rluna
Elite Member
As many of you know, my CTX was taken from a park I was hunting at
a couple weeks ago. Here is the thread about what happened if your interested:
http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?p=2557544#post2557544
I could have gotten another CTX used, as a few good ones were for sale the past
two weeks. But after having used the CTX and also having owned an Etrac before
the CTX, I bought a new Etrac instead of replacing the CTX.
Now granted, I only had the CTX for 7 weeks but have had 12 detectors since 2006
and I think I got a fair grasp of the CTX. Hopefully enough to justify this comparison
I am making. Found 19 Silver coin in those 7 weeks, So take it for what it's worth.
I will tell you right up front, I am not claiming to be an expert on either machine
although I am more familiar with the Etrac because it's what I used for 4 months last year.
Ok, so here it goes as I tell you what I have seen with both these machines and why
I believe (for me personally) that the Etrac is a better machine.
1) THE SPEED
Even though the CTX is faster I am able to cruise along a little faster with the Etrac
because I can tell a lot faster if it is worth digging, Not just by the numbers but the
numbers along with the tone and then of course depth.
With the Etrac I dont need to stop and check every little blip of a high tone.
Let me explain:
With the CTX most of us have that last bin set at a high tone for Silver.
Of course, you want to check and investigate a high tone when you hear
one....... "But" ......there are high tones going off all the time. Any where
from a blip of a high tone to a stronger high tone sound. And one might
say, "do you really need to check every blip of a high tone?"
And I say, "Absolutely!!"
Half of the 19 Silvers that I got In the 7 weeks I owned it were just a blip,
where I then would check it from a different angle and get a diggable high
tone or number.
Now the CTX is said to be faster (faster processor and all), and that may be
true, but I have to swing it just as slow if not slower than the Etrac if I want to
catch those little blips.
2) Vdi NUMBERS
I dont see the Ctx's VDi numbers being any more stable....maybe at depth but I never
dug any silver deeper that 7" with the CTX. And lets be realistic. How often do any of
you dig silver that's 8" or deeper. Ok, I know.....there are a few of you who may. My
point is that most of us just dont.
I've gotten just a few over the past few years and I've dug hundreds of silver coins.
From 1 - 7" the ctx seems just as stable or jumpy as the Etrac.
3) TONES
This is a big one for me. My hunting buddy uses a CTX and more often than not, he
does not know that he is possibly about to dig up a silver. It's hard to tell a clad dime
from a silver dime with the CTX. Today he dug up a 1927 Mercury in great shape
reading a solid 12-40 at 4 1/2 inches deep and it was not next to iron.
I guarantee you that if I would have went over that with my Etrac I would have been
saying under my breath...."Thats a Silver!" And it would not have read at 12-40.
So he is finding himself digging up all kinds of different signals because there might
be a possibility that it could be silver. Now I'm talking about signals that are 3 to 5
inches deep.
With the Etrac, just about any silver that is 3 to 5 inches deep...you are
going to have a good idea that it is silver. Unless it is completely covered in iron.
Because even if there is a iron nail with it, at 3 - 5 inches your still going to hear it.
Not that you cant get fooled but for the most part I can tell you that I probably have
silver here. Why? Because of that unmistakable Silver warble that the Etrac is so
well known for. But that warble sound doesn't just happen for Silver...It happens,
but maybe to a lesser extent on the copper coins also....the wheaties and indian head
pennies!! I still dig clad dimes with the Etrac but a whole lot lot lot less than the CTX.
4) FUN FACTOR
Having owned both....the Etrac is just more fun for me. There is this(not sure what
to call it).....thrill maybe, or maybe the anticipation of knowing that this might very
well be a silver or a wheatie or an Indian head. And you have that with the Etrac.
Whereas with the CTX, your never quite sure, nearly as often unless it's a nickel.
You can still tell if it's a nickel quite often on the CTX just as good as an Etrac.
I went out hunting last night and hit a wheatie at 6". I was at a big park in a
secluded area. It was dark and peacful and I was gettng different signals as I was
swinging but when I hit that wheatie it was like "BAM" It hit so hard and distinct
that it seriously startled me. If that were my CTX it would have been just another
one of the many high tones that were similar that I was hearing and watching the
screen for to see if it was diggable. Which brings up another point. I dont have to
watch the screen nearly as much with the Etrac
5) HOW MUCH THEY WEIGH
In the 7 weeks that I had the CTX, it took a toll on my elbow joint.
The CTX may be balance way better than the Etrac but when you have
to bring 5 lbs of machine to a stop on the left and right ends of your swing
your elbow joint is whats taking the stress of that.
I dont swing the coil just slightly above the
ground as suggested....I ride it on the ground with maybe 20% or more of the
weight of the machine riding on the ground. So the unbalance Etrac isn't as much
of an issue for me as the weight of the CTX is.
A FEW LAST POINTS
I like the coil options you have with the Etrac. I Love the ultimate coil for the Etrac.
A perfect combination of coverage and separation. If I want better separation I
bought a fisher Id edge for $250 and it's fast!
I didn't get what the excitement was for the Target Trace. I didn't feel I needed to
know if there was iron in the hole or not. If the numbers were good with a good
signal, I'm going to dig it whether the target trace says there's iron or not.
The Gps is something I thought would be a great tool to use but not only never did,
but realized I probably never would. I'm just a go out and hunt type of guy without
turning it into rocket science.
The waterproof feature ended up being a bust for me. After hearing of all the problems
with leaking I just couldn't see taking a $2000 dollar machine into the water. No way!
So in the end I knew I was paying for features I wasn't even using.
"X1 Probe" I bought one for my new Etrac and it's pretty great! What a time saver.
The stock battery on the CTX is much better than the stock Etrac battery........BUT....
the RNB Lithium battery which "IS" available for the Etrac is borderline amazing.
Much much better than the CTX battery. Bought one for my Etrac
Ok, anything else......OH YES,,,,,,The Head Phones!!!
Could minelab have put a worse set of head phones on a $2000 dollar machine.
I am so glad to not be wearing those headphones anymore. Let me put this bluntly.
I DONT CARE IF THEIR WIRELESS.......THEY JUST SUCK!!!
I bought a pair of Killer B's for the Etrac and their amazing.
Oh, and then theres the price. That wasn't the factor for me but none the less
the Etrac is less expensive by about $800
Ok.....So there you have it.
I'm sorry that my CTX was taken but I am very happy to now have an Etrac
Thanks to highplaineshunter, choppadude and waterdog for being awesome
sellers for some of this equipment
Here is a picture of my dynamic duo....the Etrac and the Fisher Id Edge
.
a couple weeks ago. Here is the thread about what happened if your interested:
http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?p=2557544#post2557544
I could have gotten another CTX used, as a few good ones were for sale the past
two weeks. But after having used the CTX and also having owned an Etrac before
the CTX, I bought a new Etrac instead of replacing the CTX.
Now granted, I only had the CTX for 7 weeks but have had 12 detectors since 2006
and I think I got a fair grasp of the CTX. Hopefully enough to justify this comparison
I am making. Found 19 Silver coin in those 7 weeks, So take it for what it's worth.
I will tell you right up front, I am not claiming to be an expert on either machine
although I am more familiar with the Etrac because it's what I used for 4 months last year.
Ok, so here it goes as I tell you what I have seen with both these machines and why
I believe (for me personally) that the Etrac is a better machine.
1) THE SPEED
Even though the CTX is faster I am able to cruise along a little faster with the Etrac
because I can tell a lot faster if it is worth digging, Not just by the numbers but the
numbers along with the tone and then of course depth.
With the Etrac I dont need to stop and check every little blip of a high tone.
Let me explain:
With the CTX most of us have that last bin set at a high tone for Silver.
Of course, you want to check and investigate a high tone when you hear
one....... "But" ......there are high tones going off all the time. Any where
from a blip of a high tone to a stronger high tone sound. And one might
say, "do you really need to check every blip of a high tone?"
And I say, "Absolutely!!"
Half of the 19 Silvers that I got In the 7 weeks I owned it were just a blip,
where I then would check it from a different angle and get a diggable high
tone or number.
Now the CTX is said to be faster (faster processor and all), and that may be
true, but I have to swing it just as slow if not slower than the Etrac if I want to
catch those little blips.
2) Vdi NUMBERS
I dont see the Ctx's VDi numbers being any more stable....maybe at depth but I never
dug any silver deeper that 7" with the CTX. And lets be realistic. How often do any of
you dig silver that's 8" or deeper. Ok, I know.....there are a few of you who may. My
point is that most of us just dont.
I've gotten just a few over the past few years and I've dug hundreds of silver coins.
From 1 - 7" the ctx seems just as stable or jumpy as the Etrac.
3) TONES
This is a big one for me. My hunting buddy uses a CTX and more often than not, he
does not know that he is possibly about to dig up a silver. It's hard to tell a clad dime
from a silver dime with the CTX. Today he dug up a 1927 Mercury in great shape
reading a solid 12-40 at 4 1/2 inches deep and it was not next to iron.
I guarantee you that if I would have went over that with my Etrac I would have been
saying under my breath...."Thats a Silver!" And it would not have read at 12-40.
So he is finding himself digging up all kinds of different signals because there might
be a possibility that it could be silver. Now I'm talking about signals that are 3 to 5
inches deep.
With the Etrac, just about any silver that is 3 to 5 inches deep...you are
going to have a good idea that it is silver. Unless it is completely covered in iron.
Because even if there is a iron nail with it, at 3 - 5 inches your still going to hear it.
Not that you cant get fooled but for the most part I can tell you that I probably have
silver here. Why? Because of that unmistakable Silver warble that the Etrac is so
well known for. But that warble sound doesn't just happen for Silver...It happens,
but maybe to a lesser extent on the copper coins also....the wheaties and indian head
pennies!! I still dig clad dimes with the Etrac but a whole lot lot lot less than the CTX.
4) FUN FACTOR
Having owned both....the Etrac is just more fun for me. There is this(not sure what
to call it).....thrill maybe, or maybe the anticipation of knowing that this might very
well be a silver or a wheatie or an Indian head. And you have that with the Etrac.
Whereas with the CTX, your never quite sure, nearly as often unless it's a nickel.
You can still tell if it's a nickel quite often on the CTX just as good as an Etrac.
I went out hunting last night and hit a wheatie at 6". I was at a big park in a
secluded area. It was dark and peacful and I was gettng different signals as I was
swinging but when I hit that wheatie it was like "BAM" It hit so hard and distinct
that it seriously startled me. If that were my CTX it would have been just another
one of the many high tones that were similar that I was hearing and watching the
screen for to see if it was diggable. Which brings up another point. I dont have to
watch the screen nearly as much with the Etrac
5) HOW MUCH THEY WEIGH
In the 7 weeks that I had the CTX, it took a toll on my elbow joint.
The CTX may be balance way better than the Etrac but when you have
to bring 5 lbs of machine to a stop on the left and right ends of your swing
your elbow joint is whats taking the stress of that.
I dont swing the coil just slightly above the
ground as suggested....I ride it on the ground with maybe 20% or more of the
weight of the machine riding on the ground. So the unbalance Etrac isn't as much
of an issue for me as the weight of the CTX is.
A FEW LAST POINTS
I like the coil options you have with the Etrac. I Love the ultimate coil for the Etrac.
A perfect combination of coverage and separation. If I want better separation I
bought a fisher Id edge for $250 and it's fast!
I didn't get what the excitement was for the Target Trace. I didn't feel I needed to
know if there was iron in the hole or not. If the numbers were good with a good
signal, I'm going to dig it whether the target trace says there's iron or not.
The Gps is something I thought would be a great tool to use but not only never did,
but realized I probably never would. I'm just a go out and hunt type of guy without
turning it into rocket science.
The waterproof feature ended up being a bust for me. After hearing of all the problems
with leaking I just couldn't see taking a $2000 dollar machine into the water. No way!
So in the end I knew I was paying for features I wasn't even using.
"X1 Probe" I bought one for my new Etrac and it's pretty great! What a time saver.
The stock battery on the CTX is much better than the stock Etrac battery........BUT....
the RNB Lithium battery which "IS" available for the Etrac is borderline amazing.
Much much better than the CTX battery. Bought one for my Etrac
Ok, anything else......OH YES,,,,,,The Head Phones!!!
Could minelab have put a worse set of head phones on a $2000 dollar machine.
I am so glad to not be wearing those headphones anymore. Let me put this bluntly.
I DONT CARE IF THEIR WIRELESS.......THEY JUST SUCK!!!
I bought a pair of Killer B's for the Etrac and their amazing.
Oh, and then theres the price. That wasn't the factor for me but none the less
the Etrac is less expensive by about $800
Ok.....So there you have it.
I'm sorry that my CTX was taken but I am very happy to now have an Etrac
Thanks to highplaineshunter, choppadude and waterdog for being awesome
sellers for some of this equipment
Here is a picture of my dynamic duo....the Etrac and the Fisher Id Edge
.
