From, AT Pro ..............to Etrac

[cooper1841]

Trading my AT Pro, and extras (coils,coil covers,lower shafts,Grey Ghost headphones) towards an Etrac. I am ordering Andy's book, and am thinking for an extra coil, the 10x5 Coiltek, over the X-5 or x-8 Sunrays..............Sugestions?.....opinions ? I am all ears!!!

 

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[littlewheaty]

Been thinking about getting a etrac as well. What made you decide on the switch?

 

[cooper1841]

Been thinking about getting a etrac as well. What made you decide on the switch?

I liked it a lot, Just wanted something, a little more challenging, and versatile. Not a water hunter, so I don't need that feature, Etrac seemed like a good fit for the type of hunting I do. ( parks, home sites, schools, and beaches.......just not in the water( Lake Huron, is still cold in August!!) The AT Pro was my first and only detector, and I found some great coins, and stuff, not a bad word from me about them!!! Just time to step up my game.

 

[choppadude]

First let me say that I LOVE my AT Pros. I have 2 of them and would buy another in a heartbeat if it was a good deal. That being said, I have heard all the tales about the E Trac sniffing out those deep silvers. Now don't get me wrong, I have dug some deep silvers (dimes at 10") with the AT Pro and the NEL tornado coil but like many I was curious. So after receiving a good sized end of year bonus from the company I work for I was able to purchase a new E Trac
I am the furthest form a "Tech" type guy so I was a bit intimidated by the E Trac but was told to just get out there and use the machine and become familiar with it. So after 4 hunts and about 30 hours on the machine I have to sat I LOVE IT! The first thing I noticed was just how quiet it was compared to the AT Pro. Instead of having to pick one good signal from a multitude of tones on the AT Pro, The E trac has a nice steady threshold and will only sound off on the good stuff, well not always "good stuff" but the majority of the time.
So my totals for the 4 outing with the e Trac was: 2 Large cents, a standing liberty quarter, 2 silver Rosies, 2 Buffalo nickels, one war nickel, 10 Indian head pennies, a handful of Wheat cents and a various pieces of jewelry (no gold yet) And This is all from spots that have been heavily hunted by everyone and their brother for the last 30 years.
My only regret is that I did not do it sooner. I will always keep one AT Pro but I do love this E Trac. If you want to PM me I can hook you up with the dealer I purchased mine from. I checked with ALL the dealers and he had a great price and excellent service.
Also let me know what AT Pro accessories you are selling off as I may be interested.

 

[cooper1841]

First let me say that I LOVE my AT Pros. I have 2 of them and would buy another in a heartbeat if it was a good deal. That being said, I have heard all the tales about the E Trac sniffing out those deep silvers. Now don't get me wrong, I have dug some deep silvers (dimes at 10") with the AT Pro and the NEL tornado coil but like many I was curious. So after receiving a good sized end of year bonus from the company I work for I was able to purchase a new E Trac
I am the furthest form a "Tech" type guy so I was a bit intimidated by the E Trac but was told to just get out there and use the machine and become familiar with it. So after 4 hunts and about 30 hours on the machine I have to sat I LOVE IT! The first thing I noticed was just how quiet it was compared to the AT Pro. Instead of having to pick one good signal from a multitude of tones on the AT Pro, The E trac has a nice steady threshold and will only sound off on the good stuff, well not always "good stuff" but the majority of the time.
So my totals for the 4 outing with the e Trac was: 2 Large cents, a standing liberty quarter, 2 silver Rosies, 2 Buffalo nickels, one war nickel, 10 Indian head pennies, a handful of Wheat cents and a various pieces of jewelry (no gold yet) And This is all from spots that have been heavily hunted by everyone and their brother for the last 30 years.
My only regret is that I did not do it sooner. I will always keep one AT Pro but I do love this E Trac. If you want to PM me I can hook you up with the dealer I purchased mine from. I checked with ALL the dealers and he had a great price and excellent service.
Also let me know what AT Pro accessories you are selling off as I may be interested.

I had the exact experience with it as you did. Got good depth, found silver coins and jewelry,as well as a LOT of clad$$$ had it two years, and put about 600 very enjoyable hours on it. I already shipped it and two extra coils(5x8DD, the only one I used) and a 4.5 Super Sniper, .........never used...... with covers and lower rods, and Grey Ghost Amphibians head phones, to a supporting vendor, on here, towards my new machine. I thought about keeping it, but I am sure It would just sit, and I had to much $$$$ in all the stuff, to have it be a closet queen. All the videos I have watched the Etrac is a LOT quieter

 

[Jason in Enid]

Trading my AT Pro, and extras (coils,coil covers,lower shafts,Grey Ghost headphones) towards an Etrac. I am ordering Andy's book, and am thinking for an extra coil, the 10x5 Coiltek, over the X-5 or x-8 Sunrays..............Sugestions?.....opinions ? I am all ears!!!

I absolutely LOVED the Sunray X-8 coil for my E-Trac. The stock coil will serve you for most situations, but when the trash starts to really get bad, put on the X-8 and it will be much easier to hunt. The X-5 is a great coil too, but only for extreme situations. It has incredible separation, but you do lose a little depth, and of course the coverage is very small.

Give yourself plenty of time to learn the E-Trac, for many people it can take 100 hours of use to really get a solid grasp of it. Read the manual, read the Sabich book, play with the detector, read the books again. They will make more sense the second and third times around.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Very interesting post! I am also thinking of purchasing an e-trac.

 

[Machinist]

On a review note I really like my etrac, but I do not have any experience with other detectors. When I was researching a detector for myself I found a guy's review of different coils he had used on the Explorer and Etrac. He had used quite a variety of coils and made a review of each. Maybe it will help your search for a coil. Link is posted below. Also I have a thread on a head phone extension cord I found very helpful with my Etrac. I will post that link also if anyone has an interest.

Field tests and hunts with various coils I've used

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/metal-detector-modifications/445009-headphone-cord-extension.html

 

[Machinist]

Just an FYI on the Etrac. I am not sure where I read it now (I may have it bookmarked and I will look later), but I read about a test done with the Etrac OEM battery concerning strength to depth of detection and then compared it to an RnB Battery. Basically what was discovered is that the Etrac will start loosing depth when the OEM battery reaches 50% of strength. The OEM battery takes forever to charge. I purchased an RnB battery and these things are worth their weight in gold. They last like 3 to 4 times as long as the OEM, or more, with a third the charging time and, if memory serves me right, the battery held the same detection depth until very little battery strength remained!

When I got mine I used it for like 10-12 hours then life got me busy and it sat, in the detector (which I never do with electronics that get stored), for 4 months. When I powered it up it was still at full strength. Since getting it back out I have detected another 10 hours and played with patterns, settings, and air tests for probably 2 hours and it still is full strength! Now I use the OEM battery for a back up. Posted below is a link to the battery.

RnB Innovations ml 3100 Lithium ion Battery for Minelab FBS Metal Detectors | eBay

 

[Jason in Enid]

That isn't true. The E-Trac (like almost all modern detectors) uses a voltage regulator. This means that even though the fully charged battery has 14V (just as example) the detector only allows 9 volts to pass through. It continues letting 9v through until the battery drops below that level and the detector dies.

Detector strength has not had a relationship to battery level in VERY long (for most detectors, I'm sure a few still run old school)

 

[lookindown]

That isn't true. The E-Trac (like almost all modern detectors) uses a voltage regulator. This means that even though the fully charged battery has 14V (just as example) the detector only allows 9 volts to pass through. It continues letting 9v through until the battery drops below that level and the detector dies.

Detector strength has not had a relationship to battery level in VERY long (for most detectors, I'm sure a few still run old school)

That's what I thought too.

 

[JackalopeZL1]

I jumped from the ATpro to the Etrac as well. My biggest like about the swap is how much quieter it is as well. I find I can detect longer without being driven nuts by the tones.. I have found too it is more accurate in telling you that the target is worth digging.

 

[Machinist]

I could not find the article about the OEM battery in my bookmarks. So just disregard the portion above on the OEM battery and detection depth. I read this info over a year ago when I was looking to purchase my detector so I may be mixing information up. The RnB battery though is awesome!

 

[BryanM362]

I made the same switch about 18 months ago. I am glad I did. The etrac is a great machine, I don't feel like I could get, nor need a better detector.

There is a bit of a learning curve going to the etrac. So, give yourself time, and don't get frustrated. Coming from a machine you know well, to one you are learning, is going to frustrate you at times, but in the end it is worth it.

 

[BC1969]

If you want my explorer/etrac handbook cooper you can have it. I got rid of my explorer, not because I wanted to, but rather because my deaf ears could only hear 1/3 of the tones.

BC

 

[cooper1841]

If you want my explorer/etrac handbook cooper you can have it. I got rid of my explorer, not because I wanted to, but rather because my deaf ears could only hear 1/3 of the tones.

BC

Thanks BC1969, The Andy Sabish book came with it

 

[cooper1841]

New Etrac,........... plus Andy's book, and A Coiltek 10x5 extra coil.......shipped today!!! Yippee........Thanks Keith at Fort Bedford Detectors, for the great deal and awesome service..........Now the bad news, Its 5 degrees, wind chill -25, 2-4 inches of snow tonight...........come on Spring!!

 

[firemac]

If you want my explorer/etrac handbook cooper you can have it. I got rid of my explorer, not because I wanted to, but rather because my deaf ears could only hear 1/3 of the tones.

BC

Hey BC, a couple of months ago, I started using hearing aids. It is amazing what I have been missing hearing. With my Etrac I leave the hearing aids in and wear my grey ghost over them. The hearing aids are blue toothed to my iPhone and I readjust their volume after I start detecting. Its amazing the high tones I was missing, plus phone calls go straight to them with out taking off the head phones. Look into a set, it was one of the best things I've done. HH

 

[BC1969]

Hey BC, a couple of months ago, I started using hearing aids. It is amazing what I have been missing hearing. With my Etrac I leave the hearing aids in and wear my grey ghost over them. The hearing aids are blue toothed to my iPhone and I readjust their volume after I start detecting. Its amazing the high tones I was missing, plus phone calls go straight to them with out taking off the head phones. Look into a set, it was one of the best things I've done. HH

Thought about it, shopped around some. Best I could find was 4200$ a pair...I'll be deaf lol. Besides hearing doc says I can hear low tones well ( men ) high tones..( women ) I can't hear them at all...YAY!

BC

 

[gunsil]

I don't know why you went with the Coiltec 10x5, it is almost the same coverage and depth as the stock coil. Like Jason says, the Sunray 8" is a killer for more trashy area.