Depth question.....??????

[oneguy]

New to the E and have about 23hrs. on the machine now and starting to get more comfortable with the machine. Probably dug around 100 coins now. I just put on a 6" EQ2 coil and like it because of the size, weight, slides acrossed the grass nice, gets into tight spots, etc. I've had it on now for about 6-8hrs and noticed I wasn't digging anything real deep? I got home and threw out a merc dime and a slick Barber quarter on the ground, then got an 8" tall box and used that to rest edge of coil on for an air-test. I'm using Andys' coin pattern and G4Es' settings. Anyways....all I could get air-testing the dime and quarter was 5" on the dime and about 6" on the quarter...????? Thought maybe the little coil was coming up short so I put the stock 11" (?) coil on and same thing...5-6" on the air-test???? Then I decided to lay the machine acrossed the box and wave the coins at different speeds in front of the coil(s)....same thing 5-6"..???? Batteries are up........

I didn't try any different settings (yet). I bought this machine to get a couple more inches mainly and now I'm a bit concerned?

I could not tell any difference in air-test depth between the stock coil and the EQ2.....

Any recomendations, thoughts, etc? I know air tests don't mean much but 5-6".....?????

Thanks.....

 

[mascard1]

Get the ULTIMATE 13" coil...Set manual sens. to 25.......gain to 19........coin program.....set all others at 30....var..............threshold where you can barely hear it... it will go deeper in the ground than air -check!.....Go at medium speed .....no to fast....and listen for that high tone..then go back and wiggle around it...if deep will sound real quite....................dig!!!!!!!!

 

[oneguy]

Disregard..... Changed some of my settings back to factory and gained back 2" in my air-test. Changed fast recovery and deep recovery to off and that seemed to do the trick? Now air-testing silver dime @ 7-8"......

 

[Southwind]

Also remember that the FBS systems do not like open air. They just don't do well. Put that coil on a hard packed bit of dirt and you'll get depth few can match.

 

[moonshine]

you don't mention what sens. your etrac was at. auto, manual, and what number? it matters.

 

[oneguy]

you don't mention what sens. your etrac was at. auto, manual, and what number? it matters.

Auto+3....... haven't changed that....

 

[moonshine]

all right, just so you know then the etrac will pick channel levels and they might drop down and you will lose depth if thats the case. its pretty quick about it too. like if youre air testing and you have it set to auto +3 and youre near your house with wires and everything, electrical interference, it might tend to want to drop the sensitivity. you will lose depth.

by what number, i dont mean "+3", you have to look at what the sensitivity actually is. what number does the etrac say its actually running. the scale goes from 0 to 30 and the sensitivity is usually betwen 14 to 27. its a very wide range and it will change constantly and the etrac like i said is very quick to change it.

just an FYI because I know youre still learning the machine, but this is something to consider. thats why i just prefer to (usually, 80% of the time) run in manual. i know what its set at. but of course a lot of people prefer to hunt in auto.

 

[oneguy]

by what number, i dont mean "+3", you have to look at what the sensitivity actually is. what number does the etrac say its actually running.

Thanks Moon.... To be honest, I've never even looked at what the machine is running at? Figured the Auto was taking care of it plus I'm too busy trying to figure whether to dig or not and wasting enough time on that little problem. Can't seem to get a decent repeatable signal in two directions let alone one direction on anything deeper........ Very frustrating machine to learn. Got 30+ hrs now ( approx. 130 coins/ 130 nails) and can't seem to unlock the deeper stuff, no problem on the 3-4" stuff......... Got quite a collection of deep nails tho.....lol

 

[moonshine]

lol "nothing repeats"! man i cant tell you how many times when i get frustrated that is EXACTLY what Im thinking. Trust the etrac, if it is there it will let you know.

OK well just give it time. And just so you know when you are in auto (+ or - whatever) you can look down and you can see the number that the etrac is running the three channels. I cant remember now but that number i think is the highest setting of the three channels.

When you power up out in the field next time, running in auto, look at the screen while you sweep from the second you turn the power on. you will see the etrac always starts at a sensitivity of 19. it only takes a few seconds before it starts adjusting the sensitivity, if you are in auto.

not meaning to overwhelm you with anything. time in the field is your best bet.

 

[robertj298]

lol "nothing repeats"! man i cant tell you how many times when i get frustrated that is EXACTLY what Im thinking. Trust the etrac, if it is there it will let you know.

OK well just give it time. And just so you know when you are in auto (+ or - whatever) you can look down and you can see the number that the etrac is running the three channels. I cant remember now but that number i think is the highest setting of the three channels.

When you power up out in the field next time, running in auto, look at the screen while you sweep from the second you turn the power on. you will see the etrac always starts at a sensitivity of 19. it only takes a few seconds before it starts adjusting the sensitivity, if you are in auto.

not meaning to overwhelm you with anything. time in the field is your best bet.

I've noticed my sensitivity always starts at 19 in auto but sometimes it takes up to 10 minutes to adjust upward. I believe the ground I hunt in must be fairly mild because using auto +3 I'm usually running between 23-28 sensitivity.

 

[oneguy]

time in the field is your best bet.

Yep.....gotta pay my dues!!!!!

 

[ironsight]

Keep in mind also, using AUTO sens. and a heavy discrimination pattern, the less likely the eTRAC will allow finding those real deep 12+ inch oldies.
Sometimes those real deep stubborn oldies (maybe on edge or a nearby nail) others walk over, don't fall into their typical eTRAC IDs.

There's nothing like liberating an old still shiny Barber dime that's been buried a foot deep for a 100+ years to see the sun light again.
Just saying.