Hey CTX guys

longbow62 · May 9, 2022

I've talked about numerous times the Equinox hitting targets the Etrac/CTX won't hit at all. Or in some cases hit very poorly. I've taken some grief about saying that. Yesterday in a curb strip my buddy using his CTX hunted it first. We swap places with each other when we are done. When I went back over the curb strip I got a soft high tone bouncing from 28-32 on the Equinox 800 Park1 sensitivity 21, recovery 4, F2-0, Horseshoe on, 11" stock coil.

I called him over there to swing over it again. He got zilch on the CTX 11" stock coil. He completely circled it several times. He tried different swing speeds etc.. When I dug the target it was slightly over the length of my pin-pointer deep. It turned out to just be a 1955 rabies tag. Copper/brass not aluminum. Bummer it wasn't a quarter, but just goes to show what I've brought up many times about the Equinox occasionally getting targets the CTX and Etrac can't. Not many, but enough for me to have taken note of it over the last 4 years.

Rattlehead · May 9, 2022

Oh I agree, the Nox will definitely pick out some challenged targets that the CTX will miss. The Nox hits coins on edge much better than the CTX too. Especially in Park 2 and Field 2 using the higher frequencies. I've seen it several times myself with my own detectors. Anytime I've hunted a pounded site trying to pick out tough targets that others had missed, I'd always grab my Nox 800.

Where the CTX really shines is cherry picking or coin shooting. I dig less trash with it and can quickly snatch up most of the silver while my buddies are busy circling iffy signals trying to figure out whether to dig it or not.

longbow62 · May 9, 2022

Agreed circling is second nature now ever since I've been using the Nox 800. I found out right away circling was prudent for best I.D. with the Nox. I can call targets pretty darn good using that method though.

tnsharpshooter · May 9, 2022

Yep it can happen.

You know when you think about it.
Some detectors might not be as good as some would think they are.
Has something to do with which came first the chicken or the egg concept.

For example.
If CTX would have came first before the Etrac chances are the Etrac wouldn’t have got the glory it got. Right?
Lot of silver and copper would have been gobbeled up already with CTX. Imagine if Etrac would have been released by another manufacturer and released quite a while after CTX debut?

I could even make a case, wonder if Deus 2 would have been released when Deus 1 was released? Would even the CTX have got the amount of glory it has gotten? Might not have.

Yeah when a find is dug and gone - it’s gone. No detector will ever find it no matter how good it is.

So numbers of nicer finds dug earlier has in fact cheated some later released detectors from locating. And just perhaps has slowed the glory of some of these later release detectors.

Tough road to hold for a VLF to be in parks where Etrac, other fbs and CTX have thrived. Looking for copper and silver.

Imagine if indeed a later released model could have located some of the previous dug finds easier or faster vs detector model actually used initially to locate?

Just some thing for folks to think about.

CW3 · May 9, 2022

Ok

What were the setting on the ctx?

Probably had the target discriminated out with his fe line to high.

I’ve dug coins with an fe of 34. I new it was a coin before digging it just by the sound. It ended up having 3 nails with it.

vegasplayer · May 9, 2022

also it has to do with the operator
not the machine.. yrs of using and knowing the machine makes it.. :lol:

CW3 · May 9, 2022

Hey nox user!

Turn your volume off on both detectors and see who still digs coins. This is a method I use in trashy areas running no descrim.

If you have a line of 50 targets, the ctx user will get further down the line by not digging the trash the nox user will dig. I can cover more area and end up with more silver coins over a years time than I can with a nox. I own both detectors and prefer the ctx for hunting silver coins.

Use what you want and can afford.

longbow62 · May 9, 2022

CW3 said:
Ok

What were the setting on the ctx?

Probably had the target discriminated out with his fe line to high.

I’ve dug coins with an fe of 34. I new it was a coin before digging it just by the sound. It ended up having 3 nails with it.

vegasplayer said:
also it has to do with the operator
not the machine.. yrs of using and knowing the machine makes it..

CW3 said:
Hey nox user!

Turn your volume off on both detectors and see who still digs coins. This is a method I use in trashy areas running no descrim.

If you have a line of 50 targets, the ctx user will get further down the line by not digging the trash the nox user will dig. I can cover more area and end up with more silver coins over a years time than I can with a nox. I own both detectors and prefer the ctx for hunting silver coins.

Use what you want and can afford.

He was running open screen, Auto +3, I was standing there watching him circle and try to get something, but he got nothing. Also he has 50 silvers for the year already most of which were found with either the CTX or Etrac.

As I stated in my original post I've seen a pattern especially in heavier modern trash situations where FBS misses stuff, and the Equinox finds them. In a yard it's rare. This isn't a Equinox vs. Etrac/CTX which is best.

I would also mention if your passing a 17-45 because it's not a 12-45 going down that line your probably missing stuff too. If all you do is cherry pick it's FBS is probably the best for that. Probably faster than the Equinox if your goal is to get the easy stuff.

Oh and yesterday I had found a silver half earlier and in the next yard over I call my buddy and the CTX to swing over a target that was reading silver half numbers again 8"+ by the way. He said solid silver half numbers. Nope Hot Wheels van! He had another he thought was a silver quarter I swung over too getting the the same silver quarter to dime numbers. Nope copper Memorial penny. They all get fooled at times. Even FBS I&II .

CW3 · May 9, 2022

longbow62 said:
He was running open screen, Auto +3, I was standing there watching him circle and try to get something, but he got nothing. Also he has 50 silvers for the year already most of which were found with either the CTX or Etrac.

As I stated in my original post I've seen a pattern especially in heavier modern trash situations where FBS misses stuff, and the Equinox finds them. In a yard it's rare. This isn't a Equinox vs. Etrac/CTX which is best.

I would also mention if your passing a 17-45 because it's not a 12-45 going down that line your probably missing stuff too. If all you do is cherry pick it's FBS is probably the best for that. Probably faster than the Equinox if your goal is to get the easy stuff.

Oh and yesterday I had found a silver half earlier and in the next yard over I call my buddy and the CTX to swing over a target that was reading silver half numbers again 8"+ by the way. He said solid silver half numbers. Nope Hot Wheels van! He had another he thought was a silver quarter I swung over too getting the the same silver quarter to dime numbers. Nope copper Memorial penny. They all get fooled at times. Even FBS I&II .

Good post!

99 percent of the time I ask people what settings, the say "factory coins".

I would recommend to your friend to try manual sensitivity. If, I run auto+3 in my area, I will never hear an 8" coin. I have to be in manual sensitivity.

If my recommended is 14, I can still run manual 20 with no falsing.

I don't ever go by the ferrous numbers. I go by sound first then conductive numbers. I've dug a lot of coins with high FE numbers.

CW3 · May 9, 2022

Ignore the commentary the video was made fro a different purpose.

If you go to 6:30 in that video you can see FE numbers going high. A lot of 22 FE numbers. This is a 9" merc I buried 3-4 years ago.

It shows Nox and CTX hitting a 9" merc with the 6" coils. I know I'm coercing the detector to hit the coin. I'm just saying it will hit it is all I'm saying. The larger coils have no issues hitting the 9" merc.

I use the nox and ctx and they both serve different purposes.

I'll check if my ctx will hit the 9" merc in auto plus 3. I don't think it will.

longbow62 · May 9, 2022

CW3 said:
Good post!

99 percent of the time I ask people what settings, the say "factory coins".

I would recommend to your friend to try manual sensitivity. If, I run auto+3 in my area, I will never hear an 8" coin. I have to be in manual sensitivity.

If my recommended is 14, I can still run manual 20 with no falsing.

I don't ever go by the ferrous numbers. I go by sound first then conductive numbers. I've dug a lot of coins with high FE numbers.

Thanks for the info and video. I had an Etrac for a while and liked it, but got the chance to trade another member even for his Nox 800. So now I have 2 800's.

My buddy kills it with his Etrac and CTX. I actually thought about getting a CTX a couple of years ago, and had a trade for one fall through. Now I figure Minelabs next Flagship will be coming soon so I'm waiting for that.

IDXMonster · May 10, 2022

When it comes right down to it, Minelab has really had it figured out when it comes to hunting coin type targets for quite a long time. ALL of their machines seem to work really well in one situation or another. And of course they excel at hunting lots of other things too. Their engineers have clearly paid attention, particularly when it comes to their processors and information made available. Everything from the Sovereign to the Equinox has a large following who absolutely swears by them, and that is not an easy thing to accomplish!

Dflan83 · May 10, 2022

Their worst problem is one of their machines is eating into another one of their machines selling potential.. pretty good problem to have.

maxxkatt · May 25, 2022

Dflan83 said:
Their worst problem is one of their machines is eating into another one of their machines selling potential.. pretty good problem to have.

Guess what, if they don't eat their own machines than that gives their competition the option of taking away total market share. Intel invented that concept back in the 1970's. Obsolete your own product line and keep total market share. Has worked for a long time with Intel and probably the same for Minelab.

Garrett does not see it that way apparently.

sube · May 25, 2022

longbow62 said:
I've talked about numerous times the Equinox hitting targets the Etrac/CTX won't hit at all. Or in some cases hit very poorly. I've taken some grief about saying that. Yesterday in a curb strip my buddy using his CTX hunted it first. We swap places with each other when we are done. When I went back over the curb strip I got a soft high tone bouncing from 28-32 on the Equinox 800 Park1 sensitivity 21, recovery 4, F2-0, Horseshoe on, 11" stock coil.

I called him over there to swing over it again. He got zilch on the CTX 11" stock coil. He completely circled it several times. He tried different swing speeds etc.. When I dug the target it was slightly over the length of my pin-pointer deep. It turned out to just be a 1955 rabies tag. Copper/brass not aluminum. Bummer it wasn't a quarter, but just goes to show what I've brought up many times about the Equinox occasionally getting targets the CTX and Etrac can't. Not many, but enough for me to have taken note of it over the last 4 years.

I have seen the exact opposite of what you seen most people run the ctx at 28 fe line which on the nox would be about 3 your running at 0 for iron bias .I have the nox and ctx .
If you run at 28 you miss targets that the ctx sees but gives them a low tone now in elevated nail test the nox is a flop 16 for ID the ctx gives 12.43 to 12.45 on a dime nox not even close in ID tell your buddy to put his fe line at 35 and then compare signals .
Wonder why no one is comparing the deus 2 and legend to the ctx hmmm .sube

maxxkatt · Jun 8, 2022

CW3 said:
Good post!

99 percent of the time I ask people what settings, the say "factory coins".

I would recommend to your friend to try manual sensitivity. If, I run auto+3 in my area, I will never hear an 8" coin. I have to be in manual sensitivity.

If my recommended is 14, I can still run manual 20 with no falsing.

I don't ever go by the ferrous numbers. I go by sound first then conductive numbers. I've dug a lot of coins with high FE numbers.

Most experienced CTX users who are hunting deep coins, jewelry use Manual sensitivity not Auto +3. Auto +3 smooths (makes quieter) the CTX at the expense of depth. when first learning the CTX users are recommended to use Auto sensitivity and only go to manual when they get more experience.

You want deep on the CTX it will give you deep. Run your manual sensitivity up in the +25 range and increase your volume gain as much as possible until your CTX starts getting noisy and unstable TID's. Then back off on both controls until you are stable again in terms of noise and stable TID. This will get you much deeper than in Auto+3.

Hey CTX guys

longbow62

Rattlehead

longbow62

tnsharpshooter

Supporter

CW3

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vegasplayer

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CW3

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longbow62

CW3

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CW3

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longbow62

IDXMonster

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Dflan83

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maxxkatt

sube

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maxxkatt

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