E-Trac -v- XLT

[Deno]

First off I love my XLT and I doubt if I would ever sell it. Now that winter is here and I have the time I

want to get serious about my detecting. I read all these stories on the forums about people finding dimes

on their edge at 10" with E-Tracs, they talk about the warble where they can tell silver from clad. I have

no reason to doubt them as I have followed some of them for years on the Internet forums. I would like

to have your thoughts, pros and cons on switching over to an E-Trac.

I thought about posting this on the E-Trac forum but I want the input of real XLT users who are experienced

with both machines, I feel like I would get less bias here.

Thanks, Deno

 

[goodmore]

I have used both in the past. If you would switch over to the E Trac you would have to really slow down your hunting technique. The E Trac and CTX for that matter are at their best with slow overlapping swings and wide open discrimination screens. The E Trac can hit a silver dime at 10 inches. The one big negative about the E Trac is the weight. People boast about the E Trac in the iron. They compensate for a slow recovery machine (which the E trac is) by running a two tone Ferrous program. Basically a wide open discrimination. Anything above iron will give a high tone. It does work and produces good results. But still the E Trac will not hit them all because it is a slow recovery machine. When it comes to depth I think the magic of the E trac is not just finding deep targets. It is the ability of the detector to correctly identify deep targets. Since using the E trac and now CTX my junk pouch is a lot more empty. It is a great detector for parks and lawns because of less digging. For relics and field hunting I thing the a detector like the F75 LTD is better. I think it is deeper and what the hell is another hole.

I don't know how much adjusting you do with the XLT. I was always tweaking this or that. On the E Trac once you have a program set up there is very little adjusting. And the quickmask screen allows you at the touch of one button to check a target with a different discrimination. You can go from major discrimination to none in one push.

So to sum it all up. If you park or lawn hunt the E trac would be a great investment. Relic hunting maybe not as much. Plus it will do well on a beach trip providing you don't get the box wet.

 

[Elton]

E-Trac is deeper............ and finds many items the XLT just does not see in the ground.


Your biggest adjustments will be sounds, and sweep speed........ When you think your going slow enough with the Etrac slow down more !!

[size=x-large]So no one thinks I am slamming the Great XLT..I am not.. Their two different types of detectors... That's all I am saying[/size]

 

[Larry (IL)]

If your goal is to get a little more depth on silver and copper, the ET is a good choice but not without paying the price of coping with the negatives such as losing the wonderful balance of the XLT, the ET is very nose heavy. The ET takes some getting used to such as an all new target ID system and the tones if you like the tone ID of the XLT. If you are a jewelry hunter, you will miss the excellent target ID and tones of the XLT on lower conductive targets as well.

I use multiple detectors for different uses and the XS, SE, ET and CTX have been my choices for deep silver/copper hunting for many years and the XLT, DFX, V3i for most all other hunting. Other factors that are important to some but not others is the service between the two companies are night and day as well as White's is American made as opposed to foreign made.

I never was one to suggest what detector is best, it depends on what clicks with you. I would suggest getting one and give it a good workout and see for yourself if it works for you, if not there is a good secondary market for used equipment.

 

[midas888]

I had used the XLT for many years, then a DFX, then a V3i. The ETrac requires a steep learning curve as it is completely different than the White's machines. But, once you learn it, there is no equal. Hands down better than the White's machines. Stay away from the CTX3030. It is overpriced and there is no inline pinpointer for it. An inline pinpointer is a necessity for machines that "see thru iron" as it uses the disc features of the detector. With a handheld pinpointer you will be digging tons of nails out of the hole along with the coin.

 

[Deno]

Thank you all for your input and knowledge.