60 hours with the CTX 3030

[Koffee]

My first 60 hours with a CTX 3030

This is my opinion on the ctx 3030 with 60 hours under my belt. This is going to be a bit superficial as I do not have enough time on it to give in-depth opinions on advanced functions or comparisons. As for my background I have never used a minelab detector before. Most of my experience has been with Fisher, White's and Garrett.

Pro -

1. Easy to use out of the box with their preset programs. This lets you open up your new toy and start detecting immediately. I was even able to do it and I was moving from a GB2 to a CTX.
2. The menu is very user friendly and intuitive once you run through it a couple times.
3. Target Trace is awesome it gives you a good idea what is going on. I think this is one of the best features.
4. I love the choice of being able to jump between two unique discrimination patterns at the push of a button( Also looks like you might even be able to jump to four with some customization). This is really handy as I run wide open but there are times when things get to trashy and you need to discriminate to be able to tell what the signals are telling you.
5. Ground Balance is amazingly easy.
6. Being able to customized programs rock


Cons -

1. Cost - It is a bit steep
2. Screen Glare can be hard to read on a sunny day.
3. There are currently no solid coils. If you are detecting where things can catch on the coil this can be a pain.

Things it took me a bit to get use to -

1. Swing weight is different then any other detector I have used. I actually have to use the Velcro sleeve to make it feel natural.
2. Pinpointing took me a bit to get use to.
3. It is much deeper then my current machine and sometimes the display gives you wildly inaccurate readings and it is taking me sometime to be able to tell by sound. Still need some more time to figure this out.

I am extremely happy with this addition and look forward to using it more.

Cheers - Koffee

 

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[sask hunter]

Thanx for your comments on the ctx ! All I can do is read about it till spring so I appreciate ctx posts

D.A.D.D.-Dads against daughters dating

 

[gsxraddict]

I think the ctx is the best pin pointing machine I've ever used...the v3i is good though IF you turn on VCO in the expert menu.

 

[gsxraddict]

your wildly inaccurate readings - are you using fast and/or deep on?

If you turn them both off you will see an improvement in target ID's, but pay most of your attention to the last two digits, they tell you all you need to know.

If you're reading a quarter on the last two numbers 45, then dig it even if it shows 15.45 where the usual is 12.45

Also know the target ID's change based on the separation mode, high trash is different than ferrous coin for example.

Last thing...I know it's another $300, but if you buy the 6'' search coil you're going to be 100x more impressed. I can get in a site where an old house was bulldozed and pick out coins with amazing accuracy among all the trash.

 

[Koffee]

My settings

Head phones
6 inch coil - Just put it on today

Response - normal
Fast recovery - off
Recovery deep - on
Target separation ferrous coin
50 Tone

auto - +3
gain - 27
Threshold level - 18

Thank you for the information gsxraddict. If I am able to go out later today I will try turning off Recovery deep. I turned off fast recovery because it felt like I was getting choppy signals in my current hunting place. I do have the extra coils and I just put on the 6 in and will give that a try.

I have been digging almost everything for the moment just to become familiar with tone compared to target depth and target identity.

Thank You - Koffee

 

[Fletch88]

My settings Head phones 6 inch coil - Just put it on today Response - normal Fast recovery - off Recovery deep - on Target separation ferrous coin 50 Tone auto - +3 gain - 27 Threshold level - 18 Thank you for the information gsxraddict. If I am able to go out later today I will try turning off Recovery deep. I turned off fast recovery because it felt like I was getting choppy signals in my current hunting place. I do have the extra coils and I just put on the 6 in and will give that a try. I have been digging almost everything for the moment just to become familiar with tone compared to target depth and target identity. Thank You - Koffee

Koffee, you might try running with GB disabled. Unless you are in highly mineralized soil, ML recommends leaving it Disabled. If you do enable GB they recommend running Ground-Coin.

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

Thanks for posting your review.

Wayne

www.metaldetectingstuff.com

 

[Pointman]

Pin pointing can be a bit tricky. Sometimes deep coins or coins laying at an angle are hard to pin point. I will always hold the pinpoint button down and then quickly release and hold it down again, or raise the coil up a bit to narrow down the item location. Pinpointing at 90 degree angles will also help. I will also swing over the target quickly while holding the pinpoint button down and listen for the quick "blip" rather then hold the button down and move slowly and wait for the signal to rise. I do this because the signal amplitude is a little hard for me to differentiate. The sweet spot is always under the shaft. On very shallow targets the CTX has the tendency to be 2-3 inches off.

I very much agree that the glare is a pain in the butt. The "shade" covers do not really help. I have a clear, zip cover on my screen and it makes it even harder to read because a layer of dust settles over it.

Be sure to ground balance over a bare spot without any signals. I have gotten really low readings where pennies will read in the 11 range and I think that it is because I ground balanced over targets.

 

[parkgt]

In what situations do you feel the need to GB since the CTX is capable of doing it automatically on the fly.

 

[sask hunter]

That's what I was kinda wondering as well, pretty well all I've heard was not to GB .

D.A.D.D.-Dads against daughters dating

 

[Koffee]

Thank You all for the great comments and advice. I will give all the suggestions a try and let you know how it works. I am currently hunting in highly mineralized ground. I am hunting in the California Gold Rush area at an old odd-fellow retreat. As I move back down to the valley I will enable ground Balance as the soil is not highly mineralized, I will let you know how this works.

The pin pointing I am not to worried about as it is just different then the machine I used for the last 8 years.

The other thing is that I have not really ever had a machine that allowed me to target and item in a depth more then 6 inches. So the accuracy on deeper targets is something I just need to get used to.

Thank you Pointman, that is absolutely correct. On targets 2 to 3 inches I will use my pin pointer first before I dig to make sure in is not right on top. This has saved me a bunch of digging.

Thank You All - Koffee

 

[Koffee]

Koffee, you might try running with GB disabled. Unless you are in highly mineralized soil, ML recommends leaving it Disabled. If you do enable GB they recommend running Ground-Coin.

Unfortunately I took off to hunt today before I read this. I will try this before my next hunt.

Thank You - Koffee

 

[Fletch88]

Unfortunately I took off to hunt today before I read this. I will try this before my next hunt. Thank You - Koffee

Just watch your sensitivity as you hunt ( actual / recommended should be displayed on bottom of your screen if you have that turned on ). If these numbers stay above mid teens to lower 20's I would think keeping GB disabled would be your best best. If you see the sensitivity dropping down below 12-15 probably enabling ground balance and re-balancing occasionally would give you more depth. HH, Fletch

 

[parkgt]

Koffee,

Either I don't understand your posts or you don't understand the GB setting of the CTX. With the GB Enable check box unchecked the CTX GBs automatically on the fly. This would be for down in the valley in the less mineralized soil you describe.

With the Enable box checked you would then manually start a specific automatic GB that would not self adjust as you went along. This is typically used in a area of highly mineralized ground. You seem to be describing a use that is just the opposite of what would be best or maybe I just don't understand your explanation.

 

[Koffee]

I was hunting in Highly mineralized ground so auto ground balancing could not be utilized effectively. so I was manually ground balancing the machine.

Thank You - Koffee

 

[Koffee]

Just watch your sensitivity as you hunt ( actual / recommended should be displayed on bottom of your screen if you have that turned on ). If these numbers stay above mid teens to lower 20's I would think keeping GB disabled would be your best best. If you see the sensitivity dropping down below 12-15 probably enabling ground balance and re-balancing occasionally would give you more depth. HH, Fletch

Thanks Again Fletch88

 

[MexGT]

I was hunting in Highly mineralized ground so auto ground balancing could not be utilized effectively. so I was manually ground balancing the machine.

Thank You - Koffee

I use the 3030 in a beach, which is also very highly mineralized and I've neved made a manual ground balance, infact the 3030 manual says to not do it in the beach due to its continuos changing mineralization, I know its not your case but it should have something in common.

What DOES matter a lot in mineralized ground is the program you use, Ground/Coin is the best one to use in highly mineral ground in the 3030, I've tested every program and G/C is by far the best for my use, I can get sens up to 27-28 with no problem, digging holes and taking out tons of black sand too.
Ferrous/coin is very impressive, it can detect both metals in our Mexican Bi-metal coins in the screen, though is useless at the beach and at any high mineral ground, its also stated in the instructions manual is the least effective in hot ground and Ground/Coin is noted as the most effective in hot ground, I've tested that and they're correct, F/C falses a lot in hot soil, very unstable machine or I need to run it in very low sens.

I'd recommend you to try Ground/Coin with Manual sensitivity and auto balance, I'm sure it will impress you.

I'm a fan of having my screen with disc patterns, so thats up to you how you feel more confortable.

HH !

 

[sask hunter]

Ok so wandering if my ground is not highly mineralized than ferrous/coin would be better that ground coin? And maybe a stupid question how do I know if my ground is it is not highly mineralized? D.A.D.D.-Dads against daughters dating

 

[MexGT]

There is nothing wrong if you use G/C at any ground, the difference is that you wont see the blue and red pointers in the screen like you would with F/C, only the red one, which IMO you don't really need to look at 2 pointers at all, once you swing your coil in a desirable target it will beep and if its in range you can verify with the screen if its a solid red dot, then its a good target, if it falses (no hard 2 bell tones) and there are traces of signals all over the screen its a rusted iron or non-desirable target, it could also be minerals in the ground that can cause the detector to sound like it falses, you can tell right away with a bit of practice.

This is just my personal experience and opinion!

 

[zigzag]

I had a ctx and used Zagg screen protector to reduce the glare. It worked real good and will also prevent the screen from getting scratched.