CTX WOW! :thumbup:

[Doctorcoinz]

Well after reading all about the new CTX 3030 from minelab i decided to purchase a nice new ctx (with a free 17 inch coil). Well to cut a long story short this detector is in my opinion truly amazing.
I have read the hype about many detectors over the last 20 odd years but this one really does live up to the hype. I always have used the explorers before buying this beast and i thought the explorers were super in every respect , i never thought anything could be better than an explorer but the CTX3030 has changed my mind. I am new to the ctx so i can't do a full review of this amazing detector but i will let you guys know what have found i like about the ctx. Well cosmetically the ctx looks very sexy , it feels pretty well balanced when swinging , i like the feel of the sweep over my explorer se pro , the ctx dont make my arm ache at all which is great. One other thing i like is that the ctx when laid on the floor does not turn over as easily as my explorer, it is much more stable on the ground , something as simple as this makes hunting that bit more enjoyable. I have done some coin shooting with the ctx and find the ctx hotter on nickel coins than my explorer , i am sure the ctx will prove to be a very good ring hunting machine , it seems to be more sensitive to nickels which means it's likely to be hotter on gold rings. I found the depth on coins at least as good as the explorer ,even better maybe . The ctx shines when in amongst the foil and other bits of trash / iron . I read that it is better in trash than earlier minelabs and in my opinion after using the ctx there is no doubt it really is great in trashy sites. The price of the ctx , well what can i say it's not cheap!. The parts seem very expensive too . I put a deposit down and am paying the rest over around 18 months on finance, this works out in relative terms at less than the price of 10 cigarettes a day, well worth it when you consider even after a few years use the second hand price will hold pretty high i am sure.I would say any one who is thinking of buying a ctx then don.t hesitate its a beast of a metal detector for sure.

 

[Roland58]

I agree with the "wow".........the CTX is one deep seeker. I pulled a Boy Scout pocket knife out of 12" of ground this evening.......it's a ball of rust, but, the scout symbol is still easily seen on the handle.

What I would like to know is why I am getting 12/43 signals that turn out to be Memorial pennies or dimes? I have only found one quarter (1965) so far, and it pin pointed about 6 inches off of the actual location. The depth reading was 11" and I couldn't even get a beep out of my Pro Pointer after getting down to 12 or 14 inches. Just out of luck, I happened to set my pointer close to the hole and it started chirping. I saw nothing with the CTX, just the deep 12/43 in the center of the hole I was digging. I knew the pin pointer had to be close, so, I pulled a small plug with my Lesche and there was my quarter. After removing this, the signal from the hole had gone using the CTX. It doesn't matter what program I am using (I haven't tried the salt beach yet), I still get the same results. There was not any iron in the area to affect the signal......I checked this by going to P2 which has almost everything in the accept range.
Is there something I am missing in he setup? I set the sensitivity about two numbers higher than the recommended and have used both the auto and manual Threshold with the same results.

If anyone knows something else I can try, please let me know! I would hate to think that I blew $2,500 on something that my Fisher F75 does just as well or better (well, it doesn't get the depth), but, it will put you right on the target every time and is very close on the depth. I have dug more pull tabs since getting the CTX......maybe one of them will turn out to be a gold ring!!!

 

[Altamaha]

I agree with the "wow".........the CTX is one deep seeker. I pulled a Boy Scout pocket knife out of 12" of ground this evening.......it's a ball of rust, but, the scout symbol is still easily seen on the handle.

What I would like to know is why I am getting 12/43 signals that turn out to be Memorial pennies or dimes? I have only found one quarter (1965) so far, and it pin pointed about 6 inches off of the actual location. The depth reading was 11" and I couldn't even get a beep out of my Pro Pointer after getting down to 12 or 14 inches. Just out of luck, I happened to set my pointer close to the hole and it started chirping. I saw nothing with the CTX, just the deep 12/43 in the center of the hole I was digging. I knew the pin pointer had to be close, so, I pulled a small plug with my Lesche and there was my quarter. After removing this, the signal from the hole had gone using the CTX. It doesn't matter what program I am using (I haven't tried the salt beach yet), I still get the same results. There was not any iron in the area to affect the signal......I checked this by going to P2 which has almost everything in the accept range.
Is there something I am missing in he setup? I set the sensitivity about two numbers higher than the recommended and have used both the auto and manual Threshold with the same results.

If anyone knows something else I can try, please let me know! I would hate to think that I blew $2,500 on something that my Fisher F75 does just as well or better (well, it doesn't get the depth), but, it will put you right on the target every time and is very close on the depth. I have dug more pull tabs since getting the CTX......maybe one of them will turn out to be a gold ring!!!

Roland;

The 12/43 seems about right to me for pennies and sometimes dimes depending on the soil/conditions; however I would expect a higher TID for quarters. As far as the pinpointing accuracy, we had a long discussion on here just last week about that. Like many metal detectors the CTX 3030 has a problem with accurately pinpointing coins on edge and at angles. I suspect that this might have been the situation with the quarter. Also, you didn't mention what method you were using to pinpoint (i.e. method suggested in the manual, wiggle, etc.) Check the thread a few pages back entitled "Having Some Trouble Pin Pointing", I think that was the title or something similar.

I too had this concern so I went out and did some pinpointing tests and confirmed for myself the pinpointing issue with coins on edge and at angles. I'm sure others will weigh in on this.

 

[Roland58]

Thank you for your excellent response, it made a lot of sense and I will try the things you mentioned, as well as going back through the other threads. This is a great learning forum for a newbie like me and I highly appreciate all of the information that has been posted by everyone!!

 

[Doctorcoinz]

I found this silver st christopher on my third hunt with the CTX 3030 this was found on a field i had hammered to death with explorers and other detectors. Depth was 4 to 5 inches. I was using the stock silver program.
The signal was sharp , precise and sweet , the ctx is good on silver , very good. This was with the 17 inch coil too , have no doubts about the 17 inch coil it really is very sensitive to small targets.

 

[coondog]

Just wanted to chine in on the pinpointing troubles.A Quarter is a very powerfully target when shallow, often sounding like two targets with more practice you will learn some tricks. Here is some I learned this summer. For a loud 12:46 lift your coil or turn sensitivity down till you get one signal I use only the Xing technique, pinpointing takes too long and usually locking on to other trash items. Once you have it Xed grab ppropointer and find it , usually 2" to one side. If nothing great it's deep maybe old , grab pistilprob turn ctx off so no interference try to locate with pistilprob, nothing? Great it's more than 3.5" deep. Dig a4" deep plug and try pistilprob again. It should now tell you witch way to dig with practice. Dig a 1.5" toward target then use propointer to finish the job. Be carefully now so you don't ruin your 150.00 dollar coin like I did.
I hated the pistolprob till I had to learn how to use it when my pointer went down. Now I go no where without it. It has saved so much time digging its hard to quantify. Same goes to the propointer over the garret, that extra half inch can save oodles of frustration.

Another tip, go ahead and try 17" in trashy areas, use high trash mode. You will be surprised at the ability of this machine to lock on to a deep coin target. Sometimes you may want to get some of the loud twist caps and Zink pennys out of the way in really good areas. I am pulling 8" coins out of extremely dry soil with the 17" , can't wait to get some rain to find even deeper coins.

If the ctx says it's got the strongest signal in a spot then other machines will say the same. The signal will not change location cause of a different machine. You will dig many deep holes that are 4" away from a shallow quarter before you learn to check with prob.s. first. But getting better at it is all part of the fun.

I'm no expert but this is what has helped me alot.

 

[Scharf19]

This seems to happen to me a lot as well.. I just got in from MD.. I get 12-42 to 12-43 about 6-7 inches, always think it's going to be something good.. nope old can

 

[Roland58]

This seems to happen to me a lot as well.. I just got in from MD.. I get 12-42 to 12-43 about 6-7 inches, always think it's going to be something good.. nope old can

The 12/42 and 12/43 readings have often been zincolns for me. The quarters have been coming in about 12/45. Yeah, I have dug more pull tabs and beaver tails since getting this machine (a little over a week ago), but, I have dug some really deep targets and very small targets. Today I had a strong 12/38 signal, I figured it was going to be a penny, but, it turned out to be a very tiny pewter key about 1/4" long, at the most. It was at 5" and I would never have found it without the ProPointer. My gold is out there waiting for me......I just know it.

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger on the deep cans ringing in at 12/43. My first clue is that the CTX will show it at, say, 4" to 6"......if you have to dig much deeper than what the machine says, you can almost depend on an aluminum can. The big targets will often show to be shallower than they actually are. I dug some 12/08's and 12/09's today, just knowing I was going for the gold.....nope, memorial pennies. You just don't know until you dig it.


Coondog has the right idea using the pin pointer before digging......some targets that show to be 4" to 8" may be just under the surface and the pin pointer will let you know.

 

[cahil_2]

I think the TID numbers are lower in ferrous coin and more like etrac numbers in high trash. Try it and see if you see a difference.