I've been a White's guy ever since I got into this hobby back in the 1980s. First real detector was a White's Coinmaster.. Upgraded shortly after to a 5900DI Pro, followed by a 6000DI Pro, then an Eagle Spectrum, and then two XLTs.. After that I tried a Fisher F75 for a very short while but it just wasn't for me so I ended up getting another XLT, which I traded in on a V3i around 2011. Been using the V3i up until a couple of months ago. With the exception of the F75 and a couple of back-up machines by Fisher and Garrett, all of my detectors have been from White's and I've been happy using them.
BUT... Over the last few years I couldn't help but notice the great results everyone has been getting with the Minelab Etrac. Heard it called "the silver slayer" and a few other names praising its ability to pull deep silver out of the ground that other machines have left behind. After watching countless Youtube vids of the Etrac in action, I *almost* pulled the trigger on getting one several times but talked myself out of it.
Back in December I finally gave in and got one for my very own.
I wanted to use it for at least a couple of months before posting my thoughts. My Dad passed away in January and I didn't get to do much detecting, but for the last few weeks I've been giving it a workout. To say that I'm impressed would be an understatement!
Right off the bat, the first thing I noticed is that the Etrac seems to handle EMI much better than any of my previous machines. More on that later. I purchased Andy Sabisch's book and read it cover to cover. To be honest, coming from a V3i makes learning the E-Trac seem like child's play. Very easy to understand and use. I felt right at home with this detector. Watching all those Youtube vids that I mentioned earlier probably helped with that. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I still have plenty to learn but I already feel very comfortable with the Etrac.
As far as depth goes, I think my V3i was every bit as deep, but the difference is that good deep targets seem to sound better on the Etrac. Getting good depth doesn't mean much if the target still sounds like trash. I think part of the reason the Etrac doesn't go crazy in iron or EMI like the V3i could be because it's a little less sensitive to smaller items. This would also explain why it doesn't do so we well on small gold.
Target ID on deep coins, no contest. Etrac wins hands down.
The first place I wanted to try my new-to-me Etrac was the site where I found the disturbed cache of big silver and gold coins back in 2012. I've been hunting this place steady with the V3i for four years and it has found hundreds of coins there, but the signals finally fizzled out. So my main reason for wanting the Etrac was to see if it could sniff out any coins that the V3i had missed.
I packed up the Minelab and went to hunt there but unfortunately it was overgrown with weeds and brush, so I had to put that place on the backburner until I could come back and do a little clean up work.
I ended up taking the Etrac out to an old flea market next to my work place. Using Bill's park program, I spent a couple of days digging there just getting a feel for the sights and sounds of the machine. Didn't find any silver or old coins, but it was still a good learning experience:
Next, I spent a couple of weekends detecting on a hill next to an old church.. This is a place I've been hunting on and off for the past 15 years or so with my XLT and V3i. Using Andy's coin program, I managed to pull out quite a few items that I had missed before, including a silver Rosie, an 1890 V nickel, several wheats, a sterling thimble, a button, a complete makeup container and a few other items. Most of these items were deep (7"+) and some of them had pieces of iron in the hole with them. The Etrac does seem to pick out good targets from iron very well from my experiences.
Next I decided to go detecting in my own yard for a while. I live in a two story house build in the 1880s, and have hunted around it many times with my V3i but never been able to dig any old coins due to the high concentration of iron in the ground, along with EMI. Even with the gain turned way down, the V3i was just too erratic to pick out anything there.
After only about 45 minutes of hunting, the Etrac managed to sniff out a 1919 wheat and a 1906o Barber dime! The barber was a good 8 or 9 inches deep but it still gave a decent signal. This got me really excited since I've been hunting this yard since 2009 and never found any old silver here. Score another for the Etrac!
Finally, armed with my weedeater and Etrac I went back to my honey hole.. For anyone who isn't familiar, you can find the backstory on this place in the "eye popping mind blowing" forum (sort by replies and its about 3 down from the top). Long story short, in 2012 I stumbled onto a large cache of coins there including silver dollars, halves, quarters and even gold coins. I've been hunting this place for four years now and covered every inch, from every direction countless times with my V3i until no more signals (even iffy ones) could be heard. Again, my main reason for buying the Etrac was to see if it could sniff out anything the V3i had missed here.. It didn't disappoint!
I spent the first day concentrating on the area where the largest chunk of coins had been dug over the last few years. This area is probably 35 feet by 50 feet. About an hour of detecting and I finally got a broken signal (again, using Andy's coin program). I think the ID said something like 20-47 and the signal went away if I rotated 90 degrees. Turning on quick mask and I could hear it clearly again. The FE numbers were all over the place, but the CO was locked on to 47. Dug down and found a SLQ (1917s) at around 9" with nails all around it.
Ok, this got me excited! So I stayed in this area swinging really low and slow, and listening small. Got another broken signal not too far from the first one. It pinpointed at only a few inches but after digging down I just found a couple more nails.. I moved them out of the way and got a deeper signal that was solid now!
Dug out a chunk of dirt with my Sampson and saw this imprinted into the bottom of the dirt clod!
Looked down in the hole and saw this!
Boom! Barber half! The Etrac was definitely earning its keep!
This was just the beginning! I continued hunting for the rest of that day, and the next day. Ended up pulling a really nice 1918 D Walking Liberty Half, another Barber half (1899), another SLQ (1918d), a Barber quarter, a 1916 barber dime, and a 1919 Merc which is the newest silver coin I've dug from this place.
Needless to say, I am stoked! Love this Etrac and can't wait to get back out to my hot spot!
I don't want to sound like I'm bashing the V3i.. Its a great machine and has made a TON of great finds including many firsts for me. But this Etrac seems to have an uncanny ability to pick out deep coins in iron, and handles EMI like no other. I'm just super impressed with it. So much so that I sold my V3i and will continue to use the Etrac as my main detector. It truly deserves its title of "Silver Slayer"!
Thanks for reading!
PS: Shout out to Martin_V3i.. I hate to admit it, but turns out you were right!
