Northern Rockies

[Jackalope]

Thought I'd toss this out and see if I learn anything. Although I've been in the hobby for a while, I've never worked an area where I found NO old coins. So far in this area, my oldest was a couple of wheat pennies. Sort of takes the wind out of your sails, so I've been mostly golfing.

Lots of history here and I suspect lots of old coins. My main unit is my F-75, which makes me wonder if it's me or the machine. Ground conditions here appear to be at the upper end of the bad soil scale. Usually 83 (sometimes 89) on the F-75 but can vary in a short area. I'm never confident that GB is correct, so I'm constantly doing a "Quick Grab".

My understanding is that for highly mineralized areas, the E-trac trumps the F-75. The Auto GB on the E-trac appeals to me as I have it on my XLT and love the way it works. If I could get a little more depth out of the XLT, I'd probably never use anything else.

I'd appreciate any input on this mineralization issue, especially from those out West and have experienced the contrast between the F-75 and the E-trac in heavy mineralized soil. I've stayed away from ML because I'm getting a bit older and weight could be an issue but I've read that the E-trac is more balanced than the previous models. Wish there was a dealer nearby so I could try one out but the closest is 100 miles (Denver).

Ron

 

[Barry NY]

i hear the "weight" issue can be offset with a swingy thingy type harness...

 

[Southwind]

Well I don't think our soil here in southwest Kansas is as bad as yours, but I can say I just love the E-Trac's ability to pull those missed ones out.

I've had the E-Trac for about a month now and I also had concerns about the weight. I owned a Minelab SE and it just tore me up. I have swung the E-Trac for as long as five hours straight and not had any problems. I was ready to swing another five. What ever they did with the E-Trac makes the weight a non-issue for me.

I like how you can see the auto system in progress. Watching the sensitivity tells you how your ground conditions are changing.

I've taken the E-Trac to several sites that have been pounded hard for many years, and most of it by me and my Eagle Spectrum, then XLT, then DFX with a SE, GT and a X-Terra in the mix, and now the E-Trac is serving up virgin territory for me. Reaching new depths has made my old sites come alive once again.

 

[Jackalope]

Barryny:

Can't imagine ever using one of those swing things, but thanks for the suggestion. I have enough trouble with getting tangled in the headset cord.

Southwind:

Think I made a mistake going with the F-75 but it sure gets easy to get caught up in the hype. For some reason, me and the F-75 can't seem to get on speaking terms. Comparing the detailed ability to use Discriminate on my XLT and the broad categories/ranges on the F-75 makes me appreciate the ability to fine tune the Disc. Obviously, the XLT was way ahead of its time. Actually: I'm using the XLT more often because of its excellent Disc. ability and I like to watch it automatically ground track in this difficult soil. Have the 6" deepscan coil also, so it's a lot of fun.

As you can see, the E-trac would be more useful to me. I have Andy's book, so I have a pretty good idea how to proceed. When I tried to download the Emulator, my machine said the file might be corrupted and wouldn't accept it. Go figure.

Appreciate the positive info on the weight/balance of the E-trac. I'm inclined to believe that the audio/visual mix of the E-trac may suit me. I'm not a beep/dig hunter and I would prefer a higher probability of good target before I dig. Accuracy trumps depth in my book, especially in this hard ground. Would like to know what auto-sensitivity setting the E-trac would recommend in this tough soil. Probably in the teens. I'm sure the Difficult setting would be necessary as the track speed on my XLT has to be almost max for it to track properly. Apparently its bad soil with rapid changes.

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to respond. HH

Ron