Noise Cancel Survey

[MHirschmann]

I'm trying to get to the bottom of auto vs. manual noise cancel. I have read every possible article about noise cancel and manual vs. auto and so I wanted to start a thread and see what others are doing. I've been E-Tracing for about 4 years now and questioning auto vs. manual noise cancel has only recently become a topic I started wondering about.

I use auto noise cancel but I have read a lot of articles where people are using manual noise cancel. My testing shows that auto works very well, however, some claim that "x" channel is better than "y" depending on what you are looking for. I have not noticed this and so I am looking for more concrete answers.

So, if you have some more concrete answers/experience relating to this topic, I would greatly appreciate your input here.

Thanks in advance for any/all help -Marc

 

[Yeasty]

I use low Noise Cancel numbers over dirt and high NC numbers at the beach.
NC varies the transmitted frequency.
Low NC numers = lower frequency = better response from higher conductors (silver, copper)
High NC numbers = higher frequency = better response from lower conductors (gold)
If there is a lot of EMI it's a moot point and I let the machine find the quietest channel with AUTO.
This holds true for all Explorers, ETrac and CTX3030 machines. They all transmit the same waveform pattern.
Doing this may not give me a lot of improvement but I'll take all I can get.

 

[MHirschmann]

Thanks for your response. Interesting, so you are actually noticing a measurable difference between manually selecting a lower channel for higher conductors and higher channels for higher conductors vs. simply using an auto channel that the machine chooses.

I will have to do some testing as I have never compared channels on signals before. I always thought the machine would do the job "right" but you are another notch on the list for manual NC selection. Seems there are quite a lot of people who swear by the manual method. I'll give it a go and see what happens.

Geez, as soon as you think you have everything figured out, you discover another aspect/function that you overlooked. I love this hobby and the constant experimentation/learning curve is all part of the fun! -Marc

 

[Samuel_Champlain_FTW]

Why was I under the assumption that channels 9-10-11 are better for deep silver. (I swear I have read that somewhere...)

I have found deep silver dimes (10-12 ") on those channels....

Yeasty sounds like he knows his stuff.. This means it's worth hitting those hunted out spots again on other channels.

 

[Phillip_in_NM]

High NC numbers = higher frequency = better response from lower conductors (gold)
.

I can verify what Yeasty said here. When we were doing our disappointing test with the Etracs on gold, both machines would only find a gold ring at 4 inches when manually set to channel 11. No other channel would work and the weird part too is that it put the gold ring on the 01 Ferrous line.

 

[JamesBondaka]

Its all relative to your conditions basically at that moment. I would say that the Etrac looks at EMI etc and takes its best guess at what would be the best freq to use. Depending on where you are that might change....and change again. Again, your key ingredient is the soil but that is where the coins etc are...not in the air. I have noticed that some freq react better to one item over another but on a general scale with a good target...unless your EMI is really bad....I don't think it makes too much difference.

 

[markg]

High NC numbers = higher frequency = better response from lower conductors (gold)
.

I can verify what Yeasty said here. When we were doing our disappointing test with the Etracs on gold, both machines would only find a gold ring at 4 inches when manually set to channel 11. No other channel would work and the weird part too is that it put the gold ring on the 01 Ferrous line.

I have noticed the same thing when using channel 11. I try to make it a habit of using this channel when hunting tot lots for gold.

It would be very useful information to have an accurate answer to the posted question, but I'm doubting it ever comes.
Needless to say, the Etrac is a very good machine.

 

[Paul (IL)]

I guess I have based my usage of noise cancelling on different criteria. I turn on my G pin pointer and hold it near the coil then push the noise cancel and the noise is eliminated from using the pin pointer as well as other sources of emi. I guess I never thought of it affecting depth of certain items. I learn something almost every day.

 

[hydrodog]

I use channel 11 on low mineral soils, channel 6 on most other soils. I always use auto noise cancel when I encounter high EMI interference. One spot I hunt has the really big electric transmission lines along the side of the property about 90 yds. away, and when the e trac is powered up it falses constantly on all channels, I then turn the sensitivity down to around 8 to get a steady threshold,start detecting and within 10 minutes I am able to turn the sensitivity to 25 or higher without falsing. This spot usually auto cancels below 6. I have read some articles on the web about a guy called digs_alot and he hunts saltwater beaches with the e trac and uses channel 11 only with sensitivity at 30 and he has found alot of gold and silver . The fe-co numbers are listed along with pictures of the rings and jewelry on the net.

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

Interesting info!

All theses test done with actual in ground targets or air testing?

 

[MHirschmann]

I'm with you Bart on that question. Most "testing" that I have read about were air tests. I am wondering how exactly it all translates to the "real world."

As for gold, as some others have mentioned above, I have read several write-ups that claim that channel 4 is the hottest gold channel.

I have read many times that the lower the channel, the lower the frequencies, the higher the channel, the higher the frequencies. If this is true, then using channel 11, as others have posted above, wouldn't make much sense for searching for gold.

It seems that I am going to have to go out and test the channels on actual targets as there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer to this question.

Thank you guys for your input.

-Marc

 

[Yeasty]

If you can get thru this article without falling asleep you will have a better understanding. Section 2.9 is interesting to me because it covers FBS technology.


http://www.minelab.com/__files/f/11043/METAL%20DETECTOR%20BASICS%20AND%20THEORY.pdf

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Very interesting survey Marc !

I've always used Auto NC - so I'm just sitting back and reading what others are posting.

 

[Goes4ever]

I rarely ever noise cancel, only do if I get interference, I try to keep mine on channel 6 if possible, seems to work best for me

 

[Sailorman]

I have read many times that the lower the channel, the lower the frequencies, the higher the channel, the higher the frequencies. If this is true, then using channel 11, as others have posted above, wouldn't make much sense for searching for gold.

-Marc

Actually you do want higher freq for gold, lower for silver. The Gold Bug II runs at 71 khz for example.

I used to do a noise cancel every hunt but these days, just to keep my fingers crossed I'm running 11 on the beach and seem to get less falsing inland around 9 in my sandy somewhat neutral soil. I do have a spot that is a mineral spring that very tough to get any machine to settle down on that seems to do better around 2.

 

[MHirschmann]

Sorry Sailorman, you are absolutely correct. It does make sense. i don't know what I was thinking. Must have been drinking from the cup of crazy when I wrote that.

I have read in several posts/write-ups, that people prefer channel 4 for gold, which wouldn't make any sense going with the channel-to-frequency-talk.

From the articles I have read, it seems that the most commonly used channels are 2,6,9,10,11. I have read at least a dozen opinions from people that have all discovered these channels to work best for them. The strange part is, none of these people live in the same area, which is why I wanted to start this thread. I was wondering if there really was something to these channels that was worth further investigation.

Here are the channels that people in this thread are using:

Samuel: 9,10, 11
Phillip: 11
Mark: 11
Hydrodog: 11
G4E: 6
Sailorman: 2, 9, 11

Now, look at what I said above. From what I have read, 2, 6, 9, 10, 11 are the "hot channels" according to some very good hunters/smart guys whose articles I have been reading. What I am finding in this thread is that the people on here are having success exactly with these channels, HMMM....Now I'm really glad I started this thread as I do believe now that there is some meat here. I am certainly going to be doing more testing now.

THANKS GUYS!!! -Marc

 

[Coilfisher]

High NC numbers = higher frequency = better response from lower conductors (gold)
.

I can verify what Yeasty said here. When we were doing our disappointing test with the Etracs on gold, both machines would only find a gold ring at 4 inches when manually set to channel 11. No other channel would work and the weird part too is that it put the gold ring on the 01 Ferrous line.

Go bury your wedding band at 5 inches--turn on the machine--and try detecting it.
That is hogwash.

 

[nge]

When you bury your wedding band, make sure you stomp the dirt back in the hole very tightly, you have to replicate what you would find in the "real" world. Unless you are hunting a construction site where the dirt has been disturbed. Air pockets do make a difference........nge

 

[stasys]

from my mad test with explorers and later Etrac I found channel 1 is best for small items, I was able to get a bit deeper compared to the rest numbers.

 

[kabarcoinin]

Just bought a Sunray x5,gonna check this channel issue out tommorow AM pronto. this could be very helpful.