Minelab E-Trac Classroom Forum

I was hunting at an old house yesterday using the Minelab coin program and the nails were sounding just like silver and the numbers were good as well. Do you guys have any suggestions on how to best make a determination on nails? Thanks for any suggestions- Randy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2011 10:21AM by iskirkra.

Do you have High Trash "on"?

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'If it's worth doing wrong, it's worth doing twice."
Minelab E-Trac
Gray Ghost Originals
Pro Coil, 6X8 SEF, SunRay X-5
Garrett Pro Pointer
Ace 250 for the kids and "Just in case"

Yes I have Trash - High and Ground - difficult on. I did modify the basic coin program based on suggestions from an E-Trac user. Here are the settings.

sensitivity auto +3
threshold limit just barely audible
volume limit 29
volume gain 29
response normal
tone id multi
sounds conductive
variability 29
limits 29
threshold pitch 28-29
deep off
fast on
trash high
ground difficult



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2011 12:13PM by iskirkra.

Just out of curiosity, what modifications did you make to the coin program?

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'If it's worth doing wrong, it's worth doing twice."
Minelab E-Trac
Gray Ghost Originals
Pro Coil, 6X8 SEF, SunRay X-5
Garrett Pro Pointer
Ace 250 for the kids and "Just in case"

I changed the sensitivty to auto, volume gain to 29, change fast to on, trash to high. that is all I changed. I did not change the pattern at all.

I've run into that problem also and I use a wide-open Quick Mask to double-check the target. When I encounter a sweet sounding target, I switch to the Quick Mask screen and note what happens to the cursor location. If it goes (or hovers) around the bottom right, it's iron and I move on. Usually the Ferrous number will also stay in the high end of the scale (above 25). Finally, iron doesn't usually sound the same from two different directions (i.e. offset 90 degrees and re-sweep).

Another option is to try 2-tone Ferrous. I've seen several posts from others that swear by it when they get into an iron infested area. Do a search on this and the E-Trac Forum for "2-Tone", "Two-Tone", or "TTF" (or some other variation) and you'll find a wealth of information.

Good luck!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2011 06:45PM by Cladiator (OR).

Take out the vertical "conductive" line all the way to the right,,,50 i think with the small curser. On my work computer so i cant give good detail.

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Minelab E-Trac, 6" Excelerator, 12x15 SEF, Garrett Pro Pointer, Fisher CZ-21

My Youtube channel remenning

What I found works is during pinpointing a nail will pinpoint off from where it sounds in motion mode. When you get a signal from a nail it comes from the point, but when you pinpoint the strongest signal will come from the nails head. So when you pinpoint and the target seems to move chances are it's a nail. Especially if you rotate 90º and the targets pinpoint position moves. Dead giveaway.

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Detectors used: E-Trac, AT Pro
Last few years: CTX 3030, V3i, DFX, XP Deus, F75 LTD, V3i, MXT, Explorer SE, X-Terra 70, Sovereign GT, Omega 8000, Compadre, Silver uMax
The real treasure is in the hunt...

Quote
Southwind
What I found works is during pinpointing a nail will pinpoint off from where it sounds in motion mode. When you get a signal from a nail it comes from the point, but when you pinpoint the strongest signal will come from the nails head. So when you pinpoint and the target seems to move chances are it's a nail. Especially if you rotate 90º and the targets pinpoint position moves. Dead giveaway.

Good advice eventhough sometimes I forget and dig that nail too! here is a bit of advice I got from my friend Nick who has taught me a lot.

Another trick of the E-Trac and Pro coil is that reliability of a signal that repeats at 90 degrees is almost always something round. It may be a piece of round iron fooling you, but the detector loves things that are round. I've dug plenty of signals that did not repeat at 90 degrees, but more often than not, a signal that repeats the same (or close) at 90 degrees is worth digging. Sometimes if I like a signal but can't get a 90 degree repeat, I'll shift the position of my original scan by 30 or 45 degrees and then see if I can get a 90 degree repeat from a new angle. There may just be a piece of trash that's blocking me from getting that 90 degree repeat from my original scan.

At old houses I run two tone ferrous a lot, if I am in conductive multi tone and get an iffy signal, I flip it into TTF and check it, if there is something conductive down there the etrac will NOT lie to you while in TTF.....to me it is simply amazing how well it determines iron in TTF mode. I wrote an article awhile back for Ohio metal detecting magazine explaining TTF, how to set it up etc....if you need help shoot me a PM.

The idea of switching to quickmask (open screen) is a good one... if the fe #'s bounce into the twenties or teens, it could be a good target being masked by iron... if the fe # stays in the 30's chances are its iron. When in doubt, dig it out!

I have been using the Quick Mask screen to help identify iffy, broken, or one sided signals. In most cases this will be a rusted nail or some other rusted target interfering with your good target.

I will normally turn on the Quick Mask screen and pass my coil over the target, Normally trying to keep the movement of the coil no more then two inch's and will do it as I turn completly around the target. If the courser (target box) stays in the lower right corner of the screen I have a piece of iron and I move on. If the target box stays in the mid section of the screen and gives me a good Target ID I am digging. If the target box wants to jump from the center of the screen and back to the lower right corner and back again I know I have a good target with a piece of iron interfering with it and I will dig it. I have repeatedly dug coins and tokens with nails laying across or close to them doing this. It really works good for separating good and bad targets and helping know when to dig. Rick

Rusty nails have a habbit of bouncing up into the dig range of signals. I have learned that nails will never have a clear tone while sweeping both ways - usually only one way, and both ways are inconsistant and broken. I still get fooled by rusty iron, but not as often as before.

Only way to check to make sure they are or are not iron targets is to use quick mask to open up the screen, this way you can see the sounds/cursor and it will remain more consitantly in the iron range.

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For me the best way to determine if a target is a nail is to get more information by circling the target. I always turn 90 degrees on every target before I dig it, but if I am in an area where I am having trouble with nails, I usually check the target from multiple angles before deciding whether to dig it or not. Nails will usually not give a good tone from multiple angles whereas good targets generally do. This may not apply to everyone on here but this is what I have found to happen here in Minnesota. Hope this helps and good luck with this nails. As others have said, TTF is a true gem for exactly the problem you are having. Good luck and HH -Marc

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Minelab E-Trac / Sun-Ray X-1 / 6" EQ2 / 8" FBS / 12x13 NEL
Minelab Excalibur II 1000 / Vibra-Quatic / Anderson CF "Shorty" Setup For Diving
Minelab Excalibur II 1000 / Anderson CF Straight Rod
XP Deus / Large Coil / Garrett Pro Pointer