Minelab E-TRAC Forum

Need some advice from Etrac users out there. I'm primarily hunting a very trashy beach on a regular basis and I'm using the Andy Sabisch gold program to pick out good targets. The beach contains a lot of foil. I notice this falls into the same Fe/Co range as some jewelery. Does anybody know of a way to eliminate the foil while still picking up good targets in the same range? Is there any noticeable difference in the tones? I'm a new ETrac user so any help would be appreciated. Also, I saw on an old post (Critterhunter I think) that there was a ring program available.

Problem with gold vs foil and pull tabs is it can come up the same. I hit a gold religious medallion, thin and flat and it came up as a pull tab. Glad I dug it! If there's a trick I'd sure like to know it...until then I guess I'm digging the trash...

---

Garrett AT-Pro, Minelab E-Trac, 2 Pro Pointers and a probe rod.

If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good. ~ Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

Foil will not be as crisp as a nice round ring, as you scan over it VERY Slow listen to the very beginning and end of the sound. many times foil will have break-up to it right at the ends. Always work the target from at least two angles and the PP on the Etrac will tell you so much. Once you know the PP size of a coin you can tell what size it is.

---

Thanks


Jeff



E-Trac w/ 13" Ultimate and 6" EQ2
Sunray X-1 and Sunray Pro Golds
Jeff Herke arm cuff & stand
RNB Lithium Ion, 3 Predator tools
Model 58, Model 85 and Model 31

And a Need to hunt!!

I need to spend a few more hours reading Andy's book to figure out what tones will work best for me. I dig everything in the wet sand but the trash in the dry sand is almost overwhelming. I'm using a Sunray X-8 for target seperation but then I have to sacrifice the amount of coverage. Plan on using an X-12 for the wet sand for better depth. The ETrac has a serious learning curve compared to most other machines I've used in the past.

Problem is not all targets are nice smooth objects. I hit a gold plated crucifix that another guy passed over, said it sounded choppy like trash. I elected to dig it, it was not smooth sounding at all. It's on the right.

---

Garrett AT-Pro, Minelab E-Trac, 2 Pro Pointers and a probe rod.

If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good. ~ Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

Very nice finds!! You are correct. Not all targets are nice and smooth or round, I am only suggesting what I have noticed that foil tends to do. It also many times will have a thin edge on the outside and that can be another indicatior that it "May" be foil. You are correct in suggesting that digging all will produce some excellent finds that others have missed.

---

Thanks


Jeff



E-Trac w/ 13" Ultimate and 6" EQ2
Sunray X-1 and Sunray Pro Golds
Jeff Herke arm cuff & stand
RNB Lithium Ion, 3 Predator tools
Model 58, Model 85 and Model 31

And a Need to hunt!!

I look for trashy beaches as many hunters will pass them up as just to much trouble. Then dig just darn near every low tone. Lots of trash and maybe a bit of gold. JMO...HH

If you want to be 100% sure that you will not miss any gold targets, you'll have to dig all those foil hits. No way around it.

---

HH

Steve - Northern Virginia

Detectors: Minelab Excalibur II w/ Plugger Two Piece Travel Shaft and Knob Guard
Minelab E-Trac w/ Sun Ray Probe, Pro-Tector Rain Jacket, Pro-Tector Padded E-Trac Cover, Swingy Thingy Harness
Garrett Infinium LS w/ Plugger Two Piece Travel Shaft

Accessories: Predator Tools Model 75 Digging Tool, Predator Tools Model 85 Digging Tool, Predator Tools Raven Model 25 Shovel, Sunspot Stealth 6.5 Classic Beach Scoop, RTG Beachmaster Water Scoop, Pro Beach & Water Hunting Pouch, Sun Ray Deluxe Treasure Pouch, Sun Ray Pro Gold Headphones, Garrett Waterproof Headphones, Garrett Pro-Pointer, Sun Ray Coin Popper, Minelab Detector Carry Bag

Excal II Coils: Stock 10"

E-Trac Coils: 6" DD EXcelerator EQ 2 Pro, Sun Ray Stealth X-8, 12x10" SEF (Butterfly), 15x12" SEF (Butterfly)

Infinium Coils: Garrett 10 x 14 DD, Garrett 8" Mono

Oldest Coins Found - 1816 Coronet Large One Cent (Matron Head), 1834 Bust Dime, 1847 Seated Half Dime

The beach I hunt is hammered by multiple TH every day so it's slim pickings. I think that the majority of them don't even dig the pennies but I do find nickels, dimes and quarters so that gives me some encouragement. I used to think that pull tabs only came in around 15, but the green ones register at 19-20 which always throws me off. I guess when it comes to the dry sand you really do have to dig everything just to be sure.

E-trec-virginia is right, there's no way around the sad fact that gold and aluminum share the same conductive ranges, on a size-per-size basis.

And aluminum and gold also come in infinate sizes, densities, karots, shapes, alloys, etc.... Foil wads can be compact and "crisp", or they can be elongated and thin and "chattery" and so forth.

I have heard persons give the advice like Jeff in PA, that they think there is a "tone" or "softness" or "boldness" difference between aluminum and gold. But all you need to do, to put an end to this notion, is invite those persons to a blighted inner city park, or junky beach like yours, and turn them loose. See how much gold they get, while leaving even a portion of aluminium behind

The reason why it's easy to fall for the feeling that "gold sounds different", is because of a subliminal subconscious trick our mind plays on us. It works like this: When you FINALLY find gold, you say to yourself "that sounded different than all the aluminum I just dug", and you sincerely want to believe that ....... therefore ........ if I could only learn those tone differences! But what's really at play there, is nothing more than subconscious selective memory at work. Each time we all stop to dig something, we're saying "this sounds different". But when we pull up the umpteenth aluminum globule foil wad, we then say to ourselves "yeah, it *did* sound kinda junky, now that I think of it". But when you FINALLY find gold, you think "aha! I *knew* it sounded different". Sort of the same way we sometimes get fooled into thinking our dreams come true. You dream hundreds of dreams per night, none of which ever come true. But the the one time your dream comes true (like the song you dreamed about, is the one that turns on your radio alarm clock that morning), you remember just that one dream, and think "aha, I'm psychic". It's the same thing at play for those who think "gold sounds different". Well sure, a selected gold ring (or chain or earing or whatever) will give one sound, and an aluminum wad or tab will give another sound, on a test-by-test basis. But SO TOO will each gold ring sound different from each other as well. And so too will each aluminum item/glob/wad sound different from each other too.

If anyone persists that gold gives a different sound (even if they only have a 20% accuracy), quickly turn them loose on your beach, and see what their ratios are



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2012 09:06PM by Tom_in_CA.