Upgrading to E Trac

[vabuckhunter]

I will be getting my new E Trac in the mail tomorrow thanks to Bart at Big Boys Hobbies. I am upgrading from an AT Pro and have done a lot of reading and watched many You Tube videos about the E Trac. I am wondering if anyone can give me some beginners advice on what to expect?

 

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[Silver Simon]

I will be getting my new E Trac in the mail tomorrow thanks to Bart at Big Boys Hobbies. I am upgrading from an AT Pro and have done a lot of reading and watched many You Tube videos about the E Trac. I am wondering if anyone can give me some beginners advice on what to expect?

Don't get discouraged, I made the same upgrade last year, and the first few hunts were rough. Things will click after you get to know her, and she will give it all to you. Just take it slow.

 

[Silver Simon]

Oh and if you aren't getting Andy's book in the package, make sure you get a copy.

 

[Sheppie22]

I own both and they compliment each other. Etrac for deep coins and the AT Pro with the 5x8 coil for junky iron areas. I know a lot of Etrac users will say hunt in TTF with the Etrac, I just think that the AT Pro has faster recovery speed for those junky areas. Can't beat the 5x8 coil. IMO

 

[fella]

Congrats on the new purchase.

I remember when I "upgraded" to an E-Trac!

Find rate and ratio didn't improve. Certainly wasn't any deeper than what I was swinging at the time. It made for a good trade though and was glad to be rid of it.

 

[vabuckhunter]

fella, you think all the hype about E Trac is just that? I hope not.

 

[dirtscratcher]

Congrats on the new purchase.

I remember when I "upgraded" to an E-Trac!

Find rate and ratio didn't improve. Certainly wasn't any deeper than what I was swinging at the time. It made for a good trade though and was glad to be rid of it.

I've also seen you say you never really learned it. Most who make the upgrade from atp to etrac sing a different tune.

 

[dirtscratcher]

fella, you think all the hype about E Trac is just that? I hope not.

Everyone has an opinion and his is not the norm. This subject comes up often it will be interesting to hear your opinion after getting some tome on it.

 

[fella]

fella, you think all the hype about E Trac is just that? I hope not.

Nope not at all! It's great machine. Users do very well with em.

I've also seen you say you never really learned it. Most who make the upgrade from atp to etrac sing a different tune.

1) True never really became proficient with it. I used it enough (few hours daily for about a month) to know it wasn't what I wanted. 2) I didn't come from the ATP to the ET!

 

[cudamark]

I own both and they compliment each other. Etrac for deep coins and the AT Pro with the 5x8 coil for junky iron areas. I know a lot of Etrac users will say hunt in TTF with the Etrac, I just think that the AT Pro has faster recovery speed for those junky areas. Can't beat the 5x8 coil. IMO

Try a small coil with the E-trac and I think you'll change your opinion. You do have to move a bit slower but the results are amazing.

 

[vabuckhunter]

cudamark what size and name brand coil to you use for trashy areas?

 

[Keppy]

My self i would say that if you got a Minelab BBS detector that would be a upgrade …. To get a Minelab FBS detector is a downgrade..

 

[fella]

My self i would say that if you got a Minelab BBS detector that would be a upgrade …. To get a Minelab FBS detector is a downgrade..

Excuse my ignorance, what's the difference? (I don't feel like looking it up)

 

[dirtscratcher]

Excuse my ignorance, what's the difference? (I don't feel like looking it up)

BBS is soverigon tech which I own and fbs is explorers and etrac. I like both but do not agree at all with Keppy but everybody has an opinion.

 

[fella]

double post. Doh!

 

[fella]

BBS is soverigon tech which I own and fbs is explorers and etrac. I like both but do not agree at all with Keppy but everybody has an opinion.

They're both multi freq right? How are they different?

*edit*
Looked it up (somewhat). BBS goes to 22.5kHz and FBS to 100kHz. Both at 1.5kHz intervals. Is that about it?

 

[Hot zone]

My Quattro is FBS.... It finds things deep enough, but to get the most out of it you have to listen to it... If it gets even a little trashy the noise gets bothersome... I just got a Tejon and after using It for a week ...then trying my Quattro for 5 minutes I wanted to wrap it around a tree!

 

[Fletch88]

Congrats on an awesome machine! The Sunray X-8 coil was my favorite coil on the Etrac. It is large enough to cover a decent amount of ground and small enough to be used successfully with TTF in trashy iron laden areas. Very lightweight and stable in manual sensitivity.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Here is the advice I give to all new E-Trac owners. It comes from 5 years of use.

Before use, you need to read the owners manual. Read it several times. After you play with the detector some, go read it again. It will make more sense now. Do the same with the A.S. book.

To begin, put it in a stock mode, such as the coin mode, or which ever one fits your needs. Now, LEAVE IT ALONE. Don't change anything until you start to really understand it. Constant changes will only confuse and prolong the learning process.

Next, start off in some place easy to dig such as tot lots, volleyball courts, etc. Dig everything that responds, but keep mental notes about TID and sounds. Use these places to practice pinpointing. The E-trac pinpoints great once you learn it, but can confuse you when you're new.

Once you have a solid feel for pinpoint and response, move out into "real" hunting spots. but pick places that aren't extremely trashy. This is the hard part, you have to train your ear and mind. Open up the disc pattern to an Andy Sabich pattern or even more open. Yes, you will dig more iron trash this way, but you will also dig more deep, old, good targets.

The E-Trac is great at ID'ing the Conductive aspect of targets. As targets get deeper, the FE aspect loses reliability. Deep targets will see the cursor "bounce" up and down much more than shallow ones. In time you will learn to recognize the sound of iron falses and how they differ from good targets.

Expect to put at least 100 hours of use on it before you really start to understand it.

Lastly, when you feel ready to start making changes to the settings (other than the pattern) make one change at a time. Go detect and see how that change affects things. Then change something else if you need. Keep making changes this way, because each thing affects responses and some changes interact with other settings. Making lots of changes at once won't let you learn what you are really doing.

 

[vabuckhunter]

Thanks for the advice Jason. I am watching your you tube videos right now and I can say is WOW. What smaller coil are you using and which would you recommend for trashy areas?