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CTX and Excal questions

G

garyflal

Member
Asked these questions yesterday on the 'beach, water, dive forum' but no replies with 103 views. Any experiences with either or both detectors would really help. Thanks

Another hunter here deciding between the CTX & Excal. I've read many of the pros and cons on both. Understand that the type of saltwater beach/water hunting I'll be doing is probably the biggest consideration since the CTX wasn't designed as an underwater detector. A few of questions I haven't seen are;

-Which one has a faster response, ie, which one can be swung faster in both all metal and disc while wet sanding? By faster, I mean faster within reason.
-Will either or both have falsing in the wet sand in the disc mode with higher or highest sensitivity?
-How accurate is the vid on the CTX with zinc pennies, both new and corroded? Basically the same question for the Excal though I guess it depends on how well I could differentiate tones that sound very similar. The zincs are really annoying with my CZ20. I've used an Explorer II for 8 years as my primary land detector.
 
That's because you are asking a very difficult question. Most people don't have both detectors to compare. For surf and beach hunting you have to decide what kind of detecting you are going to do. Is it a combination of turf and surf, or surf only. Beach only, you should go with the excal mainly beach it was designed for that environment. the CTX handles the beach great but it's NOT waterproof like the excal is. You don't need a VDI for beach hunting. Al you should be avoiding is iron.

As for swing speed, you have been listening to people who know WTF they are talking about. You can whip either coil like a weed-whacker and hit targets just great (speed wise, not parabola arc swing). You need to slow down when you are in heavy trash, but that doesn't mean that is the only way to swing these coils.

If you are determined to avoid zincs, then the CTX has an unbelievably better discrimination than the Excal.
 
With my CTX most of the rings I've found never sounded like pennies - they were recent drops and blew my ears off.
Thin and deeper silver rings still came up more in the silver area. Questionable stuff makes you dig but most of the rings I found you'd find with most detectors.
 
While wet sand hunting in disc and with the sensitivity set to max level, will you get false signals with your CTX, or do you hunt in all metal, then disc the target?
 
I asked about swing speed because I've always heard that the Excal like the Explorer required and slower sweep speed in disc to be effective. This would only matter while wet sand hunting. Most if not all the beaches along the lower east coast of FL usually have very little trash in the wet sand because of the wave action. I have a quick-trigger on my CZ20 so I'm able to run with max sensitivity in all metal, which allows a much quicker sweep speed without falsing. In reality I really have only one choice because I do enter the water a lot while I'm at the beach. Though the tones on the CTX are different than my Explorer, they seem closer to what I'm use to. The Excal will definitely require some getting use to.
 
I don't think you understand the disc principle used on FBS detectors. they are NOT a linear-scale elimination like 99% of other detectors. linear scale (knobs) disc also affect depth the higher you set it. FBS doesnt do that. The excal is a very different detector from the FBS but both are great on the beach.

Running at "max sens" is meaningless. A horrible detector with no real power can run full max sens. The most sensitive VLF will be useless on a salt beach. FBS and BBS are great at ignoring the conductive salts. You're really trying to compare apples and broccoli here.
 
I had both for a while and ended up selling my excal. My CTX has been great and pretty much problem free. I submerge it in salt water, use it on the beach , in parks and relic hunt with it. It's great for deep silver.Pretty fast recovery speed although not as fast as some. A very good all round machine. Some people have had problems with theirs, I guess I've been lucky for once. Both are very good machines, the CTX just gives you much more info.
 
Jason said:
The excal is a very different detector from the FBS but both are great on the beach.
Click to expand...

Yep. I have both. When I know I am going to dunk my detector in salt water that day, I take my Excal. If not, its no contest: I love my CTX.
Mine has never given my any problem + I have the o-ring upgrade, it just that I am just paranoid about putting that much money underwater. Hell, I worry about the Excal even!

Been away a few days, but I did reply on the other subforum. I also want to add that you need to slow down regardless of which machine you are using to find more at the beach. Speed kills out there. Totally different hunting than parks/etc.
 
garyflal said:
While wet sand hunting in disc and with the sensitivity set to max level, will you get false signals with your CTX, or do you hunt in all metal, then disc the target?
Click to expand...

It depends on the target conditions. Right now not many targets, lots of aluminum, a few bottlecaps and hairpins. I run wide open and just don't dig the iron. A year ago I found so many pennies I masked them out. I don't really know what a false signal is but I do dig a lot of pennies but now not enough to mask them.
 
I own an Excalibur 10", Excalibur 8" and the CTX with the stock coil which I use on dry sand and wet sand but I use the 6" coil when diving with the CTX... the CTX can definitely be swung faster than the excals... the CTX vid does OK in picking up the pennies but if it is deep then you will most likely not get a good vid but the tone will be there... if you do the waterproof mods to the CTX and modify waterproof headphones to be loud enough to hear under water then you will not want to use any other detector... my excals are collecting dust.
 
Thanks guys, just the type of info I was looking for.

bkelin, falsing to me means that your hearing ghosts signals. Signals from targets that don't exist.

Jason, nothing new here, but the CZ20 was a dual frequency detector designed primarily for use in a saltwater environment. Even so, I have never been able to raise the sens more than half power while wet sand hunting in disc mode without it falsing. That is why I hunt in all-metal or 'auto tune' at full sens without it falsing or chattering. The higher the sens the greater the depth in 'auto tune'. I know of no single frequency detector that can do the same without falsing or chattering. The few times I wet sanded with the Explorer, it falsed and chattered some now matter where the sens was set. That's usually not the case while land hunting with it.
 
I have hunted the CTX in the dry sand, wet sand, and in the surf. I had zero issues with falsing.
 
Yeah I get some targets that jump around in ID but no ghosts. Some targets come in as good but as I dig down to them they get lower to the point they become something I wouldn't have dug in the first place. Others bounce from iron to copper range. These could be bottlecaps or something else - but nothing good.
One thing I have to warn you about is the CTX finds 1/8" aluminum nuggets over a foot down. Sometimes instead of aluminum it will be a piece of jewelry like an earring or 1/3 of a ring. I found a piece like this yesterday - a cool amethyst stone and two diamonds. I may be able to use the diamonds for a ring I found that was missing a couple.
 
Have owned and hunted extensively with explorer II & excal II with 10" coil and now with the CTX. Excal is great but I never could pin point accurately with it which is not a big deal when you are excavating with a large scoop as is the case in most beach/water settings but if you ever need to pinpoint dig the excal will provide a challenge in my humble opinion.

For all around versatility I believe the CTX is A great machine. If I'm not diving I favor the CTX.
 
I own both, have hunted in a variety of environments with both including scuba diving to depths around 20 feet. I prefer the CTX because it has a much faster recovery speed in trashy areas which I find a lot in the fresh water lakes I dive in. I have one spot in particular that is littered with bobby pins, the Excal was nulling so much I began to hunt in all metal which slowed me way down. I went over the same spot with the CTX and I began finding items previously masked or mixed in with trash but I was able to pull them out, I then went with the 6" coil and my finds went up again.
On the beach in the sand same thing, the Excal almost has to be used in all metal or it is nulling too much to do much good. The CTX again with its faster recovery will smoke the Excal in almost all situations, depth, recovery speed, and you have the luxury of target ID which saves me from pesky pull tabs that ring up at 12-17 almost every time. The Excal gives you a smooth solid hit on pull tabs. I am sure I have missed a ring or two but I feel I am not wasting my time digging pull tabs which is a trade off I am willing to take.
I do prefer my Excal in salt water settings, I have yet to try my CTX in that arena so I cannot give you honest feedback.
Finally, do not trust your CTX even wading with the stock battery seal because mine leaked while wading in less than five feet, I did the battery seal upgrade by Frogman, now I can dive comfortably down to depths of at least twenty feet, keep the battery seal laboratory clean or it will still leak-Be Careful!!!
Hope this helps, HH

UWMM
 
Heres my opinion... I Have both machines. Excal for water and beach, ctx for dirt. Very simple. You cant beat the excal on the beach, especially if you have trained your ears for the signature sounds. Goes deeeeeeep too!
 
Maybe I can help out. I have a CTX and an Excal 1000 that I routinely swap back and forth at the beach. In my honest opinion, the Excal can sweep faster and it responds faster. I'll give you a great example of how I realized that the excal can win at certain times. I was hunting a super hot spot in la jolla a few months ago. The king tides wiped out the beach down to the rocks and super goopy clay and tar. I found one ring with the ctx out in the water.. Cool... In the goopy clay and rocks others were finding very VERY old walking liberties, gold spoon rings, mercs, and a variety of late 1800-early 1900 stuff. My ctx wasn't.. They were hunting with Sovereigns and excals. Mind you I mostly hunt the ctx with the 17".. My excal has a 15 WOT and I can also swap on the stock coil. I came back the next day with the 15 wot and the excal. I was finding coins... The next day I came with the stock and the excal because It was very rocky. Found equal to the 15. Next day I came back with the ctx and the 11". Found stuff still, but I just felt the excal does better for really deep faints. I love listen to threshold breaks and faints. Its just easier.
The CTX in my opinion is more of a "You got a hit STUPID" or no, theres nothing for you.. Not to much guess work. The excal gets you the change to really listen for faints.... That's must my 2 cents.
 
I forgot to mention that there is one significant thing that I love about the CTX that can't be compared to with the Excal. The excal is a penny whore. With the CTX I can see that it's a 12.36 or 12.37 and decide if I want to walk away. If it's a slow day at the beach and it's not saturated w/pennies I'll dig em, but if I come onto an area that is just peppered with foil and pennies, I walk right through it. That alone is priceless. With the Excal I end up digging 20x more pennies than w/the CTX. Am I missing gold by doing so? Maybe.. The odds of a 24k fat ring vs a penny? SLIM to NILL.

I LOVE seeing a 12 anything, but a 12.02 to a 12.30 is what I'm after. I'll dig the 12.40 and 12.45 clad but at least they aren't pennies.
 
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