I received my E-Trac yesterday but I didn't get a change to open the box until around midnight. I put it together (swapping my X1 from the SE) turned it on and immediately tried adjusting the audio to "match" my Explorer SE. I was able to come close but not exact. My plan was to get up early to go to a park close by my house that used to produce plenty of wheats and silver. But as of late, I feel lucky to walk away with a single silver - usually pulled out at 8" or so. Despite what I had planned, my honey due list got in the way of my morning hunt. I finally had a chance to leave the house around 1PM and since it was pretty nice outside (mid-60s), I decided to drive outside of town to an old Army Airfield Base (circa 1940s - 1970s). This sprawling base has a few building left but for the most part it is simply field after field with nothing but jackrabbits to keep you company. Over the years, my hunting buddies and I have hauled alot of coins, relics and jewerly from this base (plus all the crap that was left when they demolished all the barracks and buildings - i.e. lots of iron).
Once I got out there, I chose a site where there used to be a row of barracks (per an old map that I have of the base). I figured I would just run the detector on the Default coin pattern and Auto Sensitivity. In fact the only changes I made were the audio ones from last night as well as switching Response from Normal to Long. After Noise Canceling, I was off hunting. The first thing I noticed was how quiet this detector was in this iron infested area. I told myself that I was going to dig the first 100 signals regardless of how they sounded and where they registered on the screen. Needless to say my junk bag started filling up pretty quick however I was impressed on how well the detector sounded off on the targets (much like the SE - I knew it was junk before I dug) and how well the detector pinpoints (and I'm one that never had issues with Pinpointing with my SE). After a little over an hour, I finally heard that unmistakeable fluty sound of a coin (I think the SE's fluty sound is more distinct and pronouced) and out pops a Zincoln. Sh*t, my first coin is a corroded throw away. You normally don't find many 1980s & newer clad out here so I was suprised to find one, let alone my first coin with my new detector. Oh well, I kept moving on and detecting, then ZING another freakin' Zincoln. Then another, and another and another. I pulled 9 Zincolns out of an area of about 40 x 20; it felt like I was at a city park. At this point, I'm getting a little frustrated as this is more Zincolns than I have pulled out of this place in the last year. Time for a new spot. I decided to move over to the next lot and get away from this patch of zinc. And what do I find as I'm walking across the street - a 2002 dime. I'm beginning to think the coin gods against me today??
At the next lot and decide to hunt each side of the concrete sidewalk that runs about 3/4 mile (or what is left of it). Within the first five minutes I'm finally rewarded with a nice coin sound at a higher pitch than those nasty Zincolns. Out pops a 1942 Wheat. Finally, something older than 1980s. From that point forward the coins began to start poping out - nothing real old, just 50s - 70s, a couple of buttons and a gaming token. Within a couple of hours, I felt like I knew the tones and started guessing what it was before I dug (and I was close 90% correct) - even on those iffy signals. It was almost like I was hunting with my Explorer only quieter and not as heavy. By now it was beginning to get late and the sun was dropping fast. I started making my way back to my Jeep, when I got a very high pitch sound at 5-6" depth. Excited, I started telling myself - its silver, its silver... and low and behold - a 47 Rosie. Nice... "Now where is your brother" and I started a slow sweep and tight coverage of the area around the prior find. I started digging every iffy high pitch (I would switch to QuickMask and see cursor drop low, but I figured why not dig). After pulling about 10 nails out of the ground at all different depths, I almost gave up and packed it in. About 18 feet from where I found the Rosie and I got another iffy signal but it was different than the prior one. In QuickMask, the cursor was bouncing up and down but not right to left. Depth showed around 8". I pushed down with my shovel (Lesche Ground Shark) a good 12" and pullout a big plug of dirt. I immediately saw a chunk of rusted iron at the bottom part of the plug and figured I got fooled again. I bent down and grabbed it and put it in my bag. I then stuck my X1 down in the hole to check (nothing there) and then waved it over the plug. I was surprised with a nice high fluty sound. I broke the plug and there was 43 Walking Liberty looking back at me.... Oh yeah! Now I ready to hunt for another two hours but I only have about 15 minutes of sunlight left. I took one of my plastic yellow tent stakes from my bag and hammered it in the ground to mark this spot. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, I will head back out there and see if there are anymore "relatives" waiting for me to un-earth. I snapped a quick pic of the area that I was hunting with my cellphone (see attached).
My first hunt with the E-Trac left me with a positive feeling towards this detector. The stability was excellent, it handled the iron with ease (very little falsing) and it was significantly lighter feeling than the Explorer. While I will eventually get use to the difference in the tones, I think the Explorer has better tones. As for depth, I can't say that I see any difference between the two detectors - but this site is not about depth, it is about navigating iron & junk.
First impression - Minelab has a winner with this detector.
