Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Setting programs on my Etrac

T

Turbomunkey

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2012
Messages
284
Location
Illinois
Hello. I recently bought an Etrac from a gentleman on here and it will be arriving Saturday. Just wanted to square things away before it arrives

Firstly, if I want to add say like the "trashy park" program do I enter and save it on the machine or do I need to use a computer?

Second, generally speaking what numbers does any given item hit on an Etrac? Say clad penny, nickle, dime, quarter?

I know both have been answered before, but such is life on a forum
 
Congrats on the Etrac! Its an awesome detector!

Using the computer to add modes/patterns is much easier than doing it on the detector itself IMHO.

You can get the Trashy Park mode and pattern files here:
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?63,1694421,1718366

As for the FE-CO readings, here's a fairly complete list:
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?63,820520

Keep in mind that those are air tested readings. Actual in ground readings can vary depending on a number of things. Those should get you close to what you can expect though.

Also, I'd suggest picking up a copy of Andy Sabisch's Explorer/Etrac Handbook:
http://www.sabischbooks.com/books/minelab/

.. and while your waiting, you can be watching plenty of YouTube vids to help you get used to the sights and sounds of the machine.

GL&HH!
 
+1 on what Rattle said.....Ive spent the whole summer using Bills Trashy park program..also read Andys book a million times ( I still do after two years and still pick up tips everytime I pick it up)...I would also download Andys Coin Pattern ( I don't have the link sorry)..good luck with that etrac...:cool:
 
Rattlehead and alkazoo are right on. You should also download the Etrac emulator and the U.S. coins file that works with it. It will teach you the button layout, menu structure, sounds, numbers, etc. before you ever get the machine. It's really helpful.

Also don't be shy to ask for other peoples preferred settings, cause there is a lot on the Etrac that you may not be sure about.

Excellent machine. If there is a better detector for silver coins, I'd have to see it to believe it.
 
Yep you can either use a computer or the etrac itself to make your patterns. This is much easier on the computer.

Only time I edit a pattern on thr machine is when I open up areas say for rings and gold objects.


Final tip: etrac loves a little discrimination and just having a horizontal line 27 > will eliminate a lot of junk iron
 
Congrats on the Etrac. I love mine, although I didn't the first week or so.

Bill's Trashy Park pattern was instrumental in helping me learn the machine. It's a great pattern. I have never used the exchange for any of my patterns, as I only have a Mac so I've entered all the patterns by hand. It is a bit tedious, but once you do it a few times it's very easy and fairly quickly done. There are some great diagrams online (somewhere) that show the exact pixel map of most popular patterns, like Bill's and my current fave, the Andy S coin pattern.

Good luck, and don't get frustrated. It's worth the hassle!
 
I have been playing around ith the emulator for a month or so and it seems like a great tool to familiarize yourself with the functions and readings, even setting up custom disc patterns seems like a breeze. Most test patterns i made i just start by rejecting the entire screen and then accept the specifis targets you are looking for in a large cursor block size so that wil lopen it up a little bit. The ability to change the cursor block size when you are creating the patterns is a huge time saver. Can't wait to get the real thing...
 
grats on the new machine. I just recently acquired one myself. The default coin program from etrac is very good way of learning the machine. I would suggest running the machine in that program with auto sens +3 until you get a good grip on the machine. Once you have a good understanding of what the machine is telling you, then you can start mod'n programs to your liking and playing around with manual sens.

As far as what signals to dig, if your looking for coins, your nickles will run around 12-10-to 12-13 ish. Most other coins will run around the 12-30 to 12-46 range. (give or take an FE number of + or - 2)

Now, I've read numerous times on countless forums that no one ever finds coins with a FE number over 18. However, just the other day I dug a barber dime that rang as 18-43. Granted it was about 9 inches, but still. just proves that even on higher end machines, deeper targets can give mixed signals. So dig everything!!!! Especially until you get a great understanding of the machine.

Anyways, just my .02, I'm still learning the machine as well, so take it for whats it worth. But it's a great machine and I'm loving the !!!! out of it!!
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I got my detector today. I uploaded the trashy park program and away I went. So far only a few iffy signals that didnt hit both ways. Also got a few of the circle parts of pull tabs which were reading in the nickel range. I only got an hour or so in because it has been raining non stop in chicagoland.

The setup has been running pretty quiet for this field. A few houses used to stand there but were torn down when I was a child. One thing I want to adjust is open thing up for rings. I did not get a single pull tab. I just now downloaded Andy S coin program "opened up for gold"

Will I get more pull tabs with the opened for gold variation?

Also one more question. So I have my trashy parks mode selected, can I still adjust the sensitivity level up or down, or is the program already set at the desired sensitivity?


Thanks

Jon
 
Turbomunkey said:
Thanks for the replies guys. I got my detector today. I uploaded the trashy park program and away I went. So far only a few iffy signals that didnt hit both ways. Also got a few of the circle parts of pull tabs which were reading in the nickel range. I only got an hour or so in because it has been raining non stop in chicagoland.

The setup has been running pretty quiet for this field. A few houses used to stand there but were torn down when I was a child. One thing I want to adjust is open thing up for rings. I did not get a single pull tab. I just now downloaded Andy S coin program "opened up for gold"

Will I get more pull tabs with the opened for gold variation?

Also one more question. So I have my trashy parks mode selected, can I still adjust the sensitivity level up or down, or is the program already set at the desired sensitivity?


Thanks

Jon
Click to expand...

No, if you open it up you will not get more pull tabs.... You will get them all. LOL

And yes you can change any of the settings while you are in any particular mode and it will override them.
 
Big Treble said:
No, if you open it up you will not get more pull tabs.... You will get them all. LOL

And yes you can change any of the settings while you are in any particular mode and it will override them.
Click to expand...

Seems like going manual and upping the sensitivity has landed folks some deep targets that +3 didnt even blip at. Im gonna tool around with that tomorrow
 
Turbomunkey said:
Seems like going manual and upping the sensitivity has landed folks some deep targets that +3 didnt even blip at. Im gonna tool around with that tomorrow
Click to expand...

Manual is deeper but auto has it's pluses especially in heavy trash and mineralized soil.

Etrac scans the return signals on 3 separate channels. Manual sets the sensitivity of all 3 channels to the same level, which is why it can go deeper in good conditions. But auto sets them at different levels(it only reports the highest channel) depending on soil conditions and that can really help you in high minerals and trash.

Also in auto the threshold will be more stable and not null out nearly as much. If it's so trashy it's nulling all the time it's hard to know what's going on under the coil unless you are running zero disc. And you likely won't be hitting deep coins in these conditions anyway.
 
Just one more said:
Manual is deeper but auto has it's pluses especially in heavy trash and mineralized soil.

Etrac scans the return signals on 3 separate channels. Manual sets the sensitivity of all 3 channels to the same level, which is why it can go deeper in good conditions. But auto sets them at different levels(it only reports the highest channel) depending on soil conditions and that can really help you in high minerals and trash.

Also in auto the threshold will be more stable and not null out nearly as much. If it's so trashy it's nulling all the time it's hard to know what's going on under the coil unless you are running zero disc. And you likely won't be hitting deep coins in these conditions anyway.
Click to expand...

Thats some great information, thanks. Im about to hit the gym, then hit the dirt if you know what I mean
 
So yesterday I was out for a good 3-4 hours and toward the end I started falsing a lot during my swings. I thought maybe the manual sensitivity was too high but reducing it didnt change much. Also tried noise canceling

From what I read on another forum is was potentially the channel I was on? Some guys said that higher channels could run like this, and my machine was on 12 during that period of time. Can anyone attest to higher channels doing this?
 
Turbomunkey said:
So yesterday I was out for a good 3-4 hours and toward the end I started falsing a lot during my swings. I thought maybe the manual sensitivity was too high but reducing it didnt change much. Also tried noise canceling

From what I read on another forum is was potentially the channel I was on? Some guys said that higher channels could run like this, and my machine was on 12 during that period of time. Can anyone attest to higher channels doing this?
Click to expand...

When you noise cancel the Etrac, the manual says to hold the coil about a foot off the ground. So make sure you are doing that to start.

It doesn't make sense that higher channels would allow more interference. When you noise cancel the Etrac, it scans and picks the most stable channel available. If a higher channel is getting hit by EMI, wouldn't it pick a lower channel instead? Maybe these users were in a high EMI area and Etrac picked the least noisy channel available....which was still getting hit by EMI.

And "falsing" can mean different things to different people. Is the machine noisy because of too high sensitivity, too much trash, EMI, high minerals, loose/dirty connectors, low batteries, dirty coil cover, faulty electronics etc.

Check those things and go to a different area to rule out EMI.
 
Just one more said:
When you noise cancel the Etrac, the manual says to hold the coil about a foot off the ground. So make sure you are doing that to start.

It doesn't make sense that higher channels would allow more interference. When you noise cancel the Etrac, it scans and picks the most stable channel available. If a higher channel is getting hit by EMI, wouldn't it pick a lower channel instead? Maybe these users were in a high EMI area and Etrac picked the least noisy channel available....which was still getting hit by EMI.

And "falsing" can mean different things to different people. Is the machine noisy because of too high sensitivity, too much trash, EMI, high minerals, loose/dirty connectors, low batteries, dirty coil cover, faulty electronics etc.

Check those things and go to a different area to rule out EMI.
Click to expand...

To clarify, my machine will have misc tones through out the course of a swing, and they are not repeatable. I have the sensitivity set at 22. I don't have any power lines in the area. I will the coil cover and clean it this evening. Ground mineralization I don't know anything about, how do you establish that?
 
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