yet to support its functions and mega price.

 

[E-TREC-Virginia]

I have the XP Deus and an E-Trac and I think I'll stick with these for a while and wait for some feedback from the CTX users. I usually do not buy a new detector the first year it's out so the bugs can be worked out. I know that Minelab had extensive field tests with some very experienced folks behind the wheel, but that does not compare to the number of new owners out in the field. I'll buy one next spring in the 2nd year of production and keep what I have now even when I buy the CTX. The Deus and E-Trac are to nice of machines to part with.

 

[MHirschmann]

I have both machines in question. Today I took the CTX to a park and all I could think about was wishing I had brought my Deus along. Although the recovery speed has been increased, it is nowhere near what the Deus has to offer. I know it takes time to get used to a new machine but I am a very seasoned user of the E-Trac/Explorers and I am not getting my head around the price I paid for the CTX versus its benefits over the E-Trac. Has it improved my find rate over the Deus, not even a little bit. I brought it to a site I have cleaned out with the Deus, hoping that all the new toys would be capable of finding something that I missed with the Deus. The results: came home with an empty pouch after 4 hours. My opinion: the CTX is worth the money to me simply because I wanted a waterproof E-Trac last year and now I have one. Do I think you will find more with the CTX than the Deus, answer is probably not. Hope this helps. HH -Marc

 

[Dr.Deus]

LOL nice Marc way to be honest and upfront. I as well plan on getting the waterproof E-Trac. Would be mainly for that use. Its very difficult to put together a list of things that are wrong with the Deus... HH

 

[toewarmers]

I have the deus and love it, easily swing for 8 hours + and it finds the goods. I dont care how balanced it is you couldn't do that much time with CTX without feeling the 2.4 kilograms.

I guess if the CTX was better, I have never tried it so maybe it is, one could use a swingy thingy..

 

[fsuhunter]

Thanks for the great post Andy!

 

[fsuhunter]

I have both machines in question. Today I took the CTX to a park and all I could think about was wishing I had brought my Deus along. Although the recovery speed has been increased, it is nowhere near what the Deus has to offer. I know it takes time to get used to a new machine but I am a very seasoned user of the E-Trac/Explorers and I am not getting my head around the price I paid for the CTX versus its benefits over the E-Trac. Has it improved my find rate over the Deus, not even a little bit. I brought it to a site I have cleaned out with the Deus, hoping that all the new toys would be capable of finding something that I missed with the Deus. The results: came home with an empty pouch after 4 hours. My opinion: the CTX is worth the money to me simply because I wanted a waterproof E-Trac last year and now I have one. Do I think you will find more with the CTX than the Deus, answer is probably not. Hope this helps. HH -Marc

Yes, this post helps. A lot! To be fair though, you can't find coins that aren't there...

 

[JBM]

When I walk my large dog Sam, he walks alongside my left knee and we are both free of restraints.

When I have him on a lead its rather like detecting with a machine on a bungee.

Not half the pleasure of feeling free and unencumbered,plus as a bonus with the Deus we have a truly cordless detector not half a job as with the CTX3030. Jerry.

 

[Diggin-it]

I have both machines in question. Today I took the CTX to a park and all I could think about was wishing I had brought my Deus along. Although the recovery speed has been increased, it is nowhere near what the Deus has to offer. I know it takes time to get used to a new machine but I am a very seasoned user of the E-Trac/Explorers and I am not getting my head around the price I paid for the CTX versus its benefits over the E-Trac. Has it improved my find rate over the Deus, not even a little bit. I brought it to a site I have cleaned out with the Deus, hoping that all the new toys would be capable of finding something that I missed with the Deus. The results: came home with an empty pouch after 4 hours. My opinion: the CTX is worth the money to me simply because I wanted a waterproof E-Trac last year and now I have one. Do I think you will find more with the CTX than the Deus, answer is probably not. Hope this helps. HH -Marc

Thanks Marc this is very helpful info. I don't own a E-Trac or Excalibur II, but was planning on buying an Excal II until I seen the new 3030. My question is, would you say it (3030) is as good in the water as an Excal II? A local dealer is telling me no...the Excal II is still the better machine for the water. The dealer also sells the Deus and it really looked impressive. My thought are now leaning toward buying a Deus and an Excal II instead of a CTX 3030. I might hold off on the Excal II and try the Deus in the water (I only wade most the time), but probably still end up getting an Excal II because they are tried and true proven in the water.

 

[MHirschmann]

Thanks guys, I didn't know if my speaking openly an honestly would be productive or would end up with me being beaten by others. Diggin-it, get the Excal, no question. There simply won't be a better water machine that comes out, period. Even if they say it is better, it won't be. The Excal has proven itself to me (and thousands of others) for many years. The Excal 2 1000 is simply the king of water machines. I would take an Excal and a Deus over a CTX any day. I have owned 5 Excaliburs and they are the only machines that pay themselves off within the first couple of weeks/months of owning them. My Excals have contributed to my income in ways that NO other machine ever has.

Once again, I am in no way knocking the CTX, it is a great machine for what it is (a waterproof E-Trac). If you were to take on the task of waterproofing an E-Trac, it would cost you more than what this machine costs, plain and simple. Any time it rained, I had to pack up my E-Trac and that sucked, now I can hunt in the rain, thats the benefit. Look at what others are finding with the CTX, no extra depth (not complaining just saying). The CTX definitely has its place, otherwise I and others wouldn't have one right now, but unless you NEED what it has to offer, you would be better off with the Excal and Deus in my opinion.

The CTX is no deeper than the E-Trac so that's not a selling point.

It has better recovery speed, but not nearly that of the Deus so thats not a selling point.

It is waterproof (given that the waterproof headphones are EVER released) but it is only waterproof to 10ft whereas the Excal is waterproof to 200ft.

It has target trace, great, but so far target trace has shown to be a neat gadget and has not netted me a single keeper over the Deus.

It has GPS, ok it has GPS, cool if you want/need it. As for ground-coin/ferrous-coin, didn't make much of a difference in the parks that I test detectors in, these functions didn't net me any keepers over the other settings.

Color screen: love it. I love color screens period. I loved the one on my V3i and I love the one on this one. I wish the Deus had one just because I like them that much. Great job on the color screen.

Lithium battery: love it. I'll take a lithium battery every time if I can, great job.

FBS2: what the heck is FBS2? What are the benefits of it as there doesn't seem to be much performance over the E-Trac.

It has wireless audio: awesome, love it and I love every second of it. Wireless is a must-have for me these days. I tasted the dark-side and I won't go back.

Balance: The balance is great, no, its fantastic actually. The E-Trac hurt my back but the balance of the CTX is awesome. Is it a featherweight Deus, NO, but it is much improved over the E-Trac, ZERO complaints about weight


Some/most of you are probably thinking, "geez, this guy hates the CTX" but you would be wrong. I like my CTX very much but I got what I wanted, a waterproof E-Trac (with some extra toys of course). The CTX will surely have it's place in the market and I think it was a VERY smart move on Minelab's part to roll out this machine, however, I do not expect it to find any more than my E-Trac found, which is what I am finding as I have brought it to every place that I hunted out with my E-Trac/Deus and haven't found anything that the aforementioned machines couldn't find. This is a great machine, but it will float in the market given the niche it falls in.

Let's see what the finds say over the coming months. Too bad most people with CTX's traded in their E-Trac's so we won't get a comparison to see if the E-Trac could have caught the finds that the CTX produces. From my testing, there isn't much that the CTX will catch that the E-Trac couldn't/wouldn't have.

Again, if it were my money, a Deus and an Excalibur 2 1000 is where its at, in my opinion. I own all the machines involved in this discussion, so its easy for me to say, but at this point it annoys me that I purposely leave my Deus at home when I land-hunt because I know I will want to switch to it at some point in the hunt.

Hope this helps,

Marc

 

[Dr.Deus]

but at this point it annoys me that I purposely leave my Deus at home when I land-hunt because I know I will want to switch to it at some point in the hunt.



Marc

LOL nice., i especially love this part. Its love... true love. HH

 

[Kevin@TKSales]

One thing I would add to the conversation is that the target trace on the CTX is a great function for those of us that have some hearing loss. I have both machines and the Deus is wicked fast on target separation but the CTX with target trace helps me determine when I have a good target. Both machines will be in my stable for a long time to come. As always it comes down to the specific needs of each person.

 

[Terry(Mi)]

Marc, thanks for the honest feedback, some of those options may suit you but others who are looking for "more", may have just been spared a little heartache.... of course it would be nice to run the CTX side-by-side with the Deus and compare signals with in a variety of locales.....you might just learn a little more about each machine and gain greater appreciation for one or both of them. Good luck, and thanks again for being up-front

 

[Gonehunting]

Going back to the E-trac and Deus.. I have hunted quite a bit with both and do well with both, But for the life of me, I can't get near the depth of the E-trac with the Deus... Even in my test garden I can't the Deus to get down to my deeper targets the E-trac has can hit.. I have been roaming the UK forums for several months getting settings, but I think the reason they get more depth is their soil has be plowed or rolled consistently... Mostly where I hunt the soil is compacted or "not tilled/plowed" or not disturbed. Now I do relic hunt in the woods with the Deus and it is really good in the woods cause most of the targets are shallow(less than 5 inches) It really is impressive in iron... But when I take it to town or old homeplaces, where the coins are sometimes deeper and the soil hasn't been disturbed, my Deus seems to miss most deeper targets, I said most, cause on rare occasion I do get one around 8 or 9, but most of the targets deeper than 7 inches I do not hear.. I can go back with the Trac and find the deeper targets.. So what I have been doing is using the Deus to recon a new yard and quickly check it for older targets, if it produces I come back with the Trac and clean it up...I have only had 6( 5 coins, one ring) instances the Trac missed something shallow that the Deus picked up, but multiple instances that the Deus missed something that the Trac found deeper... Don't get me wrong I love both machines and I hunt with both.. I think they complement each other... In my opinion if you want to quickly scour a yard and get most of the targets from the 6inch mark and up use the Deus, If you want to take your time and find every good(conductive signal, above iron) then the Trac would be better..
I now have the CTX.. Today was the first day I have really gotten to take it out to a yard that has been pounded to death, by both the Deus and Trac. I have found numerous targets with both... but I found several targets that I had missed.. 2 mercs 4 wheats, a metal picture, and a good for token from Drifton, Alabama.. the targets weren't real deep, between 5-8 inches.. The token, 1 dime, and 2 wheats were in the front yard that has been pounded by 3 different machines..2 tracs, 1 Deus... Im not even close to giving any kind of advice on it, just what I had found today, really made me think my decision wasn't a waste... I will say this, if the new Deus update adds about 3 to 4 inches of depth( in non disturbed soil), to the machine, It will be hard to put it down, at least for me.
The Dues air tests fine, it really can pick up signals at 7-12 inches, but in the soil no... The E-trac on the other hand, doesn't air test well but in the soil does better... I think that's why the Deus does better than the Trac in plowed soils.. and the Trac better in undisturbed soils. Just my opinion..GH

I have noticed that the Deus will sound off on Metal further away from the coil when it is on top of the ground like a shovel or post. I checked it today I put my relic shovel in the ground standing up. The Deus sounds off at 3 feet, the Trac(and ctx too) hit almost 1 1/2 feet, makes me wonder if the way the coil is wrapped, is off? like its not focused down as much as it is to the sides...

 

[mrwilburino]

Gonehunting- Just curious.......what settings have you tried for maximum depth from the Deus? Particularly in your test garden?