Hi Guys,

[NH Bob]

Now we can chat about the E-Trac and enjoy the positive feedback.
I'm headed out tomorrow with my new machine and Mattockman is hunting with me. So he'll tell you about all the targets I miss.
Hoping to give about 3 hours to Quickmask 18 and conductive sounds and then all metal with 2 tones in ferrous sounds. Of course I'll be trying the different settings that would help or hurt the 2 hunt modes I'll be using.
Any suggestions to try or not to try, would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MattR]

Hi Bob.......Are you chasing any specific types of targets?.............Coins?.Relics?......Any idea of the soil conditions?

What you set your Fe masking level at depends on the mineralisation of the soil...

Your Fe 18 suggests to me that you are anticipating a low mineralisation.

Heavier than 'normal' mineralisation will pull a target's Fe component towards the 20's possibly.

So if that were the case then you may be loosing some targets, especially when in Ferrous tones.

Just an opinion....I appreciate that no one but you when your on site, can really decide about such things.....All the best..........MattR.UK

p.s. My limited experiences with the E-Trac, and deeper targets, was an erratic signal typified by 'wandering' Fe values, more so than the target's Con.

I dug them based on the audio....even tho it was 'stuttering' , it did so in a repeatable manner.

It was that consistency that was the clue.......pulled several good keepers using that technique.

 

[Crash620]

Went out to the sod farm tonight for about an hour. Didnt find much as expected, but this section of the feild has always been a bit sparse.I hit what sounded to be an iffy target. I was using the Nail reject pattern, Cond tones, deep, difficult. Was running A+3. The Cond was fairly steady at about 28-30, but ferrous was all over the place from 1-28, but was holding quite a bit above 20-22. Dug an 1897 IH at about 6". It was about 6-8" away from a flat piece of iron about 2" long and 3/8" wide at about the same depth. I probably would not have dug it, but the field was just plowed and it was real soft. Had I thought it was a coin I would have tried your settings on it. I am sure you have probably done plenty of testing yourself before settling on 18 ferrous. Just doesnt seem like a good number for my conditions.
Regards,
Keith

 

[NH Bob]

I may expand it this weekend and see what else comes in the higher numbers.
17 is the base line on the ferrous in coins mode so I added one more for good measure. (this is all experimental as you know)
With a clear screen or all metal and ferrous sounds. I am liking 2 tones. I'm not sure where the breakoff point is between the 2 tones. As a ferrous #.
I am thinking it's got to be 17 or 18. Thats another reason why I use 18 as a ferrous #
Has anyone found any coins below 18 ferrous??

 

[jbow]

Try the QM 18 with ferrous, 2 tone too.

J

 

[jbow]

nickels come in at 12-12

J

 

[NH Bob]

I'm generally a coin hunter. Not a coin shooter. I hunt all old sites.
This mineralized soil and ferrous setting has me a little confused. Are you saying that high min-soil will drag the # down into the 20s ?

 

[NH Bob]

I've used that and like it a lot. But I'm hearting concern that 18 isn't enough ??

 

[NH Bob]

That was the next thing I was going to bring up. Has anyone got any notes on actual dug coins and how they IDed. # # # #

 

[coinnut]

Hi Bob, I have had the numbers bounce in the ferrous 13-18 range ,but only on certain passes. It may be enough for you to not stop, therefore missing the coin. But I have found that when it is centered and then rescanned, it came in better. I am starting to use a wide open screen and ferrous / 2 tones only. It seems to work for me, but I'm afraid I won't want to try anything else. If you get some higher (13 -19ish) ferrous hits, rescan them after pinpointing them. Tell us how you made out!! Good luck!

 

[AJupstateNY]

So it will be dueling E-Tracs, at the field at sunrise!

 

[Jim upstate NY]

with a bit of jumping around.. I think I would have ignored it at 18

 

[NH Bob]

YA, like I said earlier to someone here, I am liking that setting myself. But am looking to give both ways an honest try. At least that way, I'll be formilliar with different settings and how they actually react.

 

[NH Bob]

We work together and we'll have this baby tamed in no time. This weekend will amass a lot of info for the next few days of discussion.
I can't wait to get out. I'm taking the next 3 days to play with ET.

 

[EddieB]

Jim upstate NY post Sept 16 @9:32pm finds a 1827 large cent at 20/46 readings. Go to the post and read it. I thought I let you know. EddieB

 

[NH Bob]

Why would you dig a coin at ferrous 20 and ignore it at 18 ?
Just curious.

 

[NH Bob]

That is good to know, Can't fight city hall. Guess if I run in conductive sounds and quikmask. Quickmask should be set at, at least 20.

 

[Jim upstate NY]

so I don't think I would have dug the chirps I was getting above 20, it was still a solid 46 conductive and didnt drop below 20 to the low iron range, or above 20 as far as numbers if that is how you look at it..

 

[MattR]

quote="NH Bob"]
I'm generally a coin hunter. Not a coin shooter. I hunt all old sites.
This mineralized soil and ferrous setting has me a little confused. Are you saying that high min-soil will drag the # down into the 20s ?[/quote]
******************************

Hi Bob... Yes, I do suggest that Highly mineralised soil will 'add' numbers to the 'in-air' Fe value of a target.
That has been my perception of things so far.

These are early days for 'opinion polls' on the E-Trac, but regardless of the time factor, basic principals apply when-ever and for what-ever target and soil.

With this new Minelab we are anticipating contact with deeper target, are we not?

That being the case, then we must also anticipate our targets suffering what I will now term 'The bends' (Deep diving analogy')

That will manifest itself in the target's ID suffering some 'distortion' or corruption of its 'in-air' ID.

That will be mostly seen as an INCREASE in the Fe component of a targets identity as seen by the detector's analytical circuitry.

Also, in anticipation of operators pushing their sensitivity levels MUCH higher than the graphic suggested average level, then more noise will enter the system.

This will manifest itself in 'target ID bouncing'. So.....to we need to be generous with our discrim. window settings and keep them as open as possible, consistent with quietening down the more obvious iron signals.

Hope you don't think I'm trying to teach an experienced hunter like yourself, 'How to suck eggs'...but this post may also be read by folk new to the hobby.

The summation of all this being.........the numbers are 'snap-shots'...time sliced- info.....but the audio conveys a more homogeneous impression of the target's profile.

So even if the audio is 'bitty...mimicking the transient, variable nature of the visual IDs...take more notice of the repeatability or consistency of even poor tonal identification.....and dig as per your interpretation of matters, based on my attempts to describe my experiences of recovering 'keepers' AT DEPTH.

My coins came from 8 to 10 inches, on average, and a 0.303 cartridge case from 14 inches. It was a fabulously revealing day for my first 'soil' outing with the E-Trac.

I was hunting in 2 tones, Ferrous audio, QUICK MASK set at Fe disc level up from 35 to 28. and ported across to my SMART-SCREEN for easy monitoring of SENSITIVITIES graphs. My AUTO sense was preset to 19 ....which with the + & - 3 gave me sufficient latitude.
Watching the AUTO sense levels suggested settings kept me informed of ground conditions. This allowed me to toggle my sensitivity control over to manual when I saw any improvement in ground, to try increased depth in 'quieter' areas...or on iffy targets.

Look at Keith's comments which I've quoted below.....They reflects the point I'm trying to convey.....Good luck, and be patient and enquiring of those iffy targets...

Bring us home ALL your finds..... It's all detecting to me, and I love to share your day.....The good...the bad....and even the crap........MattR.UK.

********************

QUOTE:- KIETH....but ferrous was all over the place from 1-28, but was holding quite a bit above 20-22. Dug an 1897 IH at about 6". It was about 6-8" away from a flat piece of iron about 2" long and 3/8" wide at about the same depth. I probably would not have dug it, but the field was just plowed and it was real soft. Had I thought it was a coin I would have tried your settings on it. I am sure you have probably done plenty of testing yourself before settling on 18 ferrous. Just doesnt seem like a good number for my conditions.
Regards,
Keith

 

[NH Bob]

Just got back from a day out with the ET and enjoyed the mix of settings.
I ran the ferrous at 20 and conductive sounds for a while today. I dug no coins with a ferrous as low as 20. I didn't dig Any coins below 16. Now I'm not saying that I won't tomorrow. But today.. no.