ok I started playing around with manual at some worked out sites...

[Goes4ever]

Ever since owning my etrac (bought spring 2010) I have ran auto +3 sens. I have tried manual over and over but it chatters so much I could not stand it.

Well I have this old ballpark (where I dug the indian today) I have covered this outfield over and over all different directions and have dug about everything. It has produced barbers, mercs, many wheats, and several indians. It finally stopped producing. In auto +3 I can get to 19 to 21 depending where I am on the field. So I put it into manual at 19, instantly started chirping like crazy, but I started getting deeper signals. Now here is the thing. I never ever dig nails but in manual I am getting fooled by nails quite a bit now. They sound good, I open quick mask and check them and the signal bounces from soild coin to iron, I turn 90 degrees and same thing, so I talk myself into digging it....and normally it is a deep rusty nail....BUT 4 times now in last two trips they were deep 9+ inch coins, 1 barber, and 3 indians. I simply cannot tell the difference between the two when it is chattering. Even over the signals that were coins it bounced so wildly I had to talk myself into digging these. But when I flip it into auto +3 over these signals, I get nothing, does not even pick em up.

And of course after a few of these wild signals turned out being really deep coins. I started digging all these type signals, but 90% are nails.

I can see where using manual can definately open up a couple more inches depth for me at certain sites and get me coins that I have missed running auto +3
but I hate the fact that in auto +3 I NEVER dig nails, I am just not fooled like I am when running manual.....anything I am doing wrong?

 

[Barry NY]

I'm curious - were you in CO multi or TTF? It would be interesting to see how the machine reacts to deep signals in cranked up manual. I too hunt in auto +3 - it's just too noisy in manual cranked up. But I also only run in TTF, so I really don't know how it reacts with the sens pumped up.

I think that slow and low in UK uses multi CO with sens at 29 and picks great targets out through all the noise...

 

[Goes4ever]

I was in multi tone....and I wouldn't say cranked up! The highest I got it to was manual 23 any higher and it was absolute constant non stop chatter

 

[Ray-Mo.]

The chatter can be brutal at some sites but manual sen. will get you more depth beyond a doubt.Sometimes 2" and more for me. I actually hardly ever run in auto unless I am at a sight where I am not looking for extreme depth...

 

[sandnsea49]

would that increase depth and decrease chatter?

 

[moonshine]

did you noise cancel?

 

[grouser]

the noise is just the pain you must endure to get those deeper tagets,,,,,as far as diggin nails,,,well the deep, rusty ones are the holy terror of us all,,,, they give ALL detecters great sounding signals and fool us into digging,,,,how bad do ya want it?????

 

[Prep1957]

The Safari is the same way, I really ride manual sensitivity hard getting use to it, running about 4 to 1 recovery rate 1 good for every 4 iron objects it is worth it.Pulled a lot of barber and seated coins out at 10 inch level in places I thought I had cleaned out even when I had my Etrac. you will also find smaller gold and silver items that you missed not really that deep.To speed up my recovery have small powerful magnet on opposite hip of pinpointer on retractable key chain to pull Iron out of hole faster.For some reason I can run manuel sensitivity at max with 6X8 coil in most places and it will punch down as deep as pro coil.By the way welcome to the Minelab Iron Man Club.

 

[Cal_Cobra]

I've only been using the E-trac for a little over a month, so I'm a complete ET newbie, BUT I figured it in the long run it would be advantageous to start off in manual mode as every place around here has already been hunted hard by every detector ever made. I typically run mine between 22-26, and rarely do I get a much noise, and this is in San Francisco where there's EMI galore. Because I'm already digging some really iffy stuff, I do dig my share of iron, but I've found that to be true of almost any machine when going for those iffy signals. Coming from the ultra noisy F75 LTD maybe I'm just used to the noise

So far I've found the E-trac a pleasure to use, but I have tons to learn about it.....this weekend I'm planning to dive into TTF

HH,
Brian

 

[JohnSilver]

I was in the same boat, I felt the etrac was way hot and chattered something awful in manual, I usually run my sensitivity at 22 manual, but some sites just drove me crazy and
i would switch to auto + 3, (best way to see depth loss in auto +3, is using your x1 probe, I always switch back to manual when using pin pointer) then I decided try some new
settings, I chose high trash and difficult ground, and coin program that closed off upper left top of the screen, and my etrac settled down. maybe I wrong but it seamed to help.
my problem was I tried running my etrac like my explorer, I ran im 6 and manual 23 the etrac was to hot for that, now with my new settings I have ran manual as high as 27.
John

 

[Jack Flynn]

I was in multi tone....and I wouldn't say cranked up! The highest I got it to was manual 23 any higher and it was absolute constant non stop chatter

This is where you want to beTerry as great a places as you have to hunt once your mind gets past the chatter you have plunged yourself into a whole new world of hunting. Just think how much stuff, great stuff is really there! OMG................. What you have described is exactly the reason most who hunt in high manual sensitivity with the ET go very very slow and let the machine do it's magic! Get it on up to 28 or 29 and go very very slow and see the amount of stuff that auto is leaving behind. A whole new world. You will gradually start to recognize the tell tale signs that say a target is a nail and dig just a few every now and then. Keep at it!

 

[Goes4ever]

The chatter can be brutal at some sites but manual sen. will get you more depth beyond a doubt.Sometimes 2" and more for me. I actually hardly ever run in auto unless I am at a sight where I am not looking for extreme depth...

This is EXACTLY how I have mine set up:

sensitivity auto +3 (been playing with manual as the thread states)
threshold limit just barely audible
volume limit 29
volume gain 29
response normal
tone id multi
sounds conductive
variability 29
limits 29
threshold pitch 28-29
deep off
fast on
trash high
ground difficult

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

I run auto +3 myself. Manual in most cases gets to noisy. And I am lazy! Lol

 

[Jack Flynn]

The good part Bart is the ET is what I call the lazy mans machine. Once in the zone you don't have to dig nothing like you would with other machines. You pay for the discrimination and if you don't want to "the key" you will hardly dig anything but coins. Good signals in other words............ It will take a while but in high manual sensitivity you can honestly get that way. I mostly 100% of the time run 28 or higher manual, very seldom dig a nail. What fools me the most is a pointed piece of aluminum. If I take the time to circle it with the coil it will show what it is most of the time but I do get fooled by it. A nail will fool me and the ET if it is standing straight up and down, I'm gonna dig it period, sounds superb through the head phones. If it is laying flat it tells on itself while circling it with the coil.

 

[Ray-Mo.]

without loosing any measurable depth.I think it will help a lot of folks who want to try for more depth in higher manual sen. to play with the gain adjustment as running it to high will contribute to the E-Trac becoming very noisy/unstable.Just some food for thought/experimentation.

 

[Goes4ever]

ok thanks for the tip Ray! will try it out

 

[sugar]

I too am working with manual sensitivity and have been fooled by nalis i do do a test using the pinpointing mode and watch the cursor avidly which if it stays in the upper region i am more confident to dig with some surprising results on well hunted ground

 

[Goldmanjace]

n/t

 

[Jason in Enid]

n/t

What's the deal with all your posts being empty?

 

[Goldmanjace]

wow, I didnt even notice that. I really dont know