Any tips for setting up the eTrac for deeper coins?

[akelley]

Well I got tired of the same old park and decided to move along (to quote the famous LA digger) and try another park. This picture shows

7 - quarters
20 - dimes
4 - nickels
33 - zinc pennies
16 - memorial pennies
3 - cheap jewelry items
2 - tokens
1 - copper marijuana pipe!!
---------------------------------------
Total - 85 targets in 3.5 hours

I purchased my eTrac in January after a very long hiatus from metal detecting. I can only get out once a week for about 3-hours, so I suspect my learning curve is a lot slower than most. For this park I started with Andy's coins program with the stock 11" coil. But very shortly I switched over to the Minelab coins mode and a 6" Excelerator coil, because there was just too much trash in the ground, and I don't have enough experience with Andy's program.

The park was created in the late 1800's and, judging by the early photos I found during my research, it doesn't appear to have changed all that much. The two other parks I've searched contained a lot of fill dirt and consequently I didn't find anything past the 60's and 70's. That said, I kept detecting near surface coins, and I only found one old coin - a 1940 D Jefferson (positioned above the other three) and quite shallow. But it is the oldest I've found thus far, so with a little luck and if this is the right location then I'm hoping to find a Mercury or Barber that I often envy in finds from the other forum posters

Lately I've been ignoring anything in the range of zinc pennies, but because its new hunting ground I decided to dig just about everything with a decent signal. Naturally that slowed me down, as I ended up digging a lot more zincs than usual. But the small ring came in at 12-33, and often decomposed zincs come in close to that. So it was a nice surprise as I thought for sure I was digging another torn up zinc.

One thing I'm pleased about this week is that I think I can finally tell the difference between a ring tab and a nickel that is near the surface. Although there often close in conductivity, a nickel gives a much more pronounced and solid signal on the eTrac. I also came to appreciate why I always wear gloves when hunting, because in addition to the copper marijuana pipe I also dug a syringe with the needle intact (argh).

Its was a nice problem to have today because there were lots of shallow targets. But does anyone have any good tips for finding deeper coins when time is short? Is the depth range meter, the only way to tell? I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks
-Alex

 

[Steve from Ohio]

The only real way to find the deeper coins is to learn the E-Trac and listen to the sounds it makes. Once a week for 3 hours won't cut it. If you want to get good with it you will need to spend more time with it.

The older deeper coins will come with experience. There is no short cut to learning what the E-Trac is saying. It takes time. You will get more confident with the E-Trac as time goes by.

There is not magic old coin program or settings. Every place is different. Yes some settings are better than others for different areas and what you are hunting. Learn what each setting on the E-Trac does. Andy's book is a good start.

Finding a place that has old coins present helps even more.

3 Hours a week is not enough time to learn the E-trac. It isn't enough time for any detector for that matter.

 

[moseng]

Hi Alex,

Not a bad day all in all IMO.

About deeper coins, I have only had my E-Trac for about a month but have managed to log about 80+ hours with it. So far I have dug quarters around 9-10" and also a couple of dimes from around 8", all clad unfortunately. Mostly I have been sticking to auto sensitivity but If I "think" I hear something deep I'll switch to all metal (smartscreen no discrim), and manual sensitivity up (26-30) to check and the signal either clears up or not. This can be done all without diving into the menus so it is quick and easy. The depth gauge certainly helps IMO if they are flat and I usually turn the volume gain down a bit to around 22-24. That way the deeper stuff is a little fainter in the headphones. My only problem is that I don't really have any parks older than the early to mid 1900's near where I live. The oldest coin I have found is a 1903 Indian head and the only silver has been a 1947 and 1950 Rosie, but it's a start! Oh and they were both only about 4-5" deep but the IH was at least 9" and sounded and read like a copper penny. Anyway, hope that helps..

 

[dougmanning]

Swing your coil low and slow, Your deep finds will come! Doug N.C.

 

[wpaxt]

Alex,

Despite your self-admitted hiatus from detecting, I'm sure that you remember that our hobby combines an interesting mix of luck and skill. All the skill in the world won't get you a silver if your coil doesn't pass over a silver coin; similarly, dumb luck will at times result in amazing finds that just can't be. So don't stress too much. You'll have your good days & your not so good days.

Example: over the last 3 days at an old local park I've been hunting of late I've dug over 15 bucks in clad and have exactly one silver and two wheaties to show for my efforts. And I know my machine pretty well. Am I missing a secret method of finding deep coins? Nope. I'm finding them, They just happen to be clad.

In your case, for having 3 hours a week to hunt, it appears to me that you are learning the Etrac pretty well. If 3 hours is all you can hunt, then that's the way it is. The Etrac is pretty easy to learn in my opinion. Plus you are reading Andy's book which is the bible as far at the Etrac is concerned.

I might suggest a few things you can try to get the deep coins. First, remember that Andy's Coins program, like any program, may not be the best set up for your own area. You might experiment with the coins pattern on your machine & see if you get different results. Also, remember that using a small coil, while better in trash, does cost you some depth. I personally prefer the Pro Coil even in high trash. It separates targets very well & gets excellent depth. Yes, because of its size it can have trouble with multiple targets in an area, but I find that doing a walkaround of a target usually carves it out enough that I can dig it.

Using the depth gauge is also a good idea, but deep doesn't always mean better. My buddy Frank dug a 1964 Roosie last week at our park that wasn't even 2" deep. So you never know.

The main thing to do is find good sites and then examine them, looking for areas that perhaps other hunters have ignored. At the current park I am hunting I am only focusing on a berm near the street. The center areas have been hunted hard but this area appears to have been ignored.

As Mel Fisher used to say, "Today's the day." I'll just add this to his comment: "And if it isn't today, then it will be tomorrow,"

Good luck in your hunting. You've got the right machine. Success will come.

Bill in S. CA

 

[Rick(ND)]

The more you use it, the more you will learn about the detector and the better you will get. Start with the factory preset coins and learn all you can before tweaking it as it will make it a lot easier to use and understand and before long you will be impressed at what you can and will find. Just takes time and experience and hard for many that dont get out and use it more than 10 hours a week.

 

[dreamweaver43]

Deeper coins don't behave like stuff at 3-4 inches. And a lot of the newer users, if the didn't have an explorer before getting the etrac, probably don't know what they sound like. They sound much "softer". The etrac, in my opinion, does not operate much different than an explorer, with respect to deep targets. A coin at 8 inches will sound broken up at times, and at different sweep directions, but will be repeatable. Same as using the explorer. Now with the etrac, the target ID will be bouncing around too, with the numbers seeming to fall slightly with depth or often times the corrosion on copper coins gives a off number. The little silver I've found with the machine has hit right in there, deep or not. But when you add the sound, now with the numeric ID, you get more info to decide wether to dig or not to dig compared to the explorer. With the explorer I would know for the most of the time that I was over a deep coin, but now with the etrac I can make a pretty accurate guess what type of coin it is using the ID #'s.

Other thoughts:
Gain - max it out, and get use to hunting with it. Thanks to Bryce, but when I made that change it made a big difference in my deep finds with the explorer. And there won't be any difference with the etrac. Deep targets can be missed with lower gain. The machine will give no response. I don't understand it, but it happens.

Sensitivity - I'm not sure but at least where I hunt I cannot run the machine, explorer or etrac with high sensitivity and hunt effectively. It works best for me to run the machine stable, not "sparking". And the etrac can run much more stable compared to the explorer. I hear a lot of +3 talk and manual maxed out, but I can't even come close to that hunting in a semi trashy park environment. My machine has been running 16-21 sensitivity smooth as silk and I've got solid locked on coin hits with good ID#'s close to 9inches.

Running in 4 tones vrs multi sound - I don't think 4 tones is a good idea. My opinion, but with the enhanced conductivity breakout of the etrac compared to the explorer, the sounds vary alot more, especially in the mid conductive ranges. Seems like I am finding more jewerly and nickles compared to the explorer because I hear the slight difference in sound, and then you add in the #ID, and you can distingish to some degree. With the explorer they all sounded like pulltabs or beavertails to me. If you run in 4 tones, I think your turning off the best feature of the etrac. It may sound weird, but with time and experience you will be able to distinguish most of what's in the ground by sound, the ID#s are just a reconfirmation for the most part.

Slow down - probably the most important. You should feel like you going too slow, and then slow down some more. In parks, learn to hunt in the trashy spots. That's where the explorer or etrac has the advantage, and that's where they hunters from long ago struggled and avoided. Most of the good targets will be tight to trash, and they often time will not be 12 inches down.

Be realistic. Old, deep coins are hard to find, and remember that at least in most parks we are hunting what others have missed. The easy stuff is long gone in the 80's. We see lots of great pictures on the web now, but these guys that are consistently find stuff know the machines like the back of their hands. They have put the time in on the machines, years, and it can be frustrating looking at the pictures on the web and wonder what you are doing wrong. With the explorer it takes most people years to master, and even the best keep learning more every hunt. Etrac is the same technology as the explorer pretty much, so one should be prepared for a similar learning curve.

Brad

 

[gregliss]

Wow! That is one target recovered every 2 and half minutes not including trash....now that's moving, well done.

I've been digging some deep ones lately and agree with Brad, top advice.

I haven't messed with gain yet and intend to next hunt....thanks for the tip.

Cheers,
Greg

 

[angeleri]

I think it is the open architecture of the E-trac. This machine has lots of controls and settings
Before this machine I ran a Whites classic V-ID. Now that machine belongs to my 8 year old son. The first couple times out, he out shot me and then followed to pick up a 32 liberty dollar.
Imagine my shame:
An eight-year-old
with a machine with two knobs
that cost a third of the one I was using
hunting in a path that I had just chastened him for hunting in because it was directly behind me...
... but I am getting better... I think...

Seriously, Brad hit the nail right on the head. Especially his advice to slow down (almost painfully slow) and get in the historically trashy areas.

 

[Bugalooob]

I don't really agree running gain high , I run it at around 6 to 10...When I hear a faint tone, I know I got a deep one..With high gain you don't know if its deep or on the surface..Your taking away a valuable piece of information