I live in S.E.Michigan and we haven't had much rain. Does anyone else have problems with the etrac getting scratchy signals or falsing? Sometimes when I get a good repeatable signal for a coin, I'll dig the target and there is nothing there, not even a rusty nail. I am hunting TTF with S.E.L. 8X6 coil.
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dry conditions and sounds from Etrac
- Thread starter nge
- Start date
IDXMonster
Well-known member
NGE- I run the Explorer2 which is similar and a mistake that can be made is this. If you're not getting many targets the first thing to do is wind up the Sensitivity to go deeper,right? Yeah,I made that mistake. In most cases all that does is make the machine more sensitive to really minuscule things like tack heads,tiny aluminum,etc. That's probably why you're not finding anything in the hole. The pinpointer,if you're using one,isn't "hot" enough to find it in the pile or in the hole. So you walk away disgusted...again. Using a small coil enhances this problem,as they're inherently more sensitive to tiny stuff.
I've found this,and I'm NO expert,but....the detection field is determined by the size and build characteristics of the coil and the transmit power applied...period. The sensitivity WITHIN that field is what you adjust when dialing your Sens up or down or Auto or whatever. You can have your sensitivity adjusted fairly low and still pick up a lot of your targets. Example..tonight I had a high conductor in the clad dime range reading at 6". My sensitivity was at manual 26 with the Sunray X-8 coil. To see if I could get it to drop out,as I've been doing a lot of cross checking lately,I lowered my sensitivity to auto 2. It read the target loud and clear. It was indeed a clad dime at 5-6". Last week I found an old "livery" token the size of a large cent at 10" with the same setup but running Auto 18. Yes,Auto 18 and a large coin size token at 10" with an 8" coil.
What I'm saying is this. To get the very fringe targets,running high amounts of Sensitivity may get you a few extra things to dig up. But,in many cases running too hot in the wrong ground can hamper your efforts severely,this may be true in your case. Clean mild ground-crank her up,why not? Any other ground-beware the high sensitivity,it may bite you in the hind end.
One last thought....coins and such must be there in the first place,if you're not finding anything at all with average settings,then there may not be anything there. Or,it may take some real talent as an operator to get to them if they are. Don't be afraid to move on to another site,I sure do,if only temporarily.
HH
Kevin
I've found this,and I'm NO expert,but....the detection field is determined by the size and build characteristics of the coil and the transmit power applied...period. The sensitivity WITHIN that field is what you adjust when dialing your Sens up or down or Auto or whatever. You can have your sensitivity adjusted fairly low and still pick up a lot of your targets. Example..tonight I had a high conductor in the clad dime range reading at 6". My sensitivity was at manual 26 with the Sunray X-8 coil. To see if I could get it to drop out,as I've been doing a lot of cross checking lately,I lowered my sensitivity to auto 2. It read the target loud and clear. It was indeed a clad dime at 5-6". Last week I found an old "livery" token the size of a large cent at 10" with the same setup but running Auto 18. Yes,Auto 18 and a large coin size token at 10" with an 8" coil.
What I'm saying is this. To get the very fringe targets,running high amounts of Sensitivity may get you a few extra things to dig up. But,in many cases running too hot in the wrong ground can hamper your efforts severely,this may be true in your case. Clean mild ground-crank her up,why not? Any other ground-beware the high sensitivity,it may bite you in the hind end.
One last thought....coins and such must be there in the first place,if you're not finding anything at all with average settings,then there may not be anything there. Or,it may take some real talent as an operator to get to them if they are. Don't be afraid to move on to another site,I sure do,if only temporarily.
HH
Kevin
Kevin, the place I am hunting is a very productive site. I have taken I.H. cents, V nickels, TootsieToy cars, many old wheats, etc etc. It's just that since the ground has been drying up more and more, I have noticed more scratchy signals with nothing there. I will try with sens. 2+ and try what you have said. I call this area, "The Outer Limits" it is the grassy areas between the fence and the non-curbed road at old golf courses. Must have older homes across the road to be good. I figure, most golf courses did not have fences when first developed and the kids living in those homes used to play on the fringes of the course. It would be very similar to hunting "curb strips". There are still coins and such there, but it's just getting too dry.......... HH Larry
IDXMonster
Well-known member
Larry,you clearly aren't new at this and you have a heck of a site if you're pulling those items! It seems that when it rains and the ground is moisturized again I get a better hit on JUNK and IRON items but I don't know if my GOOD deep target count goes up all that much. Just MY experience.....but,when it's dry it sucks for various other reasons of which I'm sure you're aware!
Kevin
Kevin
nge, not sure what you mean by scratchy signals. Can you explain a little more.
To me it sounds like you're experiencing chronic falsing for some reason. Why the falsing would be repeatable, no clue at this point.
When you get a repeatable and dig nothing what does the re-sweep look like? Sure its not an on side large nail or something? I've been fooled many times by large corroded nails spoofing as a coins that were only found by widening the hole a lot.
Unless there's something going on with the detector or coil, i would think a definite repeatable should yield something. I agree with IDX, try ratcheting down the sensitivity and/or noise canceling.
Granted the soil here is likely way different than yours but i've had no problem in dry soil, in fact some of my best keepers were found during very dry drought periods.
To me it sounds like you're experiencing chronic falsing for some reason. Why the falsing would be repeatable, no clue at this point.
When you get a repeatable and dig nothing what does the re-sweep look like? Sure its not an on side large nail or something? I've been fooled many times by large corroded nails spoofing as a coins that were only found by widening the hole a lot.
Unless there's something going on with the detector or coil, i would think a definite repeatable should yield something. I agree with IDX, try ratcheting down the sensitivity and/or noise canceling.
Granted the soil here is likely way different than yours but i've had no problem in dry soil, in fact some of my best keepers were found during very dry drought periods.
I wonder if it could be a problem with my SunRay probe on my machine? Last night with Manual set at 18, deep off, fast on, gain cranked way down, when I got a good repeatable signal and the numbers were good, I made my plug really big about 10 inches in diameter (much larger than normal) when I took my probe off its cradle, without even being near the shaft or ground, it started incessantly beeping, like I was waving it over a beer can. I have an 8X6 S.E.F. coil, factory pro coil, and the SunRay 5 3/4" Excellerator coil, My machine does the same with all of them. The probe on the machine falses just waving it in the air. Maybe I should trade upper shaft for old fiber one and see if getting rid of the Sunray probe out of the equation, works. I didn't mean scratchy signals, I meant chronic falsing.......NGE
Assume you're talking about the in-line probe? Easy, disconnect/remove and use a handheld probe and see what happens.
Also it could be loose connectors or bad cables, i'd check it all thoroughly.
When i first got my eTRAC years ago i had a chronic falsing issue.
Turned out i was holding my shovel to low to the coil. Found out letting the shovel droop below 'just above the knee level area' causes falsing at hi sens. levels.
Yeah, these things are sensitive.
Also it could be loose connectors or bad cables, i'd check it all thoroughly.
When i first got my eTRAC years ago i had a chronic falsing issue.
Turned out i was holding my shovel to low to the coil. Found out letting the shovel droop below 'just above the knee level area' causes falsing at hi sens. levels.
Yeah, these things are sensitive.
BigTony
Well-known member
I had that happened to my exp 2 recently but being that I detected at three construction sites the fine dirt got under the cover. I was able to get coins but it was a reapin pain with the extra chatter. I thought my coil went south, wrong it was caked up with dirt and stuff. Next hunt after cleaning it was good to go.
Maybe yours is in need of a cleaning and if not scratch that.
Good luck out there
Maybe yours is in need of a cleaning and if not scratch that.
Good luck out there