AT Pro vs. Etrac my thoughts...

[outwardjourney]

So, I have had the ATPro since it came out. The Etrac I've had for several months now, and I must say that I am NOT that impressed with the Etrac. The ATPro has yielded more results for me and I can't understand why. Maybe it's the settings, the configuration, or just my user style. I don't know....

As far as depth is concerned, I have seen that the AT Pro and Etrac (in my settings) are about the same in their depth range. The limiting factor for the ATPro is the lack of coil options when compared to the Etrac.

I am wondering what your thoughts are on the AT Pro / Etrac comparisons you guys have made. I know many will say the etrac is a greater machine because of price, and because their first time out they found silvers, etc.

Let me tell you, the first time I took the ATPro out, I found GOLD. I haven't found that yet with the Etrac. And for those who say they find silver with the etrac first time out, you don't think you'd of found it with another machine? The silver has to be there to be found and I believe the AT Pro is quite capable of a machine.

I guess I am fighting the urge to sell the Etrac. I would be buying another ATPro as my wife has claimed mine has her own. Ugh... decisions decisions!

[pulltabMiner]

ooooohhh...you're looking to start a war? he he he...

I own the AT Pro and have used it for 9 months now. It is the detector I know best and so it is the detector I find the most with.

However, I have seen what a higher end machine can do with a knowledgeable user. There is a place for the likes of the Etrac and the V3i and the F75.

I believe that when you need that extra 25% you reach for the expensive machines. This means...

...that the AT Pro will do you just fine for 75-80% of the time for half the price. Plus is waterproof...for a fraction of the cost of other waterproof machines.

BTW, I think the Etrac is most effective when used with a very slow swing.

[kelpike]

Originally Posted by pulltabMiner

ooooohhh...you're looking to start a war? he he he...

Yup, thats like the Hatfields & the McCoys.

[outwardjourney]

Originally Posted by pulltabMiner

ooooohhh...you're looking to start a war? he he he...

I own the AT Pro and have used it for 9 months now. It is the detector I know best and so it is the detector I find the most with.

However, I have seen what a higher end machine can do with a knowledgeable user. There is a place for the likes of the Etrac and the V3i and the F75.

I believe that when you need that extra 25% you reach for the expensive machines. This means...

...that the AT Pro will do you just fine for 75-80% of the time for half the price. Plus is waterproof...for a fraction of the cost of other waterproof machines.

BTW, I think the Etrac is most effective when used with a very slow swing.

Not starting a war, my stance has always been ATPro. I've given the patience and the time to the etrac, and while I hate to say it, the ATPro (the original model) has never been sent in for repair or given me the falsing issues that many had with it in its early days. This Etrac seems to give me constant signals and read outs that just don't make sense. I am going to try and do a master reset on the machine and give it a go again.

I took the etrac to the beach this past weekend. I ran it wide open NO discrimination at all, and it was still giving me crazy tones and the like. Auto sensitivity was running at 27 so I pulled it back down a few manually, reassigned noise cancel and was still acting 'hot'. I found some modern clad only and NOT much at all. The wife was in hot pursuit behind me picking up the goodies the Etrac did not. She pulled out over a dollar following in my footsteps. I was a little perturbed!

Needless to say... I was a bit shocked as the problems with the Etrac seem to be INCREASING since I've had it instead of getting better over time. This is the only thing that leads me to believe it's not user error. I had better luck with this machine right out of the box. Hmmm

EDIT: The 11" pro coil was used on the beach, but I have also used the Sunray x-8 with same results.

[Onaug]

Originally Posted by outwardjourney

So, I have had the ATPro since it came out. The Etrac I've had for several months now, and I must say that I am NOT that impressed with the Etrac. The ATPro has yielded more results for me and I can't understand why. Maybe it's the settings, the configuration, or just my user style. I don't know....

As far as depth is concerned, I have seen that the AT Pro and Etrac (in my settings) are about the same in their depth range. The limiting factor for the ATPro is the lack of coil options when compared to the Etrac.

I am wondering what your thoughts are on the AT Pro / Etrac comparisons you guys have made. I know many will say the etrac is a greater machine because of price, and because their first time out they found silvers, etc.

Let me tell you, the first time I took the ATPro out, I found GOLD. I haven't found that yet with the Etrac. And for those who say they find silver with the etrac first time out, you don't think you'd of found it with another machine? The silver has to be there to be found and I believe the AT Pro is quite capable of a machine.

I guess I am fighting the urge to sell the Etrac. I would be buying another ATPro as my wife has claimed mine has her own. Ugh... decisions decisions!

I would like to confirm your findings Outward. Send me your Etrac for a week, I will set it at the most popular configuration, and beat some old ground to death that has stopped producing silver. If I see the silver then I can confirm the Etrac is THE silver machine at that price point. I all ready know the ATPro is all ready beast on gold and is all right with silver.

General consensus seems to point to ATPro for gold and Etrac for silver. And my impression is ATPro is better at silver than Etrac is at gold. But, I would love a week to prove that theory.

What part of the Texas coast do you swing on? I have lived in many towns from Port Lavaca to Galveston.

[Lightningjack]

Don't feel bad I've had my Minelab Explorer for over 6 years now & since my At-Pro purchase last year I've been strongly considering trading in the Explorer for another At-Pro or At Gold, That or just keep letting the explorer collect dust since I never use it any more..

[dogpound]

i've experienced just the opposite results, i also had the AT when it first came out and when i got the etrac i went back to several spots i hunted with the AT and found several silvers the AT and my other garrett missed. i also like the the bigger screen and back light feature on the etrac. i also found that the AT was a bottle cap magnet, i have no regrets for sellin the AT

[Dark Chameleon]

Not having the funds or inclination to buy both to try them out i spent almost a month studying what i thought would be the best detector for my money, i couldnt afford on my set budget to buy the etrac and have seen some great finds from it on youtube, but i wonder how many of the owners bought the etrac before the at pro second incarnation....i just cant see the benefits of the etrac being so far advanced that id pay more then double the amounbt of the at pro dual coil package.

I have seen the fighting of the amiga and atari st, the japanese bikes and classics, the camaro and mustang and people always fight big time for their side but i know the std part of the at pro was the perfect hand holder for me coming from no experience but plenty of willing to learn and dig other peoples trash, i decided against the xterra and fishers cos they were commented on as too hard to learn off the bat, the mxt was too heavy and the etrac was out of my budget.

I think if youve been using detectors before which id assume if you were going to spend $1500 on a detector youd have previous knowledge that youd want on some of the options on your new detector like sticking with the manufacturer and options your used to.

I'd say for the grand sum of one months experience id say the at pro is perfect, maybe one year ion or two years in ill have found my wish list of things it doesnt have or could add to it but for a first timer it fits the bill in every area i need it to, until they make a dry/wet/sand/sea/gold/underwater/snow detector all in one i doubt ill think one detector has it all

[Patton]

Originally Posted by pulltabMiner

ooooohhh...you're looking to start a war? he he he...

I own the AT Pro and have used it for 9 months now. It is the detector I know best and so it is the detector I find the most with.

However, I have seen what a higher end machine can do with a knowledgeable user. There is a place for the likes of the Etrac and the V3i and the F75.

I believe that when you need that extra 25% you reach for the expensive machines. This means...

...that the AT Pro will do you just fine for 75-80% of the time for half the price. Plus is waterproof...for a fraction of the cost of other waterproof machines.

BTW, I think the Etrac is most effective when used with a very slow swing.

So...that would rule me out buying an e-track, huh?

[Jack Flynn]

Probably the key here is you've had the ETrac for several months now. You more than likely have not anywhere near started to begin to understand it yet. If you use it a lot it could easily take a year to a year and a half to become proficient with it.

[outwardjourney]

Originally Posted by Onaug

I would like to confirm your findings Outward. Send me your Etrac for a week, I will set it at the most popular configuration, and beat some old ground to death that has stopped producing silver. If I see the silver then I can confirm the Etrac is THE silver machine at that price point. I all ready know the ATPro is all ready beast on gold and is all right with silver.

General consensus seems to point to ATPro for gold and Etrac for silver. And my impression is ATPro is better at silver than Etrac is at gold. But, I would love a week to prove that theory.

What part of the Texas coast do you swing on? I have lived in many towns from Port Lavaca to Galveston.

I am in Houston, and was down in Galveston over the past weekend. Tons of depositors (people) on the beach, but the etrac well... wasn't handling it. The ATPro did fairly well.

Originally Posted by Jack Flynn

Probably the key here is you've had the ETrac for several months now. You more than likely have not anywhere near started to begin to understand it yet. If you use it a lot it could easily take a year to a year and a half to become proficient with it.

This is true, and I understand the coil has to be over the goods to find them. However, my confusion is that the coil when directly over a coin on the surface or just inches below the sand this weekend was acting very erratic. I tested it with the clad junk I did find and I couldn't get consistent readings. Weather and time permitting, I will test it again this weekend in a bucket test. And I will try and post some of the results. I am curious if it's my machine. My wife asked me if this had anything to do with the results I had previously at a soccer field....

The soccer field with the sunray x-8 coil on it, the machine was going berserk even when the coil wasn't on the ground. Noise canceling didn't change the way it was acting either. I had forgotten about that outing (which was a couple weeks before the beach outing).

Maybe it isn't me and is just the machine. Has the etrac been known to have issues like this before?

[pulltabMiner]

Originally Posted by Onaug

...General consensus seems to point to ATPro for gold and Etrac for silver. And my impression is ATPro is better at silver than Etrac is at gold. But, I would love a week to prove that theory.

I like this. I haven't used the Etrac but Redd and KansasDave are cleaning up an old hunted out park in my city with it. It finds silver alright.

As for the AT Pro...I found a tiny 14K gold clasp with it the other day that I doubt the Etrac or my V3i for that matter would have EVER picked up.

So YES, the AT Pro rules for gold and YES I agree that perhaps the AT Pro is better with silver than the Etrac is with at gold.

***NOTE*** I haven't dug a bottle cap with the AT Pro for over 7 months now. You just gotta know your detector.

[dlh]

Since I have neither one of these units my first impression in reading these posts you all are talking gold and silver. How does the AT pro compare to the Minelab Explorer Pro, E-trac or even the CTX 3030 if you wanted to do some relic hunting? I am just curious because a new unit might be somehere down the road for me.

Thanks
Denis

[outwardjourney]

I try not to post too many of my relic finds. But the AT Pro KILLS in relics! I believe it's a GREAT relic machine similar to the F75, but the AT Pro is good at gold and okay with silver.

From my experiences:

AT PRO:
Relics : excellent
Gold : above average
Silver : average
copper : above average

Etrac:
Relics : below average
Gold : average
Silver : excellent
copper : above average

[padirtfisher]

I have the AT Pro ordered and waiting to get it but it must say alot for the AT Pro to be in the same conversation with the Etrac because that is the gold standard from what I have been reading. I am sure both are good but can only be as good as someone that knows how to use it.

[outwardjourney]

Originally Posted by padirtfisher

I have the AT Pro ordered and waiting to get it but it must say alot for the AT Pro to be in the same conversation with the Etrac because that is the gold standard from what I have been reading. I am sure both are good but can only be as good as someone that knows how to use it.

Welcome to the forum! The AT Pro is awesome, you will not be disappointed. But this debate has gone on for some time. I didn't mean to restart the debate, but just making observations from my experiences with both. I started with the ACE 250, went to the AT Pro, and then the Etrac. Sure the learning curve is steep from AT Pro to Etrac, but the basic operations tell quite a bit about the machines. The AT Pro is hot right out of the box. The Etrac requires tuning and fiddling... I think if the etrac had a true ground balance over noise cancel that there would be many more finds in my area. I don't hunt conventional areas very often....

[norbyx]

I will like to make a small and quick comparason....
I am a ham radio operator and have used most of the modern radios that are out there. I have tested radios in the $10.000 range, top of lines, and I sold them all... Why ? Because I found out that even with the latest tecnology and more than 145 knobs and 60 buttons and 70 menu (that was the top of line radio) I got the same results as an older radio that needed almost no adjusments.
Ok now why would I compare ham radios to metal detectors? Well they are both transceivers that emit radio waves. So basically they can be considerd parents.
My opinion on the e-track and the latest 3030 is that minelabs has taken a metal detector and has complicated it to a point that your learning curve to use it at it's full potential is just a never ending story.
I don't want to say that they are bad detectors... no .. don't think that at all, I only say that there are equivalent detectors that don't require you to be a nuclear enginer to figure out how to operate it.
I, for once, like simple machines that can do what they were ment to do. So at the end I didn't get an etrack and probably never will, I downloaded the e-track emulator for my PC and I found it extreemly complicated.
I rather stick with my white MXT, that has 3 pots and 3 buttons and performes as good, or even better, than many other top of line machines.
If I had to choose between the ATPro and Etrack I would have no doughts, Garrett would be my choice.

[Jressman]

I own and love both machines. I think the ATPro is a great compliment to the Etrac rather than a competing machine. Since I vary my hunting from relic to coins to foul weather detecting owning both machines is an absolute.

I had an instance where I as relic hunting and hiked to a sight along a river bank and slid down on loose dirt and dropped my ATPro in the river upside down. It was a good 30 seconds until I was able to get it out. Had I used my Etrac that day it would have been ruined by the fall and complete submersion in water. Ruined. The ATPro was just fine. Glad I took it that day.

I take my Minelab on these types of sights.

1. Where max depth is needed
2. Where sorting through trash is needed.

I don't think there is a better machine for picking out goodies among trash than the Etrac. I have had tremendous success in sights where the metallic trash was ungodly. Just hunt by tone and you will be amazed. Even if it's a one way high silver tone surrounded by low pull tab tones. The target ID is dead on at depths which is another huge benefit.

I take my AT Pro in the woods, in a field loaded with iron, but all targets including colonial coins are very shallow, and anytime rain is forecasted or sub freezing temperatures are in the forecast.

[ATProGuy]

Originally Posted by dogpound

i've experienced just the opposite results, i also had the AT when it first came out and when i got the etrac i went back to several spots i hunted with the AT and found several silvers the AT and my other garrett missed. i also like the the bigger screen and back light feature on the etrac. i also found that the AT was a bottle cap magnet, i have no regrets for sellin the AT

And I love the AT so thank you for not liking it as thats my machine now lol. It's produced well for me and I love it. Finds silver just fine in my opinion. Found my first Seated dime today with it.

[outwardjourney]

Originally Posted by norbyx

My opinion on the e-track and the latest 3030 is that minelabs has taken a metal detector and has complicated it to a point that your learning curve to use it at it's full potential is just a never ending story.

This is very true in many peoples opinions out there. I have been reading nothing but reports about how there is no difference in depth and general performance between the ctx3030 and etrac. But that's a whole other story in itself. If you are comfortable with the etrac, the 3030 has new bells and whistles that the etrac didn't have, which is cool. For me the AT Pro is highly versatile and does pretty well side by side the etrac if not better in a LOT of scenarios.

Originally Posted by Jressman

I own and love both machines. I think the ATPro is a great compliment to the Etrac rather than a competing machine. Since I vary my hunting from relic to coins to foul weather detecting owning both machines is an absolute.

I had an instance where I as relic hunting and hiked to a sight along a river bank and slid down on loose dirt and dropped my ATPro in the river upside down. It was a good 30 seconds until I was able to get it out. Had I used my Etrac that day it would have been ruined by the fall and complete submersion in water. Ruined. The ATPro was just fine. Glad I took it that day.

I take my Minelab on these types of sights.

1. Where max depth is needed
2. Where sorting through trash is needed.

I don't think there is a better machine for picking out goodies among trash than the Etrac. I have had tremendous success in sights where the metallic trash was ungodly. Just hunt by tone and you will be amazed. Even if it's a one way high silver tone surrounded by low pull tab tones. The target ID is dead on at depths which is another huge benefit.

I take my AT Pro in the woods, in a field loaded with iron, but all targets including colonial coins are very shallow, and anytime rain is forecasted or sub freezing temperatures are in the forecast.

I couldn't agree with you more. I see definite advantages to the etrac in trashy situations (sometimes). I am considering keeping the etrac now, getting a small sniper coil (something smaller than my sunray x-8) and using it for older parks that are highly trashed out. The AT Pro is definitely a great machine for those "All-Terrain" areas. I love it's waterproofing and versatility... I think I am going to be getting a 2nd AT Pro and shelving the etrac until it's needed.