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E-trac information - already searched

Bonesquat

Bonesquat

Elite Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2010
Messages
8,894
Location
NE Pennsylvania
Hi everyone, I already did a forum search for e-trac threads and didn't come up with much. I'll be purchasing one really soon and would love to know a little about this machine before I just take it out and try it. I've heard of people digging iron nails often thinking it was a good target. I don't think I'm going to order that guy's little book. Is the E-trac a machine I can learn on my own? I learned the MXT on my own and have had great success with it. I'm a PC tech so the technology part doesn't intimidate me. Are they any really good threads or sites you all could point me to? I'd really appreciate it!
 
The key to the E-Trac, or most Minelabs, is Slow down. Or as they say "Low & Slow" Coming from a White's you will need to get used to a slower pace. If you swing too fast the tones will overwhelm you and you'll give up. Go slow and think every tone you hear is a target and try to separate them.

Load up the stock Coin program set the sensitivity to Auto +3, Conductive sound and hit some parks or schools you have hit before if possible. Listen for those high peeps that give a good CO number of 35 to 48. If you get a high tone and when you go to pinpoint it moves it is more than likely iron junk.
 
Detector said:
The key to the E-Trac, or most Minelabs, is Slow down. Or as they say "Low & Slow" Coming from a White's you will need to get used to a slower pace. If you swing too fast the tones will overwhelm you and you'll give up. Go slow and think every tone you hear is a target and try to separate them.

Load up the stock Coin program set the sensitivity to Auto +3, Conductive sound and hit some parks or schools you have hit before if possible. Listen for those high peeps that give a good CO number of 35 to 48. If you get a high tone and when you go to pinpoint it moves it is more than likely iron junk.
Click to expand...

Thank you Detector for the input! I've actually been slowing down with my MXT in preparation for the e-trac.
 
I recommend buying the book, FWIW.

The E-Trac has two speeds: Stop, and slower than that.

Good luck, its a great machine, and I think you'll enjoy it.
 
Detector said:
If you swing too fast the tones will overwhelm you and you'll give up. Go slow and think every tone you hear is a target and try to separate them.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I had to overcome with the E-Trac. Was so used to swinging my DFX, of which I had good success with, I had to learn to go oh so slow and listen. You will be delighted by your finds..

Very sound advise.. Good luck with it..
 
Here is a site for Minelab owners: http://minelabforums.com/

It is a fairly new forum but a few of the founders have their own sites/blogs as well and youtube channels. They use Etracs but there are sections dedicated to other Minelab machines. It is pretty good and informative. You should at least check it out.
 
Well one thing we E Trac users overlook is you can swing it fast if you like. It will give you the sounds the milisecond the field hits an accepted object. You will be hunting like most all machines do then. Now when you slow down and finally realize just how much stuff is really there that is being missed by everything is when you'll realize yourself just how great a discriminator it is and second to none. My issue with the E Trac when I was in the learning curve is I was trying to use the machine myself, I didn't allow it to "teach" me what it could do if that makes sense. I had to realize that myself. Enjoy it!
 
If you are talking about the Sabisch book then I would say it is worth it for sure (and I think most dealers will throw it in free with the Etrac anyway...talk to NED). You should also check out the minelabowners site....excellent site for Minelab...well, owners. :D Many of the contributors to Andy's book are regular posters there. Good luck, it's a great machine! :D Oh also check MLOTV and YouTube as well!
 
The Andy Sabisch book gets more into the WHY you run certain ways and HOW to handle different situations along with WHAT exactly the adjustments do. If you are serious about this hobby you'll be scratching your head and bringing a lot of questions here that have been discussed and can be quickly or (Pre) dealt with by reading Andy's Book.

I enjoy this forum, but for the nitty gritty on how to run the E-Trac the FINDMALL.com forum is hard to beat for running into every aspect of the machine. You're basically talking a about 3 years since this machine's been out, so there are MANY hours of other detectorist's experiences to be delved into.

If I remember correctly you have a good pinpointer so that's a good thing.


http://www.findmall.com/list.php?63

NebTrac
 
I think there is a huge misnomer when it comes to learning this machine. The learning curve is not at all difficult. You can get about 90% of this machine's ability right out of the box... the other 10% is a few clicks of the buttons and some practice. The real key is setting up a discrimination pattern that suits you (and keeping it open so as to include the maximum amount of targets) without going bonkers.

As for digging iron. I want to be specific on this one. Iron nails are a bit troublesome, otherwise the etrac handles iron quite well. This can be an issue when there are known deep silver coins wherever you may be searching. I've been able to ascertain most of the time that it is in fact a nail rather then a coin, although now and then my assertion has been wrong, and in fact old worn silver can sound a lot like it... (I dug a seated dime which I swore was a nail) most minelab users know and are used to this fact... and since they are willing to dig up quite a bit of them in hopes of finding old silver (which is pretty much the rule using any detector) ... you tend to get some complaints of the etrac having an attraction to rusty nails (I'm one of them :lol:)
 
The more I use this machine the more I like it. I have learned to slow down and have found silver my last 3 outings! I don't alter any of the preset programs. This machine is awesome in trashy areas!
 
I'm with Nebtrac on this... and the book is helpful too but most important is to have a decent site.

Clear your mind of any preconceptions about metal detectors, especially coming from a VLF unit. FBS is a different beast but very tameable over time and through patience...

HH
 
Hope this helps.

I use the Minelab Safari for land and water under two feet. Recently, I bought an Excalibur II for the rest of the water. Or at least, down to sixty five feet (silly restrictions). While I truly enjoy both machines, I have also been pondering adding the E-trac to my arsenal. And the only reason I can offer is, "just because I want to". I would appreciate any information (pros and cons) that you receive as well.

As for some suggested learning, two guys on YouTube that swing e-tracs that I enjoy are NESwiper (out of Nebraska, I believe) and Digging Norway (out of Europe). Two totally different styles and personalities, but a wealth of learning. Here are the links:

http://www.metaldetectorx.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/DiggingNorway#p/u
 
treasurebum said:
I use the Minelab Safari for land and water under two feet. Recently, I bought an Excalibur II for the rest of the water. Or at least, down to sixty five feet (silly restrictions). While I truly enjoy both machines, I have also been pondering adding the E-trac to my arsenal. And the only reason I can offer is, "just because I want to". I would appreciate any information (pros and cons) that you receive as well.

As for some suggested learning, two guys on YouTube that swing e-tracs that I enjoy are NESwiper (out of Nebraska, I believe) and Digging Norway (out of Europe). Two totally different styles and personalities, but a wealth of learning. Here are the links:

http://www.metaldetectorx.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/DiggingNorway#p/u
Click to expand...




DiggingNorway used an X-Terra 305 and now uses a Deus XP. I've never seen anything on him using an E-Trac.

Here are a list of some guys that run one.

1SmokingGunz - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaScPM2i5jA

88shwyptrlcar - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kn8H9k1Cz8

AmericanCoinHunting -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbo3sbYYdME

Beefcake (our moderator) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYTyEXAvB04

Goes4Ever -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BixoCD6WmRg

NebTrac - http://www.youtube.com/user/NebTrac?feature=mhum

NiagraCountyNY - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfTKS2CCDkw

OhioCoinHunter -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-E_V6KlLCA

Vidslayer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvk1LU8KEgs

All these guys run E-Tracs, and thats by no means the bottom of the barrel.

Neswiper, OhioCoinHunter, NiagraCountyNY and Vidslayer are the ones that "started my engine" on the E-Trac and detecting in general. They've all kinda backed off on their videoing (except Dan (OhioCoinHunting) he still tapes his hunts from time to time).

NebTrac
 
I have A ton of info on my personal site, just for the etrac, tutorial videos, pictures, settings etc....check it out. Link is in my signature.
 
I just want to thank everyone for the wealth of information. This is why I come to this forum! You guys are awesome. I'm going to delve into this when I get some down time at work. :) I'm going to do as much research on the e-trac before it gets to my door. I should be swinging it by next weekend. :) Can't wait! Feel free to add more as you see fit, do they have any dedicated threads to the e-trac that are extremely useful? I couldn't seem to find a good one but it appears this one is turning into one. Thanks again!
 
I went from the MXT (expert with about 300 hours), to the V3 (with about 100 Hours, and HATED IT), now I have an E-Trac and love it with about 300 hours. When the machine is set up right, with the right type of pattern, you can swing pretty fast... Faster than an MXT. The E-Trac's processor is VERY fast, it's just a matter of training your ear to the different tones, and investigate all tones that can be a coin. I know a silver target the first time I hear the tone. I'm still averaging 4-5 silvers a day with a fast swing speed at the same old three parks I've been hunting for years.

So, a few tips about the E-Trac out of the box to a newbie:

1. Read the book everybody is suggesting.

2. The default program is for ALL coins, not just the US. Get yourself a good US pattern. PM me for one if you like.

3. Start out slow until you train your ear to hear those tones that are desirable. It will take about 100 hours until you become one with your E-Trac. Silver sounds like angles singing... I mean like brakes squeaking...:lol:

4. Dig all deep penny targets, sometimes they can be silver.

5. Hit the trashy areas. I go where I was afraid to go with my MXT. the E-Trac is so fast, it will separate the trash signals and alert on the good ones, even if the targets are in the same hole.

6. Once you clean out an area with the stock coil, go get the SEF 6x8, or the Minelab 8" FSB and proceed to clean it out again.


Everything else you either have to learn from a veteran, or hunt a lot and learn it on your own. Good luck, and happy hunting!

-Mark
 
still learning myself but

Still learning myself. The biggest transition is slowing down. Snails pace! If you don't you are passing targets. Andy's book was very helpful. Seems overwhelming at 1st ,but its not that hard to run. There is alot of functions to grow with. With the Etrac and the Mxt you will leave nothing for others.
 
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