Hobby CTX 3030 Metal Detector Standard Pack

Product Information

The CTX is heavier than other detectors but has been designed for perfect balance. This machine is still the grand daddy of all machines but technology has moved on and multi frequency VLF is the talk of the town, not FBS and frequency harmonics. It is fitted as standard with an 11 inch Double D Waterproof Smart coil, and the CTX 3030 is fully waterproof up to 3 meters. So there really is no where you can’t go with this detector.

The quality of the build is among one of the most sturdiest detectors I have ever held, and in a true Minelab fashion, they have not sacrificed an ounce of quality. I found the best performer is the 50 tone conductive but you need to get used to it for a while, the most pleasant to use is the Combined mode here you can customise your own tone settings, there would have been one small change I would have made. I would like to see the bottom left to right segment have the ability to be split in two so targets falling in the bottom left of the screen could be assigned a different tone from the iron.On each mode you can view and adjust the settings for Pattern 1, Pattern 2, Tone ID profile, Response, Recovery Fast, Recovery Deep, Seawater, Target Separation and pinpoint. Features And Performance Of TheMinelab CTX 3030 It has a full-colour LCD screen, with a push button keypad and handle-mounted trigger that’s easy to use. Apart from Minelab’s very specialised top of the line gold detectors, the CTX 3030 is still viewed as a top dog in the hobby, treasure seeking sector. It’s technology however is now aging. Tone ID patterns are not to be confused with discrimination patterns, discrimination rejects targets, the tone IDis literally a screen overlay and assigns a tone to a particular screen region of your choice, so for example you can run no discrimination but still assign an iron tone to the lower part of the screen.

You can go detecting anywhere with this versatile TREASURE detector. You have the flexibility of land and underwater detecting as the CTX 3030 is waterproof* to 10 ft (3 m). I suppose if you look at some other hobbies and what people pay for their equipment it’s not as expensive as what you originally comprehend. For a deeper dive, read my article about wireless headphones technology. The fact that the CTX 3030 is fully waterproof up to 3m is perfect for shallow water diving treasure hunters also.

The CTX has 10 Modes settings, however, the modes 6 through to 10 will only exist when you create them. In fact, it was down to Bruce Candy that Minelab logged more technology patents than any of its competitors and still has over 30 scientists in its research and development arm.

Will it be any deeper than an E Trac ?...Using the same coil sizes I would say probably not deeper but have a more selective discrimination. I knew testing the Minelab CTX 3030 was going to be a challenge, and at some points I was not sure who or what was being tested me or the machine, with nearly two months under my belt with the CTX I feel it is time to air my views and answer some questions you have been asking. If it is simply a case of selling some finds or a couple of machines I would say what are you waiting for get down to Joan Allen and grab one, this machine is without doubt a metal detecting move in the right direction.The Minelab CTX 3030 is a true work of art, I love it to bits ! I know some of my observations may appear to be a little hard but without people like me making observations these little niggles would quite possibly never get sorted.

We can save you some valuable time and effort to get you set up with the best programs (Gone Hunting settings) out for the CTX. We designed these settings specifically for us and our customers. The picture below shows 2 coins that I found, note the coin on the right had a clump of iron attached to it...impressive ! We all expect more depth when we upgrade but in reality we are restricted by coil sizes and ground conditions, I believe what Minelab have done here is designed the CTX 3030 to be more adaptable for a wider range of search scenarios, and to be honest for me it's almost the detector I have been dreaming about. I say almost, I would love a meeting with the Minelab engineers, with one or two small software tweaks this machine could be worth it's weight in Gold.For new users here is a link to my favourite program for easy searching, it is called the "Coin Harvest Program" and will find you everything you need when searching average soil. Not being a massive E Trac user it will be unfair for me to make comparisons between the two machines head to head in the field, my dedicated Minelab is the Explorer II, and the two machines are worlds apart. In the past I have found great pleasure in abusing the Explorers limits to get every last drop of performance out of it, so far during my testing I have found the CTX requires a different approach. We can set you up with the famous "Gone Hunting CTX settings" that make the CTX 3030 come alive! This program is only offered to BBH customers only. It is very easy to over-complicate things with the Minelab CTX 3030 and it’s believed you are better to let the machine do its thing until you are confident you have mastered the sensitivity settings. It excels in separating trash and good targets.