Minelab CTX 3030 Viewpoint

So is the CTX a flop? It seems when reading posts on forums that a percentage of the users don't like it or the detector does not work correctly and they have to send it back to be repaired. Seems some just don't know how to use it correctly. I visit other detector manufacturer forums and don't hear as much bad talk or problems. What's your honest opinion?

CTX a flop?? Not hardly!-----My wife & I each have one and they have both worked flawlessly, never had problem one with either one of them.----The only issue I ever had was the battery charger had to be replaced on one of them.--The charger wouldn't charge from the get go when I purchased the detector new, Minelab replaced the charger quickly.-----But no, as far as the CTX's themselves, we have had zero problems with the detectors---really like them.------This has been our experience anyway.---------Del

From what I understand its not the wheel but the person behind the wheel....and ability for user to get the most out of the unit is the problem....

CTX is hardly a flop...

Its the most universal FBS to date and maybe the best all around machine at the moment in my opinion..

Take advantage of the added feautures and dont try to compare it to the Explorer or Etrac and learn it and its the APEX FBS...

Its so much more than the platfrom has ever been...

I actually envision this is where Bruce wanted to be 14 years ago but was limited to what could be done...We had to learn the quirks of the Explorer and the Etrac ..now we have an advanced running machine that is not very quirky and behaves like a VLF platfrom while still being on the FBS transmission technology...

I think it's an excellent machine...I hope to add another this year to the arsenal...

Keith

Talk about a well balanced machine, I took it out the other day and 10 minutes into my hunt I dug a 1904 Indian Head, got ring 1 & 2 with it for the year. Going to try the 17" coil,
I have the E-trac up for sale and my spare Ctx3030 I bought 2 and the guy backed out after I paid for them. Need 1?

Hungarian --

I have no doubt -- and as those who have posted here affirm -- that these are outstanding machines.

That being said, I do know a couple of guys using them, who had to send them back, early on, for a number of different problems. While Minelab's customer service/repairs did a GREAT job of fixing the problems -- in some cases, sending brand-new machines if I recall correctly, I just wanted to say that you are not totally mistaken with respect to their having been some "rough patches" with the release of the CTX. NONE of these issues, though, have anything to do with how these machines (when working correctly) actually perform. They are super -- my hunting partner switched from an E-Trac and he feels it's a definite upgrade...

As Keith said, my understanding also is that you have to "not expect" it to be an Explorer or an E-Trac. The one thing I've had said to me, and my partner will confirm, is that you CANNOT get it to "mimic" the Explorer or the E-Trac, in terms of the sounds...and for me, that's a BIG deal. I've spent SO much time "learning the language" of the Explorer, that I would HATE to throw all that away and have to learn a new machine. I can pick up an E-Trac anytime, and while the sounds aren't QUITE as good, in my opinion, they are very similar to my Explorer...just "subtly" different, like maybe someone from Texas talking to someone from Oklahoma -- just a slightly different "accent" perhaps. But, once you understand the language of the Explorer, the E-Trac is almost zero adjustment, sound-wise. I really, really wish Minelab could have found a way to transfer that "language" over to the CTX, even if it was just an "optional sound mode" or whatever...

Steve



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2014 01:52AM by steveg.

The CTX is one of the finest detectors I have ever owned. Funny but I did not even turn on the GPS for a year, and a couple months ago I did and it could not find satellite. Mine was one of the first units. Anyway, contacted Minelab, they paid postage both ways and fixed it fast. Excellent service. Detectors are more complicated these days so stuff happens. It is how it gets taken care of that matters and Minelab could not have done any better than they did in my case.

It's a great machine period and one of those that you'll keep learning new things with for years to come.

Those that don't like it are usually the haters who don't want to spend the money for a great machine.

A problem here is 10,000 happy owners are pretty quiet and 10 who had problems post. I agree many failures are operator issues. I sent in my ID Edge thinking it was not responding when I pushed the button. Learned later it just needs a tiny bit longer push and everything worked as it should. I am pretty sure I am not alone attributing stupidity to an inaniment object when it deserved better.

Past(or)Tom
Using a Legend, a Deus 2, an Equinox 800, a Tarsacci MDT 8000, & a few others...
with my beloved, fading Corgi, Sadie

Mine has been perfect and with the 17" coil it will hit silver dimes at extreme depths in my moderate soils. It is much more advanced than its older brothers with much faster recovery. I have never had any desire to return to the E-trac or Explorers after week one with my CTX-3030 I bought the first week they were released here in the states . I do miss the silver warble but with the results I have been having at hard hit public sites I can live without it .

Silverhound

Dead on!

Keith

A problem here is 10,000 happy owners are pretty quiet and 10 who had problems post. I agree many failures are operator issues. I sent in my ID Edge thinking it was not responding when I pushed the button. Learned later it just needs a tiny bit longer push and everything worked as it should. I am pretty sure I am not alone attributing stupidity to an inaniment object when it deserved better.

Past(or)Tom
Using a Legend, a Deus 2, an Equinox 800, a Tarsacci MDT 8000, & a few others...
with my beloved, fading Corgi, Sadie

My hunting buddy acquired a CTX early last year. He is very good and has found more silver, deep silver than any of the other hunters in my area. He has pulled silver where all the other machine can't even get a good sounding audio. As time goes on we will begin to hear more and more about this high performance machine.

markg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My hunting buddy acquired a CTX early last year.
> He is very good and has found more silver, deep
> silver than any of the other hunters in my area.
> He has pulled silver where all the other machine
> can't even get a good sounding audio. As time
> goes on we will begin to hear more and more about
> this high performance machine.

I do think the CTX more consistently and in some areas more often, gets deeper than the E-Trac.
In lower mineralization I think it is deeper as I hit a spot with the CTX that I cleaned with the E-Trac and found quite a few more deep coins.
In the moderately mineralized areas, I found more coins at 9" than the E-Trac, but just a few more coins.
The CTX is much much faster than an E-Trac.

IAS

CTX is the APEX FBS machine ..and quite possible the best all around machine availabe at the moment with the 6 inch coil as an option...

dont expect it to run like an E-trac or Explorer and you wont be dissapointed...

Keith

The fact is the CTX is the best all around detector that I have ever used. It holds it's ground against the Deus in iron. It is getting attention at being a very deep beach machine. And it just flat out finds silver coins like crazy. The bad to me is the price. Still after all this time I find the price crippling to the average detectorist. I think you need to be hardcore and use the CTX all the time to justify the purchase. Another point is the updates. I have no idea if an update is planned in the near future, but I have been down this road with many pieces of electronics. They claim fully updateable and then release very few updates during the life of the product. When was the last firmware? 2012?

I found the CTX to be a much better detector than the E Trac. Maybe I'll take the leap again some day. But the truth is I also enjoy using other detectors that make the CTX purchase that much harder to swallow. Are they better than the CTX? Probably not. But I enjoy them. For instance I love the Soverein on the beach. I found the 6 inch coil of the CTX to not be worth the money. I really never pulled any more targets out of my hunting areas after I hunted with the stock coil. The 17 inch coil was way too heavy for me. The thing kicked my butt on the beach.

I had one and it found silver for me in places I hit pretty hard with my E-trac and CZ-3D. The thing I didn't like is the tones aren't as sweet on silver as the E-trac and Explorer. They don't have that sweet Minelab silver warble that I love so much. Also I didn't need all the bells and whistles like a clock or GPS. But that is just me.

I have my CTX up for sale. Too awkward and unwieldy for woods and trek in sites. CTX found a few silver my etrac missed. But then again my Omega found silver my CTX missed.

Most amazing CTX find for me was a mercury dime fully wrapped in foil at a very conservative 9 inches. Gave a very watery and faint high tone, with bad ID but the tone was there.

I'm not young or strong enough to swing it.

The CTX is terrible. All it ever does is find very deep things in highly mineralized ground and clearly display those targets and give audible tones that are adjustable, and do this underwater and in the rain. Even worse it can display multiple targets at once and map your coordinates - it sucks.

I'm going back to my Ace 250 - it is far superior because it doesn't do any of that stuff.

Johnnyanglo

Right on Johnny! The CTX is a REAL load and really sucks! It weighs a ton even though its PERFECTLY balanced! The stupid thing ended up finding me my oldest coin ever (1843 L. Cent) only because it was 8" deep and completely surrounded by a ancient wad of rusted wire and 5" rusted spike! And the WORST thing about the CTX is stupid clock always reminding of how little time I have to detect! ; )

Aaron

I agree with goodmore. I consider myself pretty much a "weekend only" detectorist, so its tough to justify a $2000 machine. I don't really water hunt either. Its a great machine for sure, but my Etrac will find 95% what the CTX will.

If they made an Etrac V2 that had the same features of the CTX (FBS2) same processor but not waterproof, I'd be all over it. I think the waterproof ability drives up the cost a lot and also the weight.

I had a CTX but went back to the Etrac @ more then half the cost.

qoute "Its a great machine for sure, but my Etrac will find 95% what the CTX will."

I loved my Etrac, excellent machine. However I consider the CTX a better all round detector and from what I have experienced, if you are into relic hunting the Etrac cannot compare to the CTX in heavy iron.

Aaron

Quote
"It weighs a ton even though its PERFECTLY balanced"
Kinda like a perfectly balanced anvil? lol

Hobo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Quote
> "It weighs a ton even though its PERFECTLY
> balanced"
> Kinda like a perfectly balanced anvil? lol

Nah, it ain't like that Darrel.-----You better get one---you'd love it!!

D&P-OR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hobo Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Quote
> > "It weighs a ton even though its PERFECTLY
> > balanced"
> > Kinda like a perfectly balanced anvil?
> lol
>
> Nah, it ain't like that Darrel.-----You better get
> one---you'd love it!!

I was just joking, I know it's a good un but I'm happy with my Dues

Deus and CTX are two different animals.... Both have their pluses and minuses. Deus = iron lighting machine CTX= Deep silver/parks machine.

Yeah, and another thing I can't stand about the CTX is its built like a TANK, and I no longer have any excuses for quitting when it starts pouring out cause it will still keep working. I then to make matters worse I have to hose all the mud off of it when I get home!

Aaron

DEUS is a great machine also..but I'd it was down to 2 machines and could only have one..I would keep the CTX..it's more universal..

the DEUS strong point is iron unmasking...We know the I.D. is far from perfect it can't really water hunt straight out of the box...so in my opinion it's not alot to offer for 2000.00 dollars although it is good in iron a gmp or drug will net you the same returns in iron..

now the CTX is a do anything machine plus it can hunt iron extremely extremely well with the 6 inch coil and some aggressive settings and proper use...

Again the Ctx is in my humble opinion the finest metal detector on the market.

I like how it's really gotten hot on low conductors using fbs..


Keith

I have owned both the Deus and CTX myself and I agree Keith...It has come down to me only being able to justify one machine and when I was left with the option of having just one, I decided on the CTX along with the 6" and 17" coils.

Edit: check that,,just got a great deal on an atgold and couldn't help myself so I have one of those in my arsenal again...lol



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2014 10:01PM by bigboar.