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not to impressed with the etrac so far

G

Goldmanjace

New member
Well after a few hours detecting and trying different settings I somehow have the feeling that my SE was better. I cant seem to find anything but clad at not much more than 3 inches and not all to much of it either compared to the time spent hunting. I have tried TTF and 4 tone as well. Targets are unstable most of the time. I still end up digging iron nails. I did manage to get a wheat penny at a pretty good dept of about 9 inches but the signal was not so good and I was using 4 tone ferrous. The numbers were well in the iron range but out of curiousity I dug. I did not find any silver yet and I dought I will sometime soon. I tried conduct with disc but when I do that I dont seem to do better and if I use less disc I find tons of iron. Also it nulls on a few places so I tend to use the ferrous 2 to 4 tone. Can anyone give me some advice? I am now thinking that maybe I should have got an SE again, it was HOT on silver and I never dug iron.
 
So how much silver were you digging with the SE in your sites ? The E-Trac will hit anything the SE does so it is mostly a matter of putting the coil over the oldies.I have found conductive multi-tones to give better target ID and tones/sounds unless hunting in a solid carpet of rusty nails. If you hit a penny at 9" the machine and coil must be working properly.

The SE will null as much or more than the E-Trac in a given area with similar settings.I hunt right through the nulling and pull a lot of old deep coins right in the middle of nulls with the E-Trac.It is designed to work better on older deeper coins with a fair amount of disc in conductive mode. If you run with to little disc. you will actually handicap the E-Trac on older deep coins in trashy sites.

The factory coins mode works extremely well for pulling old deep coins out of most sites.The only change needed is to open up the top right corner for larger silver from half dollar size and up.It will do extremely well at most sites in auto +3 sensitivity while running far more stable and quiet than an SE set up to the same depth capabilities .
 
I'm not sure why you're having such trouble. When I made the switch from the SE to the E-Trac, my number of finds exploded. Maybe you aren't used to to what the machine is telling you yet?
 
Hi,
I agree with Ray-Mo and would add this. You have a brand new unit to learn its not an SE. You have been all over the map with settings and you just started. Slow down spend some time in the factory coin mode and learn your new unit. Then branch out.
Good luck
 
Goldmanjace said:
Well after a few hours detecting and trying different settings I somehow have the feeling that my SE was better. I cant seem to find anything but clad at not much more than 3 inches and not all to much of it either compared to the time spent hunting. I have tried TTF and 4 tone as well. Targets are unstable most of the time. I still end up digging iron nails. I did manage to get a wheat penny at a pretty good dept of about 9 inches but the signal was not so good and I was using 4 tone ferrous. The numbers were well in the iron range but out of curiousity I dug. I did not find any silver yet and I dought I will sometime soon. I tried conduct with disc but when I do that I dont seem to do better and if I use less disc I find tons of iron. Also it nulls on a few places so I tend to use the ferrous 2 to 4 tone. Can anyone give me some advice? I am now thinking that maybe I should have got an SE again, it was HOT on silver and I never dug iron.
Click to expand...

is it seeming unstable please check that you are in auto sensitivity and havent switched it to manual using the 4 directional cursors bottom left hit left and right hand ones to put you in and out of manual if you are in auto then a circle will go round at the top and say plus 3 ect that is the one you need to be in and you will start getting two way signals hope that helps talk soon
 
by the way forgot to mention some people do have problems when using the etrac and it has been down to a bad coil so come back to us if it continues
 
Ok, How can I test the coil? I will try to bury some clad coins in my yard when it gets below 100 degrees! I am running andy sabisch coin pattern and have multi/conduct sometime ferrous if iron is out of hand. I run auto +3 deep off fast off. What threshold pitch do you suggest? Swingspeed I have 4 seconds from left to right to left. Response smooth. I have turned the gain down a bit because my dept meter was always totally off. It showed coins about 5 inches (clad quarters) but they were about 1.5 to 2 inches deep? Can this be a problem with settings? What makes the depth indicator more accurate?
 
Trying running your Response in Normal.
 
Hey Jace,

Good to see you here. I haven't taken the time to email you back yet, but will this evening. The depth indicator is off on the E-Trac when the coin is shallow. When you get those 2-4 "beeps" swinging over a target you know its shallow regardless of what your depth meter tells you. Past 3 inches and it gets pretty accurate.

Like I said, I'll try and email you here in 3-4 hours. I'm going out to mow more hay.

Take care,

NebTrac
 
Normal is used for general detecting conditions and will give you better separation between the ground signal and target signal.
 
hey goldensilver here AKA John new to this forum sorry to hear u not likeing the way the ETRAC performs 4 u iv had an Etrac 4 over a year now and I can say 2 me after trying other brands and names of detectors the Etrac is by far 2 me the best at depth and target ID ive used so far and iv tried most brands of detectors so now that u have an Etrac stick with it and im sure ul find the deep old stuff my moto is think old and gold HH:detecting:
 
I have just one question, how many hours have you put on your ET so far? It sounds like you were doing all kinds of things, and making all kinds of changes right out of the box. I understand my ET quite well at this point and I honestly can't recommend doing all too much too soon. I also took mine out of the box and loaded tons of patterns and such before I ever took it out on a hunt. It sounds like you did the same. To learn the machine, run it on the stock program for a handful of hunts and get to know the machine. Once you are an "expert" on the stock mode, try "tweaking" it a bit at a time. Going at this machine at 200mph is not a good thing unless you know exactly how to do so. I have greatly increased my finds by straying from changing and trying too much at once. Now that I understand the "E-Trac language" quite well, I am much more confident in making changes in the field. Given the amount of time you appear to have put in to your ET, I suggest you run the stock pattern for a few more hunts, then try making some subtle changes and then try using other peoples patterns. Nobody can turn on a new detector and recover only what they want, right out of the box. There is a learning curve, no matter who you are and no matter what your level of experience. I have owned and tried so many different machines and right now, I have to say that the ET is the best machine out there. I know others will disagree, and thats fine, but I think this machine is the best. Please give this machine the time that it deserves. Put in another 15-20 hours of hunting, on the stock coin program, and then get back to us. If you dont find anything worth talking about, after 20 hours on the stock coin program, then I agree, there is something wrong. I would be terribly surprised if, after the next 20 hours, you didn't come back on here with a really interesting find. Please keep us updated and please give your new machine a fair chance before you give up. If you do decide to get rid of your ET for another Se, send me a message as I have a perfect-condition Se Pro as a backup for my ET, but would love to have a backup ET for my ET. Good luck. HH -Marc
 
Jace.....I totally agree with the suggestions from Marc and others to slow down. I have about 74 hours on my Etrac thus far and I have made some very nice finds, finds in spots that I have hunted previously with my other machines.

I noticed you are running Andy's coin program but have you read Andy's book? If not, I would highly recommend that as a starting point.

Stick with it, I know you'll be glad you did!!

HH

Dave
 
Take your time with it, I've had mine 4 months and have just got out of stock coin pattern and have just used andys coin pattern this weekend. I had alot more junk targets but I also found alot more deep coins. Sometimes those deep coins read as junk but if theyre high tone and co is stable i dig em. Listen to your tones and correlate them to your depth. My fe numbers on some were all over the board but my co numbers stayed pretty constant. I also found nails in with my good targets wich is probly why me fe numbers were all over. Hope this helps I think the etrac is awsome now. If you asked me a few months ago it would have been a different story. Good luck
 
Great addition Dave, I completely forgot to mention Andy's book. I also highly recommend getting Andy's book as it has really sped up my learning curve on the E-Trac. You said you have experience on the Se, so I hope you already have the book. If not, you have also been missing out on great information on your past Se.

Ben- also a great post. Goldman - take your time. It seems everyone on here has said the same thing.

The ET is not a gold/silver magnet. It is the best coin/relic machine on the market which also has great capabilities with jewelry/gold/silver. If you want a "treasure-only machine," you simply won't find one. I have so many hours on all of my machines by now, and I still dig tons of pull tabs/trash with any of my machines. The ET will help you sift through the trash by giving the most precise information on the market today, but it wont let you dig only treasure. If you happen to swing over something good, I am confident that the ET will tell you its there. The way(s) in which you decipher what the ET is telling you, is completely up to you and your level of skill. There are tons of people digging tons of great finds. Metal detecting goes far beyond buying the best detector/equipment. Your research on locations, your understanding of the machine and your willingness to learn and study more about your sites is what sets the pros apart from the general user. If you want to increase your good finds, do a lot of research, read this forum as much as possible, and bring your machine out as much as possible. Thats my only advice. Turning it on with other peoples "successful" patterns, and going out a few times, will not bring the results you are expecting. -Marc
 
I got out of the stock programs recently. My new pattern is the "Quick Mask Quickie" When I go on a new hunt I go to quick mask and block out CO 3 and FE 30. This leaves a pretty big area to accept targets while rejecting foil and iron. I then save it to my main view and set Quick Mask back to wide open screen.

As the hunt progresses and I get a better idea of what I'm working with I may go back to Quick Mask and tighten the pattern. If there is a lot of trash, pop tops, pull tabs, etc. I might abandon the possibility for nickel or small gold and just focus on silver by moving my CO line to the right at 24 and my FE line up to 26. This gives me a FE/CO box of 25X25 to accept targets.

Once I have my box defined I only dig solid, 2 or 3 way repeatable signals within the box. Not that I have given up on the TID, but I think I finally understand what others are saying when they say they hunt the "Tone"

For me, a better description is not "tone" but "reliability". Tones vary depending on the target. But when you lock on to a target the tone is reliable. Example: Anyone who has locked on to a copper penny or clad quarter knows what it sounds like. Using "Normal" response, to me it sounds like "Ping Ping, Ping Ping, Ping Ping" as I swing over the target in multiple directions.

With that being said, if I get that same "reliable" lock within my discrimination box I'm digging it. I don't care anymore if it is a strange number. If it sounds good I'm digging it. I already know it's a solid target no matter what the number. Keep in mind that I have already blocked out foil, tabs, pop tops, etc. at this point. So if I get a piece of trash at this point it is most likely something cool or a piece of trash I can recycle. Like the 3 pound brass value I found today or the half inch copper pipe fittings or the toy tow truck.

I have a bucket in the garage full of copper and brass "junk" that I plan to melt down so no biggy.

Anyway, I've only found two pieces of silver so I'm no expert. Just wanted to share my evolution as to how I am now working with my new E-Trac. If it helps you out, great. If not, sorry in advance. :)
 
dont forget keep the ground setting on difficult as that is a proven setting for tthe etrac to pick up SILVER
 
Me too. I found the ET to be WAY better that the SE.
 
Give it time. I've had my e trac now for three months and I also started out digging clad that was shallow, then slowly I started to slow down and let the machine work. Last weekend it all came together, on friday I dug a 1890 IH , and a five wheats. Saturday I dug two mercuries a roosevelt silver and six wheats. Today I dug two mercuries three silver roosevelts, ten wheats and a war nickel. I simply got to the point to trust the tones first,use quick mask wide open and take my time. Today I only dug three nails and a few pop tops and two old bottle caps for trash. The silver dimes were all over 8" deep and I was running at 30 manual running Andy S coin program deep off, fast off . My last detector was a DFX and I have found the ET to be so much easier to use, it's just slower but a lot deeper. By the way these finds were at a state park at a picnic beach area full of trash, I found all this in an area 150 yards long and 30 feet wide and I plan on going over it again. Give it time.
 
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