Big Boys Hobbies

CTX 3030 pros, Cons, and current relevance

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PAslawslayer

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With the advent of the equinox 800 and the new detectors from XP and Nokta, why should a shallow water and land detectorist still consider a CTX 3030? Obviously none of us have experience with he newer detectors yet, but we have a good grasp of what they are promised to be.

Is the CTX 3030 still worth the price and why?


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I definitely think it’s still relevant and worth the price if you’re a coin shooter or do any kind of selective digging. Here’s why:

The 2D discrimination is unique to FBS and it allows the user much more control. It literally lets the user walk right past rusty bottle caps and similar targets that tend to sound good on other machines with only linear discrimination abilities.

The tones on deep silver are unmistakable. Once you hear it, you’ll know it. Makes picking them out like shooting fish in a barrel.

These machines have earned a reputation for their excellent Target ID. Not only is it stable, but very accurate too. On most other detectors TID tends to become very “iffy” after about 6 or 7 inches, as the ground signal starts to consume the target. For whatever reason, FBS seems to have the ability to punch down a couple of inches further.

The depth meter actually gives a numeric read out, unlike the arrows or symbols found on most other detectors. Much more accurate and precise than some symbol that’s supposed to represent 2”.

It has other unique tools on board such as something called Target Trace. A feature that can actually show the user when two or more targets are beneath the coil.

Even after all these years and the release of countless new detectors, for the type of hunting I mentioned above, the 3030 is still unmatched IMHO.

I know I probably sound like a broken record by now, but it’s the truth. Or at least it’s my truth.


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Truth is what I want to hear.

I’ve read a lot that the ctx is a great coin machine, but how is it in iron infested old sites with buttons, coins, ect…. I detect mainly deep woods foundations with varying terrain and lots of iron. My equinox does great but there are “deep squeaks” (another post) that have proven to be buttons or junk. If the CTX can cut through iron like equinox and give a better ID’s of deeper targets, I may still consider one.

Another question is how are the ergonomics of the ctx vs the equinox? I realize the ctx is heavier, but the grip on the equinox torques my shoulder and back for some reason.


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With a slow sweep speed the CTX can pick out targets from thick iron. It wouldn’t be my detector of choice for those type sites though. I’d probably use the Nox or Deus. They’re faster to recover so better suited in my opinion.

The CTX is noticeably heavier than the Equinox, but having the battery situated under the elbow it’s well balanced. I swing mine for hours at a time with no issues. To me, It’s comfortable to swing. The trigger style pinpoint button is a lot easier and faster to use than the thumb activated pinpoint as well.


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My opinion is the Equinox will find targets that the CTX will never see. They will be in the iron where the highest amount of human traffic was at the time. The CTX is better at target ID, but that is a poor trade off for not being able to find targets. Factor in the price difference and I really don't understand why anyone buys a CTX. The CTX was made obsolete the day the Equinoxes left the plane. If you want GPS there are better options out there like a Garmin fitness tracker. These are just my opinions so I will not get into an argument. If you like your CTX that is fine by me. I would love to hunt behind you.


I believe the next release from Minelab will settle things.
 
PAslawslayer said:
Truth is what I want to hear.
Another question is how are the ergonomics of the ctx vs the equinox? I realize the ctx is heavier, but the grip on the equinox torques my shoulder and back for some reason
Click to expand...

PAslawslayer -- as Rattlehead alluded to in his prior post, the issue with the Equinox is BALANCE. You are saying the "grip" on the Equinox "torques your shoulder." I would respectfully argue that it is not the GRIP, it is the nose-heaviness of the Equinox that is the ergonomic issue. The reason you feel it at the "grip," is that the handle/grip is the FULCRUM of the machine, and the Equinox (and other similar machines, to varying degrees) is the equivalent of a see-saw/teeter-totter with only one person, sitting on one side. Without any compensating weight at the butt end of the machine (the CTX does have the heavy battery at the butt end which acts as a "counterweight" to partially balance the machine as Rattlehead noted), the Equinox ends up being an uncomfortable machine to swing for long hours, for many users.

The point is, that discomfort you feel, focused at the grip/handle, is not the fault of the grip/handle itself, it is the fact that when swinging an imbalanced, nose-heavy machine like the Equinox, your hand/wrist is having to do all the work, to keep the coil lifted off the ground as you swing. And that force you are having to exert with your wrist, results in fatigue over time, and for some -- pain. That fatigue/pain then translates from your wrist to your forearm (as you squeeze the grip/handle trying to keep the coil floating), and for many it results in fatigue pain all the way up through the elbow, and to the shoulder -- and even into your back muscles.

THIS is why I offer the optional counterweight system, with my carbon-fiber Equinox shafts. Counterweighting is a solution to the ergonomic issues with your Equinox, and I (Steve's Detector Rods) am happy to help you out with that, if you are interested.

Just send me a PM or email ([email protected]) and we can chat some more about it.

Thanks!

Steve
 
Rattlehead said:
I definitely think it’s still relevant and worth the price if you’re a coin shooter or do any kind of selective digging. Here’s why:

The 2D discrimination is unique to FBS and it allows the user much more control. It literally lets the user walk right past rusty bottle caps and similar targets that tend to sound good on other machines with only linear discrimination abilities.

The tones on deep silver are unmistakable. Once you hear it, you’ll know it. Makes picking them out like shooting fish in a barrel.

These machines have earned a reputation for their excellent Target ID. Not only is it stable, but very accurate too. On most other detectors TID tends to become very “iffy” after about 6 or 7 inches, as the ground signal starts to consume the target. For whatever reason, FBS seems to have the ability to punch down a couple of inches further.

The depth meter actually gives a numeric read out, unlike the arrows or symbols found on most other detectors. Much more accurate and precise than some symbol that’s supposed to represent 2”.

It has other unique tools on board such as something called Target Trace. A feature that can actually show the user when two or more targets are beneath the coil.

Even after all these years and the release of countless new detectors, for the type of hunting I mentioned above, the 3030 is still unmatched IMHO.

I know I probably sound like a broken record by now, but it’s the truth. Or at least it’s my truth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

This is a very good post! I still consider the Minelab CTX 3030 the best silver coin machine out. It gets them deeper and has a better target ID on them for sure. I always say a place is never really hundred out until you hit it with a Ctx real hard with a 6" and stock coil. They don't get the nickname silver sucker without a good reason.

Feel free to call us with questions. Be glad to answer them for you.
 
goodmore said:
My opinion is the Equinox will find targets that the CTX will never see. They will be in the iron where the highest amount of human traffic was at the time. The CTX is better at target ID, but that is a poor trade off for not being able to find targets. Factor in the price difference and I really don't understand why anyone buys a CTX. The CTX was made obsolete the day the Equinoxes left the plane. If you want GPS there are better options out there like a Garmin fitness tracker. These are just my opinions so I will not get into an argument. If you like your CTX that is fine by me. I would love to hunt behind you.


I believe the next release from Minelab will settle things.
Click to expand...

Until you actually hunt behind people who use the Etrac or CTX with a Equinox you will never understand what Goodmore is talking about. Yes both those machines I.D. better in clean ground, and are just as deep as the Equinox. Get them in trashy places iron/nonferrous and all but the most expert users will miss stuff the Equinox will hit.

True you can go to smaller coils on them to aid in separation, but then you lose the depth. I haven't tested myself, but I'd wager the Equinox with the stock 11" will separate targets as good as a CTX with 6" coil will.
 
This is my experience with both. If I am hunting a site that is old and mostly iron infested it is the NOX all day long my Ctx and Etrac don't stand a chance. Neither my CTX or Etrac with stock coils even in clean ground will hold a candle to my NOX for depth. But if you just want to cherry pick a semi clean site I prefer my FBS machines hands down. Id for them is hard to beat from around 8 or 9 inches up to surface. I would have sold both my FBS machines EXECPT for this one reason, I hunt a lot of empty lots where at least one or sometimes several buildings once stood and if you run into a lot of high conductive undesirable things like shaved piston heads, capacitors, resistors , lot's of electrical wire etc........ you really need FBS if you do not want to dig a lot of high end trash. Because my nox will call all of that good, where my CTX/Etrac will tell me it is not desirable.

My latest experience was a permission that had two lots one house still standing the other torn down and empty lot. I had the Nox and I got a solid 28 dug down and came up with what I believe to be part of a piston head about the size of a nickel. Moved a foot or two and another solid 28 and another piece of metal similar to first. I did this 4 or 5 times then realized the place was littered with this !!!! everywhere. I then decided I would just have to skip this lot and do the other one with the house. But then I thought let me get my Etrac out of my truck and see what is does. First target came fast and it registered 9 to 10 FE and 45 to 46 CO. If you just look at the CO you think wow it is the same as the Nox but the tell tale is the FE number being 9 or 10 which tells me it is junk. Sure enough I dig several and they are all more parts of piston heads I think. Then after a few I have confidence that the machine is spot on and I went on to recover several mercury dimes in the area with the Etrac. This is why I still own FBS machines. Had I not owned a FBS machine I would have walked away from that lot all together as I am not digging solid 28's every foot and half with the NOX lol!
 
That was a great example and explanation of a difference between the nox and the fbs’ capabilities on a site.


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As a guy considering getting a CTX next spring, this is a great conversation, thanks.
 
Will someone please point me in the direction of a VIDEO where the Equinox sees a good target that the CTX or eTrac or Explorer will not see? Thanks…
 
IDXMonster said:
Will someone please point me in the direction of a VIDEO where the Equinox sees a good target that the CTX or eTrac or Explorer will not see? Thanks…
Click to expand...

Define see? I've never made videos, but have seen it happen enough to say it's real and must have something to do with recovery speed. Sometimes even bad enough the Etrac user would not even bother with digging it. Terms like when hovering over a probable Equinox found silver "I got nothing I'd dig."

How many CTX and Etrac users who bought the Equinox went back to old sites and found more silver. People forget that was being experienced quite a bit when the Equinox was first released. I know when I bought the Equinox and hit several places Etrac users had given up on and found enough silver to say there was no way it was just random missed silver.

I don't deny the Etrac and CTX are fantastic machines. I just didn't find the Etrac way better than the Equinox at calling targets, and almost always found the Equinox to be the better clean up hitter. Look at it this way the Etrac and CTX had years to build up a reputation. The Equinox built up one almost instantly. It's by far Minelab's number one selling machine for a reason.
 
Here's my take on the whole CTX vs Equinox thing.. and remember you don't have to agree as this is just my opinion based on my own experience. Yes, the Nox will "see" some tough targets that the CTX may miss. Yet even though I own both machines and have countless hours on each, you'll still find me swinging the 3030 most of the time. The reason is simple. At most of the places I hunt, my time there is limited and/or I'm just not able to dig a hundred holes. With that in mind, my goal is to increase the odds of finding more good targets rather than every single target. Sure, I may miss a few tough targets, but at the end of the day I usually end up with more good finds in my pouch because I spend less time digging junk. This is thanks to the unique FBS features and capabilities that I mentioned in my post above.

Now if I'm hunting a pounded site, trying to get the last few tough targets that other hunters have missed.. I reach for the Equinox. Same goes for iron blanketed relic sites. Different tools for different jobs.
 
Big Boys Hobbies said:
This is a very good post! I still consider the Minelab CTX 3030 the best silver coin machine out. It gets them deeper and has a better target ID on them for sure. I always say a place is never really hundred out until you hit it with a Ctx real hard with a 6" and stock coil. They don't get the nickname silver sucker without a good reason.

Feel free to call us with questions. Be glad to answer them for you.
Click to expand...

I traded emails with Bart this afternoon, good dude...
 
szugelder said:
I traded emails with Bart this afternoon, good dude...
Click to expand...


I had a good conversation today with him also about where and what I’m hunting and the detectors best suited for those. He is indeed a good dude. I bought my equinox from him and wouldn’t hesitate buying anything else from him.


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IDXMonster said:
Will someone please point me in the direction of a VIDEO where the Equinox sees a good target that the CTX or eTrac or Explorer will not see? Thanks…
Click to expand...

I'll try to do a video of some sort the next time it happens. It's not constantly. It has happened enough for me to know it's real. Obviously all detectors miss targets because they are masked in some way. Even the Equinox.

Think about it. A guy is swinging his Etrac and there is quite a bit of shallow modern trash. He is running a discrimination pattern. He swings over a silver co-mingled with something and the Etrac does not give the silver tone. The Equinox swings over it with a faster recovery speed and hears the high tone. He hones in on it and hovers getting silver numbers and digs.

I have seen 2 scenarios. 1. After it's pointed out and the Etrac can hover right over it he gets the silver tone and the right numbers. 2nd scenario he can get something but wrong tone and numbers equals no dig for him.

I don't see why that's so far fetched or hard to conceptualize.
 
I have only 1 local guy that enjoys detecting as much as I do and neither one of us have an array of detectors to make comparisons with. We rely on questions being answered by experienced people on forums such as this as well as YouTube searches that lead to hours of filtration and ultimately more questions.

To learn detecting by experience, I’ve applied as scientific a method as I’m capable of doing. Example…to see the differences of park 1 and 2 at any site, I eliminated all allowable machine variables by simply setting each mode the same, therefore allowing me to note the differences of how the machine handles a particular scenario within park 1 and 2. The same with field vs park,ect… You just can’t compare 2 things without also comparing or eliminating the variables.

While I appreciate the time and effort anyone puts into posting a video, there’s almost always a common problem when you click on one that is a “this machine vs this machine” where they almost never give an apples to apples comparison. Either they have some sort of contest to see who can find the most things in a giant field or they actually compare machines on the same target but never change a setting that could possibly make a big difference.


I know if I had multiple machines and were to publicly post a comparison, I’d make darn sure my I’s were crossed and my T’s dotted to the best of my ability.


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