Am I understanding this correct on sens. v.s. minerazation?

[1goldsniper]

If one lives in an area where the mineralization is high meaning the etrac auto.sets it to say 13-15. One has about as much chance of finding deep coins as you do in winning the lottery since you can't push the sensitivity up on the left hand bar much beyond the machine's auto picked sens.without getting all kinds of falseing. Was just wondering since my machine I don't think has ever gone above 16. And I don't know if can truly say I have dug anything over 6".

 

[LabradorBob]

I wouldn't worry about the falsing,just get the sens up a bit to around 20 anyway.
The trick is to go super slow.
Learn TTF also!

LabradorBob

 

[Jason in Enid]

I disagree with that statement. If your machine is falsing constantly, it makes it unbearable to use and much harder to hear the real signals coming through.

You are worried about a sens level of 15? Don't, thats nothing. If you are under 10 I would start to worry. Put the E-Trac in manual and put the sens as high as possible until just barely starts to false. This gives you the best signal possible for your area. Second, the DD coil on the E-Trac is better at seeing through mineralization than co-planar coils, and the E-trac's computer is better than most other VLF machines for dealing with mineralization.

If you have a lot of ground minerals, you just have to live with it or move to a new state. Everyone else there has to deal with the same ground.

 

[ryanchappell]

GREAT POST!!!

This is exactly what I am experiencing! There are not that many of us, and we are regarded as out casts, and people that do not know what we are talking about.

People here thought I would get 6-9 inches with an ETrac when I was researching how it does in mineralized ground before I bought it!

I wonder how a T2 would do. Single frequency might actually be better around here.

They keep giving us advice like turn up the sensitivity, because they have no idea what we are dealing with! If you think about it most of the people that are finding lots of silver live in the Midwest or other places that have mild soil! I think this means a lot of people in our area are trying metal detecting and quitting the hobby. Most people would not do this 10-20 hours a week without finding silver 20+% of their hunts, so they quit.

They probably need to add a note to a sticky in this forum FAQ or somewhere that people within 150 miles of the Appalachian Mountains report depth limited to 5 inches with the E-Trac due to mineralization. Please tell me where you live, PM if you don't want everyone to know.

I am divided on whether to lower the sensitivity or raise it and have been trying both. Raising sensitivity manually might help sometimes. Yesterday it did not. Roughly according to Sabich's book Auto sensitivity is preferred because it adjusts the levels of three frequencies automatically to optimize things and reduce chatter. If you use manual sens you are losing this advantage and there is no way to adjust the frequencies manually like there is on the V3I. Now you could try different NC channels manually. I have seen it suggested here in posts that low channels use lower frequencies more, and high channels use higher frequencies more. It seems like Auto NC picks low numbers in good soil, and mid numbers in the worst soil, with high number NC channels in a little bit better soil.

We need to test things thoroughly in a test garden. I have been meaning to do my own test garden on site, but can't stop looking for shallow targets.

 

[ryanchappell]

Also, Auto Sens is not necessarily a linear scale on which to measure how mineralized you soil is. It is a complex balancing of several frequencies sensitivity levels.

The only true measure is how deep you can find a particular coin. Plant one, although a planted coin is not as easy to find as one that has been sitting in the soil for years.

I think an Auto sens in Eastern Nebraska of 17 might not be half as bad as a Auto sens of 17 here, due to better handling of medium soil with automatic adjustments of individual frequencies. The E-Trac covers the majority of soil types exceptionally, but what is the point in working out issues with FBS for nugget hunters and relic and coin hunters in the mountains? Minelab makes machines costing 3 times that amount for that soil!

 

[ryanchappell]

Despite the lack of depth in bad soil, the E-Trac does still have a lot to offer us. It is still as far as I can tell the deepest machine in my soil. It has see through ability for finding coins around junk, if you turn on Trash to High.

You can still find silver coins, in soil shallower that 5 inches. You just need to be sure you are in areas not pounded by other detectorist, because the lack of depth makes it harder to find stuff other people have not. There maybe some areas in your area that have black soil that was deposited by vegetation decay, instead of the usual sedimentation wash that contains minerals.

I like hills sides, around trees, roots, rocks, areas that are washed out with exposed soil, and dips in the. I once found a 1917 wheat lying on the surface on top of a hill in exposed dirt with the rocks that sit on top of columns of dirt. Kind of like looking for arrowheads after a rain.

If you are finding Wheats that is a good sign, but I think silver might sink faster.

 

[Jason in Enid]

If you are finding Wheats that is a good sign, but I think silver might sink faster.

Coins don't sink!

 

[GimmieThe Loot]

I think if auto sense is showing below 20 you can set the ground type to difficult in the expert menu. Correct me if I am wrong.

GTL

 

[ryanchappell]

I think if auto sense is showing below 20 you can set the ground type to difficult in the expert menu. Correct me if I am wrong.
GTL

True, that is the rule of thumb suggested. Around here we just leave Difficult on all the time, because it never gets better than 21-22. I need to remember to turn it off if I ever get a great auto sens like 25.

 

[utahshovelhead]

ryan,
Just a note to you. Be sure u or any one in your situation first learn what the sound of a good target is in your soil conditions. forget about depth at first and just learn the sound of a good solid target. If you get that (and there are quite a few of them) then start turning up the sens a bit as you hunt the tough stuff. It will make it easier for you to distinguish the good targets but...U WILL get more falsing. I have experimented with this in an area where I cannot get above 2 on the suggested sense. I turn it up to about 11 manually and sometimes up to 16. I fight allot of chatter and dig some bad digs but this is a good spot and I can and do bring up some good keepers that no one else seems to be able to get.
I can only work like that for a bout 2 hours as it is very hard to concentrate for the good sound but it has worked. My other detector stands no chance in this spot...to much minerals,Chatter, falsing, iron stuff and whatever.

I'm not sure bout your area but thought I would just let you know what has worked a bit for me. Brace yourself its not easy but does work.

One more thing...I would only do that in a really good area where the targets can be fantastic and no one will complain about all the holes I dig...many false some good.

good luck,
Utahshovelhead

 

[1goldsniper]

That must be TTF your running in?

 

[ryanchappell]

ryan,
Just a note to you. Be sure u or any one in your situation first learn what the sound of a good target is in your soil conditions. forget about depth at first and just learn the sound of a good solid target. If you get that (and there are quite a few of them) then start turning up the sens a bit as you hunt the tough stuff. It will make it easier for you to distinguish the good targets but...U WILL get more falsing. I have experimented with this in an area where I cannot get above 2 on the suggested sense. I turn it up to about 11 manually and sometimes up to 16. I fight allot of chatter and dig some bad digs but this is a good spot and I can and do bring up some good keepers that no one else seems to be able to get.
I can only work like that for a bout 2 hours as it is very hard to concentrate for the good sound but it has worked. My other detector stands no chance in this spot...to much minerals,Chatter, falsing, iron stuff and whatever.

I'm not sure bout your area but thought I would just let you know what has worked a bit for me. Brace yourself its not easy but does work.

One more thing...I would only do that in a really good area where the targets can be fantastic and no one will complain about all the holes I dig...many false some good.

good luck,
Utahshovelhead

Thanks. I think I am clinging to the VDI, but trying to notice the audio more. I am tone deaf, not the audiophile type. I can remember songs and information, but don't pitch notice details well... I think I will progress to hunting by tone more. Very good idea. I have been meaning to do some onsite testing by burying test targets, too but I can't stop detecting.