Etrac questions

Msdigger22

Full Member
Jan 4, 2014
104
53
hazelhurst Mississippi
Detector(s) used
Xp deus ,minelab safari, whites mx5, fisher f70 ,Garrett at pro, ace 350
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I'm fixing to trade my xp deus for a used etrac. I've used the safari for almost a year before I got the deus and know the sounds really well for the safari. Is there much of a difference tonal wise or are they about the same. And I see everyone talking about ttf and 4 tone ferrous could some one explain that a little better. And last any good tips and pointers for a new etrac user. Thanks in advance and happy hunting

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Tedyoh

Bronze Member
Apr 13, 2013
1,566
1,619
N.E. Ohio
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, NOX 600, XP Deus II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I wouldn't trade my used Deus for a new 3030 let alone an etrac, I have an etrac with 4 hours on it, hate it, send me a PM with what size coil you have and headphones you have with the Deus, may do a straight up trade with you.
 

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Msdigger22

Msdigger22

Full Member
Jan 4, 2014
104
53
hazelhurst Mississippi
Detector(s) used
Xp deus ,minelab safari, whites mx5, fisher f70 ,Garrett at pro, ace 350
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I wouldn't trade my used Deus for a new 3030 let alone an etrac, I have an etrac with 4 hours on it, hate it, send me a PM with what size coil you have and headphones you have with the Deus, may do a straight up trade with you.
What dont u like about the E trac? I've already made the swap but I've got hours and hours on the deus and love everything about it but in my opinion it's more geared towards relics than coins and I'm more of a coin hunter. Don't get me wrong I've found plenty of silver with it but it's target id is not as accurate as I would like to have digging on private property where I need to be picky about what I'm digging. And I've got a couple of fields that hold really deep coins that the deus won't even touch and yes I know how to squeeze every inch of depth from the deus but my old minelab safari could hit them.

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oneguy

Sr. Member
Aug 26, 2015
415
1,415
Montana
Detector(s) used
2 Goldmonsters, SDC 2300
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I have an etrac with 4 hours on it, hate it,
fairly new on this site and can't figure out how to PM you so I'll ask here....:icon_scratch:

PM me if you want to sell the etrac....... thanks
 

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Msdigger22

Msdigger22

Full Member
Jan 4, 2014
104
53
hazelhurst Mississippi
Detector(s) used
Xp deus ,minelab safari, whites mx5, fisher f70 ,Garrett at pro, ace 350
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
fairly new on this site and can't figure out how to PM you so I'll ask here....:icon_scratch:

PM me if you want to sell the etrac....... thanks
Click on his user name and u will see the message icon

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Tedyoh

Bronze Member
Apr 13, 2013
1,566
1,619
N.E. Ohio
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, NOX 600, XP Deus II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
What dont u like about the E trac? I've already made the swap but I've got hours and hours on the deus and love everything about it but in my opinion it's more geared towards relics than coins and I'm more of a coin hunter. Don't get me wrong I've found plenty of silver with it but it's target id is not as accurate as I would like to have digging on private property where I need to be picky about what I'm digging. And I've got a couple of fields that hold really deep coins that the deus won't even touch and yes I know how to squeeze every inch of depth from the deus but my old minelab safari could hit them.

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I'd agree with every point you've made except regarding depth, my test garden proves the Deus is just as deep (on hitting the coin with tone, not ID)

1st thing I do not like is the weight, not justified with performance and or end results and the biggest dislike is the target processing speed....oh... oh.... oh how slow.....I thought it was 2016 not 1992, is there a dial up modem in the etrac that process targets? A 66 MHz Intel processor?

Now if you are into hunting big open clean fields with little to no targets maybe the etrac is better, maybe.
I hunt old sites / foundations with heavy iron, in this day and age, where most sites have been cherry picked, in my opinion, this is where I need to hunt, where 98% of people don't want to be in, heavy iron and trash.
 

masterjedi

Bronze Member
May 24, 2014
1,757
1,349
Oregon
Detector(s) used
Minelab's CTX 3030, E-Trac & EQ800, Fisher F75LTD SE & F44, Whites MXT All PRO, Whites TRX Pointer & Shovel, Predator Tools Raptor hand digger & Ranger shovel. Grey Ghost Ultimate headphones.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I wouldn't trade my used Deus for a new 3030 let alone an etrac, I have an etrac with 4 hours on it, hate it, send me a PM with what size coil you have and headphones you have with the Deus, may do a straight up trade with you.

You hit it on the head...you only have 4 hours on it.
 

masterjedi

Bronze Member
May 24, 2014
1,757
1,349
Oregon
Detector(s) used
Minelab's CTX 3030, E-Trac & EQ800, Fisher F75LTD SE & F44, Whites MXT All PRO, Whites TRX Pointer & Shovel, Predator Tools Raptor hand digger & Ranger shovel. Grey Ghost Ultimate headphones.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
What dont u like about the E trac? I've already made the swap but I've got hours and hours on the deus and love everything about it but in my opinion it's more geared towards relics than coins and I'm more of a coin hunter. Don't get me wrong I've found plenty of silver with it but it's target id is not as accurate as I would like to have digging on private property where I need to be picky about what I'm digging. And I've got a couple of fields that hold really deep coins that the deus won't even touch and yes I know how to squeeze every inch of depth from the deus but my old minelab safari could hit them.

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You couldn't have said it better. :) If you are not using an FBS machine you are just using a beep and dig detector. All other detectors VDI's are not accurate enough to know what your digging where the FBS machines, 95% of the time you know what you are digging. You can truly cherry pick and not have to dig every piece of foil, zinc etc. Sure at a very old site you dig it all but in a nice lawn you want to cherry pick only and that is where the FBS machines rule.
 

timelord

Sr. Member
Sep 1, 2014
263
466
Sheboygan WI
Detector(s) used
Minelab Safari
Fisher F5
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
With Minelab FBS machines you need many hours to learn how to run them. It has taken many months to learn the Safari but I have found coins others have missed. The last two years I have found many first and a 4000 year old American copper spear point. Yes your coil has to go over it but with time you will truly enjoy a Minelab but you have to give it time......
 

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Msdigger22

Msdigger22

Full Member
Jan 4, 2014
104
53
hazelhurst Mississippi
Detector(s) used
Xp deus ,minelab safari, whites mx5, fisher f70 ,Garrett at pro, ace 350
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
With Minelab FBS machines you need many hours to learn how to run them. It has taken many months to learn the Safari but I have found coins others have missed. The last two years I have found many first and a 4000 year old American copper spear point. Yes your coil has to go over it but with time you will truly enjoy a Minelab but you have to give it time......
I had well over a couple hundred hrs on my safari and about half of those hrs were with out a screen(my lesche did a pretty good job at busting the screen) and could just about tell what I was about to dig up with the safari my silver count jumped tremendously over the at pro and when I switched to the deus my silver count went down but my relic count went up and most of the trashy places I've taken all my detectors to the deus didn't find anything except for at one church so I did pretty good with the safari and others or the coins are so masked that even the deus couldn't find them.

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Msdigger22

Msdigger22

Full Member
Jan 4, 2014
104
53
hazelhurst Mississippi
Detector(s) used
Xp deus ,minelab safari, whites mx5, fisher f70 ,Garrett at pro, ace 350
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Finally got the etrac and this is why I wanted it first 30 minutes with it 3 old coins
4eeadd16a958f9fec3a80970d78cb396.jpg


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Ammoman

Bronze Member
Oct 12, 2015
2,211
5,348
NC
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, Nokta Impact, Tesoro Compadre..
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have about 20 hours on my E-trac. The first two hours gave me nothing. The second 2 hours fessed up a single nail, the next 4 hours gave me a silver dime and a couple dollars in clad at an old house site. The last 12 hours have given me about 25 dollars in clad at a local park. YES im getting better with every outing and the more i use it the more i find. My only complaint i have is the Weight distribution. It is for that reason alone that i will be switching (very soon) to the CTX-3030.
 

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Msdigger22

Msdigger22

Full Member
Jan 4, 2014
104
53
hazelhurst Mississippi
Detector(s) used
Xp deus ,minelab safari, whites mx5, fisher f70 ,Garrett at pro, ace 350
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have about 20 hours on my E-trac. The first two hours gave me nothing. The second 2 hours fessed up a single nail, the next 4 hours gave me a silver dime and a couple dollars in clad at an old house site. The last 12 hours have given me about 25 dollars in clad at a local park. YES im getting better with every outing and the more i use it the more i find. My only complaint i have is the Weight distribution. It is for that reason alone that i will be switching (very soon) to the CTX-3030.
I just pulled another barber and 2 more Indian head cents I think I'm clicking with it pretty good

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Jason in Enid

Gold Member
Oct 10, 2009
9,593
9,229
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I wouldn't trade my used Deus for a new 3030 let alone an etrac, I have an etrac with 4 hours on it, hate it, send me a PM with what size coil you have and headphones you have with the Deus, may do a straight up trade with you.

No single detector is right for everyone and I don't think people should keep using detectors they don't like, but 4 HOURS? Really? You barely took it out of the box before deciding how much you hate the detector?

When I got my E-Trac (my very first Minelab) I hated to use it. It was 100% different from all my past detectors (Garretts and Whites). I had zero confidence with it and felt I just missing all the good coins. I forced myself to use only it until I had really learned it before I made my final decision. Like I said, 4 hours in I hated my purchase. 10 hours in I was feeling a lot better and actually liked it. 100 hours in and I wouldn't change it for anything until the CTX came out.

Regardless of what detector you buy, you have to actually learn it.
 

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Msdigger22

Msdigger22

Full Member
Jan 4, 2014
104
53
hazelhurst Mississippi
Detector(s) used
Xp deus ,minelab safari, whites mx5, fisher f70 ,Garrett at pro, ace 350
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
No single detector is right for everyone and I don't think people should keep using detectors they don't like, but 4 HOURS? Really? You barely took it out of the box before deciding how much you hate the detector?

When I got my E-Trac (my very first Minelab) I hated to use it. It was 100% different from all my past detectors (Garretts and Whites). I had zero confidence with it and felt I just missing all the good coins. I forced myself to use only it until I had really learned it before I made my final decision. Like I said, 4 hours in I hated my purchase. 10 hours in I was feeling a lot better and actually liked it. 100 hours in and I wouldn't change it for anything until the CTX came out.

Regardless of what detector you buy, you have to actually learn it.
If I want to run a wide open screen in multi tones do I need to use ferrous sound or Conductive

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DeepseekerADS

Gold Member
Mar 3, 2013
14,880
21,725
SW, VA - Bull Mountain
Detector(s) used
CTX, Excal II, EQ800, Fisher 1260X, Tesoro Royal Sabre, Tejon, Garrett ADSIII, Carrot, Stealth 920iX, Keene A52
Primary Interest:
Other
I'll add my experience as well.

I HATED my Etrac the first 20 hours or so, and then I started picking up on what it was saying - the sounds. Of course I went on to the CTX with a whole lot more confidence. I'd dug everything for a while, lot's of foil, rusty nails, etc.

And then I was able to cherry pick through the trash, in doubts I dug it anyway.

My only complaint on the Etrac was the weight. The CTX is easier to handle on the respect. If you get the Etrac, get some kinda swingy halter thing.

Another trait to consider is that these are slow swing machines. You're not going to be successful out there swinging it like we did the old White's Coinmasters like we did in the early 80's.
 

Tedyoh

Bronze Member
Apr 13, 2013
1,566
1,619
N.E. Ohio
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, NOX 600, XP Deus II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
No single detector is right for everyone and I don't think people should keep using detectors they don't like, but 4 HOURS? Really? You barely took it out of the box before deciding how much you hate the detector?

When I got my E-Trac (my very first Minelab) I hated to use it. It was 100% different from all my past detectors (Garretts and Whites). I had zero confidence with it and felt I just missing all the good coins. I forced myself to use only it until I had really learned it before I made my final decision. Like I said, 4 hours in I hated my purchase. 10 hours in I was feeling a lot better and actually liked it. 100 hours in and I wouldn't change it for anything until the CTX came out.

Regardless of what detector you buy, you have to actually learn it.

Its too slow in the iron, nothing you can do can change this fact. I like being in the iron, I don't hunt salt water so it just isn't for me.
 

Tedyoh

Bronze Member
Apr 13, 2013
1,566
1,619
N.E. Ohio
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, NOX 600, XP Deus II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
If I want to run a wide open screen in multi tones do I need to use ferrous sound or Conductive

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Conductive if i remember correctly...
 

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Msdigger22

Msdigger22

Full Member
Jan 4, 2014
104
53
hazelhurst Mississippi
Detector(s) used
Xp deus ,minelab safari, whites mx5, fisher f70 ,Garrett at pro, ace 350
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
da63701f585cdfa5471317423663bceb.jpg
pretty good start with the Etrac I think. I ran it mostly in the stock coin mode with manual sensitivity all the way to 30 the 3 barber dimes,buffalo nickel and Indian head pennies were all as deep as the pinpointer or deeper but gave solid tone and numbers in a fairly clean field. I got the merc running TTF at a church I went to a hundred times with the deus and a bunch of other detectors I pulled 3 nails out of edge of the hole with the merc so I don't guess it's too bad in the iron thanks for the advice guys

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