I Am Not Understanding Its Language

[grumpyolman]

Been doing lots of hunting with my ET. Some deep finds but only one wheatie. Using factory presets for coins, automatic +1, and watching and listening to what's happening. I go over a signal several times and get lots of different tones and readings. I put it in Quick Find, almost running fully open to verify something I heard, and when I try to determine the location of the target(s), they are in completely different locations than where I heard them in Disc. That's for everything except a surface coin. This is more noticeable when there are several targets close to each other with, probably, trash there too. Which mode do I trust for verifying that it's a target to dig and what does it mean when the target seems to be in different places when I change modes? I am having lots of fun finding clad but feel I am missing some higher quality targets. Any help would be appreciated. Jim

 

[mblemmy]

well i am very new with the etrac as well.... the only other minelab unit i have used is the excalibur.i didnt like it at first but after 10 years with it i wouldnt trade it for the world.it is a very deep beach machine. the etrac seems to be deeper. i also believe the double d coil on the etrac makes it a bit trickier to pinpoint .with other detectors you can move the coil side to side and front to back and listen for the loudest spot. with the etrac it all loud which i like.... once i isolate the best i can and while over the target i hit the pinpoint and with that i can easly center up with the bfo mode as i like to call it.....and dig where the pitch is the highest. im sure you will soon love it........



mikeB

 

[mike - in]

Just got my ET too and have had the same problem. I went for a couple of those signals today and decided I was going to find the target no matter how big of a hole I had to dig. Both turned out to be deep, large nails in the side of the hole. I've had this happen with every detector I've ever tried to push to the deepest limits. I was hoping the "iron mask" would eliminate this but it doesn't seem that it does. I'm probably (OBVIOUSLY) not hearing the right thing yet. Sure will be nice to get the dues paid! Good luck!

Mike

 

[tmanfromtexas]

well i am very new with the etrac as well.... the only other minelab unit i have used is the excalibur.i didnt like it at first but after 10 years with it i wouldnt trade it for the world.it is a very deep beach machine. the etrac seems to be deeper. i also believe the double d coil on the etrac makes it a bit trickier to pinpoint .with other detectors you can move the coil side to side and front to back and listen for the loudest spot. with the etrac it all loud which i like.... once i isolate the best i can and while over the target i hit the pinpoint and with that i can easly center up with the bfo mode as i like to call it.....and dig where the pitch is the highest. im sure you will soon love it........



mikeB

I use the front of the coil to pinpoint. I get a signal, back the coil up until the tone goes away then move forward until I get a tone again. It is right under the front of the coil. I very seldom use the pinpoint but when I have when the tone is highest and the bars are closest to the center the target is under the pin where the shaft attaches to the coil. TMAN...

 

[LATiger]

I've had a little luck with the following pinpoint technique with the 11" DD coil. Center target achieving maximum tone and bars. Then rotate coil 90 degrees and recenter if needed. When coil can be rotated 90 degrees without loss of tone or bars, target will almost always be directly below center of coil. The DD seems to center a target very well side to side, but less so front to back. Centering side to side in two perpendicular planes greatly increases pinpoint accuracy.

Brian

 

[Rick(ND)]

I have mine set up about the same as yours is other than the auto sensitivity is +3.Now if i get kind of a iffy high tone signal that will repeat and the ferrous is around 9-18 I will go to quick mask and run it to see if this target will move or not and what the ferrous and conductivity is and find inmost case is it moves the ferrous numbers are either 1-3 or in the 30s which mean it is seeing iron. If it stay in the same spot as in disc the numbers also can run high I will now go out of quick mask and be in my disc and go over it again and try to get the ferrous number and conductivity number to what I like to see. I will work the signal to right in front of where the rod for the coil is mounted and go around that signal and if it repeats 2 different direction I will be digging. The reason when you open up the quick mask it moves is you are seeing any iron around the target and will get the numbers of iron also, but in the disc mode you wont see these numbers as they are disc out and if it repeats from more than one direction the ET is seeing something more than the iron. Also iron when swing the coil over it may give a signal coming off iron and will not give a repeatable signal in the same place.
One more thing is I run difficult ground and high trash as recommended for inland hunting.
I too still dig a lot of rusty nails,but getting better and really hate to leave a good coin in the ground just because it don't read perfect, but have seen iron will give a very low ferrous number or a very high one.

 

[Jeb NWR]

Sounds like your chasing the High squeals of Iron mistaking them for Good targets. You may even be chasing False signals that mineralization throws off in the soil. WATCH YOUR X HAIRS . If it is hovering anywhere near the bottom right of your Screen when you get a target response signal. Ignore the target. move on.

 

[EZrider]

Jeb and Rick are right on this. Learn to trust the sounds of your machine. Don't rely on the screen. The screen is just an educated guess. You should know if your going to dig or not before looking at it. The stock program is good. The only thing i would change is the tone to 4 instead of multi.

When you get a good two way signal, pivot 360 around the target while sweeping. If you get a good two way signal 50% or more, dig it. What you have to learn is how to hear the difference between a bouncing signal that is trash and a double signal that is trash and a good target.

While the E-Trac is not meant to be better than a Explorer "don't buy into the hype" Minelab did a great job in producing a high end detector that anyone can turn on and go. As well as advanced enough for someone with alot of experience. It's not a magic wand or the "Holy Grail". The tools are there.

 

[grumpyolman]

Thanks for the input and ideas. I am using the TID a lot to look at the numbers. Much more than I do with the SE. I'll try 4 tones but can't now consistently tell with multi on if it's a digger or not. That's why I use the TID to verify what I think I heard. The comment that "bouncing signal that is trash and a double signal that is trash" might be what I am experiencing. " Iron when swing the coil over it may give a signal coming off iron and will not give a repeatable signal in the same place" is also probably what I am experiencing and acting incorrectly.
The really bothersome thing is I hear signals, move slowly, and can't tell if I'm coming off one and/or mixing it with another, Just might be that I need to put my 8" SR coil on work it with that for awhile as it should help separate targets. If I had to use one word to describe my problem it would be hearing and identifying the 'separation' of many different sounds in the same 2-3' circle. Maybe I'm not alone in this problem. Jim

 

[Jim upstate NY]

Just wonder because I seldom gig nails with it, and even with 9 years on the explorer. I get plenty with the etrac.. so not sure you will never not dig them or not.. I think I could pass some iffy ones, but I dont like passing things up that could be good either

 

[EZrider]

Jim, when in doubt hit the quick mask. The open screen should tell if its a slightly masked target,iron or some kind of good target mixed with trash. The way i tought myself how to distingwish bettween the two is by useing my test garden and spending alot of time in a clad heave section of my park. Anything that gave a repeatable high tone "4th tone" 50% or more around the target gets dug. Even if you hear some other tone mixed in.

 

[EZrider]

If i owned an Explorer and had alot of time on one i wouldnt have let hype convince me to buy an ET. Sorry JimNY. Thats where the F75 and T2 rule, in the iron/relic hunting

 

[Toddy from Scotland]

I have looked at this chart can I offer some advice on how I would set it up?? Please tell me is it only SILVER coins your after??

 

[jimpugh]

I have pulled many a good target ....one way ....that would not X both ways and did not make the right tone......but the tone it did make had the correct sound or time constant........when hunting at a experienced level with the TRAC........Depth Gauge is your best friend and pinpoint is a non issue........Until you get the TC (time constant ) down on good targets.....you will lack confidence and dig falses
Keep it simple......the meter will Lie but your ears are closer to your brain....Until your brain is reprogrammed to decipher the data the the TRAC is providing your EARS .....You have a lot of swinging , Walking and digging to DO.....
NO HYPE HERE the others BLOW in My BOOK.....
I have already posted proper set UP.....if you venture off on your own so be it....WHAH.... WHAH.... WHAW....

AND AS always

Happy Trails
Jim Pugh

 

[mike - in]

I'm sure that's most of the problem. Hunted for about 4 hours today and the sounds are slowly becoming friends. Got an 1881 IH and a 1918 Wheat today so things are looking up.

 

[grumpyolman]

Sent PMs to jpugh and Scotty. The real problem for me is expressing or explaining clearly what it is that I need to learn. I'm sure those of you who have answered have the solution. To translate that into good physical/mental detecting practices is difficult. What I really need is to follow one of you for a couple of hours and watch. When I first started fishing for steelhead, there were many days I stood on the bank to watch what the good fishers were doing to get fish. I didn't even put a line into the water. Greetings and hallucinations...Jim

 

[mblemmy]

the sounds of my etrac is starting to make more sence to me... its similiar to a whites eagle 2 sl 90 i had years ago.... but amplified about 5 times. the response is much faster. which is real nice in high trash areas. with the older machines you had to clean out the junk before you started finding silver. this etrac really seems to get around it even with the 11 in coil. i am going to order the 5 or 6 in coil cuz i have some areas that ar just too cluttered. I picked a 1916 merc. dime and some wheaties today. this weekend i will hit the beach.


good luck all!!!!


mikeB

etrac/excal swinger