E-Trac... It all sounds the same...

[bwirth1999]

So just bought an E-trac, and took it out the past 2 days. I hunt lots of very old home sites, which have been torn down and rebuilt over the years, so lots of iron, aluminum..etc....

I have noticed a few things... Iron sounds like what I would expect a silver coin to sound like, a coin sounds like what I would expect a coin to sound like, but not sure if it's iron or not. Also the numbers are looking about the same. I did find 2 coins today, all modern. Is there a effective way to change the sound of iron... I know it works with TTF somewhat, but TTF can also rule out alot of targets, and miss others, and sometimes work really well....

Fromt he videos I have watched, I thought the iron sounded low, but instead I get a super high pitch....

 

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[Jason in Enid]

You have to start by reading the owners manual. Reading Andy Sabich's E-Trac book will help a lot too.

 

[extractor]

Scroll in the menu, to the settingfor sounds and set it to multi tone.

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

So just bought an E-trac, and took it out the past 2 days. I hunt lots of very old home sites, which have been torn down and rebuilt over the years, so lots of iron, aluminum..etc....

I have noticed a few things... Iron sounds like what I would expect a silver coin to sound like, a coin sounds like what I would expect a coin to sound like, but not sure if it's iron or not. Also the numbers are looking about the same. I did find 2 coins today, all modern. Is there a effective way to change the sound of iron... I know it works with TTF somewhat, but TTF can also rule out alot of targets, and miss others, and sometimes work really well....

Fromt he videos I have watched, I thought the iron sounded low, but instead I get a super high pitch....

The worst place to learn a detector is a trashy place like you just described. I would stick with stock coins program, auto sensitivity and a cleaner site till you learn the machine some. It's very good right out of the box that way.

Feel free to give me a call tomorrow. I can help get you going!

 

[okdiggermark]

Don't forget to click over to QuickMask when you've found a potential target. Sweep SLOWWWWWWW over the target in QuickMask, and iron will many times identify itself. Certain nails if positioned just right in the hole will still fool you, but many times you can identify the "screech" that iron makes, as well as the 30+ Fe numbers. Don't rely on the numbers as much as the quality of sound though!!! I was waaaaaay overwhelmed with my new E-Trac at first too, then one day it all just hit me and "clicked" in my head just what it was trying to tell me. Now I have NO REGRETS and continue to be extremely impressed with mine EVERY time I get to go out hunting with it! It's a machine that I feel I can go ANYWHERE with, and regardless of location, I'm gonna make some finds!!!! HH, you'll get it, just slow down and listen for quality of sound. :-)

 

[bwirth1999]

Yeah planning on getting the book..

As for the trashy areas, i dont really have a choice. It's either really old and filled with trash, or I don't go detecting.... Even the newest parks which would hold coins are over 80 years old.... Guess it will jst take time.

I must say though, being able to "see" into the ground is pretty nice.

 

[moonshine]

iron can give out a high pitch but thats what they call "iron falsing". takes some time to get used to what is falsing and what is a good target. once you get more experience you will find that an iron "false" is generally off to the side of the offending iron. also as you swing, the false will appear to move around a bit. thats because usually if youre right over the iron, you will null because the iron is being discriminated out. but off to the edge of the iron, it can fool the detector. usually iron falsing is not a solid repeatable "hit". if you hit on a coin you will know it. the signal will seem more consistent. good luck, it takes some getting used to. sometimes a small peice of iron, like a nail, can really fool you. im still learning myself and ive been swinging one for almost a year now.

 

[okdiggermark]

Yes! Small nails and nails that are bent can sound like a sure thing! I found a nail the other day that was bent in the shape of a C and it sounded like a coin without question. No detector is perfect, but Etrac is darn close!!!!

 

[bwirth1999]

So after going out again, I dug up a plow head from the late 1800s to early 1900s.... Iron...... ringing in at 01-42, 12-43 , 12-46.... Iron was nulled out on my disc.... Square nail... 01-42 to 12-37 to 12-44.... modern penny...11-33 to 12-46.. modern quarter..12-46...

Test bed.... V nickle.. 11-46... Indian head penny... 12-43ish... Aluminum scraps... 12-46 to 12-43... shotgun shell butt.... 11-33...


Sometimes it would null iron out, but most of the time it would ring as a coin. I could figure out if its a coin or not by the tried and true methods, but that takes time out of detecting. Also not sure why anyone would want to use Co instead of Fe... It would seem that every piece of iron i would see had high Co values... I dunno... Maybe mine is not working properly...?? I can run my At Pro with zero disc and pick up more accurate signals than the E-trac so far... Any ideas?

 

[Jason in Enid]

I think you need to watch some of earthmansurfers youtube videos.

It's impossible to diagnose any problems without seeing your settings, your pattern or the actual VDI responses as you sweep.

 

[RigDean]

don't forget to re-check the hole. just because you found iron when the detector is screaming COIN!!! does not mean there isn't a coin there... just today I got a nice high tone 23fe-45co and the fe#'s were bouncy... down to 10 then up to 27 with QM wide open but the co # stayed about the same and sounded a little choppy.

so i decided to investigate. opened the hole, probed it. WHAM! 35fe- 46co IRON! probed the little hill of dirt and clear as a bell 12fe- 44co
1945 wheat.

When the iron comes through and drags your fe #'s down (or up actually) and the signal sounds choppy and broken and will not repeat sometimes from both ways... this is the coin or other object trying to come through and say "here I am but I'm next to IRON, dig me!"
No guarantees of course but I have found lots of nice coins buried next to or on top of iron.

sometimes it would only peep from one direction but would do so consistently... I open the fe line to accept down to around 23-24...

try this... get a silver coin and a rusty nail. put them side by side on top of a clean patch of dirt or on a cardboard box. open quickmask wide open and scan from different directions. note the numbers then slowly move the fe line to reject while scanning back and forth.

typically, when the nail is positioned at the 1 and 6 o'clock position in front of you, will you get a response, that's why it is important to scan an area from different angles...

there might be a kernel of truth somewhere in my reply but I lost sight of what I was initially attempting to explain...

 

[Sailorman]

I also had the problem of trying to learn the E-Trac in trashy ground. What finally really helped was a smaller coil. By looking at less ground and moving slowly the good stuff showed up better and the numbers began to be more dependable. The sounds also became less confusing. I went with a Sun Ray X-5 but there are a few other options out there. I still put the stock coil on for less trashy areas but in the thick stuff the small coil produces better and helps me keep my sanity! Or what few shreds are left....

 

[pwcguy]

The E-trac has great descrimation. Don't be afraid of it. You will still get the deep coins.

Get Andys E-trac book it will save you a year of pulling your hair out.

 

[windage]

I bought my Etrac from Mike at Woodlands and he helped me through that learning curve...call your dealer and get him to stay on the phone with you as you go out in the field, really helps!

 

[Junkironkid]

The Etrac is a good unit once you learn it. Be patience go low and slow. Andy Sabish's book on the E-Trac is also excellent. If you read it and understand all the settings, it makes everything the machine is telling you make a lot more sense. The user manual is pretty useless. You need the book.