Question for ANY Etrac owner/user

[onemore]

...so I cannot get into the cherry picking thing. I have seen too many coins show up on the numbers where they weren't supposed to, especially when deeper.

I recently dug a half-dime that had an average ferrous number of 23, with some swings showing a ferrous of 28.

Therefore, I do not Qmask out any conductive, and only Qmask out the very bottom of the ferrous scale.

I want the machine to talk to me, and I will decide whether to dig or not.

 

[Gaz]

Hi Onemore.

As all of us say on this forum, it's whatever works for you dude.
All I've done is open a debate on my settings and the theory behind them. People have used them and quite like 'em.
I would argue that in your "Half Dime" scenario, there was something else very close to it. I'm convinced that my settings would have given the ETrac the fastest way possible
to separate those two targets giving a high tone very close to a low tone, enough for me to investigate further.

Even if I get a two way warbly mixed high and low tone, the two way signal would flag up enough for me to remove some soil to clean up the signal.

Hope that helps,

Gaz.

 

[onemore]

No argument there - to each his own! Just gave my 2 cents worth.

And yes, there was a nail about 2 inches from this half-dime. It was a one-way signal using a tilted coil sweep.

Swing speed is a key factor. If there is some heavy iron trash next to that small coin, you may not hear it until you swing in the direction that hits the coin first or your swing speed is very slow.

HH

 

[rbholt80]

i got mine feb. 09 and love it. have no complaints. no detector is perfect but this etrac is closer than the rest iv used in 25 years. thats my opinion

 

[NebTrac]

I have had mine about 1 1/2 weeks...and minus digging every clean or iffy signal to learn the machine i love it.I have learned one thing about it i need to go over every place i thought was cleaned out with my mxt .In the short time ive had it i have pulled up 2 injuns(1st ones ever),my oldest coin to date and also a 1st 1899 barber half,4 silver dimes,1 silver washington,and 25-30 wheats.Minus the sore wrists from digging so much i couldn't be happier with it.I'll try and have the wife help me post some pics of the stuff.Also thx to the fellas that got this classroom up and going.

Looking forward the the pictures! Congratulations on the Barber half!!

NebTrac

 

[Gaz]

No argument there - to each his own! Just gave my 2 cents worth.

And yes, there was a nail about 2 inches from this half-dime. It was a one-way signal using a tilted coil sweep.

Swing speed is a key factor. If there is some heavy iron trash next to that small coin, you may not hear it until you swing in the direction that hits the coin first or your swing speed is very slow.

HH

Hi Onemore!!

.....dude......that's really interesting and I'm so glad you posted that there was something ferrous down there also. Many thanks for that because it helps us all to gather more evidence and info on our theory's.
You also make a really good point. Sweep speed is really important. I guess I'm an average sweeper, not too fast and not slow.
Coming in at a target from various angles of attack is another good point.

Cheers mate.

Gaz.

 

[EladSwerdna]

The only problem I have had, is that I am running out of space to keep all my relics/coins/buttons!

But seriously... I'd say 8 out of 10 hunts I end up with keepers. The E-Trac is an amazing device!

Of course, it always pays to have a good site that produces...

 

[moseng]

A little late here but I got mine in March 2009 and so far no big problem. Two small annoyances though. One is the low battery warning. I use AA rechargeables and have at least an hour swing time after the first ugly warning sound. Now I could just switch batteries and but if they are in the car and I am on a roll, I'd like that extra hour to be ugly warning sound free. So Minelab if you are listening, for the love of god either make the warnings come less often, or make them user adjustable, or allow us to turn it off if we choose! The other gripe is the grip! I would estimate that at least 85% of all E-Tracs in use have some kind of plastic or something covering the grip. So, nuff said on that!

 

[kered]

Rich, carefull taking out conduct 1 to 4 lots of fine gold rings and chains are in that zone FE11/12/13 -Co 1 , 2 , 3 and4(any combination)

 

[Goes4ever]

Rich, carefull taking out conduct 1 to 4 lots of fine gold rings and chains are in that zone FE11/12/13 -Co 1 , 2 , 3 and4(any combination)

and I have dug at least three deep indians that were 01-31........so you would have missed those as well

 

[grumpyolman]

Hey!! All you fellas who are complaining about the weight and the arms or back getting sore ought to really evaluate the Swingy Thingy. I've used it from the get go and it's just second nature. I am an old fart, pushing 68, and I can go as long as I want when using that support. In fact, the unit feels cumbersome without it, if that makes any sense. The analogy I can draw is the free supended weight from a massive load on a crane, can be 'steered' by one guy on the ground pulling on a rope attached to the load. That's exactly what happens to any machine connected to the ST. The bonus with that is I don't even give second thought about hooking a larger coil on because of the weight. The unit still handles the same...jim

 

[Neil]

Grumpy those work good on flat ground but I found them to be useless on slopes of any kind. your analogy is correct about the crane. Like Ray Hogans post I agree, to heavy and unbalanced and anyone who raves about the handle redesign over the older explorer setups, well I just dont see it and Ive got both.
performance is outstanding and very reliable also, but the weight and balance is still a problem with these.

 

[grumpyolman]

I guess it depends on how flat, flat has to be. There's quick adjust slider attached to the bungee so you can adjust it for up or down hill in about 3 seconds. I am constantly fine tuning mine so all I have to do is 'steer' it. I work parks and schools that have hills on them but not a continuous extreme up or down. If it gets hotter or colder, or when you get tired and slouch a little more than when you first started, the length also has to be adjusted. Being able to stand and let the machine hang while you use both hands is more handy than you might consider. To me, the adjustment of the cord is such a minor issue compared with the extended hunt time and less pain. To me the PIA is attaching the suspender hook for the harness on the back of you jeans. It's efficient but still a PIA anyway. jim

 

[Neil]

Hey Jim,

I tried them a couple of times at the ocean, great in the dry sand but once on the wet sand where its sloped, no matter how I adjusted it, it was either to short or to long. I often hunt parellel to the ocean so you can imagine the angles Im talking about. yes they adjust easy enough, but one hand on the detector, the other hand on the long handled scoop and well, just not for me.
HH
Neil

 

[kered]

I bought mine in october of last year(2009). Don't have an issue with the weight like a lot of folk's (a lot better than the exII), but the visability of the screen i realy have an issue with(i hunt by sound but check the number's all the time, along with the depth ,and cursur postion). One other thing i miss the multi-tone's in ferrous mode.Other than that it is the best machine i've used to date. Run's a lot smoother. I'am starting to get the hang of changing the various setting's to fit my way of hunting. Thank's for starting this forum i will be checking it all the time. AL

Multitone works in both ferous and conduct, if your not getting them in ferous check your settings