Minelab E-Trac Classroom Forum

What should I do when the Etrac nulls out over discriminated out targets.
Some say the machine will ring out if there is something good mixed in with iron, but?

Sometimes I hear a good target sound while it is nulling, but the VDI still shows the last good target. I raise the coil up about a foot from the ground to stop the nulling and it will show me a VDI reading. Raising the coil will also give you an idea whether a target is a beer can or a coin.

from what i have learned so far, the etrac WILL ring out on a good target even if it is completely silent from nulling. thats what makes the way you set the discrimination pattern important. just yesterday i was sweeping and an area about 4' wide was silent from nulling, but in one spot i got a good sounding target, reading 27-44 and it turned out to be a mercury dime just a few inches deep. i think the FE numbers were off due to the nulling but the CO number was good. and it just sounded good so i took a look and sure enough, a silver coin.

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Onto season 3 (2013) with my new best friend the E-Trac

I don't think the VDI numbers change until the threshold returns, or maybe my sites are junkier than yours, and there are multiple nulled out items, so it never gets a threshold like yours does?

It depends upon the signal strength of the nulling target.

Put a coin 1" under a small nail and you'll never hear the coin; the iron signal is just too strong. No amount of discrimination tuning will help. You just can't beat the laws of physics!

A coin in the same plane as a discriminated target may sound as a good target, but usually the response will not be consistent.

im still learning, have been using the etrac for only a few months, but im starting to set my beliefs about what the etrac can do. last time out in one of the trashiest sites i know of, which is basically an old house foundation that was used as a dumping grounds, metal fragments and junk EVERYWHERE, i found 3 wheats mixed in with seriously HEAVY trash. I mean I was pulling up at least one junk target in every hole that I pulled a wheat. But the etrac let me know that a coin was there! There was a repeatability to some degree, although very spotty, of tone and some decent TID numbers shown. Once, AFTER pulling the wheat, and rescanning the hole, the hole was completely "nulled out". I had to really creep around, vary my swing speed, move the coil sweep arc only a few inches. and just listen, and not pay attention to the numbers really, just listen to the tones. if i could get a good tone and get it to repeat, i knew there was a probably a coin there. i like multi-conductive with a good bit of disc., i think i have everything from about 28 and higher blacked out.

i dont wait for anything (threshold) to return, there doesnt seem to be a delay with the sounds, just the TID, and i have found that just relying on the sounds is the key. if you have blacked out the high FE numbers and youre getting a nice sweet (at least somewhat) repeatable tone, then the target has to be something good. its a challenge because you will hear information on every single peice of metal in the ground. whether it be a nice tone, or iron falsing, or nulling, or other junk targets, and i mean like 8 targets in an 18"x18" area. the etrac will try to let you know what it sees though, and knows you are looking for non-blacked out TID's. im becoming a serious beleiver in the etrac.

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Onto season 3 (2013) with my new best friend the E-Trac

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TheCitadelRules
It depends upon the signal strength of the nulling target.

Put a coin 1" under a small nail and you'll never hear the coin; the iron signal is just too strong. No amount of discrimination tuning will help. You just can't beat the laws of physics!

A coin in the same plane as a discriminated target may sound as a good target, but usually the response will not be consistent.

You obviously don't understand the E-Trac!

Jason, you got some property?

Bury a silver/clad dime at 4". Bury a small nail at 1", directly above the dime (3" above the dime).

Run your Etrac under coin mode, any other settings.

Tell me what you hear (or don't hear).

You just can't beat physics!

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TheCitadelRules
It depends upon the signal strength of the nulling target.

Put a coin 1" under a small nail and you'll never hear the coin; the iron signal is just too strong. No amount of discrimination tuning will help. You just can't beat the laws of physics!

A coin in the same plane as a discriminated target may sound as a good target, but usually the response will not be consistent.

in a disc mode like coin mode you are correct....now put your etrac into TTF with an open screen and sweep VERY slow over it and you WILL hear the coin...I have dug countless coins in TTF with multiple nails in the hole, with some right on the coin for some long they left rust stains on the silver.

Running TTF today I got a solid 10-44 swinging only one way consistent I dig it and it was a brass lip stick tube. In the same scrape up came a 7" square spike 1/4"x1/4". The brass over rode the spike signal somehow.

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Goes4ever

Quote
TheCitadelRules
It depends upon the signal strength of the nulling target.

Put a coin 1" under a small nail and you'll never hear the coin; the iron signal is just too strong. No amount of discrimination tuning will help. You just can't beat the laws of physics!

A coin in the same plane as a discriminated target may sound as a good target, but usually the response will not be consistent.

in a disc mode like coin mode you are correct....now put your etrac into TTF with an open screen and sweep VERY slow over it and you WILL hear the coin...I have dug countless coins in TTF with multiple nails in the hole, with some right on the coin for some long they left rust stains on the silver.

Yes but the cut off line is 17. So if you have a 27/44 (deep silver for example) you will get the low iron tone if you do not look at your display. in this case I would use 4 tone ferrous and dig the top 3 tones.