Will I be wasting my money?

[ArnieTX]

I'm a relic hunter 99% of the time. I stomp around the brush down here in S. Texas looking for old military camps and old pioneer homesteads. I run into pockets of heavy iron, square nails, and lots of period junk. I currently use an XP Deus with the 9" coil and it's really good at picking out the non-ferrous items mixed in the junk. Sometimes I'm hunting very slowly with reactivity settings at 4 and 5. This machine really does well.

But I want a CTX. I sold my Etrac because it was gathering dust. I like the thought of using the GPS on the CTX to plot where I hunt and help me develop patterns based on find locations. I like the waterproof feature because there is a river down the road I can water hunt for jewelry. I figure I can use the CTX to locate camps and then clean them out with the Deus. Or maybe the CTX will clean them out before the Deus is put in play.

Anyway, for you relic hunters who have both, do you find value in the CTX versus the Deus? Or would my money be better spent somewhere else?

Thanks for your input.

 

[mrwilburino]

I've got time on both machines. I'm not a relic hunter but I do use the deus for coin hunting at old urban house sites that are infested with nails. There are a lot of things that the CTX does VERY well, but for picking non ferrous targets out of dense iron trash, the Deus with 9" coil wins. If however, you want to get more selective about what you dig at some of your sites, then the CTX with its superior ID ability could be of value to you.

 

[squirrel1]

I have both machines.

Both are nice. Deus a better scouting unit-- sweep speed and weight.

In heavy iron,,Deus can be worked faster,,and coil size for coil size,, Deus kills in heavy iron and nails,,6" coil for CTX needed to compete,,and it can see some things a Deus with 9" coil can't-- limited number though.

Low conductors-- Deus has advantage,,even in iron sites,,small lower conductors CTX needs higher manual sensitivity to give signal-- Deus on these same signals kills.

And running higher manual sens using CTX in nails sites--- extremely slow, hard on the ears with all the falsing.

In sites,,where no modern trash exists--- sq ft for sq ft,,time wise--- Deus has signifanct advantage.

I won't get rid of either one though.

 

[ArnieTX]

Thank you for the input. Seems like I have the right machine for the majority of my hunting.

I think I'll hold off for now.

 

[rluka]

I have both machines.

Both are nice. Deus a better scouting unit-- sweep speed and weight.

In heavy iron,,Deus can be worked faster,,and coil size for coil size,, Deus kills in heavy iron and nails,,6" coil for CTX needed to compete,,and it can see some things a Deus with 9" coil can't-- limited number though.

Low conductors-- Deus has advantage,,even in iron sites,,small lower conductors CTX needs higher manual sensitivity to give signal-- Deus on these same signals kills.

And running higher manual sens using CTX in nails sites--- extremely slow, hard on the ears with all the falsing.

In sites,,where no modern trash exists--- sq ft for sq ft,,time wise--- Deus has signifanct advantage.

I won't get rid of either one though.

I have been looking into getting a Deus. Does it handle salt water and mineralized soil as well as the CTX?
Ron L

 

[Spud GA]

I use both the Deus and the CTX.
I prefer the CTX as my go to machine for beach and relic hunting.
I use the Deus when in heavy iron.
To me they are like tools, sometimes you need a flat head and sometimes a Phillips

 

[Willee - Texas]

I have been looking into getting a Deus. Does it handle salt water and mineralized soil as well as the CTX?
Ron L

Ron, the Deus is a single frequency machine.

Multi-frequency detectors false less and do better in a salt water environment than do single freq units.

 

[Spud GA]

I have been looking into getting a Deus. Does it handle salt water and mineralized soil as well as the CTX?
Ron L

Ron, the Deus is a single frequency machine.

Multi-frequency detectors false less and do better in a salt water environment than do single freq units.

Totally agree with Willee CTX by far works best on my beaches.

 

[squirrel1]

I have both machines.

Both are nice. Deus a better scouting unit-- sweep speed and weight.

In heavy iron,,Deus can be worked faster,,and coil size for coil size,, Deus kills in heavy iron and nails,,6" coil for CTX needed to compete,,and it can see some things a Deus with 9" coil can't-- limited number though.

Low conductors-- Deus has advantage,,even in iron sites,,small lower conductors CTX needs higher manual sensitivity to give signal-- Deus on these same signals kills.

And running higher manual sens using CTX in nails sites--- extremely slow, hard on the ears with all the falsing.

In sites,,where no modern trash exists--- sq ft for sq ft,,time wise--- Deus has signifanct advantage.

I won't get rid of either one though.

I have been looking into getting a Deus. Does it handle salt water and mineralized soil as well as the CTX?
Ron L

Haven't used Deus on salt water beach,,,but as far as higher mineral soil--- edge goes to Deus. But remember a person det citing in higher mineral soil,,,most vlfs start to ID nonferrous as ferrous at shallower depths vs milder soil,,,in the higher/highest mineralized soil,,,Deus will give hints on deeper nonferrous as being actually nonferrous-- actual ID unknown, just nonferrous.

 

[trojdor]

Haven't used Deus on salt water beach,,,but as far as higher mineral soil--- edge goes to Deus. But remember a person det citing in higher mineral soil,,,most vlfs start to ID nonferrous as ferrous at shallower depths vs milder soil,,,in the higher/highest mineralized soil,,,Deus will give hints on deeper nonferrous as being actually nonferrous-- actual ID unknown, just nonferrous.

Having used both extensively, gonna have to respectfully disagree on this one....unless by 'most vlfs' you mean anything except Minelab.
The CTX actually tends to go the other way in highly mineralized Colorado soil...i.e. it will tend to ID non-ferrous very accurately/properly out to its max range...BUT it will tend to sometimes ID iron as non-ferrous past 8 or so inches. (Which I frequently find quite annoying in itself.)
The Deus I used wouldn't properly ID anything past about 6" or so...which is why I currently have 2 CTX's and no Deus.
Well that, and if you read between the lines "where no modern trash exists" translates to "you're gonna dig lots and lots of aluminum trash and bottle caps".
(And unfortunately, the places I mostly hunt have "lots and lots of aluminum trash and bottle caps". )

To use the Deus properly, you basically have to ignore the ID and listen to the sound/size/shape of the tone...which is actually great advice for any detector.
(That's why I hunt in bad trash with the CTX in non-motion pinpoint mode...it's lots easier to hear the 'promising' shaped tones.)

IMHO, the Deus reigns supreme when hunting for relics in iron infestations. It's only current competition in that area have to use smaller coils to match it's performance (although I keep hearing good things about the newest Makro/Noktas).
But it doesn't do as well in the 'modern trash' (as in aluminum foil, pull tabs, square tabs, can slaw, bottle caps, zipper pulls) you find in urban environs such as parks.

Still...in all fairness...its "dig more - find more" design philosophy has helped find many items that would have otherwise been missed, or not dug....along with the extra trash.
And if I hunted for relics more, I'd probably have at least one unit along with both coils.

And back to the last question about wet salt-water beaches...IMHO the only thing (currently) that works better than a Minelab or CZ (multifreqs) is a pulse induction detector.

And to go clear back to the original $64 question about 'wasting money'...
If you hunt "99% of the time for relics in pockets of heavy iron"...by all means, stick with the Deus. (Or try out a Macro/Nokta)
(You can buy a GPS for a whole lot less than a CTX.)

HH,
mike

 

[squirrel1]

Haven't used Deus on salt water beach,,,but as far as higher mineral soil--- edge goes to Deus. But remember a person det citing in higher mineral soil,,,most vlfs start to ID nonferrous as ferrous at shallower depths vs milder soil,,,in the higher/highest mineralized soil,,,Deus will give hints on deeper nonferrous as being actually nonferrous-- actual ID unknown, just nonferrous.

Having used both extensively, gonna have to respectfully disagree on this one....unless by 'most vlfs' you mean anything except Minelab.
The CTX actually tends to go the other way in highly mineralized Colorado soil...i.e. it will tend to ID non-ferrous very accurately/properly out to its max range...BUT it will tend to sometimes ID iron as non-ferrous past 8 or so inches. (Which I frequently find quite annoying in itself.)
The Deus I used wouldn't properly ID anything past about 6" or so...which is why I currently have 2 CTX's and no Deus.
Well that, and if you read between the lines "where no modern trash exists" translates to "you're gonna dig lots and lots of aluminum trash and bottle caps".
(And unfortunately, the places I mostly hunt have "lots and lots of aluminum trash and bottle caps". )

To use the Deus properly, you basically have to ignore the ID and listen to the sound/size/shape of the tone...which is actually great advice for any detector.
(That's why I hunt in bad trash with the CTX in non-motion pinpoint mode...it's lots easier to hear the 'promising' shaped tones.)

IMHO, the Deus reigns supreme when hunting for relics in iron infestations. It's only current competition in that area have to use smaller coils to match it's performance (although I keep hearing good things about the newest Makro/Noktas).
But it doesn't do as well in the 'modern trash' (as in aluminum foil, pull tabs, square tabs, can slaw, bottle caps, zipper pulls) you find in urban environs such as parks.

Still...in all fairness...its "dig more - find more" design philosophy has helped find many items that would have otherwise been missed, or not dug....along with the extra trash.
And if I hunted for relics more, I'd probably have at least one unit along with both coils.

And back to the last question about wet salt-water beaches...IMHO the only thing (currently) that works better than a Minelab or CZ (multifreqs) is a pulse induction detector.

And to go clear back to the original $64 question about 'wasting money'...
If you hunt "99% of the time for relics in pockets of heavy iron"...by all means, stick with the Deus. (Or try out a Macro/Nokta)
(You can buy a GPS for a whole lot less than a CTX.)

HH,
mike

Care to share your Deus settings??? In the higher mineralized soils,,,key settings are -1 silencer and reactivity 3,,, in the real hot stuff could be 4...And I'm not the only one to see this advantage going to Deus.

Don't want to upset anyone with comments here,,,maybe considered non CTX lingo... But just wanted to give my experiences.

 

[trojdor]

Care to share your Deus settings??? In the higher mineralized soils,,,key settings are -1 silencer and reactivity 3,,, in the real hot stuff could be 4...And I'm not the only one to see this advantage going to Deus.
Don't want to upset anyone with comments here,,,maybe considered non CTX lingo... But just wanted to give my experiences.

Squirrel,
Thanks for the input/sharing your experience...it's always welcome.
But to be perfectly honest...I don't think we really need/want to get into another of those 'settings wars'/never-ending/no-win Deus discussions.
(They're even painful to read when they're on the Deus forum.)

There are many here, who have seen an advantage going strictly to a CTX.
Others see an advantage of keeping (and using) both detectors, and think the CTX/Deus is the absolutely perfect 1,2 combo.
Yet others like to have multiple units including other brands like Tesoro, Fisher, Whites, Teknetics, Nokta, etc...all good units...for various/specific tasks.

So...who's right???
Nobody and everybody. It's all personal preference, and experience/usage/needs.
Preferences aren't 'right or wrong'. And 'one size' most certainly does not 'fit all'.
(I'll bet we don't all drive the same make/model of car/truck, either....different experience/usage/needs.)

And if you re-read my post, you'll see I recommended the OP keep the Deus, and not get a CTX because I didn't think it would be a good fit...for his experience/usage/needs.

mike

PS - Why do Deus users generally make bad doctors? Because if you ever go to them with a problem, the only thing they ever says is, "Go home, you're fine...you're just not using the right settings."

 

[squirrel1]

Care to share your Deus settings??? In the higher mineralized soils,,,key settings are -1 silencer and reactivity 3,,, in the real hot stuff could be 4...And I'm not the only one to see this advantage going to Deus.
Don't want to upset anyone with comments here,,,maybe considered non CTX lingo... But just wanted to give my experiences.

Squirrel,
Thanks for the input/sharing your experience...it's always welcome.
But to be perfectly honest...I don't think we really need/want to get into another of those 'settings wars'/never-ending/no-win Deus discussions.
(They're even painful to read when they're on the Deus forum.)

There are many here, who have seen an advantage going strictly to a CTX.
Others see an advantage of keeping (and using) both detectors, and think the CTX/Deus is the absolutely perfect 1,2 combo.
Yet others like to have multiple units including other brands like Tesoro, Fisher, Whites, Teknetics, Nokta, etc...all good units...for various/specific tasks.

So...who's right???
Nobody and everybody. It's all personal preference, and experience/usage/needs.
Preferences aren't 'right or wrong'. And 'one size' most certainly does not 'fit all'.
(I'll bet we don't all drive the same make/model of car/truck, either....different experience/usage/needs.)

And if you re-read my post, you'll see I recommended the OP keep the Deus, and not get a CTX because I didn't think it would be a good fit...for his experience/usage/needs.

mike

PS - Why do Deus users generally make bad doctors? Because if you ever go to them with a problem, the only thing they ever says is, "Go home, you're fine...you're just not using the right settings."

Well I actually have both detectors,,,and was just trying to help someone out-- no need to get so sarcastic,
The silencer and reativity setting along with using 18khz are the keys for the hot ground and depth-- not really any guess work involved,,since the Deus does have a ground mineralizations meter.

 

[Welgund]

I use both the Deus and CTX here in colorado. The soil where I live is high in alkali and the Deus is the only vlf machine I have that works well in it. I am trying out the new Nokta Relic and the jury is still out on it. I am hoping that it performs as well with the small 5in coil as the Deus does so I can use it in the heavier sage brush environment men's etc. I was hunting for old deep coins with my CZ 6a today at the park and got a deep coin tone. Went to the car and got the CTX and it said 9in 12 42,43. Wasn't as clear tone as the CZ but would have hit it I think. Deus hit it with no ID but would have dug it. Fors relic got it in deep mode. Turned out to be a 1920d standing quarter at close to 10 in. Colorado soil can be bad but Deus performs well when set up right. Winner on the quarter was my Tom tuned CZ though. Right tool for the job is always best.

 

[trojdor]

I use both the Deus and CTX here in colorado. The soil where I live is high in alkali and the Deus is the only vlf machine I have that works well in it. I am trying out the new Nokta Relic and the jury is still out on it. I am hoping that it performs as well with the small 5in coil as the Deus does so I can use it in the heavier sage brush environment men's etc. I was hunting for old deep coins with my CZ 6a today at the park and got a deep coin tone. Went to the car and got the CTX and it said 9in 12 42,43. Wasn't as clear tone as the CZ but would have hit it I think. Deus hit it with no ID but would have dug it. Fors relic got it in deep mode. Turned out to be a 1920d standing quarter at close to 10 in. Colorado soil can be bad but Deus performs well when set up right. Winner on the quarter was my Tom tuned CZ though. Right tool for the job is always best.

Nice...Well done, Welgund....

People who hunt in benign soil might not truly appreciate how tough it is to get that kind of depth in our junk dirt.
My hat is off to you.

And indeed...the CZs are another fine performer here...especially ones that have been re-calibrated by Mr. D.

mike

 

[amberjack]

have a look on Google earth spin the globe and look for the reddest dirt

just bringin some perspective , I really don't care who uses what I use what I like cause its my money and really if the truth be told I want no one else anywhere on the planet using the same detectors as me because from my limited experience I have found that no one detector how ever good it is finds it all, and well I am pretty happy about that as it gives me a shot at finding something.

if I could I would own one of every detector ever made but cant seem to find the room or the cash to pull it off

AJ

 

[ArnieTX]

I bought a Markro Racer 2 for the 5" coil. Thanks for everyone's advice. I'm a 99.9% filthy old relic hunter.