Explorer and Etrac Users?

[Jim upstate NY]

Without starting a battle, I was just wondering how many of you explorer users got an etrac, and whether you are using it or ended up sticking with the Explorer.. or if your using both equally
I got one when they first came out, used it a month and then its sat in my closet, I amde some good finds with it.. I Just dont think its as good a machine as the explorer is, at least for over all ID capability, even depth and especially audio, the only thing I found it may been better for was cherry picking silver, but heck I get a silver signal on the explorer or anything even close I am digging it anyway.. anyway I just traded it for another SE pro.. took a bit of a loss costs wise, but did get a new X8 in the deal... And I always feel its better a machine get used than just to sit in a closet, hopefully the new owner likes it.. Maybe I didnt give it enough time, but I love my ferrous audio, which the etrac just didnt have.. I am surprised Minelab hasnt come out with a new explorer with same audio and ID and a few of the etrac features like program save etc yet, probably will now that I have a second SE

 

[dreamweaver43]

Jim,
I sold my SE this winter so I could learn the etrac without distraction.

My opinion:
The etrac outperforms the SE in trashy park environments. I have taken it to several places that I could no longer find anything, and pulled more targets that the SE couldn't see. MOST ALL of them were on TRASH. They were not extremely deep targets! As far as pure depth, the SE may have a slight advantage, but I don't notice it much. I have found coins at 9-10 inches with the Etrac. It hits coins no problem in the 6-8 range using the auto setting. Recently I have been running the machine in manual and trying to work the sensitivity up, and it appears to help with target depth and improving the audio on the fringe targets.

No question the etrac falses much less than the explorer, dramatically. And for the most part that is why you can find targets right on trash. If good audio is coming thru, there's probably something there. The ID numbers, for the most part are very accurate. Last weekend I got a 43-12 hit fairly deep. Wheat pennies were hitting 41-12 and copper memorials were hitting 44 or 45-12. So 43-12 seemed strange, after digging the target I found a 1950 something wheat penny stuck together with a 1960 something memorial. Doing the math 41-12 + 44-45-12 averages out to about 43-12. You can't do that type of thing on the explorer, at least I couldn't. And if the etrac give the deep 47-12 hit, it's silver!!

I never hunted in ferrous with the explorer, and the etrac is very similar to the explorer set up in conductive tones. I have set my etrac up with basically Bryce's settings. High gain is the KEY!!!

Both are fantastic machines. To each there own I guess. For my style, and the places I hunt the etrac has an advantage. The etrac is not revolutionary advanced when compared to the SE, and there is every bit of the same learning curve with the etrac as the explorer. Most of the negativity toward the etrac is probably due to the fact that the users were not trained with the explorer, and expected to be experts overnight. And without the explorer background, they struggled. It took me months to get proficient with the SE, and really you never totally master the thing since I was still learning stuff on the SE when I bought the etrac.

Brad

 

[Jesse W. McComas]

I gave my EXP. II to my youngest son after getting my E-Trac. This is the perfect machine for me. I found a 1862 $1.00 Gold Coin at B&G in March within an hour of hitting the field the first day. I used it all weekend in the steady rain without the rain cover. The water was dripping off of it and nothing ever happened to it. I also found a 1876-+CC Seated Liberty Quarter with a hole in it at the same hunt the next day. And it will find the relics as well. I found a bunch during that hunt. So, as I have always done in almost 41 years in this hobby, when I get a new machine. I sell or give away the older one and never look back. HH...Jesse.

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

All the rest of the features certainly sound good. Still haven't heard any explanation why they messed up the best ID system on the market. Just saying "Well, this isn't an Explorer" is not an answer.

Chris

 

[Magicman]

I love my E-Trac. I have gone back through areas that I have been and found good targets. I think it does a better job at iding. I can tell you what is a pull tab and what is a nickle. I can tell what is a old cooper penny vs a dime. I changed my TH pitch and max ed it out at 30 and when I hit silver, no doubt. It does pick through garbage and I am finding a lot of coins on edge. The E-Trac has 758 more possibilities then the SE on target identification. This aides in separating targets that are bunched together on the top and bottom of the S curve. Not so in E-Trac, the s curve is now straight. If you are comfortable with a certain machine, then stick with it and master it. I on the other I hand decided to put the time and effort into my E-Trac, like I did for my SE and the E-Trac is paying off for me.

 

[C&RHunter]

I got my Etrac last Sept. I kept the XS for a backup and it will stay that way...I really liked the XS, but like the Etrac much better..More comfortable to use, even with a 10x12 SEF coil on it. There is a lot more "fine tuning" abiltiy with the Etrac... This allows easier IDs of some items like Magicman referred to. For me, I made the right choice, but each person likes and expects different things from their machines...With the Etrac, I have found silver in areas that have been pounded by myself and others with Explorers and other brands....Maybe I would have eventually found those coins with the XS..I don't know..I do know that I have them now, while using the Etrac.....Good luck to all ...regardless of what machine your using..

 

[dreamweaver43]

Chris,
Target ID is actually pretty good on the Etrac. The top end conductivity range is streched out to the point you can ID the coins for the most part.....even at depth.....conductivity 32-35 indian, 37 memorial zinc, 41 wheat, 44 memorial copper, 45 clad dime, 46 clad quarter, 47+ is silver. And with the etrac targets bounce up and down, instead of left to right with the explorer. This is easier to ID good targets vrs falses, since the conductive numbers tend to run true on the etrac if the target is solid. It is different than the explorer, but if you understand how fringe targets hit on the explorer, they are even easier to pick off with the etrac. Etrac is also definately more sensitive to smaller targets. I dug some ear ring backings on the beach in Flordia that excals had missed....maybe explorers would have found them? Don't know??

Nickel......no question on the etrac, 13-12 hitting soft. You still dig folded beavertail from time to time...but with the CO range streached out......27-12 is the common pull tab, every other mid range conductive hit I dig now.......I haven't found any yet, but it's just a matter of time for gold.......and it won't read like a pulltab. The etrac can be set up with the same audio as the explorer + the target ID numbers......pretty good deal.

I've been doing pretty well in the Beliot parks, assuming you have hunted in most of them with you XS........

Brad

 

[dennismcc914]

I did the same thing you did, bought an etrac after selling a well used Explorer XS and used the etrac a short time. I ended up trading it for a like new SE with the Pro coil and a Sunray X-8 to make the deal more even. I too prefer the Explorer over the etrac, just like the Explorer better. I think it is an equal to the etrac. The audio and ID is more what I prefer in the SE.

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

Everything that is good about the Etrac would even be better with the ferrous sounds and not mapped to a straight line. If the faster processor and perhaps newer software makes targets ID more positive it would work just as well on the old screen.

Chris

What kind of goodies have you found in the Beloit parks. The Rockford boys have hit them all pretty hard; I haven't seen them up detecting this year; think targets are few and far between and greener pastures elsewhere.

 

[dreamweaver43]

Those Rockford guys are in the FLMDC.....they've told me about all the hunted out spots. They're raiding chicago parks lately.....

Brad

PS...they missed some stuff!

 

[jimp]

if you really must know. One of them is dead. That would be Badger Bill. The oldest person in The Entire World To Use A Minelab. One changed jobs and has not detected in the last three years. Two are members of Four lakes in Madison,Wisconsin. so that leaves Me. Committee chairman at M.H.R.S. Chicago,Illinois. I have listened to all of this before. How many people from other clubs hunt those parks? I was told that i was not welcome at the former club I was a member of because they thought I was finding too much. We just are not finding anything. Well bring it on........ I will compete with anyone. I don't post much on here . I did post a 10$ gold piece I found and got a lot of s$%%^&&**. over it. I think it is great every one is doing so well. All I can say is keep using those ferrous sounds and all that other crazy stuff. Just let me Know when you are done and I will take you back to charm school. I get out 3 may bee 4 times a month and I almost always get over 400 silvers and 400 IH. Happy hunting. JIM P>

 

[Nick A]

I have both, I have confidence in both machines and feel they will both find the same targets, more-or-less. The E-Trac has some features that "might" help it ID better than the Explorer. It's all about ID for me. Both machines have enough depth to get the deepest coins at the sites I am hitting. I prefer the numbers on the E-Trac over the Smartfind on the Explorer. Both machines go plenty deep. I am finding as much silver (and gold, for that matter) as I was with the Explorer. Using the E-Trac, I have not found anything I missed with the Explorer when going over areas I gridded. The only thing I do not like is the pinpoint with the Sunray on the E-Trac, it's different than the Explorer SE and harder to locate stuff that's no dead on in the bottom of the hole. Other than that, I have my sounds set up the same on both machines so I can switch from one to the other without a thought. I do really like being able to tell almost 99% of the time an indian head, wheat, memorial or zinc before I dig.

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

n/t

 

[jimp]

n/t

 

[LilloEsquilo]

The E-Trac doesn't have Ferrous? Could've fooled me as I've got it on mine.

Honestly I think the E-Trac is a fantastic machine. If you like the Explorer and know it inside and out and don't want anything else, then that is the machine for you, but I think the E-Trac is everything it's cracked up to be. All I can say is the finds tell me it is and I'm finding things that I didn't find with an Explorer II or any other machine in spots I've been over with all of them.

 

[NealNoIN]

Putting the whole ID theory aside, If I'm digging everything that registers deep on my XS, except obvious iron, then what would I gain from an Etrac? Seems like the main thing everyone likes is the ID system. I'm only guessing here but isn't it sending the same 28 frequencies into the ground with the same coil and same depth?
Neal

 

[deeponedge]

Very interesting post and it is getting some good responses. I'm learning quite a bit from all of this and everyone's thoughts.

 

[Nick A]

That's what I think Neal, there's not much difference. The E-Trac might, possibly, have a miniscule edge over any Explorer, but that possible hardware advantage is easily overcome by an experienced Explorer user with a machine he/she knows well. I still contend the E-Trac and Explorer will both find all the same targets.

For me the advantage is the way the metered info is displayed... I prefer the E-Trac numeric interface over the Explorer Smartfind. It's all down to personal preference and which display you like better. I might find more with one over the other (though this is NOT the case) just because one is more comfortable to me to use.

The E-Trac is not deeper.
The E-Trac doesn't ID any better than the Explorer.
The Pro coil separates GREAT, and I recommend it. An E-Trac and Explorer with the Pro coil are equally matched.

If you told me tomorrow that I had to give up my E-Trac and had to go back to my Explorer, I'd have no problem with it. I wouldn't feel like I was at a disadvantage by using the Explorer... I would do just as well. To me, in terms of performance, they are equal.

 

[dreamweaver43]

Neal,
Diddo Nick A response.

Etrac has faster recovery, which I think aids in finding targets right on trash. And this allows you to hunt with discrimination, because the machine is not sticky on the nulls. But basically it's the same technology as the explorer, with a different software package with enhanced target ID capabilities.

Set up an explorer and etrac the same, close your eyes, and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference listening only to the audio alone....

Brad

 

[Jim upstate NY]

since all good targets and most bad have the same ferrousity (11-13) then the audio tone is the same.. thats my problem with it, as well as no true multi tone.. the explorer has a steady curve in ferrous and different ferrous values on most targets.. I still can not see how people think the etrac has a better ID system, but I guess thats just me.
The only way I could hunt in trash was in conductive, or I had to scrutinize the screen an all hits, unlike the explorer where I could just listen in ferrous.. and check screen only when I felt it was a close call