First off, let me say that I don't do as much detecting in the summer months, compared to Spring and Fall. I prefer to hunt old farmsites and long-ago "recreational" areas that will have crops in them for another 30 days or so. That, and I don't want to leave "brown bullseyes" in peoples yards when it is so dry. So until the crops are harvested and the lawns go dormant, any coin shooting I do is in vacant lots or the local park and athletic field.
For the past 6 weeks I've been getting to know my Etrac by playing with all the adjustments and pitting it against my X-705. At this point in time, I'm running a modified Coin Program with about half a dozen adjustments..... Threshold 17, Volume Gain 29, Variability 29, Fast ON, Trash High, Ground Difficult, Pinpoint Sizing. I also use a Quick Mask mode quite a bit of the time. I have it set to reject the first four "vertical bars" and the lower 5 "horizontal bars". This allows me to hear and see more of the higher ferrous readings, helping me better discern adjacent targets. Although I've not found anything so deep with the Etrac that the 705 couldn't find it, it may be that I just haven't come across one of those, yet. I wanted to try the Etrac primarily for the ability to use a small DD coil when hunting the local "can slaw park". I just know there are some old deep coins still hiding there amongst the trash. My job is to sort them out! Although the stock coil does a good job of separating targets, I have found myself using the 6 X 8 inch butterfly for most of my Etrac hunts.
Over the past 6 weeks, I've developed a better understanding of what transpired when they built the swimming pool about 25 years ago. It seems the dirt that was removed from the pool area was scattered around the entire park. This buried the old stuff deeper and scattered the coins that existed within the pool area, all over the park. I've dug a few IH cents at 2 - 3 inches, and some clad dimes and quarters at 9 inches within a few steps. So I don't pass up the target just because it is shallow. I've dug dozens of Pepsi screw caps at depths varying from 4 to 8 inches. (Darn, those things sure sound like coins to me on th Etrac!) And I continue to dig deep old nails that fool me into thinking they are coins. (The 705 discerns them pretty well. But I dig them anyway, hoping the Etrac will find an old coin being masked by the nail) One thing I've noticed, whether it really means anything or not, is that those darn nails will always be in the edge of the hole, at the 6:30 - 8:00 position In other words, if you look down at the coil as if it were the face of a clock, when it is a nail, it is always in the lower left edge of the hole. I dig pretty small holes. So it's not like they are several inches away and can be figured out with pinpointing vs normal hunt sweeps. I've dug enough of these things to suspect there is more to their position in relation to the coil direction, than simply a coincidence.
What are the odds that the only direction they will hit solid, makes them show up lower left edge? Could it be that when they are swept over from a different direction, they are being rejected? Anyone else experienced this? I've noticed that when I sweep a target and hear a faint "bump" at the end of the audible tone, it will be deep iron. It sounds like someone hitting a bass drum, one time, off in the distance. I've dug many of these targets, hoping that it would be something worth recovery. But so far, only more old (usually bent) nails.
I ususally run my sensitivity in Auto with a +2 or +3. I will say that moving it to Auto with no offset allows the Etrac to recover quicker between targets. That probably fools me into thinking I can sweep faster, which may not be a good thing. But regardless of the setting, I've not been able to hit a target with "hot sensitivity" that I couldn't confirm with Auto.
If you have any advice on my settings, the location of those darn nails at the 7:00 position, or those sounds I hear on deep iron, I'd appreciate hearing what you have to offer.
Anyway, here are a few pics of my finds from the past 6 weeks, minus several dozen pull tabs, a few additional nails and about 30 aluminum Pepsi screw on caps. Piles of clad and memorials. With some of the better finds (silver, gold rings, IH and some nicer wheats) on the towel. HH Randy
For the past 6 weeks I've been getting to know my Etrac by playing with all the adjustments and pitting it against my X-705. At this point in time, I'm running a modified Coin Program with about half a dozen adjustments..... Threshold 17, Volume Gain 29, Variability 29, Fast ON, Trash High, Ground Difficult, Pinpoint Sizing. I also use a Quick Mask mode quite a bit of the time. I have it set to reject the first four "vertical bars" and the lower 5 "horizontal bars". This allows me to hear and see more of the higher ferrous readings, helping me better discern adjacent targets. Although I've not found anything so deep with the Etrac that the 705 couldn't find it, it may be that I just haven't come across one of those, yet. I wanted to try the Etrac primarily for the ability to use a small DD coil when hunting the local "can slaw park". I just know there are some old deep coins still hiding there amongst the trash. My job is to sort them out! Although the stock coil does a good job of separating targets, I have found myself using the 6 X 8 inch butterfly for most of my Etrac hunts.
Over the past 6 weeks, I've developed a better understanding of what transpired when they built the swimming pool about 25 years ago. It seems the dirt that was removed from the pool area was scattered around the entire park. This buried the old stuff deeper and scattered the coins that existed within the pool area, all over the park. I've dug a few IH cents at 2 - 3 inches, and some clad dimes and quarters at 9 inches within a few steps. So I don't pass up the target just because it is shallow. I've dug dozens of Pepsi screw caps at depths varying from 4 to 8 inches. (Darn, those things sure sound like coins to me on th Etrac!) And I continue to dig deep old nails that fool me into thinking they are coins. (The 705 discerns them pretty well. But I dig them anyway, hoping the Etrac will find an old coin being masked by the nail) One thing I've noticed, whether it really means anything or not, is that those darn nails will always be in the edge of the hole, at the 6:30 - 8:00 position In other words, if you look down at the coil as if it were the face of a clock, when it is a nail, it is always in the lower left edge of the hole. I dig pretty small holes. So it's not like they are several inches away and can be figured out with pinpointing vs normal hunt sweeps. I've dug enough of these things to suspect there is more to their position in relation to the coil direction, than simply a coincidence.
What are the odds that the only direction they will hit solid, makes them show up lower left edge? Could it be that when they are swept over from a different direction, they are being rejected? Anyone else experienced this? I've noticed that when I sweep a target and hear a faint "bump" at the end of the audible tone, it will be deep iron. It sounds like someone hitting a bass drum, one time, off in the distance. I've dug many of these targets, hoping that it would be something worth recovery. But so far, only more old (usually bent) nails. I ususally run my sensitivity in Auto with a +2 or +3. I will say that moving it to Auto with no offset allows the Etrac to recover quicker between targets. That probably fools me into thinking I can sweep faster, which may not be a good thing. But regardless of the setting, I've not been able to hit a target with "hot sensitivity" that I couldn't confirm with Auto.
If you have any advice on my settings, the location of those darn nails at the 7:00 position, or those sounds I hear on deep iron, I'd appreciate hearing what you have to offer.
Anyway, here are a few pics of my finds from the past 6 weeks, minus several dozen pull tabs, a few additional nails and about 30 aluminum Pepsi screw on caps. Piles of clad and memorials. With some of the better finds (silver, gold rings, IH and some nicer wheats) on the towel. HH Randy
Nice finds for 6 weeks...HH