Etrac - Terra

[Terra1959]

Gday

I have saved up my coin finds for the last few months and made the plunge in buying a new Etrac.
I have been wondering whether to or not and looking at your threads for a few months now.
..The Xterra has been working extremely well for me but I want a new challenge and more depth for old silver coins in and amongst trash.

Whilst charging the battery pack I had a swing using alkalines on the rear lawn and found my 1st $2 coin with it.
Great pinpointing feature (compared to the Xterra), beautiful ergonomics and balance.

Does anyone use the wiggle and pull back method with the standard coil or does the dip in it's tip make this way too inaccurate ?
Are the standard modes in the machine ( coin, relic etc ) ok to start on ? or do I need to make up a program ?

I have Andy's book so I guess I'd better get reading.
Thanks to all the informative and sharing people who put their experiences here for others benefit.

T59

 

[big-ears]

n/t

 

[NebTrac]

I've used both. Out of habit I generally use pinpoint, but I do use the "wiggle - pull back" from time to time. The dip in the tip is where the target will be on the the pull back method. You'll find a different "beast" with the E-Trac vs. the X-Terra when it comes to depth and sorting coins in iron.

NebTrac

 

[Digger]

T59, for the most part, you will pinpoint coins with the E-Trac just as you did with the DD coil on your X-TERRA. If it worked well for you to X over them and drag back til it was off the front tip, that will work well with the E-TRAC. As to factory preset programs, don't get too hung up on their titles. Once you read through the manual and gain an understanding of what each function controls (and changes), you will be able to set up your E-TRAC for your style of hunting, in your sites. The factory preset programs are a good place to start. But again, once you know what each setting does, you'll realize that the only difference between any of the programs are the individual functions. My advice for you, once you understand the functionality, is to grab a handful of those targets you've been digging with your X-TERRA and scan them under the coil. Make a note of what the ferrous and conductive properties are for each one. Then build a discrimination program that includes all those targets you want to dig. If you chose, you can also set your E-TRAC to reject those pieces of trash that you don't want to dig. Personally, just as with the X-TERRA, I like to use a minimal amount of discrimination and hunt by tones. Ferrous tones in areas with an abundance of ferrous targets. And conductive tones in areas with an abundance of conductive targets. For example, if I am hunting in an old site with a ton of iron nails, I like to use ferrous mode. And when hunting those types of sites, I chose two tone mode so all ferrous targets give a low tone and I can concentrate on the conductive high tones. If the area was full of conductive targets, running in two tone ferrous would require me to continually check the TID, resutling in a lot of wasted time in the field. Soat those sites, I chose to use conductive multiple tone, so my ears can sort out most of the signals, without having to monitor the TID. But again, those choices are entirely up to the user. There is no standard answer for how to set up an E-TRAC. Chose the settings that fit your style, adjust the functionality to suit your site, select the tones you are comfortable listening to and sweep the coil much more slowly than you ever swept the X-TERRA. No need to worry about ground balance or sensitivity settings as the E-TRAC does all that for you. It is an excellent detector for those who learn to use it. JMHO HH Randy

 

[Terra1959]

Thanks for your reply's.

...oh Big Ears - only once you have done extremely well

I went out this morning for 1.5 hrs before the rain hit and scored 10 coins (one nice 1943 half penny), a dog tag, a brass nut, a copper washer and quite e few ring pulls.
I just concentrated on digging the better sounding solid signals.
Not having moved up from the Explorer, I have trouble coping with multi tones and set it to 4 (like I used to with the Xterra)
Good advice Digger, I already feel like I want a personalised program set up that i can just switch on and go.
Happy swinging

T59

 

[Goes4ever]

I use the wiggle back method 90% of the time, highly accurate and a real time saver in my opinion