Minelab E-TRAC Forum

I'm new with the E-trac but have noticed that i'm digging an aweful lot of nails. I havent tried to install any new programs or make any changes yet, only had it a few days. Tried the "high trash" program but seem to be geting less hits which is good I guess. I am digging some deep stuff though. Finding things that my DFX has missed cause i'm hunting the same grounds. What program would be best to start with.

Are you sure those "nails" are iron nails? Becuase there are certain type nails that are aluminum, for roofing, for instance. And other applications of nails that are copper, for instance.

But if you are talking iron nails (which will rust, etc...) then it seems you are doing something wrong. You are mis-interpretting what to dig, vs what to pass (if indeed you have the iron zone parts of your screen blacked out). Try different swing speeds over suspected iron. Iron will take on different lack of repeatabilities, when you start to speed up the sweep. Try different angles over the target. Seems to me you're chasing signals you shouldn't. There's GOT to be a difference between nails and conductors, if you have your settings done right. Heck, even right out of the box on factory-presets, should have no problem nixing out nails. Have you tried air-tests?

I still dig alot of nails with the E-trac. in the stock coin program a rusty nail is going to sound like a high tone coin or even silver sometimes...turn 90deg and swing again, tone gone? Rusty nail! also make sure you have open screen on your quick mask, if you are still getting good tones swinging in both directions hit the quick mask button if the tones start screaming and the FE numbers jump into the 30's it is most likely a rusty nail.
also if the high tone is followed by a "thunk" most guys will tell you it's a coin...I have dug hundreds of thunks with only rusty nails to show for it. it will take some time to learn when and when not to dig, but I still dig alot of rusty nails...good tones nice 12-45 reading in all directions....bam! rusty nail!

what I want to know is did people run around with nails in their pockets and drop them like coins? I cannot believe the amount of nails in our parks around here, evenly spred through the entire park???what gives?

my disclaimer: I have only been using the E-trac for a few months, so anything I said above is just based on my own newbie personal experience.

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E-trac,Ace250, garrett PP's...oldest coin to date 1819 LC

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gunwolf
I still dig alot of nails with the E-trac. in the stock coin program a rusty nail is going to sound like a high tone coin or even silver sometimes...turn 90deg and swing again, tone gone? Rusty nail! also make sure you have open screen on your quick mask, if you are still getting good tones swinging in both directions hit the quick mask button if the tones start screaming and the FE numbers jump into the 30's it is most likely a rusty nail.
also if the high tone is followed by a "thunk" most guys will tell you it's a coin...I have dug hundreds of thunks with only rusty nails to show for it. it will take some time to learn when and when not to dig, but I still dig alot of rusty nails...good tones nice 12-45 reading in all directions....bam! rusty nail!

what I want to know is did people run around with nails in their pockets and drop them like coins? I cannot believe the amount of nails in our parks around here, evenly spred through the entire park???what gives?

my disclaimer: I have only been using the E-trac for a few months, so anything I said above is just based on my own newbie personal experience.

I have been using the ET for about a year or so and I agree with Gunwolf and I can show you the Rusty Nails!

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gunwolf
I still dig alot of nails with the E-trac. in the stock coin program a rusty nail is going to sound like a high tone coin or even silver sometimes...turn 90deg and swing again, tone gone? Rusty nail! also make sure you have open screen on your quick mask, if you are still getting good tones swinging in both directions hit the quick mask button if the tones start screaming and the FE numbers jump into the 30's it is most likely a rusty nail.
also if the high tone is followed by a "thunk" most guys will tell you it's a coin...I have dug hundreds of thunks with only rusty nails to show for it. it will take some time to learn when and when not to dig, but I still dig alot of rusty nails...good tones nice 12-45 reading in all directions....bam! rusty nail!

what I want to know is did people run around with nails in their pockets and drop them like coins? I cannot believe the amount of nails in our parks around here, evenly spred through the entire park???what gives?

my disclaimer: I have only been using the E-trac for a few months, so anything I said above is just based on my own newbie personal experience.

Sounds exactly like what i'm doing. I'm still learning the E-trac so in time I hope to get better at what "not" to dig. The nails are rusty and I did read about rusty nails giving false signals so its going to take some learning to get right. I am using the factory cion program is there one you could reccommend thats a better option for coins and jewlery??

The one thing I don't like about the E .........

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Based on the input from the others here, yes, I do recall that the etrac has a bit of notoriety of being "weak on nails". I use the Exp. II (but read all the other exp. forums). As such, it has taken its knocks (and makes a lot of hunters prefer the older incarnation of the Exp. II). Some power house machines over the years have gotten this reputation. Another example is the CZ6. On any machine that seems to lump some deep rusty nails into the deep silver coin category, you will no doubt hear "tricks" to help over-come this (control settings, characteristics of sounds to watch for, etc...). But the bottom line is: some machines are just inherently more apt. to be fooled, than others. Still though, as I say, there are tricks. But a hardcore Etrac user, grasping for the deeper ones, will confess to getting fooled now and then. But if you're fooled constantly, even by shallow ones, then I'd say that something is still wrong with the signals you're choosing to chase, or your settings.

Yep, I still dig nails too. Don't let it bother you too bad. Just know that is the price for digging the silvers that others pass over.

I do get some nails, but I can usually avoid them by using an open quick mask screen if the signal is somewhat iffy. What I love is I can pull a coin after I dig through a nail or 2. I usually am running Andy Sabisch's coin program, but do use the stock coin program alot. Maybe I just am not coming across the amount of nails that you are.

When you get a deep iffy target you think maybe be a nail, flip it into TTF and check it out again, if you get a high tone from 2 directions, then DIG! I find TTF is the best thing to help me decide on iffy targets......also many, many targets that THUNK are coins on edge, it takes time to learn what these signals sound like....the more you use the etrac the less iron you will dig. I think a lot of people try to turn a crappy signal into a good one. I have seen people walk around a target for 5 minutes trying to turn it into a good signal....lol

In all that time they could have just dug it and know what it is for sure!

A rusty nail will sound good now and then but a silver coin will sound much better once you learn the E-Trac.I believe those that dig a lot of nails in the coin mode are grasping at straws so to speak in their frantic search for deep silver.Once you learn to trust what you hear and realize that silver rarely sounds broken like rusty nails your nail digging will slow way down.Also rusty nails will mostly pinpoint several inches off from where they hit while doing the coil wiggle .

Running your gain to high will often cause more iron falsing as will very wet soil conditions.About the only time I dig nails is when I have been hunting for quite a while with no silver and start to get desperate and dig those iffy one way nail high tones lol.Most times when I hit a silver coin at 8" or less the audio signal will stop me in my tracks and there will be little doubt as to what is under the coil.Heavy copper tubing at depth is one of the targets that will fool me but nails not so much.

I have tested a number of in-field deep rusty nail targets in the past and found that the E-Trac,Explorer II & SE along with the Whites V3 all falsed equally on the same targets with stock coils......If you find yourself circling an iffy target several times trying to make it sound better it most likely is not a coin in my experience.

I have dug many nails that I thought were nails but I have dug very few if any silver coins that I thought were nails......

Yes, it does like rusty nails. I dont know why.
I disc'd everything out the one day except silver coins and nickels and it still did it.
You can get a 12-45/46 solid and repeatable --and sounds so good, you would not check it at another angle.

On the other hand, I have found many coins (today as well) with a nail right beside them...rusted and all iron-like and had no idea there was iron there.

Does it do the same thing with an SEF 8x6?
As I know the big coils are tradeoffs on depth--you get some trash once in a while in exchange for deepies.

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Goes4ever
also many, many targets that THUNK are coins on edge, it takes time to learn what these signals sound like!

Thanks for your input ... I hear so many talk about the "thunk"...I do hear it, and have dug every time I hear it....NO coin!? I mean I have dug over a hundred or so times just to get a piece of something rusty or a rusty nail. (so afraid to walk away from a thunk after reading so many posts on it)
I really think it would help alot of us new users to have someone make a video of what the "thunk" is and what the reward is after digging.

as far as digging every iffy signal that may be a rusty nail, a coin, or both...our parks are littered with thousands of nails, as are many old properties that I hunt, I have personally dug hundreds of rusty nails and only once was there a coin in the hole. for someone like myself who has undergone neck surgery with lower back surgery pending...I just can't dig all those unnessessary holes. sometimes I'll just be out for a half hour and after digging 30 plugs for rusty nails I have to head home. so I really wish I could learn more about what the E-trac is telling me the target is...I have been digging everything repeatable to learn on my own, and seems like I get fooled way more than I would like to.
Like I have posted before I usually get a nice 12-45,46 at 8" nice high tone solid reading from all directions...dig and it's a small rusty peice of iron. I have switched to my TTF program to verify and the reading stays the same...pull out rusty object rescan hole...nothing.????

thanks for the help sorry to highjack the post.

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E-trac,Ace250, garrett PP's...oldest coin to date 1819 LC

I have never, got a 12-45 from two directions that was a nail......NEVER. I just don't see how it is possible. I have had them hit from one way but not two. Mst times that I get nails and when they are in a hole with coins.

When I first got my E-Trac I used to dig a lot of nails too, but now only rarely. Sometimes it is site dependent, at old farm houses I am more willing to take a chance on a "irony" signal but in a park area less likely. Turning directions and scanning is one of the best ways of diagnosing a signal iron will to me have what I perceive as a "scratchy edge" to it.