if the etrac is over rated

[Silver Simon]

Etrac is way overated my cz20 spanks it in side by side comparisons. Yup.

Maybe in wet sand... Can you provide a link to this comparison?

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

How to Research for Treasure Hunting and Metal Detecting From Lead Generation to Vetting - Grab it through Amazon!

[dandut46]

I started this post and didn't think I would get this much reply , but thanks for all.It seems a lot of people go to bat for the etrac and that is what I wanted to here, so thank you, you help me and I'm sure others. Thanks again.

 

[jeff of pa]

Im still trying to figure out if he was saying its good or bad..lol

I agree & even Liked his Post

He never said it is over rated.

he said "if it is, why is there so much good to say ?"

 

[Tony in Virginia]

I agree. They need to get Andy's book , because once you learn this machine it is phenominal.

From my experience people who thinks etrac is over rated r guys who cant learn the machine.

 

[marjam]

I agree. They need to get Andy's book , because once you learn this machine it is phenominal.

I didnt think it was all that hard to learn it. I know I am probably not as good with it as alot of folks that have years on the machine, but I found good stuff with it the first day I took it out. Some people go way too fast, and I think that is the biggest problem when they pick the etrac up for the first time. You have to slow way down. And of course learn the sounds, but there is no reason a new guy or gal can't find stuff with it right out of the box. The best machine I have ever owned.

 

[pacis888]

I'll take 12" any day of the week!!

Tell us when you start to pull coins out at 14 inches.

I'll take 12" any day, if you want 14", well you'll have to get the CTYX 3030 plus an additional $450.00 for the larger coil.
The E Track is dead on, a serious machine at $1k less money.
everything is relative

 

[pacis888]

I'll take 12" any day of the week!!

Tell us when you start to pull coins out at 14 inches.

I'll take 12" any day, if you want 14", well you'll have to get the CTX 3030 plus an additional $450.00 for the larger coil.
The E Track is dead on, a serious machine at $1k less money.
everything is relative

 

[Greatday05]

I am new to metal detecting and bought an Etrac. I have been out with it for a total of about 1 1/2 hours here at my 1886 house. I found three wheat pennies, 1914, 1916, and 1940, and an old flat button with a steam engine train on it. I used the coin discrimination setting and tried to stay with the targets that were some where in the middle upper right side, which happened to be wheat pennies. I also watched some youtube videos on people using it and what the coin readings come back as. I'm pretty sure there were silver targets, but the etrac was picking up lots of targets. I'm excited about what I will find when the weather actually gets nice. I like the technical side of it and will hopefully have it mastered soon.

 

[Jackalope]

The E-Trac has very similar depth and sensitivity to the CTX. The differences are very minor. The CTX can separate ferrous from non-ferrous better which is an improvement.

The CTX has superior display and target trace features - but anyone experienced with an E-Trac should do equally well. There may be a bit of a confidence boost when people buy the CTX - if you think you have the best detector confidence increases, which translates to more finds. But detector-wise, from my testing, the performance difference is minimal for most coin hunting.

 

[Dan B]

Any Canadians using an Etrac? How does it work on our coinage?

 

[Silver Simon]

I used the coin discrimination setting and tried to stay with the targets that were some where in the middle upper right side, which happened to be wheat pennies.

Have you downloaded Andy's coin program? That was the staple of my E-Trac hunting. I like how custom programs can be imported/exported using a computer. Oh and if you want some great insight on the E-Trac, I recommend picking up Andy Sabisch's book, good stuff.

 

[Silver Simon]

Any Canadians using an Etrac? How does it work on our coinage?

I'm not Canadian, but I would make a safe guess that it performs just as well, given that your coinage has similar metals (copper, silver, nickel, zinc, steel etc).

 

[Dave Rishar]

I'll go ahead and say that it's not optimal for my area. The problems are the weather and the soil.

Weather: Here in the Pacific Northwet, it's overcast and usually raining for about 7-8 months out of the year. I don't restrict my outdoor activities to good weather because if I did, I wouldn't be doing much of them. Metal detecting is no exception. The E-Trac will handle a drizzle but in heavier rain, a cover of some sort is necessary. The problem is that this makes the already-bad screen even worse, and the poor level of backlighting (which my watch puts to shame) won't help. You're now flying blind. You can choose to go by sounds in 4TC and make some decent finds, but most of the public areas around here call for TTF. And as we all know, TTF without a screen is basically beep-and-dig. The trash-to-valuable ratio around here often is not favorable. I really don't like digging trash and I like it even less when I'm getting rained on. A bit of discrimination might help with that, which brings us to...

Soil: Ours seems to be similar in ferric content to a pile of iron shavings. If you're hunting in any discrimination pattern more restrictive than relic, most sites will have you nulling more than you're beeping. You won't dig up much trash that way...in fact, you won't dig up much of anything at all. I learned early on not to rely on auto-sense out here because the E-Trac will park itself on 15 or lower more often and not, and my 12" machine becomes something like a 6-7" machine. If I only wanted depth like that, I could have opted for a much less expensive machine. I've begun to just set it to 20 (or higher, on the rare occasion that I can get away with it) on manual and learned to ignore the resulting symphony, which I can do...but it does remove some of the enjoyment of the hobby, wandering around listening to the machine screeching at you like this. This level of iron contamination also raises hell with the target values, with the "typical" 12 coming in at anything from 10-16 regularly, occasionally a few points higher. It's always heart-breaking when a machine known for its accurate TID lies to you (particularly if it had been honest for the last two or three targets), but that's part of the game out here. At least I know that this soil is making everyone else's lives unpleasant too. And it helps me to maintain an appropriate swing speed - if I swing too fast, I WILL get an iron false, regardless of whether there's a target around or not. It's actually not uncommon for me to dig a good signal, remove a handful of dirt that sets the Propointer off, break up the clump of dirt, and find that the Propointer no longer sees it. Sweep the hole, another good signal, remove another handful, Propointer sees something...you get the picture. You can go all the way to the clay like this in some areas. It's downright depressing sometimes, and the E-Trac does not like this sort of dirt at all.

I'll admit that I represent a fairly small segment of detectorists, and one or both of these factors probably don't apply to most. For them, this is a wonderful machine. For me? It's merely very good. I've ordered something else to take over for it, at least during the spring, fall, and winter. My original plan had been to get rid of it but I simply can't - even in what is probably a worst case scenario for it, the environment that the folks in Australia never thought of and might not be able to imagine, it's still a very good machine.

And as I said earlier, it can detect the hell out of some worms.

 

[Dan B]

I'm not Canadian, but I would make a safe guess that it performs just as well, given that your coinage has similar metals (copper, silver, nickel, zinc, steel etc).

All our modern coins are steel. No more nickel, zinc or copper. It's been that way for a few years now. There is a video showing the Euro tec pro failing miserably on our coins on YouTube. I wonder how the etrac would handle what is basically a round steel slug?

 

[dirtscratcher]

All our modern coins are steel. No more nickel, zinc or copper. It's been that way for a few years now. There is a video showing the Euro tec pro failing miserably on our coins on YouTube. I wonder how the etrac would handle what is basically a round steel slug?

Until we get 1 and 2 dollar coins in use here it would be a big plus for me to not pick up modern coins. The last thing I want to dig is modern coins.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Until we get 1 and 2 dollar coins in use here it would be a big plus for me to not pick up modern coins. The last thing I want to dig is modern coins.

Might want to rethink that, I have over $800.00 in recover clad so far.

I haven't cash any in yet, I'm going to buy a new detector with it one day, or 2 AK47s..






American by birth, Patriot by choice.

I would rather die standing on my two feet defending our Constitution than live a lifetime on my knees......

 

[Dan B]

Until we get 1 and 2 dollar coins in use here it would be a big plus for me to not pick up modern coins. The last thing I want to dig is modern coins.

They do add up quickly. Quarters are good to find too. I would rather dig coins than nothing at all. I'm not a cherry picker. I like to dig targets so I would rather get signals on any kind of coinage than wait for that perfect elusive silver signal and dig nothing in the meantime. But, that's just me. Everyone has their own style and goals.

Dan

 

[Greatday05]

Have you downloaded Andy's coin program? That was the staple of my E-Trac hunting. I like how custom programs can be imported/exported using a computer. Oh and if you want some great insight on the E-Trac, I recommend picking up Andy Sabisch's book, good stuff.

I am new to this, so where do I download Andy's coin program and buy his book from? I will look for them in the mean time. Thanks!

 

[Silver Simon]

I am new to this, so where do I download Andy's coin program and buy his book from? I will look for them in the mean time. Thanks!

Well the book can be purchased from Kellyco @ Kellyco Books for $15, which is the cheapest I have seen it. Just look for the Metal Detector specific header, and this picture:


As far as the program, you can download the ptrn file here: http://www.thebeepgoeson.com/download.asp?file=/downloads/Andy_S_Coin_Hunting_Pattern_(12JAN09).ptrn

 

[SgtSki in MI]

From my experience people who thinks etrac is over rated r guys who cant learn the machine.

EGGGS-actly! I bought an Explorer XS the year that they came out. People were whining about them being "overrated" at the time too. I wasn't making very good (or deep) finds and it was frustrating the crap out of me. Hell, I have SmartFind, 28 frequencies, Automatic sensitivity, noise cancel, and all of these other doodads, so WHY aren't I finding all of this good stuff? Well, the answer was that I DIDN'T KNOW THE MACHINE! After a trip down to S. Illinois and St. Louis to hunt and learn from folks who DID know the machine, I began to do a lot better and the good stuff started to come out for me. I have since upgraded (but not far) to an Explorer II and accessorized it with a couple of aftermarket coils. Some day I'd like to get an E-Trac or CTX 3030....but there's no need because I have a powerful detector that I know the ins and outs of efficiently operating, and I'm making finds. There's a guy in town near me who swings an old Garrett Groundhog and can detect circles around just about anybody I know. He laughs at us guys who swing the new machines and rightly so.