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new e-trac, need help understanding how the discrimination works
- Thread starter waterloo
- Start date
Hello Waterloo - I see you just registered today - welcome... I see you've just gotten the E-Trac and I don't know for how long or what else you've been using but my advice would be to:
Read the manual and read Andy Sabisch's book and then play with your machine and have some fun with the stock modes and stock discrimination patterns.
Once you've logged in a solid 5 hunts/25 hours with the E-Trac - read Andy's book again.
Now if you want to play around with the discrimination it's really very simple - the unit allows you to discriminate down to literally 1,750 possible FE (ferrous) and CO (conductivity) points on a 2 dimensional scale...you will use the amount of discrimination to suit your detecting locations and detecting style.
After you've read the books and gotten comfortable with the SmartFind screen you will be able to create your own Patterns (or download someone else's) and target your discrimination anyway you want - some guys just discriminate out the most Ferrous items cutting out FE 35-29 and leaving their screen basically wide open, some guys have created very unique patterns for coin shooting in trashy areas discriminating out specific types of bottletops or pulltabs (they seem to be finding) using the E-Trac's notch type discrimination process...
The possibilities are endless - have fun with those tones. Read EVERY post written on the machine on every forum there is - I did - you'll get it down real fast.
Barry
Read the manual and read Andy Sabisch's book and then play with your machine and have some fun with the stock modes and stock discrimination patterns.
Once you've logged in a solid 5 hunts/25 hours with the E-Trac - read Andy's book again.
Now if you want to play around with the discrimination it's really very simple - the unit allows you to discriminate down to literally 1,750 possible FE (ferrous) and CO (conductivity) points on a 2 dimensional scale...you will use the amount of discrimination to suit your detecting locations and detecting style.
After you've read the books and gotten comfortable with the SmartFind screen you will be able to create your own Patterns (or download someone else's) and target your discrimination anyway you want - some guys just discriminate out the most Ferrous items cutting out FE 35-29 and leaving their screen basically wide open, some guys have created very unique patterns for coin shooting in trashy areas discriminating out specific types of bottletops or pulltabs (they seem to be finding) using the E-Trac's notch type discrimination process...
The possibilities are endless - have fun with those tones. Read EVERY post written on the machine on every forum there is - I did - you'll get it down real fast.
Barry
Hello Barry,
Thank you for your help, it takes a long time for the penny to drop with me ( sadly). If i knew what the frame sizes were doing,small, medium,large, & all pattern, for instance what dose the small frame do what's it saying ( the frame size will modify a 1x1 fe-co area of the discrimination pattern? ) the detectors I've used in the past i could see the discrimination moving when i adjusted them, I'm at a loss here, i want to understand the machine and use it to its full potential as i believe its the best on the market to-date, once again thank you for your help.
Yours
Richard.
Thank you for your help, it takes a long time for the penny to drop with me ( sadly). If i knew what the frame sizes were doing,small, medium,large, & all pattern, for instance what dose the small frame do what's it saying ( the frame size will modify a 1x1 fe-co area of the discrimination pattern? ) the detectors I've used in the past i could see the discrimination moving when i adjusted them, I'm at a loss here, i want to understand the machine and use it to its full potential as i believe its the best on the market to-date, once again thank you for your help.
Yours
Richard.
Hey, Barry,
If you a visual kinda guy I would suggest you go to Minelab TV. They not only have videos of Minelabs in action but there are a number of training videos on how to set up the machine. Watching the videos remember that the Explorer series of machines and E-Trac are similar in the way they work. To get the nitty gritty you will need Andy Sabisch's book.
Cheers,
Scott
If you a visual kinda guy I would suggest you go to Minelab TV. They not only have videos of Minelabs in action but there are a number of training videos on how to set up the machine. Watching the videos remember that the Explorer series of machines and E-Trac are similar in the way they work. To get the nitty gritty you will need Andy Sabisch's book.
Cheers,
Scott
Waterloo - IDig has a good point - watch those quick videos at his link for the Minelab TV channel.
The frame size allows you to discriminate out different size areas at a time - makes it easier than having to hit each and every one of the small coordinates (remember there are 1,750 of them).
The frame size allows you to discriminate out different size areas at a time - makes it easier than having to hit each and every one of the small coordinates (remember there are 1,750 of them).
Hello, and thank you for taking the time to help me, I'm sorry to be so slow in picking up all what I'm being told but I'm not technically minded, ( perhaps I'm a bit late in years to start now ) but i would like to try!
When you say the frame size allows you to discriminate out different sizes of area at a time! what is a frame area, if i wanted the highest amount of discrimination what frame would i choose, or the least amount of discrimination what frame would i use? when I'm out detecting i like to hunt for Hammered silvers or Relics, i know i could select the preset Relic setting and just go, but understanding the setting and being able to make changes along the way to get the best i can from the E-trac is what its all about.
Thank you once again,
Yours,
Waterloo.
When you say the frame size allows you to discriminate out different sizes of area at a time! what is a frame area, if i wanted the highest amount of discrimination what frame would i choose, or the least amount of discrimination what frame would i use? when I'm out detecting i like to hunt for Hammered silvers or Relics, i know i could select the preset Relic setting and just go, but understanding the setting and being able to make changes along the way to get the best i can from the E-trac is what its all about.
Thank you once again,
Yours,
Waterloo.
Each target, depending on ferrous content will be given an FE number, also depending on its conductivity will be given a CO number. This FE-CO number is plotted on the screen as a X-Y co-ordinate. If those co-ordinates land on a white part of the screen you will see it on the screen and hear the target according to your audio settings. If it lands in a black part of the screen it will be blanked. The smartfind screen just allow you to choose what gets blanked and what doesn't.
When I first got my e-trac I got piles of targets, both good and bad, and ran them past my coil to see where they plot on the smartfind with an open screen. From that you get orientated to the smartfind screen, in your mind you will start to 'zone up' the different areas of the smartfind to where the different targets hit (eg, silver, brass, pull tabs, gold rings etc). Once you know where targets appear, you can exclude the different areas by blacking them out. This is done in the edit screen where you are given a square frame that you move around and select areas you want to discriminate. So if you black out a 3x3 square for example, any target that has FE-CO numbers that fall in that square will be blanked.
Some people use 'tight' patterns, e.g entire screen blacked out with only white (open) areas where specific coins are located. I've seen many guys do a 'first pass' with a pattern like this and get all the high denomination coins first, then open it up and get the lower denomination coins on the second pass. (Cherry picking)
If there any etrac owners in your area, hit them up for lesson. Face to face is much easier to digest.
Good luck
Greg
When I first got my e-trac I got piles of targets, both good and bad, and ran them past my coil to see where they plot on the smartfind with an open screen. From that you get orientated to the smartfind screen, in your mind you will start to 'zone up' the different areas of the smartfind to where the different targets hit (eg, silver, brass, pull tabs, gold rings etc). Once you know where targets appear, you can exclude the different areas by blacking them out. This is done in the edit screen where you are given a square frame that you move around and select areas you want to discriminate. So if you black out a 3x3 square for example, any target that has FE-CO numbers that fall in that square will be blanked.
Some people use 'tight' patterns, e.g entire screen blacked out with only white (open) areas where specific coins are located. I've seen many guys do a 'first pass' with a pattern like this and get all the high denomination coins first, then open it up and get the lower denomination coins on the second pass. (Cherry picking)
If there any etrac owners in your area, hit them up for lesson. Face to face is much easier to digest.
Good luck
Greg
Waterloo - if your searching for hammered silver and relics - everyone says less discrimination is best.
Check out the Minelab owners website for really good info on England hunting.
Most of the guys there use a modified nail reject pattern - pictures are there on that website.
Good luck.
Check out the Minelab owners website for really good info on England hunting.
Most of the guys there use a modified nail reject pattern - pictures are there on that website.
Good luck.
Lets say that the E-Trac screen is one big Square with several small Squares inside it. You have a FE Square starting at the top left of the screen at 1 and running down the left side to 35. Then you have a CO Square starting in the left corner running left to right from 1 to 50. So you have 1,750 small Squares inside that big square.
Each little square is an area where a target can show a signal according to its metallic properties. With that being said, when a square is blacked out it will not signal on that particular square. However it may produce a signal in a square above or below or to the left or right of that particular square but with a weaker signal or broken signal strength. The machine is not that sensitive or fool proof to be able to notch out only one of the blocks and totally eliminate a specific target. The target could produce a signal lets say in a 3 square x 3 square area. For instance FE 11-12-13 and CO 45-46-47 with a weaker broken signal on 11-45,46 and 12-45,46 and 13-45,46 but a Strong solid hit on 12-47 which would be in my particular area most likely a U.S. Clad Quarter.
Deep Targets, lets say coins can fall in the FE area from 08 to 24. The depth, mineralization will usually pull the FE numbers farther down the scale but your CO numbers will remain relatively close to dead on in my experience.
Like others have stated if you don't have Andy Sabischs' Explorer & E-Trac Handbook you should get it, it will help you in a big way. I am not the most versed person on the workings of the machine but this is my explanation.
BCOOP, Missouri
Each little square is an area where a target can show a signal according to its metallic properties. With that being said, when a square is blacked out it will not signal on that particular square. However it may produce a signal in a square above or below or to the left or right of that particular square but with a weaker signal or broken signal strength. The machine is not that sensitive or fool proof to be able to notch out only one of the blocks and totally eliminate a specific target. The target could produce a signal lets say in a 3 square x 3 square area. For instance FE 11-12-13 and CO 45-46-47 with a weaker broken signal on 11-45,46 and 12-45,46 and 13-45,46 but a Strong solid hit on 12-47 which would be in my particular area most likely a U.S. Clad Quarter.
Deep Targets, lets say coins can fall in the FE area from 08 to 24. The depth, mineralization will usually pull the FE numbers farther down the scale but your CO numbers will remain relatively close to dead on in my experience.
Like others have stated if you don't have Andy Sabischs' Explorer & E-Trac Handbook you should get it, it will help you in a big way. I am not the most versed person on the workings of the machine but this is my explanation.
BCOOP, Missouri