My Metal Detectors Tests.

[HobbyMan]

Hello friends!

I am opening this thread to share with you some video tests of my metal detectors. I have Minelab E-Trac, XP DEUS, Golden Mask 4 Pro and Teknetics Eurotek Pro and I am familiar with each of them. I have a lot of free time, so making tests and comparing the capabilities of my detectors is one of my hobbies. I will be glad to discus the capabilities of these detectors with you, as well I will be glad to answer on your questions, if you have some.

I am really impressed by the XP DEUS capabilities - very sensitive and fast detector, probably the best all around VLF metal detector, suitable even for gold prospecting. The best detector for iron infested sites.

I also love my E-Trak - it can go very deep, if you set the sensitivity manually. Very sensitive to silver. It is a pretty slow machine, but the discrimination is the best on the market.

Golden Mask 4 Pro is the most famous analogue 18 kHz metal detector in Europe - very robust construction, very easy for operation, sensitive to small objects, a nice two-tone discrimination with adjustable tones. It is not the deepest machine, but it is perfect for iron infested places and performs very well on heavy mineralized soils.

The Teknetics Eurotek Pro /11" DD Search Coil/ is a very nice easy to use metal detector, especially for the money. Very good discrimination. It is not the deepest and the fastest metal detector, but it is probably the best choice for a first machine with more then enough features. By my opinion it is the best metal detector in the $300 price range.

Here are my test videos:

XP DEUS test with gold nugget in the ground:


XP DEUS gold nugget air test:


XP DEUS depth test and deepest settings:


Minelab E-Trac Manual vs Auto Sensitivity:


XP DEUS and Golden Mask 4 Pro depth test:

 

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[HobbyMan]

XP DEUS and Golden Mask 4 Pro target separation and recovery speed:


Tecknetics Eurotek Pro recovery speed and target separation test:


Minelab E-Trac recovery speed and target separation test:


Teknetics Eurotek Pro Air Test:


Teknetics Eurotek Pro quick test:

 

[lumbergh]

Love that test bed! What are your pipes made of that you slide the coins into? Plastic? Also, how is the coin sitting on dowel? Is it made of wood? I'm guessing it can't be metal. Anyway, very cool!

 

[apak]

Nice job HobbyMan. It will help those new Etrac owners to understand their machines little better. I subscribed to your YouTube. I like vids that show the iffy signals to help me understand the stranger sounds j get.

 

[HobbyMan]

Love that test bed! What are your pipes made of that you slide the coins into? Plastic? Also, how is the coin sitting on dowel? Is it made of wood? I'm guessing it can't be metal. Anyway, very cool!

Hi lumbergh, I am glad that you like it! These are PVC water pipes I think about 1 1/4 inches (32 mm) inner diameter. The dowel is made from textolite and a cap is glued at the end with epoxy, so when you put a coin inside the coin is in the middle of the pipe.

 

[HobbyMan]

Nice job HobbyMan. It will help those new Etrac owners to understand their machines little better. I subscribed to your YouTube. I like vids that show the iffy signals to help me understand the stranger sounds j get.

Yes, the e-trac especially in multi-tone-conductive audio is very confusing for the beginners. It is not suitable for infested places at all. I prefer the two-tone-ferous audio, which is much more forgiving for the ears and the brain and it is your only chance in iron infested sites.

 

[Fletch88]

Yes, the e-trac especially in multi-tone-conductive audio is very confusing for the beginners. It is not suitable for infested places at all. I prefer the two-tone-ferous audio, which is much more forgiving for the ears and the brain and it is your only chance in iron infested sites.

This really isn't a valid test as to the capability of the Etrac. The ring should register approx 12-26ish by itself. The ring combined with iron will register around 21-37 (or at least mine does) I have no problem with my E banging on gold ring or silver at 8"-10" even with a 1 second swing with this test and correct disc settings. The only other thing I didn't have was dirt. Is this highly mineralized soil or what?

 

[Fletch88]

This was plenty of disc to knock out the nails but enough to still hit a good target combined with iron.

 

[HobbyMan]

I figure out why this test isn't a valid test. The ring should register approx 12-26ish by itself. The ring combined with iron will register around 21-37 (or at least mine does) I have no problem with my E banging on gold ring or silver at 8"-10" even with a 1 second swing with this test and correct disc settings. The only other thing I didn't have was dirt. Is this highly mineralized soil or what?

Hi Fletch88! The ring in my test is a SILVER ring and this is a very strong and highly conductive target. The only problem is the recovery speed of the e-trac, which is very very slow and the ring is "masked" by the nails. The soil in the test bed is excavated from a 20 meters well in the mountain where I live, so you can be sure that the level of mineralization is above the average. You can check the same test of the DEUS with a small low conductive coin and the same nails - the difference is huge:

 

[Fletch88]

Hi Fletch88! The ring in my test is a SILVER ring and this is a very strong and highly conductive target. The only problem is the recovery speed of the e-trac, which is very very slow and the ring is "masked" by the nails. The soil in the test bed is excavated from a 20 meters well in the mountain where I live, so you can be sure that the level of mineralization is above the average. You can check the same test of the DEUS with a small low conductive coin and the same nails - the difference is huge:

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xDBmkW57a0I

Open your screen up (like the screen shown in my post above) to just blank nail by themselves, then add any conductive target and repeat test. You should pick up target even with a fast swing. It's not the recovery speed causing the ring not to register, but combined FE-Co reading you're discriminating out. Im just curious so please try it to see if its actually the mineralization of soil or combined FE-CO number being disc out. The 11" coil is seeing both the nail and ring causing a combined reading in the discriminated out area.

 

[HobbyMan]

Open your screen up (like the screen shown in my post above) to just blank nail by themselves, then add any conductive target and repeat test. You should pick up target even with a fast swing. It's not the recovery speed causing the ring not to register, but combined FE-Co reading you're discriminating out. In just curious so plead try it to see if its actually the mineralization of soil or combined FE-CO number being disc out.

No problem, I will do this test especially for you, but I am sure what will be the result. Believe me, I know my e-trac very good.

 

[Jason in Enid]

You really need to talk during your videos and explain the steps you are taking and the changes being made. You also need to explain what your target is, and it's sitting on. For all I can tell from watching the video, that could be cheap, costume jewelry sitting on a steel disc. We just don't know if you don't tell us. Lastly, your E-Trac pattern needs a lot of modification. The one you show is barely an improvement over the factory stock pattern.

 

[Fletch88]

The mode I used was straight from Minelab owners forum. Gogs minimal iron setting. I feel sure it will pass the test I saw in previous video. If you run disc up straight across bottom 1/3 of screen it will not see ring combined with iron.

http://www.minelabowners.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2608&d=1363267099

 

[HobbyMan]

You really need to talk during your videos and explain the steps you are taking and the changes being made. You also need to explain what your target is, and it's sitting on. For all I can tell from watching the video, that could be cheap, costume jewelry sitting on a steel disc. We just don't know if you don't tell us. Lastly, your E-Trac pattern needs a lot of modification. The one you show is barely an improvement over the factory stock pattern.

Hello! You are right about the talking during the video, but my spoken English is not good enough for this. Sorry, but this is what i can do! If you check the description of the videos you will find the information that you need. As well I show all important settings of the tested detector. About the E-trac discrimination pattern - believe me, the pattern is not an issue in this test. You have a solid silver ring which is completely masked by the nails and the reason for this is the recovery speed of the e-trac. This is two-tone-ferrous audio on which you have a high tone in the whole upper half of the screen. The rejected area is the bottom half of the screen. If you detect a solid silver ring in the bottom half of the screen, where is the iron you should throw this detector away.

 

[Fletch88]

You really need to talk during your videos and explain the steps you are taking and the changes being made. You also need to explain what your target is, and it's sitting on. For all I can tell from watching the video, that could be cheap, costume jewelry sitting on a steel disc. We just don't know if you don't tell us. Lastly, your E-Trac pattern needs a lot of modification. The one you show is barely an improvement over the factory stock pattern.

I'm going to do a video of my own to demonstrate what were talking about Jason. I'm not sure he's getting it. The pattern I saw was just quick mask with iron raised up pretty high. I hope a newbie doesn't watch this and think this is the best way to run machine.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Believe me, I know my e-trac very good.

The rejected area is the bottom half of the screen. If you detect a solid silver ring in the bottom half of the screen, where is the iron you should throw this detector away.

The pattern I saw was just quick mask with iron raised up pretty high. I hope a newbie doesn't watch this and think this is the best way to run machine.

Yep, his first 2 statements are direct contradictions. On the video description he says that he uses TTF because he can't understand the noises of multi-conductive.

 

[Bluze]

HobbyMan - I really like your test box and bucket. Definitely see its usefulness in comparing machines, or testing depth, or learning to tweak a machine for best performance. How do you feel it stacks up against a more traditional 'garden' of planted targets for learning how a machine will respond to this target or that? I'm wondering how the air cavity in the tubes, and the PVC material itself, compares to a complete burial?

 

[HobbyMan]

Yep, his first 2 statements are direct contradictions. On the video description he says that he uses TTF because he can't understand the noises of multi-conductive.

Can you explain what exactly is in direct contradiction? I understand the multi-conductive audio very well, it is just not suitable for infested sites at all and it is a real torture, especially in iron infested places. Please, do not twist my words!

 

[HobbyMan]

I'm going to do a video of my own to demonstrate what were talking about Jason. I'm not sure he's getting it. The pattern I saw was just quick mask with iron raised up pretty high. I hope a newbie doesn't watch this and think this is the best way to run machine.

Fletch88, my video is to show the recovery speed of the e-trac, not the best pattern. I understand everything very well, but it seems that some of you do not understand the conception of the two-axis discrimination of the e-trac. The bottom half of the screen is the ferrous area and you can mask it especially if you hunt highly conductive targets like silver! I will expect your video. The nails in mi video are 4 inches.

 

[HobbyMan]

HobbyMan - I really like your test box and bucket. Definitely see its usefulness in comparing machines, or testing depth, or learning to tweak a machine for best performance. How do you feel it stacks up against a more traditional 'garden' of planted targets for learning how a machine will respond to this target or that? I'm wondering how the air cavity in the tubes, and the PVC material itself, compares to a complete burial?

Hi Bluze, I am glad that you like my test bed. It is refreshing to read something positive. You can not simulate with 100% accuracy the real conditions. Imagine 2000 years old roman coin buried long long time ago with hot rocks around it. How to simulate this? You can only try to get closer to the real conditions. I think that my test bed is close, because the soil is moderately mineralized and the air detection distance of my detectors is reduced about 25-30% in the test bed. The PVC pipe is absolutely "transparent" to the magnetic fields, so its influence on theory should be zero. Lets assume that we have 1" empty space over the coin. If we have a reduction of the detection 30% between air and soil, then this 1" empty space is equal to 0,7 inches soil and the error will be only 0,3 inches. If you put a low-mineralized soil in the test bed you can get about 15-20% better detection depth.