Any "Regulars" here planning to get a CTX early?

I'd like to read some honest opinions. There's so much editing/deleting of posts on the dedicated Findmall forum that chances are I won't catch a candid post over there.

Tom, do you have plans to test one soon?

If I could start detectling again and that won't be for about a year or longer... I would really have to read a lot and more on this forum then find mall..and it would be nice for Tom get a hold of one and see what it can do...The Deus has been around for a few months on the forum and you can read the pros and cons I would wait till the new upgrade on the software comes out and still would read a lot before I would spend my money....and I am still wating to see if Fisher and Tec really make a big leap forward and put all these new detectors behind us...

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

You'll see them used in about 6 months for probably $500 less than retail from the early buyers who get disappointed after using them...
I'd wait - especially since they honor the warranty to new customers.

Barry, Im confident to say that's a given with ALL new machines and youll probably see it with the Blisstool as well.

I came in on the early stages of the AT Pro and fought the good fight ....I'll let somebody else put on the gloves for this fight !!.....DING DING !!!.......ROUND ONE !!!......Jim

If there is anything bad to say about the CTX , it will be squashed over at Finds , you can bet on that ....... You will basically be hearing atout all the GOOD things that the CTX will do , but none of the bad points of the machine that just might make it a decision breaker .....Jim

I wouldn't count on it Jim.

Look how many people bought the DEUS on this sight including myself and how few owners said anything about it.

Aaron,
You lost me .....What wouldn't you count on ? .......Thanks, Jim

I have one on order. And plan to tell it like it is. But with all units there will be a learning curve.

1. Weight has me concerned
2. wireless headphone are not important and the way they are designed, I really don't think they are wireless, there is still a cord to hang on anything it can.
3. price of coils are too high
4. GPS is not something that I will use
5. the Koss headphones are like wearing a set of hubcaps on your head ( I have had these before and gave them away)

This is what I know now and the unit has not even been shipped...........


Tom in SC

Tom,
Look forward to your review ......You are correct in that there will be a learning curve .......My only concerns with this machine is that it does a better job with masking , and seperation of targets ........Masking is the BIG issue with me since my better targets are in trashy parks ......Jim

That's five good ones. I agree with all of them. Seeing two targets under the coil is what it is all about. I wonder what the end of the the waterproof headphones looks like. Is it totally a Minelab connector thing? 150.00 for Excalibur headphones? And the first thing you need to do is put 40.00 peltor pads in them to keep your ears from swelling. So 200.00 for waterproof headphones is number 6.

I'm interested in honest reviews myself. I'll wait a year and see if a new model with less features makes it to market. By then the truth will be out. And I might just pick up a used one myself.

No! I am content with what I have. I am interested in how it does, though, and if it lives up to most users expectations. HH jim tn

I have two targets in my coin garden ,that all the unit I have tried but one could not detect the target. It is a silver dime at 7" and there is a small bent nail under the dime at 8" and three 1" nails above the coin but not directly over it.
All targets are in a small area of about 10" diameter. the only difference in the two targets is that one is buried in good black SC soil and the other is in hard packed clay soil. The Etrac, Explorer, Excalibur, Safari, and many others could
not detect the targets. The XP Goldmaxx Power was the only unit that would hit the target and get my attention to investigate.

Tom in SC

I will probably get one but I'm not sure if it will be that first week. I did free up the funds by selling what I had and now have an inexpensive detector to get by with.

I'm just wondering about the prices. I was quoted pretty much what everyone has been saying (2300 Euro or 2500 Euro for the full version). I just expect that price to come down some as I don't see that many people buying the machine for that kind of money right off the bat. They will wait for the results.

I do miss using my E-Trac and the depth it gave, the Rutus Jupiter is not in the same ballpark but it's a cheap "replacement" for my Deus, speed wise. I will probably break down and get a CTX early...

Hi earthmansurfer I am ptdigger on Findmall. I have watched many of your videos, I spent 4 years in Giessen in the early 70's. I have also sold my Etrac and my F75 LTD to buy the CTX 3030. I am hoping to receive it on the 28th. Although the dealer I ordered it from is not sure how many he will get yet. I am a little nervous that he may have taken to many preorders and may not be able to fill them. Right now I am detectorless.

earthmansurfer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I will probably get one but I'm not sure if it
> will be that first week. I did free up the funds
> by selling what I had and now have an inexpensive
> detector to get by with.
>
> I'm just wondering about the prices. I was quoted
> pretty much what everyone has been saying (2300
> Euro or 2500 Euro for the full version). I just
> expect that price to come down some as I don't see
> that many people buying the machine for that kind
> of money right off the bat. They will wait for the
> results.
>
> I do miss using my E-Trac and the depth it gave,
> the Rutus Jupiter is not in the same ballpark but
> it's a cheap "replacement" for my Deus, speed
> wise. I will probably break down and get a CTX
> early...

Until I'm confident the unit will do something (a niche) that any/all of my other detectors can not do............ I will not get one. I may have the opportunity to test one in the near future.

Think I will wait a year and get a CTX 3030 II

A friend of mine got to try one of the 3030's out this weekend and was amazed. He said with the GPS, it will mark the spot you have hunted so you don't repeat any footsteps. That would be very handy for those large beaches.

NASA-Tom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Until I'm confident the unit will do something (a
> niche) that any/all of my other detectors can not
> do............ I will not get one. I may have the
> opportunity to test one in the near future.


hoping you get the opportunity tom!
if i had the "scratch" i would buy it,tape up the coil,
then ship it to you for evaluation! maybe a ctx buyer
could be up for that?

(h.h.!)
j.t.

Hmmmmm...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2012 12:29PM by Aaron.

I have hunted the same yards a few times. Everyone knows that being off by an inch overlap can keep you from hearing the signal. The GPS is a Gimmick.

Beaches change by the hour. Waves are putting sand and taking sand off. People are constantly dropping finds. My beaches are so large that I could never totally hunt one anyways. At best I make a W on the slope looking for a target line. And I can drag my scoop for a reference for free. The GPS is a Gimmick.

I have one coming because minelab has never disappointed me with progression of their detectors. I am willing to take the chance that the CTX 3030 will be a step up from the exlporers and etracs. If the CTX3030 suprises me and is a dud I will simply go back but I would be surprised if that happened.

goodmore Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have hunted the same yards a few times. Everyone
> knows that being off by an inch overlap can keep
> you from hearing the signal. The GPS is a Gimmick.
>
>
> Beaches change by the hour. Waves are putting sand
> and taking sand off. People are constantly
> dropping finds. My beaches are so large that I
> could never totally hunt one anyways. At best I
> make a W on the slope looking for a target line.
> And I can drag my scoop for a reference for free.
> The GPS is a Gimmick.

After trying to decide what I could use the GPS for , I have come to the following use. to mark targets that I would like to return and investigate more at a later time. that is about it for me.....

Tom in SC

Funny , Tom a few times i have marked targets that were froze in the ground and later went back to dig coins.
But i had to do it off the top of my head , .

IDK...from what I've been told from someone who has one, told me, the GPS can be used to track progress in let's say a park, with only the difference of only a meter or a full swing. Then you can over lay it on to google maps and have a pretty good idea of what you covered. For a small park or area this isn't necessary however for a large park seems to me could be invaluable....if it works!

I dont know if the gps unit will be that accurate. I would not count on them being able to mark a specific target and then going back later to check it in the exact same spot.

I'd be shocked if the GPS is that accurate; I thought it wasn't even ALLOWED to be that accurate, for civilian GPS units (only for the military). ASSUMING it is not that accruate, then I agree with goodmore and his reasoning. I could see it being used for someone who hunts wilderness, to mark a general location they intend to return to and hunt again, but otherwise, I simply can't imagine enough accuracy to "track the areas you already covered with your coil," or to "mark a target location" that you intend to dig at a later time (you might get in the same 30x30 foot area, or something, but "THE" spot? I'd be surprised...)

I am a runner, and have a GPS runner's watch. It allows you to "plot the course" of the run you just took, by downloading the info to your computer. I don't use that functionality, but it also gives continuous elevation readout, which I see every time I look at the screen. It is not uncommon for it to vary by 20 to 40 feet in elevation readout on my driveway, on different days at different times. This, I thought, was consistent with the "civilian GPS units are not permitted to be super accurate" thing...

Steve



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2012 03:01PM by steveg.

Steve,
You are correct. WAAS (wide area augmentation system) was as close as we could come to useable accuracy that would benefit what this discussion is about, and I seriously doubt this unit is "hooking" into those birds that are capable of this system functionality. In my use of WAAS, sailing-flying-wreck diving, when my units could find them in orbit, gave me about 9' at best. Things may have changed over the last couple of years regarding, but I doubt it, as the receiver hardware to interpret and produce accuracy within tighter tolerances are very expensive, bulky...think governmental/scientific/military application. Still heaps and bounds better than our old Loran C use offshore.

Randy

Hey look, I'm only telling you what i was told by a freind of my that ALREADY HAS ONE and was trained in Chicago by MINELAB before he took possession.

Aaron -- your response sounds a bit "testy," and I wasn't trying to pick a fight. As I see it, we're here on this specific site, to arrive at "truth;" to me, that's what NASA-Tom's site is all about. IF the truth is that, as Randy stated (and as I thought), accuracy down to the foot, or even less, is not attainable by small civilian-type GPS units, then it is what it is. On the other hand, if the truth is that GPS accuracy on the CTX is down to "swing width," then I'll stand corrected. I am a scientist, and as such, skepticism until I have proof tends to be the way my brain approaches things. I'll keep my eyes open for the proof, but until then, I remain skeptical.

Steve

Aaron,
I'm interested in this machine, as well as the Bliss, to get a little better depth and less jumpy target ID than I do with my existing ET's in my soil. Did your buddy allude to anything regarding these as performance attributes? If the ID capability has improved with/and depth, I'll bite and give it a go. If not, looks like my options have been constrained to the Bliss/PI type that indicate just
Looking forward to Daniel TN's thoughts regarding these two machines as well as I know we have similar hunting environments.

Thanks,
Randy