minelab ctx 3030 metal detector worth the upgrade?

[Digger]

Has anyone here used one of these? I wanna upgrade my E-TRAC but don't want to throw money away on something thats only marginally superior if at all. thanks.

 

[dave14110]

Hi, I'm sort of in same boat I have an Xterra 70 but want a detector pacifically for beach in water. Have been looking at ctx3030, infinium & whites surf Pi, all three machines have very simular features. At this stage I think I will get a whites surf Pi, but I am still concidering. The reason for my choice is I am resonable happy with xterra so don't need to change. Only need to get in water. A very long term beach detectorist I know says I can't beat the whites, they are the cheapest of the three at
$995 new are water proof to 200ft Pulse induction which is suposed to give better depth & work well on beach. A very large influence is that I have seen some of his finds. He also states that he has even had water seal fail after years of use & he rinsed in fresh water brought new seal and all is good. All detector's will have seal fail at sometime because sare rubber and do perish. Batteries for these are standard batteries easy to get in rechargable, same batteries as xterra which I have. So no addictional cost on extra batteries.
Ps I dig nearly everything anyway as target ID's arn't always correct & can be influenced by circumstances.

 

[Aussie Detecting]

Hey Dave have you looked at the fisher CZ21? They are submersible to 250 feet.
http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/fisher-cz21-metal-detector.htm

If you were to go the infinium also get the 8" mono coil. It just makes it so much more sensitive on small targets.
The Fisher 1280X may be another option. It too is submersible to 250 feet
http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/fisher-1280x-metal-detector.htm

 

[Digger]

hey thanks guys i'll check out the fisher and whites machines before making a decision.

 

[Nugget]

The CTX 3030 looks like an awesome machine on paper, I think I would consider getting one if I had the money. Has anyone here got one of these?

 

[Pedro]

Nugget, I have been playing with the idea for some time now and I know it has lots of features. But would I use them! The real plus for me would be the CTX being waterproof and being based on E-Trac technology the learning curve would be a lot easier. Also instead of having a machine for the beach and another for land based coin hunting I could have one machine and get to know it well, but at this stage I still love my E-Trac too much, but will I probably weaken over time.

 

[Diggerdude]

I am going to get one in the next couple of weeks. I plan mainly on using it on areas with loads of rubbish on the goldfields as I reckon the visual discrimination of targets next to each other will work great. I will also use it on the beaches. It will be upgrading my infinium so if you decide on one of those instead mine will be for sale.

DD

 

[Ground Noise]

Is anyone running one of these?

Keen to hear what users reckon of it.

 

[Shane]

ME too. I have a 705 and have had resounding sucess with it. BUT I would like to have the freedom to go under water proper with it or detect in the rain.
Would be interesting to re visit sites I have detected with a machine that is supposed to be the top of the picks when it comes to treasure hunters.
I would love to test one before I purchased it.

 

[Ben78]

A mate in Coffs had a whites dual field surf, ran a sd2000 and sovereigns both xs and get all on the beach. Now has a 3030 and loves it. He occasionally breaks out the older machines and always puts them back. He said the sovereigns are the only machines that come close to the 3030.

 

[dave14110]

I already have the a fisher machine near identical to the one above & I have the White surf pro. I also have the Xterra 70 and the GPX 5000 but none of these compare to the CTX3030 & neither does the ATX or the other new minelab that is coming out soon. The CTX is waterproof to 3m plus it as very good discrimination, it can also distinguish between 2 different targets at same time, which none of the others above can do. I don't know of another detector that has the same futures as the CTX.
The CTX simply fills a gap in my arsenal.

 

[rc62burke]

I already have the a fisher machine near identical to the one above & I have the White surf pro. I also have the Xterra 70 and the GPX 5000 but none of these compare to the CTX3030 & neither does the ATX or the other new minelab that is coming out soon. The CTX is waterproof to 3m plus it as very good discrimination, it can also distinguish between 2 different targets at same time, which none of the others above can do. I don't know of another detector that has the same futures as the CTX.
The CTX simply fills a gap in my arsenal.

I have seen reports on another forum on the Whites spectra V3i & by all accounts it is amazing can ID multiple targets at the same time, very programmable to suit the user, looks VERY interesting.
cheers
Lee

 

[Ben78]

I would love a V3i and hopefully some stars will align later this year...

 

[dave14110]

Had a look at whites it can't swim and does not have the same features as CTX.
I had already order CTX anyway & will be picking up in the couple of days.

 

[gadgetman45]

The CTX 3030 looks like an awesome machine on paper, I think I would consider getting one if I had the money. Has anyone here got one of these?

I have the CTX, but only bought it a couple of weeks, & am on a learning curve at the moment, but it does have couple of just switch on & go programs, so it can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be, my personal opinion based on my limited use, is that it is a fantastic machine, is it worth the money ??, again my opinion is, if you can afford to part with that amount of money, (2600 dollars))then yes, the other 2 coils to go with it will set you back another 800 bucks, I have the complete set, and am a very "happy camper".

 

[Ground Noise]

Bought one about 3 months ago and am enjoying using it.

Ive swung only minelab PI machines in goldfields previously and it is a completely different experience to get into some parks and see whats still there. Gold hunting finds are getting harder for me (everybody?) and I like detecting for more reasons than financial so thought I would see if I can find coins and relics instead.

To date im loving the target seperation and pinpointing and the fe/co readouts. Found pre-decimal coins first time out so I was instantly impressed with its performance. Goal is to detect a full set of Aussie pre-decimals...that'll keep me occupied for a while.

 

[Robert Le Mal]

I love my CTX3030, my only gripe is that it's only submersible to 3 meters, I dick around with the settings but mostly I press the 'on' button and select one of the modes and it works.
I got mine second hand in very good condition so I'd suggest this might be the way to go to save a few dollars.