Help me decide (CTX or Excal & Gold Bug 2)

I'm on the fence for purchasing a CTX 3030 to add to my present detectors (Sand Shark, CZ-21 and Minelab Sovereign GT) but the more I watch Tom's Beach Video, I'm thinking that a Gold Bug 2 (and maybe an Excalibur too) would be a better way to go. The wife and I both detect, me in the water and the wife in the dry and wet sand.... After watching Tom's video, I thought when I'm not in the water that the wife and I could make a heck of a team on the dry sand, her with the GT and me following up with the Gold Bug 2.

Any comments? Pro's Con's etc? Better alternatives?

I do water hunt more than dry sand but there are times you just can't get in the water.....

Cliff

Cliff,

Your direction...... and selection of detectors...... is well founded. Just remember........ the Gold Bug-2 does not work in the wet salt..............,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,..................... and the Excal/Sov are not micro-jewelry hunters.

For the money..... id get the two and pass on the 3030. I see NO advantage over what you already have getting the 3030 since you are doing beach hunting. The Xcal and GB would really round out your choices based on conditions of the beach.

Dew

dewcon4414 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For the money..... id get the two and pass on the
> 3030. I see NO advantage over what you already
> have getting the 3030 since you are doing beach
> hunting. The Xcal and GB would really round out
> your choices based on conditions of the beach.
>
> Dew


Dew, that is my present thought process...

Nasa Tom Wrote
"and the Excal/Sov are not micro-jewelry hunters."

Tom, I figured to have the wife use the GT as you did the Fisher 3D prior to using the Gold Bug.

Appreciate the comments guys..... Time to send in some finds to trade for new finders..... :-)

Cliff

Better get that gold in quick its up and down right now. Id like it to hit $1800, but someone with a lot of gold is keeping it at $1770ish. Good luck on the machines..... you cant go wrong with that combination. Hows that SS treating you? Reasonable price with a good warranty. Im getting interested in the DF for the winter months when the Xcal slows on producing.

Dew

Get an Excal ll and run it in pinpoint in the wet sand and disc in the water.

dewcon4414 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Better get that gold in quick its up and down
> right now. Id like it to hit $1800, but someone
> with a lot of gold is keeping it at $1770ish.
> Good luck on the machines..... you cant go wrong
> with that combination. Hows that SS treating you?
> Reasonable price with a good warranty. Im
> getting interested in the DF for the winter months
> when the Xcal slows on producing.
>
> Dew


Dew, the Sand Shark was my first water machine and it has and still does treat me well.... Of course, my scoop elbow doesn't like it much due to all the digging that I do with it. When my arm hurts, I go with the CZ-21 for less digging. I'd have to say that 75% of my finds the last year were with the shark but that is mainly due to not having the CZ or GT until late last winter. It is really nice to have the option of what to use.. the 8" coil on the shark cuts through the water like a hot knife while the CZ and GT are more work to "swing" in the water. I really didn't think I'd use the shark down Florida but after finding that the water was for the most part clean and not near the trash I had found in OC Maryland and MB South Carolina I used it and made some amazing finds with it.... would I have found them with the CZ and GT.... probably no since I could put more time in the water swing the shark! Yes the other two would have found the same targets but I never would have put in 10-12 hours straight detecting with the other two. Now those hours aren't the norm for me but when on vacation, I push my body to the limit due to limited beach time for this landlocked beach hunter from Ohio.... that is changing in two months after retirement and a move to Florida! I'll hunt more often but not 10 - 12 hours at a clip.
Having a PI in the arsenal can't hurt and after using it alot (as with all detectors), you will learn the language.... Tom's beach video, although made with a VLF answered some questions I had with the PI.... I have a much better idea what a good sound is with the PI.

HH
Cliff

Can;t see any flaws with your logic. The wife using the GT will find good deeper targets while your GB2 will find the tiny stuff nothing else will.

As long as you fully grasp what you're in for (the digging of tiny metal particles), I say go for it!

You can move to Fl..... just dont move by me lol. Thanks for the info.... im just going to have to find someone in my area. I hunt with a guy but when im using the Xcal he wouldnt bring out the SS and hunt with it he uses the Xcal too. Ive heard the SS does well on deep gold rings.... but doesnt have the settings like the DF for smaller gold items.

Dew

The GB2 will find itty bitty stuff. You will not be able to follow the wife down the beach. If you remember in the video Tom only did a small area over a good deal of time. You have good detectors now. You just need to use them. The CTX might be a good choice if you also dirt hunt. If not I would put the money into traveling some beaches.

If you are a VDI hunter then consider the CTX, but if you are among the "audio" crowd, then the Excalbur, being a BBS machine like the Sovereign, is king of the hill in terms of paying attention to what the robst/detailed/smooth/detailed audio has to say. Way I look at it for water/beach hunting, I want two things- deep machine on thinnest of gold rings (IE: My GT, which I can also wade with chest mounted), and a unit for fine gold like thin chains or tiny gold earrings. I'm thinking AT Pro for that purpose, so it'll serve as a backup land unit as well. Maybe a few other machines for water/beach more sensitive to tiny fine gold in the water, but I can't pass up the great price or it's dual land/water ability.