CTX, wheres the love?

[Native Floridian]

CTX, where's the love?

No fancy pix of spectactular bling on this thread. Just an old fashioned discussion of Minelab's latest greatest offering, the CTX3030. So what's up with this machine? Or, what's up with the swirling controversy surrounding it? Is it the price? Is it dissatisfaction that Minelab is going upmarket? Is it the way it is being marketed? Or, does there only appear to be controversy? Reality being, it's all good?

Let's have the pro, the con, or just get it out of your system. You got something to say about the CTX, Minelab, let's have it here.

Just for the record - On the CTX I'm Switzerland. I'm a very happy camper with my Sov GT while my Excal gathers dust. Until I can no longer buy batteries for my GT, I'm not going anywhere!!!!

 

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[OBN]

those looking for the IP68 connectors....
Buccaneer Power Connectors Overview PTM by Digi-Key and Bulgin

View attachment 709236

 

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[bigscoop]

Thanks OBN!

 

[Jason in Enid]

Are those truly waterproof or just splash proof? What happens if I take that connector 100 feet underwater?

 

[lookindown]

Tom as I have always said all machines pay for themselfs. Its just a matter of time for that to happen. The CTX will take a bit longer to do so. If it had not been for Hurricane Sandy my 3030 would have been paid for by years end. I am at about 1600 right now since May 28th 2012. My GT was paid for in 2 weeks with just one find. My one Excalibur find this year could have paid for 6 CtX's with tax! They are never going to pay for themself sitting in the closet! I hunt the beach 99.9% of the time and it has really come to shine on the beach, I just needed the time to learn. This will be one speical heater before long. Pictured here is Garys Drayton finds for 3 weeks hunting with the 3030 in November 2012 4.5 oz of gold sits on the 3030. He has found over 6 oz in November but some was with other machines. I think that should answer any questions on its capabilties in the hands of a master hunter!
BCNJ

How much of that would have been found with an Excal?...I would guess all of it.

 

[NYwaterhunter]

Native FL, I think you summed it up nicely. Would GD find just as much with the Excal?
And by the way, I wonder if he paid full price for the 3030? I would think it is a demo model.
Andy Sabish wrote the Excal book and Andy could find gold using a metal detector upside down!
It makes you wonder if it is the machine or more so the user.

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

How much of that would have been found with an Excal?...I would guess all of it.

With out question all the gold and coins I found using the 3030 would have been found using the Excalibur. I really thing I would have found alot more had I used the Excalibur during the same time frame. I was loss in the use of the machine for months. I am very comfortable with my Excalibur I was always second guessing the 3030 for all the times I use it from day one! I did however force myself to continue using it forgoing any missed targets for a preset time before picking the Excalibur up. There was even a several times I wanted to throw it in the water. I am comfortable with the 3030 now and truely believe it has its place in my hunting. I will never give up my Excaliburs but I might soon be selling my GT I see no use for it with the CTX 3030 truly out shinning the GT

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

Native FL, I think you summed it up nicely. Would GD find just as much with the Excal?
And by the way, I wonder if he paid full price for the 3030? I would think it is a demo model.
Andy Sabish wrote the Excal book and Andy could find gold using a metal detector upside down!
It makes you wonder if it is the machine or more so the user.

I have always believed a hunter using a machine they have used for years and years can out hunt the guy with the best machine money can buy, it they can't use it. That's the reason why competition is meaningless if you know how to hunt correctly. Just look at the people passing you on the beach running about. Its always been the user!
BCNJ

 

[OBN]

Jason they are good to 10 meters IP68, the 400's are only good on the HP side.

Buccaneer Power Connectors Overview PTM by Digi-Key and Bulgin

 

[Samuelljackson]

How much of that would have been found with an Excal?...I would guess all of it.

I think the question should be how long would it take?

It's a matter of dig less, bring home more for me. Especially in the water. I think we've all dug up some sweet sounding penny before, and we've all wasted time digging out some out of the ocean. Better discrimination save time and allows for a more productive hunt digging the the best sounding targets.

I might not have pulled my last condom wrapper of the beach, but odds are ill leave it for the next guy to find now.

Excalibur II, CTX3030, Propointer, Vibrabrobe, stealth scoop. YTD Finds: Gold: 11 Sliver: 13 Platinum: 3 Rings Returned: 1

 

[OBN]

Many knock the GPS, and I know conditions change often, like every tide. But I do think in old/recent hot spots it could get you back later if there happened to be another storm...or movement. Anyone see that or am I shooting in the dark? One thing I had heard in the past from another forum is GPS waypoints can be off one day to the next..so maybe it would not help. But I have use a hand held with fair results...

 

[Jason in Enid]

The GPS points can shift from day to day, but it would only be around 20 feet. So even with shifting it would still get you back to the same spot.

 

[MBbeachrat]

I might not have pulled my last condom wrapper of the beach, but odds are ill leave it for the next guy to find 1

I guess Mr. Jackson you know anytime you find a condom wrapper you should really comb that area. If I had the CTX I would use the GPS and mark that area and come back at night to just check things out.

 

[MBbeachrat]

Two things that really hold me back from buying CTX are. The screen in the surf would be catching waves. The screen is hard to see with polarized glasses. I need to use polarized glasses when surf hunting. But man would I loved to have had the CTX this morning going along the dunes!

 

[Native Floridian]

Many knock the GPS, and I know conditions change often, like every tide. But I do think in old/recent hot spots it could get you back later if there happened to be another storm...or movement. Anyone see that or am I shooting in the dark? One thing I had heard in the past from another forum is GPS waypoints can be off one day to the next..so maybe it would not help. But I have use a hand held with fair results...

I'm not knocking GPS. It may have a place in hunting. However, there are hand held solutions from MFRs like Garmin that cover that base. And, for those who understand how to use a hand held GPS, those unts do it far better than any first gen machine included GPS could. Everything is downloadable to a PC where multiple program options can diasect the information and spit it out in almost any format you can think of. More importantly, if your hand hld GPS works one day but wanders the nxt, or stops working, toss it and get another one. If the GPS in the CTX works inconsistantly or quits, not such a simple fix?

GPS included in the machine is a nice feature, and it may set a new benchmark in the progression of metal detector technology and feature sets. OTOH, with the CTX, it is a first generation hitech feature with all the guinea pig implications that comes with.

How much more gold does the CTX find?

 

[Jason in Enid]

How is it a guinea pig? GPSs have been embedded in cell phones and cameras for years. It's not a leap in technology, it's just incorporating existing tech. Yes, you can also carry a handheld gps while you detect, but I think they were trying to bundle so that you have less "stuff" to mess with.

 

[Native Floridian]

How is it a guinea pig? GPSs have been embedded in cell phones and cameras for years. It's not a leap in technology, it's just incorporating existing tech. Yes, you can also carry a handheld gps while you detect, but I think they were trying to bundle so that you have less "stuff" to mess with.

The machine isn't the guinea pig, the user is. As are all users of all first gen products. The first buyers of the next new new thing are the default beta testers. 2.0 buyers always get the better product.

Not all GPSs are created equal. The imbedded GPSs used in phones, cameras etc is fairly basic. None can compete with a current generation of mid to upper level hand held GPSs. Nor are most meant to. GPS is still evolving technology. Comparing the imbedded GPS in your iphone to a quality hand held gps is like comparing that phone to a rotory phone. Both allow you to talk to someone on the other end of the connection.

The leap is imbedding it in a metal detector and proraming it to interact with the machine in metal detector specific uses. Again, the positive is it could be useful for some hunters trying to find their way back to where X marks the spot or to grid a general area. The devil's avocate position is: Is buidling it into the machine a good idea? Even if it's low tech, it's still tech, it still has parts that can break, not work correctly or, interact with other parts in ways not forseen.

To pick on my favorite auto builder - years ago BMW built their eight cylinder engines out of a brand new light weight alloy. This alloy allowed BMW to get the weight savings and performnce they needed to put versions of this engine in every 7 series car, and every M5 series car. Problem was detergents in the oil specified for this engine corroded the cylinder walls of these engines. For you non car guys/people out there let me just say this- corroded cylinder walls- not a good thing!!! Soon after bringing their shiny new BMWs home these beautiful new cars started dripping oil on garage flloors all over the world. The fix was expensive and took years to rectify. I put this out there as not only an example of first gen guinea pig beta testing but also as an example of how even really good ideas from world class companies don't alway match up to the realities of every day use.

BTW, though i'm questioning Minelab's decisions here, the machine, the price, etc, I'm still neutral. Just playing devil's advocate. Justify the feature set - justify the cost - show me where this machine gives me a hunting advantage over machines costing 40 to 60% less.

 

[bigscoop]

Again, send me a complete 3030 package and I'll do my best to completely hunt the paint off of it in six months, then I'll let you know my thoughts on the machine. Unfortunately, that's the only way anyone can form an educated opinion about any machine. Some are going to like it and swear by it and others will feel just the opposite. All I care about is what it can do, or can't do, for me and my style of hunting and the conditions I hunt in. Only one possible way I can know for sure.

 

[lookindown]

I think if you use any top of the line machine your going to make finds and you are going to like it...they all do the same thing and for the most part all do it the same way.

 

[Samuelljackson]

Food for thought about the price.....

Isn't the price of the CTX too low? We're talking about machines that find free money and valuables. If they were all $200-$300 a piece how much more competition would there be?

Also if you look at the historic price of gold. And figure out how many ounces a sovereign gt cost when it was launched it really puts our suffering into perspective.

The sovereign launched in 2005. The average price of gold in q4 2005 was $485 per oz. The Detector cost $1249 or 2.58 Ounces of gold.

The CTX 3030 retails for 2499. Current price.of gold $1701 per oz. or 1.46 Ounces of gold.

It's the deal of the century! It will actually takes 43% less work to pay off your new ctx with your finds then it did to pay off your gt in 2005. If minelab corrected for the cost of gold (which we all want to find with this magic little machine) they would price it at $4350.

Excalibur II, CTX3030, Propointer, Vibrabrobe, stealth scoop. YTD Finds: Gold: 11 Sliver: 13 Platinum: 3 Rings Returned: 1

 

[John (west central FL)]

The Sovereign is overpriced too. I bought a brand new Sovereign XS-2a Pro in 2000 for $600. It came with a meter, headphones, and a nice case too. Later, Minelab added back a few features that the original model had (that most users didn't use) and jacked the price way up. The price of gold drove up the demand for detectors and Minelab raised their prices. I should have bought Minelab stock!