E-Trac Thoughts

[Jason in TN]

OK after several months with my new Etrack and selling my SE and DFX and F75 I can now say that I am really happy with minelab's new detector. To start off it is one of the most stable detectors that I have ever used even at high sensitivity it will run with a good steady threshold. The old Explorer had a problem keeping a steady threshold if any at all at higher sensitivity.

I have been hunting mostly relics with the 12X15 Sef coil and have dug targets deeper than any other detector I have ever used. Civil war bullets and 44 Henry cartridges at a foot or better are not uncommon. Hunting areas I have hunted many times with other detectors.

It also works well in Iron and trashy areas with a smaller coil.

The conductive #s are very close even on deep targets the Ferrous scale #s vary with depth, soil composition, and close by iron targets.

The E Trac is by far my favorite detector so far. I hope that something better will come out as I like to try out new stuff and there is always room for improvement. Hear of new things to come from whites but not released yet.

The only thing I do not like about the E- Trac is the plastic arm cup and fastening system for the strap. Works so far but I have had these wear out or break on the old explorers. May have to go with a aftermarket one some time soon.

Hope this info helps if you are thinking of buying one. Will be glad to answer questions too.

 

[The Beep Goes On]

I would have to agree. Stability, depth, ease of use...it is the best detector I've ever used. Still have a DFX and Excal II and have had an SE, CZ-7, CZ-20 and a couple of PI units.

 

[docguin]

Jason,

Thank you for posting your thoughts.

Do you feel the 10X12 Sef coil is superior to the Coiltek WOT for the E-Trac? I have been looking at small coils for high trash areas too, but have trouble deciding which one. Sunray? Excellerator? Other? Tough to know which to choose because there is no real way to compare them except by the general buzz.

Have any thoughts on aftermarket coils?

 

[JCJEXPLORER]

Good post Jason,

I would add that I think it is the best all around machine out there for the reasons you posted above as well as: A buddy of mine has the F75 and it appears to be a great machine, but you can not get anywhere near a powerline with it. That alone would keep me from purchasing one. (Tons of relics located under/around powerlines that have not been hunted) I have had my Etrac since Nov 08' and have already paid for mine in relics found. With the stock coil I'm finding minieballs at 12-15"+ Also found a nice 3 cent piece at 18" depth. (that's a very small piece of silver for 18") I really like the "sizing pinpoint" mode for iron relics and the cross hair in the pinpoint mode has not lied about the target ID yet. When in doubt about target ID use the sizing pin point and figure out the actual target ID (Dig/No dig) I have the small DD Excel coil that is great and I'm looking to get one of the bigger SEF Butterflys. Anyone that uses the Etrac can not be disappointed and most will be very impressed.

 

[waynembx]

I got mine last week and have read the book and a lot of post's on the web and played with it in the house and i think i'm really going to like it.
If it will warm up and the snow melt i'll get to use it.

 

[coinnut]

I too have gotten used to my E Trac. I have a DFX also, and would still use it at a virgin site only due to it's speed. I can swing it much faster and cover more ground. Pretty sure it will get most targets around 5-6" deep. Some deeper and some near iron. But the E Trac will definitely go much deeper, although I need to swing it a bit slower. Great in open areas. But Jason, I still can't get it to sound any targets right near the cellar hole? I can't seem to get that coin through the null thing everyone is raving about? I feel left out I've settled on a program now that has 27-35 line disc'd out along with 01 & 02 line disc'd out except for the silver dollar range. I've also disc'd out all 49 & 50 numbers so that falsing there is minimized. Running ferrous, since nails ring in the coin range more in conduct mode. Still get lots of falsing on iron. Any ideas on a better program? I used the stock 11" coil and switched to the 4.5x7 Excelerator coil, but not many good hits near the iron infested cellar holes, here in MA. I wish someone lived near me so we could do a side by side comparison to see if each unit is the same. For now I will have to keep trying new patterns. Any help would be appreciated. PM's are always welcomed I did get a small dime size button at 10" the other day. Very impressed with the depth on this machine.

 

[Neil]

OK after several months with my new Etrack and selling my SE and DFX and F75 I can now say that I am really happy with minelab's new detector. To start off it is one of the most stable detectors that I have ever used even at high sensitivity it will run with a good steady threshold. The old Explorer had a problem keeping a steady threshold if any at all at higher sensitivity.

I have been hunting mostly relics with the 12X15 Sef coil and have dug targets deeper than any other detector I have ever used. Civil war bullets and 44 Henry cartridges at a foot or better are not uncommon. Hunting areas I have hunted many times with other detectors.

It also works well in Iron and trashy areas with a smaller coil.

The conductive #s are very close even on deep targets the Ferrous scale #s vary with depth, soil composition, and close by iron targets.

The E Trac is by far my favorite detector so far. I hope that something better will come out as I like to try out new stuff and there is always room for improvement. Hear of new things to come from whites but not released yet.

The only thing I do not like about the E- Trac is the plastic arm cup and fastening system for the strap. Works so far but I have had these wear out or break on the old explorers. May have to go with a aftermarket one some time soon.

Hope this info helps if you are thinking of buying one. Will be glad to answer questions too.

Jason do you run your Etrac in auto sens? if not how high are you running the manual on it? Also, did you try the semi auto sens on the Explorer you had?
Ive got both and still dont see much of a difference between the two. If my Explorer ran unstable I would turn the sens down or go to semi auto and it would still get great depth, just really adjusting to each site.
Thanks,
Neil

 

[The Beep Goes On]

I'm sure you've tried this, but are you in High Trash mode? It is supposed to provide better see through. Usually the biggest signal wins, but with HT mode, a smaller signal should come through if the bigger signal is disc'd out. I have not seen any experiential evidence of this working, but I thought it worth mentioning.

 

[Jason in TN]

Jason,

Thank you for posting your thoughts.

Do you feel the 10X12 Sef coil is superior to the Coiltek WOT for the E-Trac? I have been looking at small coils for high trash areas too, but have trouble deciding which one. Sunray? Excellerator? Other? Tough to know which to choose because there is no real way to compare them except by the general buzz.

Have any thoughts on aftermarket coils?

I have not used the 10x12 only the 12x15 and do like it for open ground and low trash areas for depth. Never used The WOT so do not know how it would compare.
The SEF is a good coil may want to give it a try.

 

[D&P-OR]

Jason--sent you a P.M.

 

[Jason in TN]

Did run the explorer in auto some but fell you loose depth and targets for sure as it takes much longer for the null in the threshold to recover if it ever did at all in iron rich sites.
I run the Sensitivity in auto in trash or ground that changes alot on the E-Track. I run manual as wide open as possible when conditions allow it. There is no magic program you must adjust
as the conditions do.

 

[Jason in TN]

I too have gotten used to my E Trac. I have a DFX also, and would still use it at a virgin site only due to it's speed. I can swing it much faster and cover more ground. Pretty sure it will get most targets around 5-6" deep. Some deeper and some near iron. But the E Trac will definitely go much deeper, although I need to swing it a bit slower. Great in open areas. But Jason, I still can't get it to sound any targets right near the cellar hole? I can't seem to get that coin through the null thing everyone is raving about? I feel left out I've settled on a program now that has 27-35 line disc'd out along with 01 & 02 line disc'd out except for the silver dollar range. I've also disc'd out all 49 & 50 numbers so that falsing there is minimized. Running ferrous, since nails ring in the coin range more in conduct mode. Still get lots of falsing on iron. Any ideas on a better program? I used the stock 11" coil and switched to the 4.5x7 Excelerator coil, but not many good hits near the iron infested cellar holes, here in MA. I wish someone lived near me so we could do a side by side comparison to see if each unit is the same. For now I will have to keep trying new patterns. Any help would be appreciated. PM's are always welcomed I did get a small dime size button at 10" the other day. Very impressed with the depth on this machine.

I would get the smallest coil possible I like the little sunray. High trash , fast recovery, ground difficult light on the sensitivity and go slow from different directions. then dig dig dig going to have to dig some large iron but should be able to get rid of most of the nails. Good luck