Help with e-Trac and small gold items

[BioProfessor]

Good morning. Well, it is off to the UK next week for another week of digging lead, pieces of bronze, brass and copper, broken watchwinders, and also some pieces of junk. Oh well, at least with the e-Trac I know it will find me the deepest junk on the field. Just the way my luck is. I dig a musket ball and the guy next to me digs a Bishop's Boy token. I just live with it.

My question today is driven by some other posts and comments I have read. That is that the e-Trac may not see small gold items. I worry about missing the quarter staters and very thin hammered gold. Either no sound or a sound not clear or steady. So I need some help.

First, has anyone experienced this problem and solved it? Are there settings I can change to make gold more "visible" to the e-Trac? Is the WOT coil better than the stock coil at "seeing" small gold items?

So I would appreciate any views on this. If it's me and my technique, just tell me and give me some suggestions to improve. I have no problem with small or thin silver. It sounds off like aluminum. I know the e-Trac can find gold Guineas and the like as I have seen people find them. I'm worried about that Celtic stater.

Thanks,

Daryl

 

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[Digger]

While my chances of ever finding such a coin is slim, I'm in Kansas, I believe the E-Trac can find the gold stater. I hunt many tot lots and finding the small gold was a concern of mine when looking at the E-Trac. I run with a pretty much open pattern, sort of a quick iron mask, and find lots of small pieces of foil. I have found a small gold earring that rang out a low grunt but clear and solid.

I have also tested all my gold, and after changing the pattern, all was detected even a very small baby ring. It also was able to detect a small gold pendent, comparable to the stater, with no problem.

 

[Iron Patch]

If the e-trac and explorer are close in performance for small items I don't think it will be a matter of detecting them, it will be you digging that particular signal. Many detectors that give a regular type beep are still going to give a sharp diggable signal, but not so much with a higher end Minelab, at least an explorer. Also, your settings are probably going to make a big difference. Too much disc. is probably going to null out a small coin like that if on edge, maybe even miss it completely. If you want to hunt very small silver and gold coins you also have to dig all the small crap targets that come with that type of detecting. That or just get lucky and find one flat right on the surface.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Here's my opinion Doc. I have a butt load of hours on this machine now and I play with different settings all the time. I try to dig all tones including the "middle numbers" which fall into the gold category. Supposedly. I have found some "ok" gold but, it seems I should have accumulated more. Considering all the other relics I've dug. Silver, on the other hand is not a problem. The Etrac has been amazing on the silver coins. You have brought up an interesting topic I want to investigate further.

 

[Digger]

This has been my observation, although I can't explain it.

I also use a DFX which I run it to except from +94 down to -20(same as the quick iron mask on the ET) yet I don't hear near the number of targets as I do with the ET. Although I hear far more target sounds with the ET, I dig far more good/gold targets with the DFX. Its as if the DFX, while not picking up all the little odds and ends of the ET, will sound off on that gold.

I have dig many very small sequins no more than a 1/4" with the ET so I'm confident it will let me know when the gold is there.