Minelab CTX 3030 vs Equinox

For those of you who have used both detectors, what do you think? I just got a CTX and I'm totally happy with it's performance. Also I'm really super happy that it's way better balanced than a AT Pro. Back when I had one I was forced to use the smaller search coil because the weight of the stock coil made the detector way too nose heavy. With the CTX I can use the larger stock search coil without any problem. The smaller 6 inch search coil that I also got for CTX won't get as much use as I thought it would. I think that I made the right decision getting the CTX instead of the Equinox, but if you can convince otherwise I'll get a Equinox as well. Keep in mind I already have a Deus.

tabman

I have a deus, Etrac and Equinox 800. I still love the Minelab multi conductive tone over silver... nothing like it!

XP Deus
Minelab Etrac
Minelab Equinox 800
Garrett Carrot
22 silvers, 2 silver rings, 1 Gold Ring -YTD 2018


Some of my random digs: [www.youtube.com]

You will do fine with either one.

If the Equinox is better than the CTX, I'd like to know in what ways from people who have actually used both detectors.

tabman

I just broke my 800's maiden last night with a quick sprint around a local elementary school. I have hunted this school many times with the CTX et.al.
The 800 found some coins and I dug some junk jewelry around the zinc coin range as I was digging essentially everything. I think the build quality is very average and had to modify the lower clamp to prevent the lower shaft from rotating a bit. The ergonomics are fair but not in a class with the F75s but better than the CTX. I found three nickels one each at 13,14 &15. My ground balances on the Equinox at 2. I did not find a gold ring.

The Equinox is less expensive.

Honestly, they dont even compare. CTX is in a different league. More so if you are a coin shooter/park/yard hunter. High disc and high trash setting is where the magic happens for coins. Recovery speed dont mean anything when your dector can ignore disc'd trash signal and sound off on the weaker accepted signal. plus modulation and target trace.

I don’t suppose they were meant to compete with each other,rather,enhance each other....at least that’s what I’m hoping it turns out to be. It sounds like the Equinox does quite well,but isn’t going to trump the CTX on public ground with a lot of conductive trash. Discrimination on the CTX is world class. Put time in on it Tabman,you’ll see the magic with what was said above about high disc and high trash. Ferrous Coin is not meant to be used in conductive trash.

Forgot to mention,,,the tonal range is disappointing on the Equinox with the high tone appearing to be only 500hz vs the 1200 on the CTX , which was a bit disappointing when compared to the Etrac and Explorers. If you are a hunter that enjoys hunting in "full tones" the glass is half empty on the Equinox.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2018 12:00PM by shoveler.

Certainly true, you can't beat having several Separation modes to chose from-- get the impression that the CTX just plain has more punch. The Eq is a lot more like the Deus--high gain power that needs special confirming methods. I've been very surprised on how powerful the Eq is on low conductors at depth--Multi IQ model seem to run a very clean signal back and forth. Dug a half oval tab a foot down the other day--mad a believer out of me. Down the line as I learn more I see this platform as having the potential to allow for more sensitivity to be usable--with a few tweaks. Can't wait to see how the Eq handles the signal to noise issue with a larger coil--a critical shortfalling of the CTX--too much going on. cjc
clivesgoldpage.com

The Equinox tones suit my old ears well since I have a substantial drop off in hearing starting below 1K. It allows me to set a comfortable level without fear of loosing the fainter "high" tones.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In a democracy, it is difficult to win fellow citizens over to your own side, or to build public support to remedy injustices that remain all too real when you fundamentally misunderstand how they see the world.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2018 12:30PM by Jackpine.

Tabman,

I will try to answer your question.

May get off track here a smidge some.

Deep turf coin hunting in cleaner areas, my experiences Etrac for the money really as good as CTX. With both in the hands of a very proficient person.

Deus for coin hunting period, ID suffers on targets at depth as well as if worthy targets have iron or nonferrous junk target driving ID to fool a person.

Equinox, not exactly a perfect description here but IMO think of it more like a Deus with more so fbs ID. Or a hybrid of Deus and Etrac. I haven't used Safari or maybe I would be putting it in here.

Will Equinox (with limited digging) do better st Deus coin hunting? Yes
Will Equinox (with limited digging) do better than CTX coin hunting? I won't say yes but it can.

So far for me and it seems when looking at folks Equinox reports who indeed have Deus and CTX, it is the trashy spots and spots with iron where they are being successful.

So yes you head to cleaner ground hunting behind fbs types with Equniox you likely find very little, maybe deeper lower conductors even a nickel.

The CTX is lying to folks in sites with modern trash. How would they know? Really
One way to find out is take a Nox in there and hunt, or do head to head on Nox located targets. Then you'll see.

So, maybe here is really the answer to your question.
Where are the you tubes showing me where a CTX has a lock on a higher conductive coin in a modern trash site using stock coil, and Equinox wearing stock coil won't see with ID?
And we should be seeing this happen multiple times too if it's happening.

Equinox for the loot does well.

Can a modern trash site be declared dead of nickels and higher conductive coins with just CTX being used in? IMO no.
Can a modern trash site be declared dead if CTX and Equinox has been run in ? No, but IMO can be declared more dead vs if only a CTX has been used in.

And for sites with iron and nails.
The same above applies as far as modern trash sites apply.

So there is a weight difference.
There is a SPEED difference.
In my ground using 800 model if I sett my speed to 7 using park 2, I can cover lots of ground when in old house site and IMO the Nox is hunting th first 7.5" of ground VERY efficient.
If you hunted with me using your CTX you wouldn't hardly get out of your own shadow and I would be miles ahead. And Nox can latch on to challenged targets too when hunting at such a pace too.

So really it depends on your sites.
Some sites and the way the ground sits itself up,with sink rates, Equinox for time spent detecting can have advantage on Etrac, Deus, and CTX.

If Deus unit performed as it currently does, but required a sweep speed like Etrac or CTX, does anyone think the Deus users would have been as successful as they have in USA?
I don't think so.

Since you mentioned you have a Deus.
The Equinox has the capability to hit both coins and relics you will not be able to detect using Deus and at least the 9" and 11" LF coils. I don't have 11x13" LF coil so can't comment.
And having the HF coils for Deus will definitely up your odds of being able to detect some coins and relics Equinox is capable of locating.

I like all the units.
Sold my CTX. Did have 2 in time. Do have Etrac. And this is my third one of these.
So I have indeed have stock in Minelab.
Xp too, as I have had 4 different Deus units, still have 2 of them.
And I have ordered a second 800 model Equinox unit.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2018 01:08PM by tnsharpshooter.

I've been using the CTX and Equinox most of the last month. Some side by side some going over the same areas. If you dig all non-ferrous, you aren't missing anything with either. If you are coin shooting, you will have to still dig all non-ferrous with equinox to achieve same results as CTX. ID accuracy and more importantly telling you to dig vs not dig (audio and visual clues) makes the Nox feel like a toy. And that's fine. It's good at a lot of things and I sold my CTX because I'm getting busy with kids/sports/activities and the little I will get out detecting the Nox is a cheap way to be decent at most things. I don't like to have money sitting in a closet not being used.

In a perfect world, I'd have a CTX and Deus. Best Coin shooter and Best Relic hunter. I don't do water/beach/gold prospecting.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2018 01:07PM by detectingMO.

The CTX is more refined, which makes for a pleasant park hunt..
It and the E-Trac have been my main coin shooting detectors for close to 4 years now..
The Equinox is as powerful, if not more. And much, much faster..
I am pulling coins close to nails at a much higher rate then both the CTX and E-Trac..
It’s not an overwhelming advantage in a park setting though..

On a trashy home site the Equinox has a clear advantage..
The FBS units can go into an almost solid Nul and you are forced to put on tiny coils..
The Equinox even with its 11” coil will just slice through the trash and feels like you have a much smaller coil on
by just turning up the recovery speed..

If you are the type of hunter who runs a Trashy Park Type setting with very tight discrimination and like to quietly cherry pick silver,
then the CTX would be the better choice for you..
If you like to chase tough signals trying to eak out deep or hidden coins, the Equinox is the better tool in my opinion..

I am in the latter category and my E-Trac has sat unused since I received the Equinox..

Bryan

I have both a CTX and a NOX 800.
Pretty much the other guys are spot on with how they run.
HI Trash I would grab the NOX on the salt beach either but the NOX will have you hunting tiny targets if you want.
If they made a lighter CTX in NOX style I would sell both and buy it but that is me.
I am going to maybe add the deus in the lineup sometime that is a machine I wouldn't mind playing with to see what it has to offer.
But what ever you choose you would do Fine with like I said above.

Today was a great example of what I have been running into while revisiting sites I have previously hunted to death. Went to my wife's grandparents old place. It is a house built in the 1940s maybe, and lived in until early 2000. The soil there is very rocky, which means nothing goes deep. But it is very target rich/junky. Lots of small iron and lots of modernish trash.

Previous detectors used here....F75 and T2, CZ5 converted to 3D by Tom, CZ70, AT Pro, eTrac with stock coil, SunRay 8", 4x7 Excelerator, and Ultimate coil. CTX with stock coil, and 6 inch coil, Nokta Impact, and Tesoro Mojave.

This place has given up a lot of wheats and silver coins. Mostly Mercs and Rosies. The last time I was there, I had began running the CTX in Combined mode and low Fe...32. I dug everything in my bins that were set to high tone on a small nickel window and then from about 30 on up. I chased lots of iffy signals that turned into iron falses. I ended up those last few hunts with a lonesome Merc and wheatie.

Today I go there for the first time with the Nox. No, it didn't make it new again and I didn't dig 20 silvers. But what I saw is what I have been seeing at every site I have revisited with the Nox. Being able to cherry pick those low to mid 20s signals out of constant trash....in places the FBS machines would just null if you used any disc pattern. I ended up with 3 silver dimes and 5 wheaties, some clad, and a pocket knife. My only trash items were 4 aluminum screw caps, some lipstick tube thingy, and a couple brass washers. The eTrac and CTX did a decent job there. But they didnt get it all and they wont get it all, especially in trash. None of the coins were deep either. I did live dig video several of the coins, including 2 of the silvers. If I can go back to every place I've hunted and pull silver out, I am happy. And That's what I've been doing.

Good report Daniel---and the video will be icing on cake. Thanks.