First off I am not going to get one this year.The balance is good but the thing is just big. A friend of mine bought one and we have been comparing it against me and my Safari every time I was using it I felt like I should have a bomb squad near me or should be yelling at top of my lungs BOOM BABY smaller would be nice to hide a little from public.I will make this quick and as painless it is a better detector than Safari and Etrac.It digs a lot of iron and nails worse than Safari and Etrac but we only have used it 20 hours.Are you ready for this it is going to hurt,I know it did me.This is in dry Northern Illinois Soil at an old ball field with very little trash because I dug almost all of it.We found four coins that the Safari or Etrac could not find no matter what coil I put on no matter what direction I used at marked spot CTX indicated came in clear and whole time was reading good target at 10 inches. On all 4 targets.2 seated dimes,1 Barber,1 Silver Indian trade bead(super ouch).We tried 2 more spots that I had hunted hard CTX could not come up with a single coin.I still think Safari will get 95 percent of CTX can find put it hits harder on deeper coins.I have the money but the problem is do I really have that many spots to hunt.
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CTX3030
- Thread starter Prep1957
- Start date
But let's stop a moment and think about this: ok, so the CTX, which costs almost double what an E-Trac does and nearly three times the price of a Safari, found exactly four coins in a ball field the other two couldn't find.
Four coins. I mean, honestly, big deal. Are those four coins worth the cost of CTX?
Now I know what some are going to say: "It sure does if that coin was really valuable!"
Thanks, but IMO the odds of one of those coins being more valuable than the ones you could find are pretty puny.
The law of dimishing returns has to kick in at some point. And for me, four coins isn't such a spectacular result that Safari or E-Trac users ought to dumping their units to rush out and buy a CTX yet.
Not saying the CTX isn't a great unit, as I am sure it is, but unless you really need a waterproof unit, you have to decide for yourself if that additional cost is really worth it.
Four coins. I mean, honestly, big deal. Are those four coins worth the cost of CTX?
Now I know what some are going to say: "It sure does if that coin was really valuable!"
Thanks, but IMO the odds of one of those coins being more valuable than the ones you could find are pretty puny.
The law of dimishing returns has to kick in at some point. And for me, four coins isn't such a spectacular result that Safari or E-Trac users ought to dumping their units to rush out and buy a CTX yet.
Not saying the CTX isn't a great unit, as I am sure it is, but unless you really need a waterproof unit, you have to decide for yourself if that additional cost is really worth it.
The GPS feature would be of some use to me in the open large field of Illinois when I find something I like I would mark it and maybe get a larger picture of maybe old house was at and maybe see a pattern/direction of where farming operation might have relocated the items.Then it dawned on me I have no less than 3 GPS hand held units already I could have been doing this all along.I mark fishing and morel mushroom location already should have been marking old homesteads also.I have about 6 weeks of field hunting before farmers get crops in and out around here.If I was retired the CTX3030 would be purchased by me I could put it to good use.I hate knocking on doors to get permission to hunt anymore it really has to be good spot with high potential.I have had several people ask me to come to there house and we will split 50/50 I call this (Diggers TV Show Syndrome) half is better than nothing.I cannot believe Minelab is not smart enough to get any of there detectors to stop reading good on rusty nails.When I was trying to get Safari to read the deep targets was changing from one coil to another believe it or not the only coil that would even give faint whisper was Pro Coil I was a little surprised about that.I agree at this time the amount of coins being found is not worth purchase price but I have several hobbies if coin hunting was my only hobby I might think different or lived on a beach.
I have all three machines and feel truely blessed. The CTX 3030 is a multi-functional machine and a very good one. If you do not water hunt then that is a good reason not to get a CTX. But it will find coins and jewelery my Safari and E-Trac just does not see. Some are not because of depth but in my opinion just masked in trash they (Safari&E-Trac) cannot find. You do find more trash with the CTX 3030 but with a little practice the red splatter will help you get through it to find the good targets. The TID on deep targets is what I think ML really improved on. As far as price shop around and check with all the dealers here on the forum. You can save a couple of hundred dollars. What I don't understand is how my Safari and E-Trac has missed good targets at places I know my coils have been over and the CTX nails them. Could be me but I have been doing this for 30+ years. The CTX is not for everyone but if you get a chance to try one you will be impressed. If only it had a Sun-Ray probe. My E-Trac with the WOT is still BOSS HOG in the dry and wet sand. Anyone with a Safari or an E-Trac is for sure not handicapped when it comes detecting anywhere that is why I still have mine. Good luck and HH 