CTX3030 Thoughts from a newbie

[Jressman]

Hands down I think it's the most versatile detector period.

It's superior to anything on land given its multi target display and iron separation (ferrous-coin). In the water it definatly holds its own. Though it may not have the depth of the PI machines, it has MUCH better discrimination than the PI. It offers so much more target info than an Excalibur and is much deeper than a sovereign GT.

Infact I'm in Maine now and compared signals to a guy I met here in York Beach using a Sovereign GT and the CTX hit on hard on a deep Nickle the GT couldn't see. I had to unscrew the headphones so he could hear for himself. He was really impressed with the CTX. I had it completely underwater quite a few times this weekend too no issues. Though it will chirp when you get slugged with a huge wave, not a very quick chirp and it's obvious it's not a target.

[Finnerman]

I had a bit of time today so I went out to check "Ralph's Garden" again today. Ten feet in, in the most well searched part of the yard, I got a hit.
I have been learning a lot about the machine and have settled on the stock coin mode with a couple of changes. I changed it to Ferrous/Coin and auto sensitivity +2. (target trace on)
The signal was faint but was 12.43 with iron showing at the bottom right. The depth indicated 7". The signal was very week one direction and week but repeatable the other.
I dug a full plug with my Lesch T-handle shovel and immediately saw the rusty chunk in the side of the plug. I then scooped another shovel full and flipped it onto my ground cloth. There it was, a 1970 penny.
While it is nothing special, it does prove to me two things. One, this machine can find masked coins that the Compadre can not. I have been over this area relentlessly with the Compadre. Two, It does take time to learn this machine. I have also been over this same area with the CTX too.
That being said, I have recently switched from Bart's Coin Ferrous setup to The stock Coin setup with some of Bart's settings added in. I could not deal with hearing all of the ferrous sounds in Bart's. I like the nulling of the threshold sound rather than a tone for iron. I also turn the volume of the threshold sound down to a comfortable level as the stock level is way too loud for me.
Slowly but surely, this machine is winning me over, though I hunted along side a Whites MXT the other day and coveted the simplicity from afar. Of course, we had found an area of the man's yard where the kids had a trampoline and apparently had dumped the contents of their pockets for years. There were good targets every where (he dug 8 pennies out of one hole and still marked signals after he covered it). By the time we were done, we could clearly see the outline of where the trampoline had been by the holes we dug.
I secretly wondered how well he would have done in my trash infested, coin poor yard.

On another note, I got my NuShield anti-reflective screen cover today. Besides having to cut it to fit, it was a breeze to install and really does seem to cut the glare. I will report more later.

[ramer]

Originally Posted by Finnerman
Batteries: Lithium Ion is awesome! The AA pack is a joke with alkalines. It is likely much better with lithiums but that will be an expensive proposition. It is nice to be able to play with your machine a bit when you first get it and are waiting for the LI pack to charge. However, the machine showed low battery almost instantly and did not run more that a bout 30 minutes before giving a low battery signal. These were brand new out of the back alkalines. Later that day, I removed them and low and behold, at least one had already begun to leak. That machine must put one heck of a draw on alkalines. So I don't think you can count on the alkaline pack as a back up and [U

you must remove the AAs from the cartridge as soon as you are done using it[/U]. Also, if you are thinking about using Lithium AAs, don't. I would recommend just getting a second LI pack as 8 lithium AAs will cost you about the same price and are only good for one use.

I look forward to reading your replies as I really do want to get this thing figured out soon. Thanks.

Thanks for your impression of the 3030. Pretty interesting.
But wow, real bummer on the alkaline drain. My F75se will run for 30 or 40 hours on just 4 of them.
Recharables are nice but being able to use alkalines if you forget to charge your batteries is always a nice fall back plan. Obviously this is not an option for the 3030.
A few weeks ago at one of the big box pharmacies, I bought a 20 pack of alkalines and a second pack for half off. Total: 12 dollars for 40 batteries. Hell, that may last me for the next few years.

[Jressman]

Originally Posted by ramer

Thanks for your impression of the 3030. Pretty interesting.
But wow, real bummer on the alkaline drain. My F75se will run for 30 or 40 hours on just 4 of them.
Recharables are nice but being able to use alkalines if you forget to charge your batteries is always a nice fall back plan. Obviously this is not an option for the 3030.
A few weeks ago at one of the big box pharmacies, I bought a 20 pack of alkalines and a second pack for half off. Total: 12 dollars for 40 batteries. Hell, that may last me for the next few years.

Didn't you sell your F75 for a Minelab??

[Finnerman]

Apparently there has been an update that has corrected some of that problem. I will test again with alkalines and report back.

[ramer]

Originally Posted by Jressman

Didn't you sell your F75 for a Minelab??

No, I still have it and have learned more and more how to use it. It is still for sale but I haven't accepted the various offers, including a hand gun worth 1000 dollars according to the person making the offer.
Point is, I haven't been that anxious to sell it since I have become very capable with it.
It took me a long time to realize that the F75se is like a sports car, you can go all out, conditions permitting or you can throttle it back, again depending on conditions. It can be as powerful as you want.

[guam]

I like the CTX from what I have read, but the price point is too rich for my blood...

[Big Boys Hobbies]

Originally Posted by Finnerman

I had a bit of time today so I went out to check "Ralph's Garden" again today. Ten feet in, in the most well searched part of the yard, I got a hit.
I have been learning a lot about the machine and have settled on the stock coin mode with a couple of changes. I changed it to Ferrous/Coin and auto sensitivity +2. (target trace on)
The signal was faint but was 12.43 with iron showing at the bottom right. The depth indicated 7". The signal was very week one direction and week but repeatable the other.
I dug a full plug with my Lesch T-handle shovel and immediately saw the rusty chunk in the side of the plug. I then scooped another shovel full and flipped it onto my ground cloth. There it was, a 1970 penny.
While it is nothing special, it does prove to me two things. One, this machine can find masked coins that the Compadre can not. I have been over this area relentlessly with the Compadre. Two, It does take time to learn this machine. I have also been over this same area with the CTX too.
That being said, I have recently switched from Bart's Coin Ferrous setup to The stock Coin setup with some of Bart's settings added in. I could not deal with hearing all of the ferrous sounds in Bart's. I like the nulling of the threshold sound rather than a tone for iron. I also turn the volume of the threshold sound down to a comfortable level as the stock level is way too loud for me.
Slowly but surely, this machine is winning me over, though I hunted along side a Whites MXT the other day and coveted the simplicity from afar. Of course, we had found an area of the man's yard where the kids had a trampoline and apparently had dumped the contents of their pockets for years. There were good targets every where (he dug 8 pennies out of one hole and still marked signals after he covered it). By the time we were done, we could clearly see the outline of where the trampoline had been by the holes we dug.
I secretly wondered how well he would have done in my trash infested, coin poor yard.

On another note, I got my NuShield anti-reflective screen cover today. Besides having to cut it to fit, it was a breeze to install and really does seem to cut the glare. I will report more later.

I cannot take credit for those great settings. Gone Hunting (Evan) came up with those on his own. If you want some great advice from a guy that swings it most everyday in all types of situations, he is the guy to talk to! Great guy!

If you can get around his bad looks and just plain weirdness you will learn from him! ha ha ha ha