New to the etrac - At times when I am in around multiple targets - the screen will not display Fe or Co numbers - The tone is there - but the numbers reading will freeze up. It will just say Fe-Co on top with no numbers readings. I wiggle the machine around a bit then wait maybe 30 seconds or so - and the numbers will start reading again. Normal? Happen to any of you? Processor just trying to catch up maybe? Any feedback would be appreciated.
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ETRAC screen question
- Thread starter jdeiana
- Start date
.....Yep!.....happens all the time when a patch of ground gets really busy with targets. In these cases, you must go by audio only.
That's why I enjoy my settings so much. You don't need to look at the screen. The ETrac is supercharged with no recovery lag. Ignore the low tones, dig the high tones.....simples!
Gaz.
That's why I enjoy my settings so much. You don't need to look at the screen. The ETrac is supercharged with no recovery lag. Ignore the low tones, dig the high tones.....simples!
Gaz.
The Beep Goes On
New member
The only thing you can do, if you need to see the numbers, is to raise the coil until you get a threshold tone and then try to make the first pass over the target you are interested in. Sometimes this is impossible if the target density is too high.
HH!
Beep
HH!
Beep
if it is ON "the last detection result will be cleared from the screen after 5 seconds. The detection results are FE-CO numbers, Target Crosshair and Depth Gauge. While the Display Timeout if OFF, the last detection result will remain until a new detection is made, or the Detection Screen is changed." This is a quote from the manual and the factory preset is OFF. I have also experienced what you are talking about here and find that if target densities are high, I prefer to have the timeout setting = OFF. But this doesn't entirely fix what you are experiencing... better to listen to the tones and dig. - Jim
The Beep Goes On
New member
That is very normal. No target, unless it was flat and all by itself (bench-test environment), will give the same numbers consistently. In the FE-CO numbers you listed did you notice that the CO number is the same on all of them? With the E-Trac, the FE number can vary, but the CO tends to be stable. The numbers are actually pretty tight, FE only varying by 4 while the CO stayed constant...good target in other words (although probably a zincoln).
HH!
Beep
HH!
Beep
Numbers on the screen only update when the threshold tone returns and will show the last valid target that was allowed by your pattern.....but tones are always live and true to what is happening under the coil, depending on your pattern of course.
Some tricks to get the ID to update (threshold return) in constant null are:
1. do the "minelab wiggle" just a short swing of 5-10cm, just either side of the target, or if that doesn't work
2. as you're doing the "minelab wiggle" lift the coil off the ground until the threshold returns and you should get an ID update.
Most of all trust the tones, the IDs are too inconsistent in high trash/iron. FE numbers can be all over the place if there is iron near the target or poor soil conditions, coins over 9" on my sites are rarely on the FE12 line (usually drop lower around FE18-20+). I highly recommend Andy S's Coin Program as it is wide enough to cover most/all of the FE shift that I have experienced while still running with minimal to no iron faulsing. The standard coin program I would only use for surface coins (down to 6"). But all this is based on my experience in my soil conditions.
"Tones first, ID second".
Cheers,
Greg
Some tricks to get the ID to update (threshold return) in constant null are:
1. do the "minelab wiggle" just a short swing of 5-10cm, just either side of the target, or if that doesn't work
2. as you're doing the "minelab wiggle" lift the coil off the ground until the threshold returns and you should get an ID update.
Most of all trust the tones, the IDs are too inconsistent in high trash/iron. FE numbers can be all over the place if there is iron near the target or poor soil conditions, coins over 9" on my sites are rarely on the FE12 line (usually drop lower around FE18-20+). I highly recommend Andy S's Coin Program as it is wide enough to cover most/all of the FE shift that I have experienced while still running with minimal to no iron faulsing. The standard coin program I would only use for surface coins (down to 6"). But all this is based on my experience in my soil conditions.
"Tones first, ID second".
Cheers,
Greg
Jack Flynn
New member
Go very very slow even just stopping the coil over nulled targets when the threshold comes back it will display what it actually is or the accepted target if there is one there. The Etrac is almost a discipline when to use it that way but the finds go way up. I'll promise you, you will find stuff that no other machine will going very very slow like that. Dug 52 pennies, 2 wheaties, 8 nickels, 7 dimes, 8 quarters, a little gold, and a sterling silver flower pendant yesterday barely moving the coil a couple of inches a second. Had nails, slag, more nails, broken pipe, can slaw in a lot of the holes with the good targets. My comrades dug a lot also.
Need to remember the E-Trac/Explorers are giving you twice as much numerical ID info compared to most all other machines.Also remember tones/sound first then conductive number followed by ferrous number and in that order when determining if a target warrants further investigation as in dig or not dig 
Getting caught up in the numbers game with any machine will cost a lot of desirable deep and or masked targets.Strict numbers adherence is fine for quick cherry picking and as a general reference the rest of the time as far as my experience has indicated.And that goes for all of the top end machines I have used from Minelab,Fisher and Whites.
It is hard for those who come from a field requiring tight tolerances and exact measurements to get used to the idea of 3 or 4 numeral variations as being a tight or close means of identifying a target but is the case for now with the detectors we have to choose from,Ray.
PS One more thing to remember is coins tilted or on edge will skew the ID numbers as well.
Getting caught up in the numbers game with any machine will cost a lot of desirable deep and or masked targets.Strict numbers adherence is fine for quick cherry picking and as a general reference the rest of the time as far as my experience has indicated.And that goes for all of the top end machines I have used from Minelab,Fisher and Whites.
It is hard for those who come from a field requiring tight tolerances and exact measurements to get used to the idea of 3 or 4 numeral variations as being a tight or close means of identifying a target but is the case for now with the detectors we have to choose from,Ray.
PS One more thing to remember is coins tilted or on edge will skew the ID numbers as well.