After to talking to Joe DeMarco and seeing his shop while visiting New Jersey, I'm hooked. I 'm pretty sure the E-Trac is a great machine, but is it too complicated for someone new? I've been trying to read a lot and the more I read the more confused I get. Will the factory programs be good enough to find enough stuff to keep me interested? I'm not looking to hit the jackpot and have already dug an awful lot nails, bottlecaps, etc., but that was helping a friend that was trying to learn his machine, so I wasn't able to learn too much. I'm thinking of hitting a local beach that isn't hit too hard, or a soccer field that sees a lot of use, but not much hunting to try to learn. There isn't anyone in the area(that I'm aware of), so I'm pretty much going to have to learn what I can here. Any suggestions, tips, pointers will be greatly appreciated!
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Newbie Questions
- Thread starter minimac
- Start date
I started metal detecting in May of this year and learned on the ETrac. My rationale was that might as well get a good one and wouldn't have to learn it again if I decided to upgrade and if I didn't like the hobby I could probably resell and take no more of a beating that if I got stuck with a junky machine and then try to upgrade later. I haven't found the Etrac too difficult to learn. Read your manual. Get Andy Sabisch's book and go to You Tube and check out the videos there (esp. NebTrac's and Goes4Ever). I'm still learning but at least I figure I'm learning how to use the best machine out there which isn't wasted time in my book. Hope this helps. BTW I've found about 50 silvers including a trashed 1900 Barber half and a1928 English Shilling. It's a cool hobby, have fun.
Larry--IndianaHVAC
New member
You won't go wrong getting an Etrac and just running it in the stock coin program! The Etrac is easier to learn then most detectors out there!
Phillip_in_NM
Member
Eyeman makes some very good points as does Larry. For my two cents, I'll add that if you get the Etrac emulator program and try to make every adjustment mentioned in both the manual and in Andy's book on the emulator, you will be way ahead of the game in actual practice with the Etrac. I feel like I'm still a novice on the machine, but boy, what a machine it can be even in the hands of a novice!
I've used most of the high end detectors (White's DFX, Garrett's GTI 2500 and Fisher's F75) and have found more older coins (wheats, Native American heads, buffalo nickels and silver - including a 1857 Seated) in the three months I've had the Etrac than I did in the ten years I spent with those other three machines. The only reason I have the other machines that I currently own is: 1) The AT Pro lets me hunt in the water or in the rain; 2) The M6 lets me cover a lot of ground very quickly and cherry pick parks for those rare times I hunt parks; and 3) The Omega is fun and easy to use in heavy iron - although I'm pretty sure when I've really learned the Etrac, the Omega will find its way into the hands of some other hobbyist.
I can't imagine anyone just entering the hobby not doing very well with the Etrac. Like my gambling buddy always says: "Go big or go home!". You can't go any bigger than the Etrac and I'm very confident that you will be delighted that you did.
Like I said, that's my two cents.
I've used most of the high end detectors (White's DFX, Garrett's GTI 2500 and Fisher's F75) and have found more older coins (wheats, Native American heads, buffalo nickels and silver - including a 1857 Seated) in the three months I've had the Etrac than I did in the ten years I spent with those other three machines. The only reason I have the other machines that I currently own is: 1) The AT Pro lets me hunt in the water or in the rain; 2) The M6 lets me cover a lot of ground very quickly and cherry pick parks for those rare times I hunt parks; and 3) The Omega is fun and easy to use in heavy iron - although I'm pretty sure when I've really learned the Etrac, the Omega will find its way into the hands of some other hobbyist.
I can't imagine anyone just entering the hobby not doing very well with the Etrac. Like my gambling buddy always says: "Go big or go home!". You can't go any bigger than the Etrac and I'm very confident that you will be delighted that you did.
Like I said, that's my two cents.
I went out today after practicing in my yard for a little bit. Since I don't know what I'm doing, I just ran the pre programed settings. I was amazed at how the E-Trac worked and the differing tones. I only worked a small area of the beach trying to figure out the machine and make some sense of what I've read. I got to where I could tell some of the different sounds and more times than not, the numbers backed up what I was hearing. I guess I'll get better with some practice. I did note that the depth it was showing didn't correspond too well with what I had to dig, but I figure that it was me reading it wrong. I was amazed that when I really slowed waaaaay down, the multiple targets it picked up. I wasn't really trying to find anything, just spending some time and trying to get to know my machine. I did dig up half a dozen pennies at depths varying from 4 to 8 inches at different locations and know I passed some other solid hits, but my focus was listening and seeing and trying to figure out what I was being told. This is going to be fun!
Bell-Two
Active member
It some ways you have an advantage in learning the E-Trac if it is your first machine, you do not have to UNLEARN somethings from your previous detector. Here is an article that was published in the Ohio Metal Detecting Magazine about the E-Trac and the learning curve and my experiences with it. I am still learning much and feel I will as long as I am using this machine. This was written after I had used the E-Trac for about 6 months.
Learning Curve And The E-Trac
When I first started thinking about getting an E-Trac I read many articles and postings bewailing the steep learning curve on this machine. While I am not the most technologically advanced person neither am I a Luddite when it comes to the challenge of new things. My first experience with metal detecting came with an Ace 250, I was like so many others who think that they may enjoy metal detecting but do not want to sink a large sum in a machine until they know that metal detecting was something they wanted to pursue. I looked around websites and forums and decided the Ace was a machine that would give me the chance to find some good things, was simpler to use than many others and was in the price range I first envisioned.
I stumbled across the Dayton Diggers website and I shot an e-mail to Steve Greene outlining my thoughts and he concurred that it would be a good machine to start with. Like so many others my first hunts yielded mostly junk, but I persevered and after about two weeks I found my first coin and then my first wheatie, I was thrilled. After three months Steve took me to a site and there I found my first silver coin, a very nice 1930 Merc
Learning Curve And The E-Trac
When I first started thinking about getting an E-Trac I read many articles and postings bewailing the steep learning curve on this machine. While I am not the most technologically advanced person neither am I a Luddite when it comes to the challenge of new things. My first experience with metal detecting came with an Ace 250, I was like so many others who think that they may enjoy metal detecting but do not want to sink a large sum in a machine until they know that metal detecting was something they wanted to pursue. I looked around websites and forums and decided the Ace was a machine that would give me the chance to find some good things, was simpler to use than many others and was in the price range I first envisioned.
I stumbled across the Dayton Diggers website and I shot an e-mail to Steve Greene outlining my thoughts and he concurred that it would be a good machine to start with. Like so many others my first hunts yielded mostly junk, but I persevered and after about two weeks I found my first coin and then my first wheatie, I was thrilled. After three months Steve took me to a site and there I found my first silver coin, a very nice 1930 Merc
Thanks, that helps a lot. I went back yesterday for about two hours. I hit a '64 quarter and a '63 dime in the first five minutes! Then spent the next hour and a half digging up bottlecaps. I just need to figure out what I'm seeing and hearing, and get better in my digging. I'm sure there is a lot I'm missing because I'm trying to dig only solid, repeatable signals and still going by the numbers primarily. I guess I need to keep it simple, until I get better.
Bell-Two
Active member
minimac said:
Bottle caps can be a real fooler, particularly the older ones, it is hard to put in words but generally caps will have a bit of a "screechy" sound as you pass the coil over them particularly at the end of the swing. Experience will help you on that...and experience will tell you.....that you will still dig a cap or two!
