Rattlehead
Forum Supporter
So I've been using the CTX pretty heavily for a few weeks now. I probably have around 50 hours on the machine at this point. It may seem a little early to post a review but honestly, coming from an E-Trac you don't need to be a rocket scientist to use the CTX. Matter of fact, coming from an E-Trac makes learning this detector a piece of cake IMHO. I'm already every bit as comfortable using the CTX as I was with my E-Trac. The language they speak really is very similar.
I'll break this down into specifics and give my thoughts on each.
Ergonomics: I'd have to agree with what most others have already said concerning weight and balance. Upon picking up the CTX for the first time it felt a bit heavier than my E-Trac.... but when I slipped my arm through the cuff and started swinging, it actually felt much more balanced, which in turn makes it feel lighter. I am able to swing it for several hours without any major fatigue. This is with the stock coil. I imagine the larger 17" coil would be a different story.
I really like the straight shaft too. I've noticed that the improved balance of the straight shaft with the battery situated under your elbow allows you to extend the coil out much further without feeling fatigue. This means covering more ground per swing!
Another nice improvement is the OEM arm cuff. The one that comes on the E-Trac is garbage IMHO. Immediately replaced it with a Jeff Herk cuff. However, the fit and feel of the OEM CTX cuff is much much better. I don't see any need to replace it.
The trigger style pinpoint button is outstanding. One of the main things I missed when I moved from a V3i to an E-Trac was the trigger pinpoint, so I'm happy to have it back again. It can be set as momentary - only staying on when you have the button pressed, or locked - one press = on, another press = off. Personally I like it set to momentary.
Display: Another thing I missed when I switched from the V3i to the E-Trac was the color display. CTX fixes this gripe for me as well. I think the V3i's display was still a little easier to see in sunlight. I've found that leaving the backlight on (set at 4) all the time makes viewing the CTX's display in sunlight noticeably better. Doesn't seem to effect battery life too much either.
Battery: Battery life has been really good! I'm able to hunt up to 3 days before needing to recharge, which is a pretty nice improvement over my E-Trac's battery life - about half as much hunting time per charge.
Menu and controls: Like I mentioned before.. if you're familiar with the E-Trac, the CTX's menu shouldn't be very difficult to learn. Some things have moved around, and it does have more features.. but you'll find that you can quickly access the most used settings by holding down the different directional buttons.
The programmable "User" button is a fantastic feature! I LOVE the ability to set the user button so that it switches to my previously used mode... However, when you turn off your detector and turn it back on again, the user button no longer remembers the previous program. It will only work again once you've manually selected another program. The detector stores your last used program in memory and loads it again when you power it back on, so seems like it should be pretty easy to fix it so that the "user" button remembers the previously used program as well.
One other minor gripe: The TID when set to drop down from the top of the screen lags a bit. I could do without the fancy (and slow) drop-down animation in favor of some snappy TID numbers that show up and update instantly with each pass of the target.
Target ID: When I took my CTX out for the first time I was a little thrown off by the numbers of coins reading lower than what I was used to on the E-Trac. Then I realized that the separation modes effected the TID. I was running in Ferrous/Coin which is why the numbers were lower. For those who are used to running Multi-tone CO and High Trash on the E-Trac, selecting 50-CO and High Trash on the CTX will be the equivalent.
To me, the CTX's target ID seems a bit more stable than the E-Trac. What I mean by that is it seems to lock on-to the numbers better without jumping around nearly as much, especially at depth.
Target Trace: Another nice feature that is proving to be very useful. Not only for showing multiple targets under the coil, but Target Trace Pinpoint also makes spotting coin sized objects a little easier since it usually tends to fill in a tight dark circle when you have your coil over a coin. Depending on how you're set up, you can also see where targets that you've discriminated out are hitting on the screen. This is useful for seeing targets that are right on the edge of your discrimination pattern.
Tones: Another thing I'd like to see Minelab "fix" with a software update is to allow shifting the pitch higher in 50CO. On the E-Trac we were able to make silver and high conductors really scream by raising the variability and threshold pitch. With the CTX, you are limited to a maximum of 1200Hz. I would like to have the ability to raise it to 1500Hz or so.
Maybe we'll see these things addressed with a software update, but with Minelab's track record of releasing these updates I won't be holding my breath.
The E-Trac's "Silver Warble": I think the reason we don't hear the same "warble" on the CTX is due to it's more accurate TID. The tones are based on the TID numbers. The "warble" comes from a rapid fluctuation of TID numbers as the coil passes over the target. Like I mentioned before, the CTX seems to have a more stable TID, so with less fluctuation of the numbers you don't get the same warble sound. Make sense? This is just a theory so I could be way off base as far as how it all actually works. Thoughts?
Either way, the things that had me worried the most about switching from the E-Trac to the CTX were the tones and "warble". I've found that it isn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be. Even with the CTX, if I hit a 12-45/46 at 5"+ I can be reasonably sure it will be silver.
Modes: One of my favorite things about the CTX is Combined mode. Its basically like TTF on steroids. The ability to set your FE/CO line where ever you want, and then break up the conductive tones into "bins" is great for hunting in iron. To me, that feature along with the faster recovery speed is almost like having two detectors in one. For fairly clean ground that isn't littered with iron or for cherry picking, I run 50-CO and High Trash with deep on - fast off. For ground that's loaded with iron I like to run Combined and Ferrous Coin with a mostly open screen (fast on, deep off). I like to hear the iron grunting at the lowest possible pitch (75Hz). This combo has been working great! With combined & ferrous/coin I've pulled some good targets out of iron infested areas that I had missed before.
Waterproof: I've read mixed reviews on how well the CTX is water proofed. I'm not much of a water hunter but I'm glad to know that I don't need to run for shelter every time it starts to rain a little. I may try taking the CTX into some shallow streams when it gets really hot in July & August. We'll see. If I do, I'll make d*mn sure the seal is clean and the connections are tight. Mine is the newer version with the updated seal, so that's good to know.
GPS/X Change 2: The X-Change 2 software that came with the detector is great! Super easy to edit, save and load patterns.. and the ability to overlay GPS tracks onto Google Maps is also pretty dang cool. I haven't tinkered with the GPS features too much yet but I plan to.
Depth: In my test bed I really can't tell much difference in depth between the E-Trac and CTX. If the CTX is deeper, its not by much. The CTX's real strength over the E-Trac is hunting in heavy iron (IMHO).
Anyway, there you have it. That's my take on the CTX. I've changed detectors this year as many times as some folks change their socks, but now I think I've finally found the best machine for my needs.
Is it worth upgrading from an E-Trac if you're only concerned about more depth and a big increase in finds? Probably not. But if you're like me and care more about the enjoyment of the hobby than the value of finds vs cost of equipment, then this upgrade might be just the ticket. For me, its not really about the $$$ value of finds. Sure I like finding valuable stuff, but I just enjoy the hobby in general and I don't mind paying for the equipment that makes it even more enjoyable. So all of the other improvements offered with the CTX definitely makes the upgrade worth it to me. As for the E-Trac? Still consider it to be one of the best detectors I've ever used. Armed with an E-Trac you definitely won't be outgunned when hunting with a group of CTX users... unless you're hunting in a bed of iron. CTX definitely has some advantage there.
Again, this is all just my opinion. YMMV.
Here's a YouTube vid of a recent hunt. There's another vid on my channel showing the first time out with the CTX, and I have some more that I need to edit and upload.
Thanks for reading!
