Soon to be new E-Trac user here...w/some questions????

[monkeys uncle]

Waiting on delivery of an E-Trac which I understand is a "slow swing" but a "silver blood hound" machine and was wondering...
a.) is it 'slow swing' because it has relative 'slow recovery' time, and second;
b.) is it a 'silver hound' BUT pretty much 'dumb/blind' when gold is under the coil?

Any/all replies are welcome. Again, thanks in advance. HH and GL.

 

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[cudamark]

a.) Yes, the processor is relatively slow compared to some other machines.
b.) No, except for tiny gold stud earrings or the like. I've found lots of gold rings and other gold items as long as they're not tiny.

 

[monkeys uncle]

a.) Yes, the processor is relatively slow compared to some other machines.
b.) No, except for tiny gold stud earrings or the like. I've found lots of gold rings and other gold items as long as they're not tiny.

Thanks Cudamark - I don't mind the 'slow swing' aspect as I believe that improves one's chances for 'good' finds...BUT am GLAD to hear it doesn't overlook low (Gold) signals! Given the price tag, I WAS a bit concerned about that.

 

[marjam]

Waiting on delivery of an E-Trac which I understand is a "slow swing" but a "silver blood hound" machine and was wondering...
a.) is it 'slow swing' because it has relative 'slow recovery' time, and second;
b.) is it a 'silver hound' BUT pretty much 'dumb/blind' when gold is under the coil?

Any/all replies are welcome. Again, thanks in advance. HH and GL.

Congrats on the etrac. Yes it is slow but it is processing a lot more information due to fbs technology. It is a silver hound. I have found way more silver with it than the other brands I have owned. it does well on gold too but it is known for its ability in finding silver. It's a coin hound in general, and very sensitive. I have found tiny objects with it at decent depths of 5 to 8 inches. It hits dimes easily at 8 inches. You will notice the signal change and target id as well at that depth but it will still be a diggable signal.

 

[khouse]

Waiting on delivery of an E-Trac which I understand is a "slow swing" but a "silver blood hound" machine and was wondering...
a.) is it 'slow swing' because it has relative 'slow recovery' time, and second;
b.) is it a 'silver hound' BUT pretty much 'dumb/blind' when gold is under the coil?

Any/all replies are welcome. Again, thanks in advance. HH and GL.

It does hit silver and copper at unreal depths with proper ID. I have found a lot of gold with it as well. Rings are no problem. Only the very small gold gives it trouble.
I do not swing mine that slow and I'm pretty successful as well as my hunting buddy Bill_S. Just a smooth, low and flat sweep. If I'm in a high trash area then I do slow down. But you would do this with any machine. Just remember that a shallow clean coin may hit 12/44 but that same coin at 8 plus inches may read 22/44. So don't just open up the #12 line and think your going to hear a deep silver dime. Make sure you set the ground adjustment to difficult. Then set trash on high. These may be your most important settings. The etrac is really a set it and forget it machine. Once you set it up you won't be fiddling with it. You won't have time digging 8 inch Mercury dimes!!! PS: Starting out set your sensitivity to auto zero. This will make it super stable. Once you get the hang of it you can punch inches deeper running manual sensitivity as high as you can stand. I always tell new etrac users that they can call me and we'll set your machine up over the phone. I don't get notifications here so email me at [email protected] and I'll give you my number.

 

[monkeys uncle]

Awesome! Thanks to both, marjam and khouse for the excellent advice. Can't wait for this thing to arrive and get started exhuming what little silver you folks have left for the late comers.

 

[khouse]

Awesome! Thanks to both, marjam and khouse for the excellent advice. Can't wait for this thing to arrive and get started exhuming what little silver you folks have left for the late comers.

About the "little silver" Me and Bill_S was hunting one day. We saw a guy swinging a yellow machine working his way closer and closer to us. Finally he came up to us and we all started talking metal detecting. He went on to say how he and his buddy hit several silvers at a non disclosed park that we had never hit. He was saying that him and his friend finally cleaned it out. Then he said "well I might as well tell you the park since there's nothing left" He then told us about the small town and park and said "good luck" finding anything. We talked another 5 minutes or so then he left. Bill was aware of this park but I wasn't. We decided to hunt that park the next weekend. All I can tell you is we dug so many wheats and silver it was unreal. We hit that park maybe 3 more times with silver and wheats on each hunt. We didn't hunt it this year but talk about doing so. I'm positive that we will keep finding silver for years to come at this "hunted out" park. We were both using etracs. Manufacturers frequently use this statement "turn you old spots into new spots with the new wizbang machine" Then you buy the Wizbang machine only to be let down once again. The etrac indeed will turn your old spots into new spots. You'll be regularly digging 6, 8, 10 inch plus holes!!!!!! That is where the silver and wheats hide......

 

[Jackalope]

a.) is it 'slow swing' because it has relative 'slow recovery' time, and second

IMO, the E-Trac/CTX is mod-fast to swing as long as you aren't under iron, where the machine will null (repeatedly) for various lengths of time, in my experience up to 15 secs. During the null the audio is dead but the TID continues to function. I've given up on fields that would repeat the null every other swing ... forcing me to wait for the audio to return. You may never encounter this but if you do it is problematic (it is not related to Disc settings but seems to be a built-in reset function).

b.) is it a 'silver hound' BUT pretty much 'dumb/blind' when gold is under the coil.

IMO, the E-Trac/CTX is like an idiot-savant relation. The low conductors (to include thin white-gold rings) don't respond well (equivalent to the idiot side) and you can easily pass by those thinner rings, chains, earrings, etc., unless they are shallow and you are going slowly listening for that weak audio (and/or 13-01 TID). On the other hand, the savant side will jump out on longer time constant targets, like copper, silver, and round-objects (i.e., high inductance eddy-producing targets), these you won't have any trouble finding, even at great depth.

On a neutral beach (mineral-wise), I can easily dig a tiny 1/8" nut to 10-11" deep ... with fair audio and repeatable TID (like 12-08). But a large open earring-loop at 3" deep will barely give a peep (with foil TID of 13-01). You have to be purposefully listening for the expected audio of the target you are seeking, or you will miss those low-conductors.

Which makes the E-Trac/CTX frustrating for some common types of hunting - unfortunately. A cheaper single-freq VLF like the Ace 250 would bell-tone like crazy over that earring-loop, but has its own issues (poor depth, poor TID, a bell-tone).

So, the E-Trac/CTX has its strong side, but in other areas it plays the idiot and is about helpless. Until a waterproof detector with better capabilities comes along ... the CTX will have to do.

 

[Pointman]

I believe it recommends a 4 second swing from left to right. I swing a little faster and it seems to do just fine. When I am over a good target I will wiggle the target between the coil halves to better pinpoint. I feel that if you search and grid both ways, that you don't have to really swing too slow to find everything. When you are at a spot with lots of iron it does help to move slower and also move the detector left and right just an inch to get a proper reading on a masked target. Remember also that iron will affect a good target's reading and cause it to read lower sometimes.

 

[monkeys uncle]

Received my E-Trac today. I want to thank everyone for their input/recommendations. Due to relatives visiting this weekend, I've only been able to get out to the front yard for approx. 5 mins...but seemed to score some interesting 'hits' that my ATP missed. Will have to wait until Sun PM to check them out. In the meantime, will have to re-read/re-review everyone's suggestions and continue to peruse the Instruction Manual. THANKS AGAIN and HH!!!

 

[marjam]

Received my E-Trac today. I want to thank everyone for their input/recommendations. Due to relatives visiting this weekend, I've only been able to get out to the front yard for approx. 5 mins...but seemed to score some interesting 'hits' that my ATP missed. Will have to wait until Sun PM to check them out. In the meantime, will have to re-read/re-review everyone's suggestions and continue to peruse the Instruction Manual. THANKS AGAIN and HH!!!

Let us know how you are doing with the new etrac. Just remember to be patient with it and you will find it will reward you.

 

[monkeys uncle]

Have to admit, I was beginning to get a bit frustrated...seems I could only detect and dig copper/zinc pennys. Made my 4th hunt this afternoon and FINALLY began to realize what was under the coil. Plucked 4 nickels, 1 quarter, 6 dimes and more copper pennys than zinc plus a small sterling silver, religious medal BUT more important, finally realized the importance of the (all significant) "squeal" associated with good targets. Digging less trash as my experience increases. This machine amazes me how its FE CO values for 'buried' items tend to match the 'air test' values identified in Andy Sabisch's book and my own tests.

I'm also beginning to recognize/utilize the 'Threshold' and 'Null' tones to my advantage for determining a higher probability of when a possibly 'good' target is under the coil from what might actually be, trash. It's an amazingly powerful detector and I'm fast becoming convinced it is worth the expense and additional time to learn how to trully use and benefit from it.

Thanks again for the suggestions and personal advice!!!

PS - I still have room for improvement with pinpointing. I seemed to be better at it using the DD coils on my old ATPro than I am with the E-Trac. Sometimes, I'm 'dead on' but the next time, I might dig an inch or two or even three away from the object and have to rely on my ProPointer to finally find the traget

 

[marjam]

Have to admit, I was beginning to get a bit frustrated...seems I could only detect and dig copper/zinc pennys. Made my 4th hunt this afternoon and FINALLY began to realize what was under the coil. Plucked 4 nickels, 1 quarter, 6 dimes and more copper pennys than zinc plus a small sterling silver, religious medal BUT more important, finally realized the importance of the (all significant) "squeal" associated with good targets. Digging less trash as my experience increases. This machine amazes me how its FE CO values for 'buried' items tend to match the 'air test' values identified in Andy Sabisch's book and my own tests.

I'm also beginning to recognize/utilize the 'Threshold' and 'Null' tones to my advantage for determining a higher probability of when a possibly 'good' target is under the coil from what might actually be, trash. It's an amazingly powerful detector and I'm fast becoming convinced it is worth the expense and additional time to learn how to trully use and benefit from it.

Thanks again for the suggestions and personal advice!!!

PS - I still have room for improvement with pinpointing. I seemed to be better at it using the DD coils on my old ATPro than I am with the E-Trac. Sometimes, I'm 'dead on' but the next time, I might dig an inch or two or even three away from the object and have to rely on my ProPointer to finally find the traget

Glad to hear you are starting to understand the language the etrac is speaking. Two ways I pinpoint is the minelab wiggle, which is finding a target and when you do, barely move the coil back and forth in a direction towards you until you don't hear the target. Then it will be right in front of the coil. Very useful if you are in trashy areas. There are you tube vids to demo this. Another way is when you use the pinpoint and you think you have the target dead center, move the coil just a bit to get the highest pitch possible. Once you do, the target will be dead center under the coil. The etrac pinpoints really well, just as good if not better than other brands.

Hope this helps. HH

 

[Fletch88]

You can use standard pinpoint or sizing pinpoint. Standard PP retunes with every sweep of the target to narrow the field down. Sizing does not retune. Tests each out on surface targets to compare differences.

 

[TheRingFinder]

My advice - Listen to the machine, it will take time.......but Listen closely.............

 

[Auriemma]

Listen, look, and learn. When in doubt... Dig. That's how I'm figuring out my Etrac

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Listen, look, and learn. When in doubt... Dig. That's how I'm figuring out my Etrac

Great post! Audio audio audio!