Cranking the Sensitivity in Manual?

[Deep Digger]

I've been thinking about running in Manual and cranking it since I seem to be "stuck"
at sensitivity 19 in auto + 3. I still get good depth but...
Doing the math, this means the detector is getting to about 66% of it's maximum potential depth.
I need the depth in a few of my spots that have been blitzed hundreds of times and has had
good finds at 10+ inches. Every time I try the Manual sensitivity and exceed 18 or 19 the detector becomes unstable.
I expect this and know my detector is functioning as designed,,, BUT have any of you learned to deal with the constant falsing and
uncontrolable erratic behavior of the E-trac in high manual settings? Would It be counter productive to floor it, or
should I be happy at 19 in auto + 3?

 

[Djay-Mo]

You must have about the same soil type where ever your at as I do because 19 is all I can get out of mine in Auto+3.
I can usually go up to manual 25 before mine starts getting eratic.Also depends on what program I am using as to how stable mine is and if I'm around alot of EMI.
I always do the noise cancel too after bumping the sensitivity up.
I can get alot more depth going from Auto 19 to manual 25 or 26 and there is a little falsing but never uncontrolable.

Good Luck,

DJ

 

[Myownwings]

I'm at this exact spot Deep digger. I ran 28 manual today with tons of falsing, but also I dug a couple deep wheats that auto +3 could not see. I kept switching back and forth just to be sure and at this point in my learning the E-Trac I'm thinking manual to the max and just deal with the falsing because a deep target will still ring much truer than the falsing and will be repeatable. The repeatable thing is probably the most important along with size indicated in pinpoint.

 

[utahshovelhead]

I am glad to see some discussion on this as I have one area I really like to hunt where the auto sens is at 2 sometimes. In that spot I have learned that if I take the Manual sens up to 19 that if I relax and use a great deal of concentration that I can get into a zen mode in the midst of all the sounds. Some times I will adjust down a little more or up a little more but I really cant go much more than that at this site as the noise is just too much to tell the difference between falsing and reality. Besides all the falsing and noise the right and left return swings are falling and lots of short cut off sounds but the signals that are REPEATABLE from two directions I circle to confirm, check for Iron and then dig. It has taken a long time to become accustomed to that much noise and even holding the coil still will bring lots of chatter and after a while I have to take a break then start again.
I only hunt like that at this spot as the targets there are good and VERRRRRY deep. I have pulled silver dollars out at almost 2 feet with a 14 inch coil (ask my buds they were digging).
I use deep on, fast off, high trash, difficult, and like I say I will use Manual between 17-22.
I have tried this on the city park I hunt and It does not work for me so it may take allot of practice to learn what will at other places.

I will occasionally use the TTF if I am in crazy iron signals all over but I prefer the information from multi conduct even though the sounds are almost out of control

At the city park where I start out with Auto sens 19-21 then If I bump up to manual sens I will only get maybe 26 before it gets real noisy.

I will be interested to see how it works for others and their results. when I asked about this method last spring lots of guys talked about the fog and head light example of losing depth. But in that one area I had to try as items are deep and not much is at the top anymore and the targets can be great vintage stuff.

Let us know what you find.

good luck,
utahshovelhead


I

 

[Deep Digger]

Thanks for your info on this matter.
I think you really nailed it utahshovelhead. What you can do with the sensitivity has
a lot to do with the location. Depending on the site, the ground matrix, and nearby EMI and the
amount and type of targets have all dictated what I have tried as far as sensitivity goes.
I still haven't had a ton of success in multi-conduct with increased manual because of the insane chatter.
I do deal with it sometimes in TTF but like utahshovelhead I don't dare try maxing it out in trash filled parks either.
I still think the E-trac has pulled more goodies for me in the past 9 months than 3 years with my tesoro and Fisher units.
Thanks.
Deep Digger

 

[John (Ma)]

I have started to run manual lately. At times I am better off in auto, pending the area. Otherwise I run the manual one or two numbers above stable. This way it gives a little extra and is not to nutty and I have been having good success. I have been bouncing back and forth from manual and auto and have found that the manual gives a better sound. You get a little more falsing and do not want to much, but you can easily hear the good solid taget amongst the falsing.

 

[utahshovelhead]

No doubt, The singnal is much clearer in Auto on targets. But when I am using this method it is because useing Auto will only allow a little of the sens strength to penetrate to the depth I am trying to reach. On most sites I would not do this as I dont need to get deeper. I run in auto on most my new sites and yes it is very clear.
In the case I use cracked manual the most the auto sens only sets at 2-6 but I know of a certanty that the targets I have dug with E trac and XS are much deeper and not much is in the upper foot of soil. I am not supposing this to be that way I have found lots of targets there over the last 5 years and they are deep...the shallow targets are easy and ring clear even if I am cranked up. But in this case I am simply trying to max the depth of the the machine in very tough conditions.

On lawns I would defintly not do this as yes I do check alot of non targets...and I like to be clean on the lawns so I get a good reference elsewhere.

Once again try this on sites where you can make a mess and the good stuff is deep but not in your city park.

 

[Jack Flynn]

Run that baby up to about 29 not unless it is doing the cha cha when about 3 foot off the ground with the coil. A good target will get through and you will know it when it does. I feel if when you run the sensitivity that high for some reason it will find targets better if that makes any sense, the shallower ones that are hidden or nulled out.

 

[LabradorBob]

Anymore, I run in manual 30, Gain 30, just about all the time!
Unless i am in Rocky ground,But most of the time where there is rocky ground,
the coins never got a chance to get very deep and if it was detected they were probably found!
Most of the time i get more nulling,so i slow way down,and if i cant get readouts,or cursor movements
on the display,I just hunt by sound alone!
Usually,i will pick up a coin,even through a null if i am going slow.
Me personally,i run trash density high on if really trashy,but, I have noticed you will miss
targets if going too slow with trash density high on!
This is my personal experience,Not telling anyone what to do.
My advise is to experiment and learn!
Best of luck to all.

LabradorBob

 

[Digger]

the Etrac has three channels that it uses to identify targets. When you set up in Auto Sensitivity, the Etrac adjusts the sensitivity for each of those three channels separately. When you set up with manual Sensitivity, all three channels are set at the same level. For example, if the Etrac determined that the high channel should be set at 20, the mid channel set to 15, and the low channel set to 10, the Auto Sensitivity number displayed will be 20, even though the average Sens is at 15. So when you manually set the Sensitivity at 20, thinking you are matching the Auto setting, you are actually setting the Sensitivity at 20 for each channel. 20, 20, 20. That higher level of "all around" sensitivity could cause your Etrac to have more falsing, is noisier and is less stable than in the Auto Sens mode.
When you offset the Sensitivity (-3 to +3), the Etrac will compensate each of those three channels with the amount you chose. In other words, in the example above, if you added (+3) three to the Auto Sens, it will display 23. But the channels would actually be running at 23, 18 and 13. You can't set the manual mode to match that because in manual mode, all three channels get set with the same value. In this case, if you set manually to 23, your actual sensitivity to each channel would be 23, 23, 23. Much higher than the 23, 18, 13 that you actually have in Auto Sens for this example. JMHO HH Randy

 

[Jason in Enid]

I normally run in manual, but I won't run so high it starts falseing. That is just too dang annoying to deal with for hour after hour. I go as high as possible, until it just starts to become a little unstable, and thats where I leave it.

I haven't tried switching back nad forth over targets to see the differences. I will have to remember to try that next time!