Big Boys Hobbies

Etrac questions - trash and tones

TheCoilist

TheCoilist

Elite Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2010
Messages
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Location
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I went out the other day using the minelab coin mode right out of the box. Found a clad quarter on the surface the AT PRo didn't find for some reason. Anyway I didn't change the trash setting and I have a ton of trash in my yard. If I put it on high trash setting, can I leave that setting enabled even in lower trash areas without losing results in those low trash areas?

My next question is about tones. I'm on an iPhone so I can't do much searching at the moment but for the beginner what tone should I use? The default is multi but it seems a lot talk about just two tones being better??
 
Keep trash=high all the time. That's the setting that tells the Etrac to return the strongest non-discriminated signal rather than the strongest signal (which would return a null if the target was disciminated). Even when there isn't a lot of trash you could run into a situation where a piece of trash overwhelms a good target.

I would recommend using multi tones. Harder to get used to and could be a bit overwhelming at first, but in the long run it is helpful and might as well get started learning it.
 
Good to know. I might be wrong but I think low trash is the default. So that's how I ran it. Only afterwards to read the manual more thoroughly to see there was a trash setting. Will be testing that this weekend

Can you briefly explain multi vs two tone? That's just the number of different tones for target ID right?
 
Yes, leave trash on "high" all the time unless you are relic hunting for iron targets.

Yes, it's about the number of tones across the zone, either conductive or ferrous. 2-tone is used with Ferrous tones sometimes to try to ferrett out coins in really iron trashed ground.
 
outwardjourney said:
I might be wrong but I think low trash is the default...

...Can you briefly explain multi vs two tone? That's just the number of different tones for target ID right?
Click to expand...

Yes, low trash is the default. Poor choice on Minelab's part IMO.

Multitone gives a different tone for each number (conductive or ferrous, whichever you choose). Two tone will split the scale in half and give you one tone for the lower half and one for the upper. Multitone is really useful in areas with conductive trash because you will hear that nice high tone sneak in there with all of the jabber. That's the clue to hone in and explore further. In 2 or 4 tone, all of the adjacent numbers sound the same, and the TID is not so reliable when it is hitting multiple, multiple targets with every swing and you want to rely on sound. If you have FAST=ON you will additionally see that the numbers get 'sticky' and there is a delay before they come up on the screen.

Like I said, it takes some getting used to, but the effort and frustration is worth it in the end.
 
I use high trash always when at a park or homesite.

I use low trash for the beach. I also use the ground nuetral setting at the beach in the dry sand.
 
Okay. Sounds like I will keep multi tone on. And I will be turning high trash on as well. Thanks! I live in a house built in 1932 and have only found wheaties. The house had additions to it and there is a lot of iron trash. I know there is silver somewhere!
 
I have my Multi-tone Variablility cranked all the way up to 30, I think default is like 25. I like it especially when hitting nickels and being able to tell them from pulltabs and other trash that rings in close to it. Also when I hit silver it is obvious that way.
 
also make sure ya slow your swing speed down, ya don't wanna swing it as fast as ya can the AT pro
 
outwardjourney said:
I went out the other day using the minelab coin mode right out of the box. Found a clad quarter on the surface the AT PRo didn't find for some reason. Anyway I didn't change the trash setting and I have a ton of trash in my yard. If I put it on high trash setting, can I leave that setting enabled even in lower trash areas without losing results in those low trash areas?

My next question is about tones. I'm on an iPhone so I can't do much searching at the moment but for the beginner what tone should I use? The default is multi but it seems a lot talk about just two tones being better??
Click to expand...

Multitones high variability. Holler if I can help!
 
dogpound said:
also make sure ya slow your swing speed down, ya don't wanna swing it as fast as ya can the AT pro
Click to expand...

Oh I learned this the first time out. Slower swing for sure. Took me a while also to find out you don't need to hold the pinpoint button down like the at pro. Lol

Speaking of pinpoint. The location is the center of the coil correct?
 
outwardjourney said:
Oh I learned this the first time out. Slower swing for sure. Took me a while also to find out you don't need to hold the pinpoint button down like the at pro. Lol

Speaking of pinpoint. The location is the center of the coil correct?
Click to expand...

dead center is the hot spot(basically just follow the lower rod down), or you can pinpoint without the pinpoint button by dropping the signal off the tip of the coil
 
dogpound said:
dead center is the hot spot(basically just follow the lower rod down), or you can pinpoint without the pinpoint button by dropping the signal off the tip of the coil
Click to expand...

Dropping the signal off of the tip of the coil..... This is an excellent tip for you guys and I think that goes4ever made a video of doing just that. I was recently detecting an old site and the only way that I could pinpoint the target was to catch it off of the tip of the coil. In pin point mode, the signal kept latching onto the iron/bad targets that were surrounding my good target. Thanks dogpound for bringing that up!
 
Kansas Dave said:
Dropping the signal off of the tip of the coil..... This is an excellent tip for you guys and I think that goes4ever made a video of doing just that. I was recently detecting an old site and the only way that I could pinpoint the target was to catch it off of the tip of the coil. In pin point mode, the signal kept latching onto the iron/bad targets that were surrounding my good target. Thanks dogpound for bringing that up!
Click to expand...

Any idea where that video is?
 
i have become a fan of 4 tone cond,,, but I admit that I have not used multi that much. I just found the less tones to be less confusing for a newbie with bad hearing. I dig all high and most medium signals
 
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