CTX 3030 and instant gratification

So I decided to sell my CTX with all the X-mas trimmings.

Guy showed up and I decided beforehand a factory reset was an ideal baseline for a first "date"
Turned it on and saw him turn pale if the face,... Yikes,... what was that all about.

So we started talking and I made him a custom program, tuning down every CTX setting known to man, turning down everything that makes a CTX a CTX.
Actually he walked out the door with a lame ACE 250 type machine in the housing of a top notch detector.

Next day he went hunting,... found a few coins,... a 1615 french coin amongst them from a beaten to death field.

Well,... next thing he writes a small review on our local detecting forum,... not all that happy with his purchase,...

Instant gratification people,... you lay down your cash. And gold and silver should pop out of the ground every swing!
And heaven forbid you leave your EMI magnet cell-phone in the car.

Next time I'm not going to bother,... if nitwit turns pale in the face,... put the detector back in the closeth!

Just needed to vent,... Thx for reading

HH
Johnb

Yeah---some people aren't happy "if you hang 'em with a new rope"!------Doesn't sound like he was no way ready for a CTX (or any top detector for that matter).------First thing I do when I get a FBS detector is "soup 'em up".-----Think if I had to hunt in the factory settings I would use something else.------Maybe this guy you mentioned WOULD be happier with an Ace.

Yep, that was what i was talking about when i was saying for people to be careful posting vids. He prolly thought there would be gold coin after gold coin in his pouch.

Some people just aren't cut out for the hobby.

My new CTX should be here in the next few days. I am beyond excited. I have read Andy's book and gathering other CTX post/book/videos I could find. Actually reading Gary Drayton's CTX books now for beach hunting and have Clive's book on it coming too. I don't expect gold coins but I am going to find some gold jewelry with it. I can feel it.

That is what a CTX and just about any detector is all about. Learning how to use it,... but hey some people think a stick of dynamite in the pond is fishing.

It's a great machine, probably because I liked mine so much I was realy annoyed with his behavior.

Anyway,... slept on it,... rant over,... time for something new myself.

Daniel Tn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My new CTX should be here in the next few days. I
> am beyond excited. I have read Andy's book and
> gathering other CTX post/book/videos I could find.
> Actually reading Gary Drayton's CTX books now for
> beach hunting and have Clive's book on it coming
> too. I don't expect gold coins but I am going to
> find some gold jewelry with it. I can feel it.

HH
Johnb

FBS machines are not suited to the Novice, To me it sounds like he fell in love with what people were saying about the CTX and then thought he needed one, Anyone who has been using a beep and dig machine just can't grab an Etrac CTX etc and hunt like a Pro, The FBS machines and the V3i are two machines that you have to forget all that you know and start with a blank canvas and forget all your old habits, and Start a new,

The CTX is one of those machines that is total crap in the hands of a novice and yet in skilled hands it is a work of Art.

john.

Darn John,

I just sold mine and then you go praise it something awful.

My main gripe with the CTX and much of it is because I like to hunt wet beaches. Lack off SAT All Metal which allows me to listen to the ground.
And my only discrimination need is Ferrous/Non-Ferrous.
So it got used less and less, hunting with the Excal, SDC

For my park hunting at the moment I'm very into the X-terra 705, coil choice is great, frequency choice has me spoiled.
CTX is a great park hunter, but sometimes you just want fast and concentric for jewelry.
So it got used even lesser.

Then it becomes queen of the closet. So eventually it has to go,....
Maybe the CTX 4040 will have what I've become fond off and loose some weight in the progress :-)

HH
Johnb

scoopjohnb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Darn John,
>
> I just sold mine and then you go praise it
> something awful.
>
> My main gripe with the CTX and much of it is
> because I like to hunt wet beaches. Lack off SAT
> All Metal which allows me to listen to the
> ground.
> And my only discrimination need is
> Ferrous/Non-Ferrous.
> So it got used less and less, hunting with the
> Excal, SDC
>
> For my park hunting at the moment I'm very into
> the X-terra 705, coil choice is great, frequency
> choice has me spoiled.
> CTX is a great park hunter, but sometimes you just
> want fast and concentric for jewelry.
> So it got used even lesser.
>
> Then it becomes queen of the closet. So eventually
> it has to go,....
> Maybe the CTX 4040 will have what I've become fond
> off and loose some weight in the progress :-)

Sorry about that,

Well they are a good machine, But it is the reactivity that turns people off with FBS machines, In a junk filled site a person with a single frequency machine can cover a lot of Ground, but with the FBS machines they make you slow right down dissect every target, which when you are hunting against the clock it is not always the best machine to use, On the beach they are Awesome, But for hunting fine Gold the 705 will walk all over it, because FBS and BBS are blind to tiny natural Gold where as your 705 is right up there with the best of them and it is Minelabs Answer to the MXT But with the flexibility of being able to swap frequencies, Personally I think you 705 is the most flexible out of the 2 machines despite the CTX costing 4 X the price, Which is the same brick wall the V3i came up against with the MXT.

Your 705 is the Money machine so don't feel bad you did the right thing, Des.D had a lot to do with the 705, he was getting it to do all sorts of tricks when he was field testing it,, Of coarse there are newer machines out now but that does not mean the older machines stop making good finds just because something new comes along, If you can afford it I would be buying the 15" WOT coil for the 705 and a few others as well,

As good as the CTX is "and it is Good" In the UK I think they are hard work because unlike the US and Australia we do have Billions of Tons of junk in the Ground from the past 5000 years and it is that what dictates what types of machines we can use whether it be Whites, Nokta/Makro, AKA or Fisher or XP and not forgetting your 705, But CTX's and Etracs and Sovereigns are worse than PI machines over here to some degree, NOT always but in quite a few places.

Enjoy your 705 and Live the High Life, Good luck.

John.

Indeed it's greatest asset is it's downfall when hunting junk filled sites.
I'm not saying I'm very proficient in FBS machines, but their ability to figure out co-locates is amazing.

That's why my BBS Excal won't be leaving for beach hunting. The minelab wiggle is amazing what it tells you about a target.
And I've dug many nickel based coins left behind by other machines. But I do hunt in All Metal.
90 % of my decision is based on the size and shape,... then it gets disc.

Hunting with my PI I just loose the disc ability, so dig a bit more compact iron.
And I dig a bit more compact stainless :-)

CTX and junk filled sites,... run it in Auto sens and it always drops sensitivity to a primary frequency.
Some days it acts like a low frequency machine,... most days.
Some days it finds the small stuff and every bit of ground down foil.
But you don't have any say in the matter.

So you run it in manual sens and then it just is reactive to everything,... they sure do know how to make em!

Combined mode on the CTX, the reason you should own a CTX. However a BBS machine runs in combined mode with 17 tones on top.
Not 4 like the CTX. So on a CTX you have become a screen watcher,... target trace further embraces that concept.

Anyway,... time permitting I indeed see some more X-terra coils in my future.
And maybe a TDI SL for the beach.

Or heavens forbid a Deus V4,... but I won't be buying nitwit style :-)

HH
Johnb

Unfortunately there are some people who swing detectors and others detectorists and others somewhere in between. also some like green detectors an some black etc. etc. which further complicates the equation...not to mention some like user friendly and well some like turn on and go..Down and dirty whatever works comes to mind...

scoopjohnb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My main gripe with the CTX and much of it is
> because I like to hunt wet beaches. Lack of SAT
> All Metal which allows me to listen to the
> ground.

You got that right.
I have to lock pinpoint mode carefully...with the coil carefully held at a specific height...to activate All Metal.
It's twitchy, and of course...no SAT. So when the ground changes, it's re-lock a couple of times to get it right.

But it's worth it for the extra depth. They could SO unlock the CTX potential with that one single/simple addition.


mike

scoopjohnb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Indeed it's greatest asset is it's downfall when
> hunting junk filled sites.
> I'm not saying I'm very proficient in FBS
> machines, but their ability to figure out
> co-locates is amazing.
>
> That's why my BBS Excal won't be leaving for beach
> hunting. The minelab wiggle is amazing what it
> tells you about a target.
> And I've dug many nickel based coins left behind
> by other machines. But I do hunt in All Metal.
> 90 % of my decision is based on the size and
> shape,... then it gets disc.
>
> Hunting with my PI I just loose the disc ability,
> so dig a bit more compact iron.
> And I dig a bit more compact stainless :-)
>
> CTX and junk filled sites,... run it in Auto sens
> and it always drops sensitivity to a primary
> frequency.
> Some days it acts like a low frequency machine,...
> most days.
> Some days it finds the small stuff and every bit
> of ground down foil.
> But you don't have any say in the matter.
>
> So you run it in manual sens and then it just is
> reactive to everything,... they sure do know how
> to make em!
>
> Combined mode on the CTX, the reason you should
> own a CTX. However a BBS machine runs in combined
> mode with 17 tones on top.
> Not 4 like the CTX. So on a CTX you have become a
> screen watcher,... target trace further embraces
> that concept.
>
> Anyway,... time permitting I indeed see some more
> X-terra coils in my future.
> And maybe a TDI SL for the beach.
>
> Or heavens forbid a Deus V4,... but I won't be
> buying nitwit style :-)

I agree, the CTX is a lot of Machine but we are in this to make fines and to most that is the first thing on their mind and having to spend a few months with only a few returns on the investment is not something some folks are prepared to do,

I got a TDI SL, and it goes Deeper with the machine Ground Balanced, UN-Like its big Brother the TDI Pro, but there is a couple of unique tricks that it has regarding Basalt rock, and EMI and also thunder Storms miles away do not up set it either, Oh and I modded the Battery Pack to give a longer burn time and Also found the best "!Off the Shelf" Batteries that will triple the Run Time so if you Get One give me a Call.

good luck,

John.