E-Trac question

[nhagan]

Hey all..

Ok so im confident that there is more silver in my yard. The problem is there are so many square nails and other metal fragments in the yard the etrac is null 'silent' 98% of the swing. I have tried moving the coil extra slow (like a minute long sweep from side to side). It still nulls out. I have tried two tone ferrous (as long as setting two tone up is just turning on relics mode, then changing tones from multi to 2). Should I be running 'smooth' tone or 'normal' in ttf mode? Anyway, I went out last night and got 'lucky' I threw the etrac back in stock default coin mode got a consistent 12 FE but the conductivity was all over the place (20-38) the tone was dead on a digger. I ended up pulling out a '41 merc!

What I guess I am getting at is in really trashy yards what method works best or can someone let me in on a method that will work better than what I am running now. There is an area in my yard (right near where the 1876 slq came from) that I know is holding silver. I can run the coil around 'null most of the time' but every now and then I will get that silver squeal (but then have problems knowing where abouts under the coil that signal is coming from). It is somewhat hard to explain what its like out there. Maybe I should shoot a quick youtube video to show ya but its so frustrating knowing there is something there but im afraid to dig it as I can not be sure where the target is and I really dont want to damage the coin below.

It is only my yard that I have these problems with. Anywhere else signals tones and FE/CO are typical and I can lock them in and recover within a minute or two. My yard not so much...

Anyway, If anyone has any suggestions as to what may make hunting my yard more effective with the etrac please let me know! Hope everyone is enjoying the decent weather around here (finally)!

Neil

[Gimmie The Loot]

Not too sure about all the other settings but maybe a smaller coil would help.

[cntrydncr1]

coin mode, high trash and slow swings. just listen for the high pitch blips and dig anything 44 and over on the CO. I found lots of silver in very trash areas that way. smaller coil would work too but you can do well with a big coil too. Listen rather than looking at the screen.

[nhagan]

Not too sure about all the other settings but maybe a smaller coil would help.

interesting.... was there another item in the hole or next to it J

Possible as it is trashy as can be. Yes next to just about anything I dig in my yard is square nails. It is almost humorous. I will have to throw up a youtube video to explain it.. I can swing at a snail pace get a solid silver squeal but when I cut a 90 on it I get null's.. It really makes detecting difficult.. but yes most every target is located next to a nail (which is the reason I sold off my propointer and got the probe, so i could tell what signal i was after).. It just makes it so dang difficult to dig. I mean sure I could cut a foot wide plug but i dunno hard to explain..

coin mode, high trash and slow swings. just listen for the high pitch blips and dig anything 44 and over on the CO. I found lots of silver in very trash areas that way. smaller coil would work too but you can do well with a big coil too. Listen rather than looking at the screen.

I will give the high trash a shot.. slow swings are a must here... I usually dig anything that sounds like silver its just figuring out where they are that is kicking my butt..

Neil

[nhagan]

also the depth is playing a part as well
If there are nails above a coin its a tough one.
a coin on top is easier. turn off "deep recovery".
I think soil conditions will cause a bounce too

which is why I have been over a bunch of this area before passing up targets when they were not easily 'pinpointed'. now after one heck of a dry spell I finally got lucky and hit that merc last night.. the merc was 1-2 inches above and to the side of the large square nail yesterday.. I was able to snag a 1918 wheatie tonight (in a lower spot of the yard where its less trashy).

Neil

[Rockin Chairs Gold]

Not too sure about all the other settings but maybe a smaller coil would help.

"ditto"

I hunt with a 5.5" double D coil in some of the worst trash imaginable. I work slower then a snail and have found some great coins. I listen for high tones and check them close. I do not pay much attention to FE/Co #'s as very trashy areas cause the numbers to jump all over the place. I've used this in both the TTF and the regular coin mode, and it works. Best of luck to you. Rick

[Pocket Spill]

Here are my thoughts

1) Don't worry about the numbers. Dig anything that is a repeatable signal over CO30, even if it is bouncing. Listen for the sounds versus the numbers

2) Take a small area that has been a hot spot, like where you found the seated quarter and dig all the targets in a 5 foot by 5 foot area and see what happens. Getting some of the iron out of the way may yield some goodies your detector is not initially getting. This is also much easier to do when it is your own yard versus a manicured park or someonelse's yard.

Last year I was hunting a private yard of an 1850s house that was just loaded with iron. 150 years of nails from new roofs, additions onto the house, torn down sheds, outhouses, etc. It was very hard to hunt but yielded goodies like a seated dime and shield nickels. There was one small spot in the back yard where I think a kid buried a box of coins or was playing with a bunch of coins. Most of the coins were foreign and dated from the 1880s to the 1950s. However there were Indians and a barber dime. I found about a dozen coins in a 5 foot by 4 foot area but there was also a ton of nails. I just kept digging signals in all metal, would then go back over in my discrimination patter and get an iffy signal and out would pop a coin next to 2 or 3 nails. I got one iffy signal that was a 1893 columbian silver half that was only about 6 inches deep but had several pieces of iron up against it.

[nhagan]

awesome stuff guys! that is one good thing about the yard is its mine (and im not picky about my grass haha).. I may have to break down and snag a smaller coil. I got a busy weekend coming up (best man in my buddies wedding - rehearsal din tonight and wed all day tomorrow) but I hope to get out there a bit on sunday! Thanks for all the tips and I will keep ya posted on what I have been pulling out!

Neil

[Gimmie The Loot]

Sounds like you have the ultimate practice grounds! By the time you are done with your own yard you will be an etrac expert and can write a book!

HH!

[Lowbatts]

Hey Neil, can't help you with the ETrac settings or habits but have one piece of advise. Every nail you get out of there is a step closer to finding a good coin. The nail you won't find now because you're looking between them may be the one sitting over and nulling the best coin find in the yard.

So if it's your yard, go ahead and do the grid square search. Work a 5 to 6 foot squared section until there's no more noise coming from the ground. Over a period of hunts, you'll get the yard weeded as well!

Also remember in a lot of older homes there was always an area where the coal ash and cinders were dumped. Those spots will dampen your rigs depth and target id with overwhelming low-conductive falsing and it will also down-average all target ids in that matrix.

[d-dub]

Fast: On
Deep: Off
Trash Density: High
Ground: Difficult
CO: 2
FE: 24
Swing SLOWWWWW. Don't look at the FE numbers. They lie. Grab the silver you found and study their tones. There is a difference between nails and silver.

Practice makes pefect!!!

[extractor]

please tell me you are NOT using the KOSS headphones ....ja

Yea... Good point... Which headphones are ya using?

[nhagan]

sorry been busy with my buddies rehearsal dinner and wedding today.. as far as headphones go no im not using the koss headphones. I am running with my everyday listening cans (audio technica ath-m50's). d-dub i will run with your settings tomorrow and see what comes. I will have to snag all the silver back from my old mans place and give it a good listen. lowbatts i have thought about marking off the yard and swinging slow multiple directions to see what all i can pull up.

I will give it all a go tomorrow and 'hopefully' have some silver to post!

Take care guys happy hunting
Neil

[Corinth1812]

6 inch excelerator coil, turn off deep recovery, Slooooowwww down, and dig any thing that repeats......