Menu
What's new
Find's Treasure Forums

Welcome to Find's Treasure Forums, Guests!

You are viewing this forums as a guest which limits you to read only status.

Only registered members may post stories, questions, classifieds, reply to other posts, contact other members using built in messaging and use many other features found on these forums.

Why not register and join us today? It's free! (We don't share your email addresses with anyone.) We keep email addresses of our users to protect them and others from bad people posting things they shouldn't.

Click here to register!

Need Support Help?

Cannot log in?, click here to have new password emailed to you

Changed email? Forgot to update your account with new email address? Need assistance with something else?, click here to go to Find's Support Form and fill out the form.

Does Anybody Actually Go Detecting With Their CTX 3030?

P

pspr

Member
Yeah, I'm kidding. (And I'm new here - Hi Folks) I know only a few have received their CTX 3030 already but how about some reports from those people? I haven't ordered yet and want to read about some first hand experiences and comparisons with the E-Trac.

I also want to know about the discrimination. Is it now possible to only find silver, rings and jewelry without digging a ton of trash? Let's hear the reviews and opinions! The only thing I enjoy better than hunting myself is reading about others experiences with their detectors. So, let's hear them. :happy:
 
:rofl: If there [size=large]WAS[/size] a detector that only found silver, rings and jewelry, it would sell for $50,000 or more and I bet they could not make them fast enough.

As far as posts, I look for a flood of them within two weeks, It takes time to get to know a new detector.
 
Check some of the other forums there are a few early reports trickling out . I expect there will be at least 3 or 4 in depth reports on this site after the long holiday weekend ends (maybe before) .
 
Had a short hunt, 95 degrees here and very dry. These are my two keepers, a chaufers badge from 1940 and a old pin. was at a spot that was hammered, didn't find a single coin, not even a newer one.
 
I have an etrac also...seemed more sensitive to smaller targets...target trace will take some time to get used to. Got some signals target trace showed single dot and iffy signal but nothing was there when I put it in pinpoint nothing. Think it is just random falses but will take time to get used to..
I need a lot more time to find out how good it really is, the pin I found was down six inches and nearly straight up and down, a good sign how sensitive it is. looking forward to f
Getting to know this detector and all it can do.

Joe
 
Targets will generally make a defined trail. If you see splatters, it usually indicates little bits of rust. I saw this around some of the old homesites I hunt, that have been tilled for the past 100 years. JMHO HH Randy
 
Yeah, they were like the far right,, figured if I couldn't get a pinpoint On it there wasnt anything there.

Looking forward to getting the waterproof headphones and trying it in the water.

Joe
 
Found 51 clad coins in two hours. Even found a quarter that was ten inches down. Funny thing about it was that my partner
had already found a dime in the same hole about 4 inches down but the quarter never showed on his MXT. The Target trace
is amazing as well as Pinpoint sizing. There is so much to learn but I look forward to every hunt. Once I learn the basics, I will then
start fiddling with the different settings,
 
n/t
 
I asked a similar question and got no responses, its just to early. I have decided to wait one month before I purchase one. There is bound to be some issues since its a new model...the AT-Pro comes to mind. I hope it is a very prosperous month of June for new 3030 owners and that they report back honestly on both the positives and negatives. I talked with the wife and got the ok to purchase one just before the 4th of July, providing the machine is not plagued with new model issues. It must perform very well with no leaks/issues in shallow water...thats the one area where it will make or break the decision to buy. The hope is to be able to reliably replace one of my AT-Pro's and a CZ-21. This is gonna be one LOOOONG month watching and waiting.
 
I'm wondering if there is any improvement with identifying pull tabs or is it about the same as the Etrac in that regard? The target trace feature showing masking iron is cool. The less trash I dig means more time I spend looking for the good stuff.
 
Initial impressions...

Better balance than the Etrac, Etrac is way heavier on the rear. Feels good in the hand. Color screen is so so. Glare is an issue. One of the problems I have with the Etrac is the pinpointing is not accurate, I always swung and walked in circles to pin point. The 3030 is no better, maybe even worse. Coils plugs from Etrac are not interchangeable with the 3030 plug but identical in every other way. I didn't get a coil cover with the 3030 but the cover from the Etrac fit the 3030. 2d target info is wonderful, I can tell by the size of the red blob weather it's a can or quarter. Target ID. Numbers are the same as Etrac. Menu system is slightly different but easy to get used to, exchange2 interface and program editing is easy to use and as far as I can tell necessary if you want to store custom programs. I don't like the headphone module not being waterproofed. And there is more assembly required on the 3030 than the Etrac. I would bet there are some warranty issues because the battery compartment seal was not installed or someone forgets to take the headphone module off before going into the water. I didn't think I would be a fan of the wireless headphones but I do like them. And once again the koss headphones provided by minelab are absolute crap. I have a pretty big head and there is no way these things would stay on in the field. oh and It's no deeper then the Etrac.
I took the 3030 right to a junky area that I found a barber quarter and mercury dime in last year. The Etrac would null out most of the time. The recovery time on the 3030 is noticeably faster almost as fast as my fisher f75. In just a few hours time I had a heart pendant that read like a nickel, maybe white gold...a buck in clad, a ford model A berring cap, a copper cigarette case, car key, and some unidentified brass pieces. The trash to finds ratio was much improved for this area. Bottom line... I like it...would I recommend it? If you have the cash, go ahead...consumer suggested retail price 1850.00...its a bit overpriced in my opinion. cant wait to get it in the water, but waterproof headphones are not availible yet...on backorder. and the jack is proprietary so there isnt another option...yet
 
Koss must provide those things for free to Minelab. :| Good feedback Watson. Is there as much falsing as the Etrac? I get quite a bit of tone one direction only to have it go quiet on the reverse pass. That would be a plus of the FBS2 if it helps. Any change in the swing speed you can get away with or about the same as the Etrac?
 
Hi All,
picked up ctx today, really impressed at build quality. Been out for 45mins and found 1, eddie 1st hammered and few vicky pennies.
found the balance great, which takes care of the weight. Just going to take time getting use to, screens and functions. The Edward 1st was around 7" down.
So well impressed, maybe lucky!!! maybe not. Will keep updating with any progress. First impression, wise investment.
 
Dwatson4 said:
Initial impressions...

Better balance than the Etrac, Etrac is way heavier on the rear. Feels good in the hand. Color screen is so so. Glare is an issue. One of the problems I have with the Etrac is the pinpointing is not accurate, I always swung and walked in circles to pin point. The 3030 is no better, maybe even worse. Coils plugs from Etrac are not interchangeable with the 3030 plug but identical in every other way. I didn't get a coil cover with the 3030 but the cover from the Etrac fit the 3030. 2d target info is wonderful, I can tell by the size of the red blob weather it's a can or quarter. Target ID. Numbers are the same as Etrac. Menu system is slightly different but easy to get used to, exchange2 interface and program editing is easy to use and as far as I can tell necessary if you want to store custom programs. I don't like the headphone module not being waterproofed. And there is more assembly required on the 3030 than the Etrac. I would bet there are some warranty issues because the battery compartment seal was not installed or someone forgets to take the headphone module off before going into the water. I didn't think I would be a fan of the wireless headphones but I do like them. And once again the koss headphones provided by minelab are absolute crap. I have a pretty big head and there is no way these things would stay on in the field. oh and It's no deeper then the Etrac.
I took the 3030 right to a junky area that I found a barber quarter and mercury dime in last year. The Etrac would null out most of the time. The recovery time on the 3030 is noticeably faster almost as fast as my fisher f75. In just a few hours time I had a heart pendant that read like a nickel, maybe white gold...a buck in clad, a ford model A berring cap, a copper cigarette case, car key, and some unidentified brass pieces. The trash to finds ratio was much improved for this area. Bottom line... I like it...would I recommend it? If you have the cash, go ahead...consumer suggested retail price 1850.00...its a bit overpriced in my opinion. cant wait to get it in the water, but waterproof headphones are not availible yet...on backorder. and the jack is proprietary so there isnt another option...yet
Click to expand...

Thanks for the honest review. The only thing I didn't expect to hear was about poor pinpointing and a little on the glare. Regarding glare, don't get a Zagg unless it is the one to specifically reduce glare. Get a nice cell phone glare reducer. I had one on my V3i and it helped a ton. IT was sort of thick with ridges on it and didn't distort the screen (as I heard the zagg anti-glare model does, at least according to iphone users).

The E-Trac wasn't great at pinpointing but not bad either. Hopefully there is just an adjustment. Would like to see it work better with sizing.

The improved separation is huge imo. Nice to hear they were able to get FBS(2) to be fast. Nice to hear the balance is spot on, been hearing that from everyone.

Thx,
Albert
 
Thanks for the report the only thing I am stumped about is the etrac pin pointing. I have had three different ones and they all pin pointed very accurately. I am looking foward to getting my CTX that is on order.
 
I have never had an issue with my E-Trac pinpointing, it has been right on.

BCOOP
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top