Big Boys Hobbies

old drive in theater with e-trac

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stapler101

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Nov 20, 2011
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Just got my detector yesterday so i know the general rule is "don't change settings" but I am going to an old drive in theater and I expect the trash (pull tabs, etc.) to be thick.
Playing in the emulator I used combine, starting with the coin program, to X-out pull tabs, nails, screw caps, iron, etc. I then allowed coins, jewelry, etc.
Is this a good pattern (idea) to try for a new user?

Oh, BTW, has anyone ever tried using a retractor for your pinpointer?
 
Last edited:
Here is the pattern I use, almost everything in my sig was found with it. Great for trash areas. But you have to go slow! The more black on your screen the more rejects you will get. NOISE CANCEL EVERY SITE with your coil 12 inches from the ground!

This is uploaded as a pdf file change it to a .ptrn file....
 

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Highly advise not going to a high trash area with a new detector. I always advise taking a new machine to clean areas so you can learn the detector in an easier environment.
Parks/trashy areas will put all machines and users in audio overload and frustrate you really quick.
 
Big Boys Hobbies said:
Highly advise not going to a high trash area with a new detector. I always advise taking a new machine to clean areas so you can learn the detector in an easier environment.
Parks/trashy areas will put all machines and users in audio overload and frustrate you really quick.
Click to expand...

This is my first thought also . . . . I couldn't agree more. I would save the trashy areas for wayyyyy down the road. You need to become very familiar with your machine first. If you start at a drive-in (one of the hardest places to hunt imo) you'll be out of this hobby before you know it.

I would really reconsider where your going to hunt. ymmv

Further, I would save the drive in for when you get yourself a small shooter coil, I've hunted several drive-ins and they are VERY difficult places to hunt, definitely for seasoned hunters.
 
Thanks for the replies.
I am certainly new to the etrac but have several thousand holes dug with Fisher cz6a, 1266, Goldmountain, compass and garrett.
I may take my cz to the theater.
As for the pin pointer, I just got the pro along with my etrac.

thanks to all
 
One more inquiry.
Is it safe to say that, in the stock coin program, you did anything with a 12 if it gives a signal both ways?
From what I read and see in the forum, many of the coins and other goodies showed as a 12.
 
Oh no......please don't go into a trashy spot with the pro coil on an E-trac your first time out. You'll hate the machine immediately. It's slow to recovery and a slow swinger. You cannot run a high rejected pattern in high trash. Won't work well at all. Going by sound in the trashy area will be your best weapon + a smaller coil. Numbers sometimes don't mean a thing.

Go to a nice open field at a tot lot or something and get a good field for individual tones before running the E-trac at a trashy zone. Even the tones kill me now when I hunt in trashy spots. But I know how to 'ride through the garbage and find the goods.'

stapler101 said:
One more inquiry.
Is it safe to say that, in the stock coin program, you did anything with a 12 if it gives a signal both ways?
From what I read and see in the forum, many of the coins and other goodies showed as a 12.
Click to expand...

Dig any repeatable high tones. If you get a steady 15-45, maybe bouncing a bit back to 12-45, or 11-45, even up to 20-45 and it's repeatable with some good depth I bet you'll have a silver dime.

As long as the tone is VERY consistent and repeatable you'll usually have a keeper especially in the 12-40 to 12-47,48 range. Keep in mind deep silver can give funny reading. I dug a silver quarter at 10 inches recently that sounded off a solid 01-42, 01-42, 02-42 - with the occasional 11-46,47. I just KNEW it'd be silver with the extreme depth and the high pitch squeal. The numbers confused me but didn't deter me from digging.

I hope this isn't too much to take in. It's really a simple detector to learn, just need to take the time to learn it and it's very powerful.
 
stapler101 said:
One more inquiry.
Is it safe to say that, in the stock coin program, you did anything with a 12 if it gives a signal both ways?
From what I read and see in the forum, many of the coins and other goodies showed as a 12.
Click to expand...

Yes, Take out the top right corner so you don't miss big silver, noise cancel in auto sensitivity and have fun!
 
I was able to get in few coins this afternoon and hear some sounds.
I got 1 qtr, 2 dimes, 1 nickel and 5 pennies. all newer but 3-5 inches deep.
Probably missed some coins but I dug very few trash items.
A pull tab and several 2-3 inch pieces of aluminum fooled me.
more practice scheduled for tomorrow.
 
I actually use minimal discrimination in trashy areas now...the machine responds better this way instead of always recovering from discriminating signals out. Ideally you'd have a smaller coil. Regardless, the determining factor between success and frustration in those areas is swing speed....slooooow waaaay down and let the Etrac talk to you. You'll be amazed what's hiding in amongst the trash. :yes:
 
I am a believer in less disc is better, the more you use the more you miss. Good targets with close trash will give odd numbers, like bone squat said above, forget numbers. I dug a silver quarter yesterday with a nail in the hole and one was it was 06-48 and the other way it gave me 01-41 but the tone was nice and high pitched. You need to learn the tones......the more you trust tones the more good stuff you will dig.....trust me!
 
stapler101 said:
One more inquiry.
Is it safe to say that, in the stock coin program, you did anything with a 12 if it gives a signal both ways?
From what I read and see in the forum, many of the coins and other goodies showed as a 12.
Click to expand...
Yes and no, i would have to say MOST old coins i dig do NOT give me a solid 12 both ways, i get a lot of 7,8,9,10,11 and even lower numbers all the way down to 01
I would rather see a LOW ferrous number than a high one like 20 or above. It seems to me the deeper the coin the lower the ferrous number in my experience. A lot of deep wheats and indians come in at a ferrous of 01
 
goes4ever said:
I am a believer in less disc is better, the more you use the more you miss. Good targets with close trash will give odd numbers, like bone squat said above, forget numbers. I dug a silver quarter yesterday with a nail in the hole and one was it was 06-48 and the other way it gave me 01-41 but the tone was nice and high pitched. You need to learn the tones......the more you trust tones the more good stuff you will dig.....trust me!
Click to expand...

Exactly why I use the relic mode and discrimination for my regular multiple-tone hunting and TTF. It's the only discrimination pattern I use EVER. An open screen will mean you dig more trash, but also the good targets amongst the trash or with extreme depth 10+ inches shine through.
 
Well I dont know about avoiding trashy areas at first. That was all I had to learn on was trashy areas. Granted I got mad quite a bit but, now I have learned a lot about the different signals and which are very bad and which are iffy. I dug a good amount of trash but, now Im not like I used to. Since stapler has some experience he is ahead of where I started as a newbie.
 
What I am going to do

Fisher cz6a, 1266, Goldmountain, compass and garrett

When I get my ETrac (damn, IRS is taking too long....), I intend to take my trusty and well-known Ace 250 with me along with the ETrac to my local park that I am really familiar with.
Start with my 250 and when I get a signal, identify what I think it is, then plop in a golf-tee. Get a few tees in the ground and switch to the ETrac. Head to the first tee, see how it reads on the ETrac. Dig, gain some knowlege and move to the next tee.
Then, go over the same area with my Etrac, push in tees, then see what my 250 says about the tees (if anything) - dig, contemplete how the find affects my understanding of life and the universe, continue.
 
Trash and Etrac - I've not mastered it either.

I've not mastered my E-trac in trash at all. I get hundreds of high sounds that seem to move around. Detector pinpointing is useless because trash everywhere. There is no way I could dig them all, but when I do, often get an empty hole to 9"+ on an indicated 4" signal, even with X-1 pinpointer. I try sweeps so slow it looks slo-mo all the way to a normal one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand speed. All the usual sensitivity changes and channel-scans.

Often I also get a sort of "squeek-slam" sound. it sounds like the door is being slammed on a smooth squeak. make sense?

I would *love* a video by someone showing how to search trashy parks with an e-trac WITH sounds and commentary.
 
pocketspill said:
I've not mastered my E-trac in trash at all. I get hundreds of high sounds that seem to move around. Detector pinpointing is useless because trash everywhere. There is no way I could dig them all, but when I do, often get an empty hole to 9"+ on an indicated 4" signal, even with X-1 pinpointer. I try sweeps so slow it looks slo-mo all the way to a normal one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand speed. All the usual sensitivity changes and channel-scans.

Often I also get a sort of "squeek-slam" sound. it sounds like the door is being slammed on a smooth squeak. make sense?

I would *love* a video by someone showing how to search trashy parks with an e-trac WITH sounds and commentary.
Click to expand...

Hmm...Are you thinkin there is something wrong with your detector or are you just not familiar with it enough yet to go into the trash-pits??..

Are you finding any coins? Anything deeper than 4 to 5"? Maybe you need to try a Master Reset? Check your cable connections? Are your batteries draining very quickly?
FYI...My first New Etrac was a "Lemon", as in defective, Took me a while to figure it all out as it was my first M-lab experience....It was sent in and a new PCB board was installed along with a new touch-screen...Then it came back and the headphone jack was broken...:mad:...My current one(#2) is a joy to use and deep!...Just a thought........:cool:
 
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