Back On Trac.....

[gitterdug]

Hello AGAIN, my fellow E-Trac users! OMG, today, my new E-Trac arrived.....I am so overjoyed to be once again the proud owner of what has been my finest machine ever, the Minelab E-Trac! One of the most not-so-brilliant things I have ever done, was to sell my first E-Trac, when the CTX3030 came out....After 2.5 years of using that wonderful machine, I concluded that for my world, the CTX just didn't give me as much joy, nor find as many treasures as my E-Trac had.

I can't even defend having abandoned ship when I jumped to the CTX....but I know that the E-Trac I had, just prior to that CTX was a monster for coins, and as most have said, a silver magnet.

Yes, I have repented for my sin, but, as the Prodigal Son, I have returned to the fold, the Land of "OMG, THAT is a GREAT Find!!!!"

I am looking forward to my first venture, which will happen next week. The new E-Trac was delivered today, and my Soul jumps with joy!

The one GOOD thing I did NOT do when I erred and left the fold, I did NOT get rid of my Ptrn files, Hints, Tips, etc......This next couple of days, I will be loadin her up for her maiden voyage.....

Standby !!! and see if this machine is as GREAT as my first E-Trac! I am overjoyed to be here, once again, on this machine......

Can I get an AMEN!!!?

HH for ME! AND to all the folks that have remained on here, and those that, like me, have returned!!!!

 

[D&P-OR]

AMEN & AMEN!!!------You did well my son & welcome home!!!!

 

[Nuke em]

Well done coming back , we wont hold you in contempt and charge you with mutiny and make you walk the plank .
I too had a CTX but soon found it not to be good enough to make the permanent switch , the ET is better for the price .

 

[Southwind]

It's the tones. The CTX is superior to the E-Trac in every way except tones. Just goes to show how important the tones are.

 

[Nuke em]

It's the tones. The CTX is superior to the E-Trac in every way except tones. Just goes to show how important the tones are.

There are a bundle of people that don't agree that the CTX is better.

The weight !
The balance is too far back to the arm rest resulting in having to ware the arm strap which is a nuisance when having to keep putting the machine down
No paper back manual , not everyone has a i.phone or similar and wants to see the written word on paper
Menu is no way as easy as an ET
Too many settings hidden all over the place by pressing this hold that for what ever seconds , bad enough having symbols instead of plain language
Very expensive parts
When I used it the numbers were slower than the ET
Tones are as said not as good as the ET
Depth no better than the ET and that's a Minelab fact
Size of machine means it wont break down enough to fit into a standard ruck sack
Colour screen is not that much of an improvement on the ET in terms of seeing it in bright sunshine
The WM 10 module is I think very poor in design and not waterproof or even resistant
If you leave the part where the headphone jack goes straight into the machine on then the right hand jacked headphones will swivel round and pull out
same crappy coil cover as the ET !!
The stand at the back of the machine is not wide enough for rough ground
The section where you can set tones to different areas is a good idea but the sections are to big and could have been made much smaller
Could have done with a better hand grip
BUT

The machine does look good , I have to say that .
The ground balancing is good
Two target i.d. is good
Water proof is good but to much weight added for that

As for the ET , yes its old I suppose but its a proven design even if it has the old issues and is in the UK only 60% the cost and 90% the capability or more .

I feel the ET is much better and more user friendly .

I know others will disagree but then it depends on your needs and where you search.

 

[ironsight]

Every now and then i get a 'fleeting' bug up my a$$ to plop down a whopping $2500 and buy a CTX.
Thankfully i always come back to reality.

I've got 4 years on my eTRAC and it has served me well over those years.
Barring an updated eTRAC-II release, when or if my eTRAC breaks, i'll be looking at some other detectors out there.

 

[Nuke em]

The ET is not perfect , as said about the good points of the CTX and the ET is a bit heavy which on long searches and between finds can knacker you .
Its just a better machine for the buck and I know you can say that the CTX has all that GPS stuff too but a lot of people don't want or need that and is wasted on them or us .

For me all I want is a lighter weight stem with detachable box , FBS 2 with above improvements then I will be happy and so will Minelab with the sales !

 

[roadapple]

AMEN to all the above !!!! A whole lot of people have come to the conclusion that the CTX does not have any fantastic advantage over the E-Trac and therefore switched back to what works the best and simple ways for finding silver coins. Only when Minelab truly builds a much deeper machine with the tones to back it up, only then will I stray from the "E" Trac. By the way.....welcome back.

 

[Nuke em]

I don't think its depth that matters much , theres a limit to what FBS can do and think its more to do with the design of the machine and target info that counts.
Most targets that any non P.I. machine can find will be within a foot , if you want deeper then the GPX or GPZ are needed !

 

[ironsight]

I agree depth is about right.... who wants to dig up targets with a back hoe?

What is really needed is better IDing of deep corroded iron masquerading as coins.
Was finally able to get out today for a couple hrs. and dug up a bunch of deep corroded iron most with good 2-ways and PPs.
For the price tag of these things, It just ain't right i tell you.

 

[BarberDan]

I like them both. These days I'm swinging the CTX more often because it is easier on my wrist and shoulder. Overall...it's just a lot more comfortable for me. I still love the ETrac and will always have one.

 

[roadapple]

I agree depth is abut right.... who wants to dig up targets with a back hoe?

What is really needed is better IDing of deep corroded iron masquerading as coins.
Was finally able to get out today for a couple hrs. and dug up a bunch of deep corroded iron most with good 2-ways and PPS.
For the price tag of these things, It just ain't right i tell you.

depth will be the future as the average 8 to 9 inch targets are taken from the earth comes to an end. A new machine with greater identity and separation will be necessary to find the goods to spark the interest for future detecting !!! To think targets will all ways be available in the minimal depth range for ever is not realistic for our future detecting.

 

[ironsight]

I agree depth is abut right.... who wants to dig up targets with a back hoe?

What is really needed is better IDing of deep corroded iron masquerading as coins.
Was finally able to get out today for a couple hrs. and dug up a bunch of deep corroded iron most with good 2-ways and PPS.
For the price tag of these things, It just ain't right i tell you.

depth will be the future as the average 8 to 9 inch targets are taken from the earth comes to an end. A new machine with greater identity and separation will be necessary to find the goods to spark the interest for future detecting !!! To think targets will all ways be available in the minimal depth range for ever is not realistic for our future detecting.

There are already deep seeking detectors on the market albeit they're expensive, heavy and cumbersome to use.

A lightweight detector that will easily detect a coin 2 feet deep once the idiots get a hold of them IMO will do more harm to the hobby as the idiots will then dig 2 foot deep holes in parks instead of their usual half foot deep holes which they either don't or sloppily fill in.
And to dig those 2 foot deep holes a garden spade or hand held digging tool won't do, they'll be seen walking around parks in droves with their full blown shovels.

With the right coil, soil, settings and experience....underline experience, the eTRAC is capable of finding coins at or over a foot deep.

We all know any remaining coins in pounded parks today are either deep, masked by junk or a combination of both, the reason they're still there.
Whats needed is better discrimination, accurate IDs along with crystal clear separation of nearby deep or masked targets. One solution is a detector which utilizes the best of both worlds, a larger coil for depth with small coil separation abilities. Seem impossible?

 

[Nuke em]

Digging much beyond a foot is going to be hard especially in park land where Council's or other authorities wont like it and will find reasons to ban the hobby from their land.
So unless on farm land there is no reason for a deeper machine than the ET/Explorer/CTX . And it would be a waste of money too.

We must expect that sometime in the future there will be no more things to find within a acceptable range unless on the beach.

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

As mentioned above - it seems like a lot of CTX user's have come back to the E-Trac.

To bad Minelab won't listen to their customers - they have wanted an "E-Trac 2" for years.
An E-Trac that's lighter weight - Auto Sens + 5 - anti-glare screen, etc.

Good luck with your new machine !