E-Trac Questions for the experienced folks -Please Respond

[Ron (CA)]

Who feels that the E-Trac is definitely deeper than the Explorers?

If you feel it is, have you tested in ground targets vs the Explorers to prove the point that it is in fact deeper? I mean- Flag targets -- record the E reading and then test with E-Trac and then do the opposite -- find with the E-Trac and test with the SE.

I see a lot of great finds coming out of previously "EXPLORERED" ground. Are these coins deep and strong signals or are most of them the result of masking that the E's missed?

Not trying to be negative, just trying to gather more info on the E-Trac. I am an experience Explorer user and am very interested in your responses.

YES I understand the E-Trac is not an Explorer just looking for the facts as I keep hoping that someone will make a machine that is better than the Explorers in parks in regards to both DEPTH and Target Separation!! It sounds like that Minelab has improved the target separation part of it, but I am not convinced on the depth part!

Thanks

Ron (CA)

 

[Rick(ND)]

What I am noticing with the E-Trac over the Explorer is the good targets lock on better with the E-Trac while the trash will not in most all cases. Depth wise my friend with the E-Trac also has a SE with the Pro coil and he has done some side by side comparison plus with other Explores and finds that what the SE will get the E-Trac will too and what the E-Trac hits the SE will too and not found a case with one over the other goes deeper. Myself I find I can hear the deeper signals better and also dig many rusty nails that are deeper than I ever did with the Explorers, so coins should also. The reason I dig these signals is i am still learning the E-Trac and they are iffy as they are deep so I want to make sure what it is. Getting better on rusty nails as I know how they act,but still dig many yet just to be sure there isn't a coin next to them.

 

[MattR]

"Hello Rick"

QUOTED from your post:-

"and also dig many rusty nails that are deeper than I ever did"

*******************

It is important that you tell us the typical numerics you observe with these nails......

Otherwise your query is too vague.................MattR.UK

 

[Jim upstate NY]

I am still not sure Ron, I know myself I have hunted all my parks now, they are not big parks 3 or 4 acres on the biggest, and I hunted them hard and many times with the explorer for the last 8 years.. In those parks I dug many deep coins. seated dimes at 10-11 inches and half reales down 8 -9 inches... so I can only assume that more are there.. One I hunted just before getting the etrac, I dug 2 merc dimes and a seated with the explorer.. that day I was only digging what I considered to be fairly deep silver signals.. and I think I dug 2 flattened screw caps, but other than the dimes that was it. I was there less than 2 hours, and I was actually quite surprised I even found one more silver.. its been a while since getting anything good there.. I used iron mask, ferrous and fast on deep off, I hardly ever used deep and had no problem getting deep coins.. I was using the pro coil

I hunted with the etrac at this one park for 4 hours with the park pattern from the website, and I got a pocket full of screw caps, a few tabs and some recent lost clad, even 3 or 4 rusty nails.. nothing at all over 6 inches deep or nothing at all old, using the exact coil. (I didn't use the one that came with the etrac in case I decided to sell it)...
Again I had fast on deep off, so I suppose it is possible that minelab has done something that makes a big difference between deep and fast on the etrac, much more than it affects the explorer.. next time I go there(even though I have no desire to hunt it again) I will try deep... Also this is not to say that I simply didn't go over anything as deep as I have with the explorer, so it could very well be it has the same depth capability in fast..

To me it seems the audio modulation is different, I find it much harder to tell a 1 inch coin with a 5 inch coin by audio on the etrac.. all the targets seem same depth.. I am still at gain 24, maybe thats too high?

The only thing about the etrac I can say for sure, is it has a faster response and it is more sensitive to small targets.
However. and I am going to stress this, is I hope people dont get the idea you can sweep along in iron as fast as they want.. It is much like the explorer when you get into high iron.. you need to go slow.. the other days I decided to hit a very iron filled spot and just go real slow with short sweeps like I hunt with the SE.. in a small area I been over 10 or 12 times with both explorer and etrac, I pulled out a silver thimble, a Merc and Washington silver quarter, along with 2 nickels. these were only 2 inches or less deep, but even a a medium sweep speed they did not respond.. once I started doing the short 1 foot slow sweeps it nailed them. I was actually quite surprised


I am however quite surprised by reports from users that say they are hunting explorer pounded sites and pulling out so many more deep targets.. I could possibly accept it if it was in a place so high in trash that they never hit it hard with the explorer, or they were using coin patterns on teh explorer which we know is not the way to go if you want to get it all, or they simply never used an FBS machine before and are finding what we found when we first started using explorers in the hunted out parks.. I remember those days of coming home from these parks with a dozen or more indians, a handfull of wheat's and 3 or 4 silver on every trip in sites long given up by everyone including myself.. To me I dont see that big of an improvement to be able to do that again..


I am starting to like it more and I am going to keep it.. I suppose if it does anything at all better than the explorer it is worth it to me to keep, and now instead of 2 explorers, I actually have 2 different machines to use as back up, and actually use them both instead of one sitting in the closet

 

[dreamweaver43]

Ron,
I've only got a small amount of time on the etrac, several years on the explorer, but without a doubt the target separation is far better than the SE or any metal detector most likely. And I've run the procoil on both machines, it ain't just the coil. The machine seems to have the ability to give better target information on targets close to trash. It was not uncommon for the explorers to give a "blended" signal with close together targets. The etrac seems to grab on the high conductive targets, and provide good clean hit.

As far as depth goes, and I don't have enough time on the machine to really say, but I didn't see too much difference. I dug some solid 7-8 inch coins with the etrac, that hit kinda broken sounding, but I was pretty sure it was a good target. And I was running the machine in stock settings Auto+1, which is a mild sensitivity setting.

The machine runs much smoother, much less falsing, compared to the explorers.

Even if there is less depth, I hunted a park that has been pounded to death with an XLT & DFX, by an experienced user. And in one area I had hunted with my explorer. There was lots that was missed.......lots that I couldn't believe I missed. And it wasn't all that deep. So I'm kinda liking the target separation deal, and I'll let the others worry about the depth.

Brad

 

[jbow]

I did that test a couple of weeks ago in an old test garden. In my test both the SE and the ET would hit a quarter buried at 12" but neither hit well enough to make me dig if I had not already known that the target was there. I don't remember my sensitivity settings but they were high and manual. A sovereignGT also would hit it but with the sens maxed out.

I think the reason people are finding new stuff at old sites is because of the new coil and the increased speed of the ET.

I have a site that I pounded to death over a couple of years with a T2, F75, Tejon, SovereignGT, and SE... I have found VERY little more with the ET. One solid carbine bullet and a nickel is about it. I am going to try a bit more.

Then there is an old park down the road built on the site of a 19th century RR depot. I know it has been hunted hard for a long time and I find stuff there with the ET but I never hunted it before I got the ET so I can't compare... I just know I am finding good stuff almost every hunt. I dug a carved minnie there a few weeks ago and I got my friend to check the target befroe I dug, he was using an F75 with an F70 coil, He could not get a repeatable or good signal from it and the ET did. He said it was trash... it wasn't

Julien

 

[jimpugh]

I have been a multi-line dealer for 22 years.

I used to believe the that the SE was the deepest production made Metered machine, bar none.

Without a doubt the E-trac is the deepest, most stable, awesome see thru Iron detector Available TODAY! Hands Down consistently Deep on dug coins Past 13 inches...

two things to remember here 1.Operator- expertize \ confidence 2. Setup ( one cross or mis-adjusted setting and A. bag of scalded cats B.giving preference to Iron)

when changing preloaded programs one should make sure DIFFICULT GROUND.......HIGH TRASH ... DEEP ON.....FAST OFF....run the sensitivity to the point of falsifying then back it down to

the point just being stable or comfortable**** this will change as you grow into the machine and know the NEW Language****in essence being able to run high 26-30.....next step to master is the

more open screen with just nail and a few bottle caps blacked out making one more familiar with the good zones on the meter .........but remember that the Max settings is about sound....

you can thumb back into (-1) - (-3) for more accurate quadrant ID.......I have found you can work fast thru Iron and get the bangers.....But As Jim noted you can come back and slow way down

and pull some awesome Targets that are blended or averaged targets.......that are caked in nails and Iron......

Anyway hope this helps .........But it works VERY well for me......And your Local Dealer should be where you will find more answers......So what is the BEST DEAL.....Versus a Hot or Cold

Machine....... My time finding in the field is worth more than Second guessing and chasing the UPS truck ......Monetary Value...or lack there OF.....May not be what you want to hear but I call it

as I see it! And as a Customer of some of the sponsors on this site I am certainly entitled to my View......

Happy Trails
Jim Pugh

 

[jbow]

Deep on dug coins Past 13 inches
Have you checked any of these in auto to see if they still hit?

B.giving preference to Iron
Exactly what do you mean by that?

DIFFICULT GROUND.......HIGH TRASH ... DEEP ON.....FAST OFF
Why do you run fast off ?


more open screen with just nail and a few bottle caps blacked out making one more familiar with the good zones on the meter .........but remember that the Max settings is about sound....
What do you mean by "max settings"; I hunt in the modified relic mode that Jason posted, I like it a lot.


Thanks Jim... I value your opinion highly.

Julien

 

[jimpugh]

#1 thirteen plus inches yes some would....... Most would NOT..... A+3 =22 ....clear as i can be on that one...

# 2 preference 2 Iron.....the picture on page 72 and 73 read very carefully !!!! not only a null but a false chirp is possible(in Low) here!!!!

High Trash as I stated originally....is where I found the MAX settings as listed above....

# 3 Fast OFF.....DEEP ON.......the audio is smoother and not as chirppy even in trash this has worked well for me take page 70 and

71 study them ....then add a grain of salt... and spend time in the field on ....deep.... targets in trash ....I have tried all and my findings

are that the audio is speaking clearer to me.

#4 I will have to check out Jason's pattern and his recommended settings to make a comment on that.....but I hunt mainly in

conductive 99.9% of the time.......And I am sure his program is a Good One.......

Hope this helps

your Friend

Jim Pugh

 

[Jeb NWR]

Hi Ron,i use an E Trac.I wouldn`t by any stretch of the imagination say I`m an Experience E Trac user as they`ve only been out a month or so.
Why are you so enthralled by the Depth factor ? Is this what we grade our version of the "best" detector going ,that IT GOES THE DEEPEST !?
The E trac "so far" to my knowledge hasn`t shown it goes a lot Deeper than the Explorer , but it has a far superior recovery speed than the Explorer to work amongst the Trash, and it has a few other little nifty advantages over the Explorer that the Explorer hasn`t got over the E Trac. Its advantages also seem to enable some excellent depths that possibly the Explorer would have struggled slightly to get near , so i think the Advantages the E trac Has got over the Explorer give it a far greater edge in detection . Hope this helps?

 

[Ron (CA)]

Thank you for your reply. I just like to see what results others are getting.

I want an all around detector that is better than the Explorer.

Depth Factor-- many of the parks I hunt have been pounded by other brands but there are a lot of deep coins left. I generally will only hunt for the deep coins. (Cherry Pick) some hunts I just do not have the time to pick through the shallower target so I will focus only on the deep stuff as it tends to be older. yes, I will miss some shallow older stuff, but I generally will dig the first 15 or so targets and get a read on a park and go from there. I will typically dig 20+ oldies in a 2-3 hours hunt. Most are always in the 6-10 inch range and most are Wheaties but I get my share of silvers. At the end of the day, I will have 20-25 coins and only 5 or so clad coins. I just like my odds for silver hunting this way. I personally don't mind sacrificing a few shallow goodies to increase my odds for an older coin. So, yes, depth is a key issue for ME and my style of park hunting.
I have been pretty successful with this style of hunting so I will keep at it. Maybe when I retire (20+ years) I will have more time to dig more targets.

I like to think that I am above average with the Explorer whether hunting parks or relic hunting. So if I can get both increase depth and target separation with the E-Trac then it is a big winner. If the depth is not increased it is not a advantage for my style of park hunting but an advantage for relic hunting. I am not an electronic guy, but if it is still FBS technology, same coils, same batteries, etc can a faster processor or new software improve depth? That a serious question as I don't know the answer.

From what I have read, it appears to be better in the iron and target separation dept so that is good. I have not seen many people statign that it is truely deeper than the SE. 13" sounds great -- but one area does not translate to all areas. CA tend to be a bit more mineralized and I don't know many people digging coins that deep out here with an E-trac or Explorer.

Hey I want my cake and I want to eat it too!!

Thanks again for your reply.

Ron (CA)

 

[jbow]

I just re-read the pages you mentioned. I had read them before but forgot... I need to re-read the manual again and I will. I have been using low trash most of the time. I will switch back and forth on targets for the next few hunts. My auto usually runs 19-22 in auto+3 but sometimes it bumps up to 25 or so, but not often. Sometimes it slides down to 12 or so too.

I've spent days in manual 27 and days in auto +3 and +2. I am going back to manual at 28. I will also check each target in auto. When it disappears I will lower manual to see where is disappears in manual. My only concern is a nagging thought that I might miss some targets by not using auto, that something in the auto setup helps to lock onto a good target. I'm not certain that this can happen though. I guess I am wondering if there is any advantage to auto other than stability and less falsing. It seems like I read this somewhere.

I'll try making a pattern screen like you mentioned with nails and bottle caps blacked out...

Thanks again for all your help.

Julien

 

[Ron (CA)]

n/t

 

[captn_se]

This analogy may prove true for an E-Trac vs SE Pro.

I have done extensive testing between a ML Quattro and SE Pro. Both are FBS technology. The SE PRO hits deeper targets (8+") better than the Quattro can. For instance, on an 8+" coin signal, I could get a repeating, high-tone, fluty signal with my SE. On the Quattro, the signal was audible, but broken tone(low-high tones), making for a very iffy signal, typical of a lot of falsing iron sounds. I placed my SE Pro Coil on the Quattro, and retested....same results as before...no improvement.

So, even though both machines are FBS technology, both are clearly different analyzing deeper targets. Both machines had equal depth, but clearly the SE Pro produced a more consistent, diggable signal for 8+" signals. Maybe the E-Trac isn't truly any deeper than an SE, however, its signal it produces for deeper targets will be consistently clearer/more audible, because of its faster processor, and improved deep target analyzing software/hardware as the SE Pro was over the Quattro.

You need to get one to be sure, Ron.

HH,
CAPTN SE
Dan

 

[Neil]

or the same or any variations at all........the side by side comparisions. walking into a site a different day, different angles, different moisture, just doesnt add up to a proof positive that one will find something others wont. side by side comparisons are time consuming and require patience.

Rick I might be calling you up for one in the near future but for now the SE is working good and its fun to drop in here occasionally and see how the threads on the etrac are evolving. Ron is keeping me posted on how he is doing with his, so far he likes it but he is holding onto his SE also for the time being.

Thumbs up to Minelab for giving us new detectors to play with

Its a great hobby.

Neil

 

[Ron (CA)]

But you are 100% accurate on that. I too had compared signals with a Quattro and discovered the same thing. After hunting with a couple of guys that had Quattros and after we compared signals and tried to tweak the Q to get them, they both finally got Explorers!!

Dan, you now I like to ask questions!! I would ask even if I had one!!

Ron

 

[Jeb NWR]

Good post Ron ! There is only one way then that i can put it to you.
The E Trac is the better detector out of the two .

 

[Jeb NWR]

Another informative and great post to read Jim . Keep them coming !

 

[McNickle]

Hello Captain, My new hunting pal is a fan of yours,and recently purchased an ET.....Me 2 after seeing what he found in my yard with his SE .....I bought an ET........Only because it seemed to be set up more user friendly than the SE.... 2 weeks after buying his ET and lending it 2 me and TMAN.....he decided to give his ET a Try .....He now likes/Trusts it. Seems like the SE is the Equal of the ET,but then again....I am not that familiar with the SE....Only that I know my Friend GOIO can pull allot of silver out with it....Again that is why I went with the ET....Only cause it is the newest TECH......
I have watched some of your videos,but can not tell what sweep speed you are using.......1-2 second or 3-4 second S-L-O...?Also your Pattern.........Do you use a default SE.....or more of an open disc ?
Just thought I would ask...


B.T.W. Can't wait 4 your next Video, Dave

 

[McNickle]

n/t