Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Don't sell your Etrac JUST YET!

Trashfinder

Trashfinder

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Joined
Oct 9, 2012
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1,307
Location
Ardmore, OK
Been doing some head to head hunting at an old school curb strip. Etrac 6x8 sef vs Nox 800 11 inch coil. So i hunted the strip first with NOX , then with Etrac sef coil. Started finding all kinds of targets that were missed with the NOX. Some of the ID's were not optimal but i was going predominately off of tone which is the norm for me. I started grabbing the NOX and moving back a couple of feet from my known marked target and sweeping slow seeing if i could get a solid tone. Sometimes i could get a tone , but mostly i could not using a normal low and slow sweep speed. The sometimes were only because i knew exactly where the target was and i could work the coil and get a hit but would never have in normal hunting conditions where i did not know the target was there already. I recovered 2 nickels, and 10 wheats, no silver yet missed head to head, but my guess it is because this place has been pounded hard! This place is very trashy the etrac nulls about 75 percent of the time. The targets i got like i said were never good ID , i was getting junk numbers on the co line , but the fe line would be closer to what i should see for pennies.

So if you again are only digging because of the metered ID you are missing lot's of coins, not a single on of these was a clean hit ID all had trash in the hole with skewed ID , but sweet flute tones! At least till i can get my hands on some kind of small coil for the NOX, the Etrac is still King for coin hunting in trash vs NOX. At least that is with the 6x8 sef. I did try the NOX in many different modes and recovery settings , coil is just too big.
 
My experiences were similar, although I was using a 600. FBS will be tough to top for deep coinshooting IMO. The nox was too similar (performance wise) to the AT pro in my experience. Which is good, I love the AT series, just not for deep coinshooting. Which is my primary hunting style. Thanks for the report, good info!
 
For one I have never said Nox was king.
Comparing like size stock coils, Nox does have some advantage depending on some coins, etc.

Using a 6x8 on Etrac is percentage wise noticeably smaller sq inch wise vs 11" DD coil on Nox.

My testing shows.
Etrac users far more likely (digging based on ID) to miss nickels moreso than Nox user. This even comparing Etrac wearing 6" excelerator coil (courtesy of Capt Silver) vs Nox and 11" DD coil. Nickels when swept with Etrac, if any iron near conductive number likes to report higher, like 15-20 making user think junk target. Not a nickel.
Higher conductors this tendency seems is had less with Etrac.

Remember these test I am referring to I know the nickel is there, the nail too, but ID just not accurate.
Realizing Etrac id not as compressed vs Nox, the Nox still reads nickels closer to ideal in most situations vs the Etrac. Etrac in test would report 3- 6 high, the same scenarios the Nox only reporting 1-2 high. This reporting is disproportionate to the conductive scales of both detectors. Meaning Etrac more in error. Naturally many folks think Etrqc is more accurate. For high conductors yes, for low conductors (very dependent on what's near a nickel.

I have also witnessed Etrac wearing 6x8 SEF coil when compared to Deus where one detector would ID properly the coin (in the wild) and the other wouldn't even signal and vice versa.
This happened multiple times on multiple hunts. With me at the controls of both Etrac and Deus, even though at the time Inwas not actually detecting using Etrac, rather another person. But I had to see and hear for myself.

When the 6" coil becomes available we will know more with time as far as the advantages it may provide for Nox users.

Meanwhile stay tuned.

I certainly will report on soon hopefully.

Also should note, although Nox is multi freq capable and most folks tend to run in this fashion. In areas with lots of modern trash I have definitely when doing head to heads with Etrac seen advantages using Nox when locating high conductive coins using 5khz single freq using speeds 6,7 and 8. This when comparing both detectors wearing stocks coils.
 
I have about 26 hours use on the Nox 800 at this time. 2nd outing out with it comparing targets with CTX head to head. 25 targets in the 12 - 13 range on Nox flagged and checked with CTX. On CTX would have only dug 4 of the targets. Rest CTX said was all trash. 2 of the 4 were nickels, 2 bent beaver tails. Nox loves bent beaver tails in the 7 to 8 inch range. 3rd time out with Nox and CZ, 25 more targets ID 12-13 range, CZ would only dig 2 of them one was a Buffalo nickel, rest all trash. For nickel hunting, I would still choose the CZ and CTX over the Nox. Nox will see it all but spend to much time digging trash targets to recover good ones.
 
I really will not know how they stack up in extreme trash till i get the small coil. But at least for right now the Etrac with sef is King in my experience and testing only on wild targets. I did say ID was bad but tone was great on most targets. I want to emphasize this,, as i know someone who depends on the ID basing his decision to dig or not dig. He would have missed most of those coins because of ID. But the tone was sweet and loud!
 
Too late. My E-Trac is gone. Hunting side by side with one I will say you are spot on. Keven has got signals with the E-Trac I would have left with the Nox and they were coins.

Yes I know I am missing things. I just couldn't handle the weight. Hopefully when Minelab comes out with a new flagship machine it will be light and deadly.

Patiently waiting and ready to spring cash.
 
Trashfinder said:
I really will not know how they stack up in extreme trash till i get the small coil. But at least for right now the Etrac with sef is King in my experience and testing only on wild targets. I did say ID was bad but tone was great on most targets. I want to emphasize this,, as i know someone who depends on the ID basing his decision to dig or not dig. He would have missed most of those coins because of ID. But the tone was sweet and loud!
Click to expand...

Right.
But there is no such thing as a sweet and loud tone on Etrac when detecting a nickel (when its displaying erroneous ID). Don't have CTX anymore or I would try to test it in similar fashion with an established tonal nickel window.

Also seems it depends on what the collated thingy is as far as disrupting ID on Etrac as far as low conductor. Iron seems affects more vs other colocated nonferrous lower conductor. Etrac is not a nickel magnet when hunting sites with lots of iron IMO. Unless you dig all conductive signals 11-22. Then you likely would dig loads of tabs, junk etc. one other thing. And this is not commented on enough. Using Etrac, a user in a lot of cases cannot when hunting using conductive 50 tones hear the iron. When using Nox one can many times. Meaning when one hears the iron on Nox, they maybe should be thinking, uh oh, this target (nonferrous tone heard) with colocated ferrous heard may indeed have ID in error, hence dig. Nokta Impact and likely Makro Kruzer also possesses this ability.
 
Digstrashtomuch said:
I have about 26 hours use on the Nox 800 at this time. 2nd outing out with it comparing targets with CTX head to head. 25 targets in the 12 - 13 range on Nox flagged and checked with CTX. On CTX would have only dug 4 of the targets. Rest CTX said was all trash. 2 of the 4 were nickels, 2 bent beaver tails. Nox loves bent beaver tails in the 7 to 8 inch range. 3rd time out with Nox and CZ, 25 more targets ID 12-13 range, CZ would only dig 2 of them one was a Buffalo nickel, rest all trash. For nickel hunting, I would still choose the CZ and CTX over the Nox. Nox will see it all but spend to much time digging trash targets to recover good ones.
Click to expand...

I see some post on how well the nox does on nickels , i did dig a buffalo the other day but i would say fbs is much better in my soil than nox. I also see some people digging nickels at 13 but every 13 i have ever dug was a pulltab and i have only gotten nickels at 12 so far on my nox.

I really need the small coil for the NOX to decide where it will stand against my other machines , but will for sure always have a spot in my arsenal as i have found some really incredible finds next to iron with it and some very small jewelry items at nice depths. At least for the straight up coin shooter i will give a big edge to Etrac and small sef coil right now. I will try an even smaller detech 6 in or a sunray stealth 5 in soon and see if it can pull where the sef maybe has missed.
 
tnsharpshooter said:
Right.
But there is no such thing as a sweet and loud tone on Etrac when detecting a nickel (when its displaying erroneous ID). Don't have CTX anymore or I would try to test it in similar fashion with an established tonal nickel window.
Click to expand...

No the sweet loud was pennies only , i did not mean it did on the nickels. But the nickels were rock solid 12-12, and easy enough to hear to make you stop in your tracks with the etrac. I did not mention this earlier but i had also hit that same strip with the the dues and 9 in elliptical , i have no idea how i missed that many coins with it either. But i only did the head to head afterwards on the nox and etrac. I think knowing where they were if i had pulled the dues it would have been like the nox i could have found them ,, but obviously i did not stop on those targets when i did run the deus down the strip.
 
One needs to remember, sometimes it is not exactly per se detectors ops internally that causes one (wearing different coil) to locate things the other won't. But the coil winding setup vs target scenario.

This can be witnessed when comparing Deus wearing both 9" and 11" LF coils in the wild. The 11" coil will even locate some nonferrous the 9" won't, and this not attributed to depth either ( meaning target not out of depth range for 9" LF coil with detector settings used at the time).
 
I think most already realized this doug because I cant find a decent deal on an etrac! Missed a couple early morning but slim pickens after that and zero replyies to my wtb ad.
 
detectingMO said:
I think most already realized this doug because I cant find a decent deal on an etrac! Missed a couple early morning but slim pickens after that and zero replyies to my wtb ad.
Click to expand...

Craig, I'm a happy camper with my CTX. :D I'm glad that I didn't jump on the Nox bandwagon. Thanks for the good honest info.

beephead
 
Not just the Etrac,but I’m seeing a lot of people going back to whatever they had been using before the equinox came out.Theres a few who bought the equinox who clicked with it and like it,and will continue to use it.Nothing wrong there,if it works for them that’s a smart move.I didn’t have a Etrac at the time the equinox came out,but if I did I doubt I would have dumped it.I did sell a xterra 705 to fund the equinox tho,and have another 705 on the way and the equinox is no longer with me.Grass isn’t always greener...Minelab in my opinion made the best coin machines,until they released the equinox.
 
Etrac - CTX 3030 - NOX 800

I currently have all 3 of these machines and at this time the CTX is still KING.
NOX is great in really trashy iron infested house sites, but in any kind of open ground the CTX is hands down better.
Gary from Oregon
 
I’ve also seen some targets that the CTX would nail with a good tone and the Nox wouldn’t. Seen some others that the Nox would give a good signal on and the CTX wouldn’t. That’s why I always end up hunting my really good spots with multiple detectors.

I think the Equinox is a great machine and offers a lot of bang for the buck... but when it comes to coin shooting, FBS is still king IMHO. I would love to see a lightweight version of the CTX with all the bells and whistles. I read somewhere that It would be difficult to make a lightweight FBS detector due to higher battery output requirements, so that may not even be possible.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I sold one E Trac and don't believe I will make that same mistake again.
I also own the CTX as well as both Equinox models. All these units are very good detectors and I am very surprised at how well I have been doing with the Equinox. It wont be replacing any of my other machines but for the price point I don't think there is anything else out there that would touch it.
I think the E Trac is in a category all to itself. It was my first Minelab and I really killed it at some of my spots within the first month of buying it. Here is a trip down memory lane.
http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=211077
 
Sometimes the difference in between missing something or not,even when it’s “pre-located”, is just a whisker of this or that one way or another...it does look like 2 very complimentary technologies that add an edge to the other,which in today’s conditions is what we need. NONE of my sites have “gimme” signals left when it comes to high conductors,everything is sketchy. I’d like to give an EQ a whirl in these places to see what it finds,because if it finds ANYTHING...it’ll be because of tech and speed,not because I “missed it”. That’s my story,I’m sticking to it.
I’m sure after a years time has elapsed,people will have figured out tricks to make this new machine do what they want better,just like all of the other ones.
Now if someone would just send me an EQ for awhile so I can drive it around!:grin:
 
tnsharpshooter said:
for one i have never said nox was king.
Comparing like size stock coils, nox does have some advantage depending on some coins, etc.

Using a 6x8 on etrac is percentage wise noticeably smaller sq inch wise vs 11" dd coil on nox.

My testing shows.
Etrac users far more likely (digging based on id) to miss nickels moreso than nox user. This even comparing etrac wearing 6" excelerator coil (courtesy of capt silver) vs nox and 11" dd coil. Nickels when swept with etrac, if any iron near conductive number likes to report higher, like 15-20 making user think junk target. Not a nickel.
Higher conductors this tendency seems is had less with etrac.

Remember these test i am referring to i know the nickel is there, the nail too, but id just not accurate.
Realizing etrac id not as compressed vs nox, the nox still reads nickels closer to ideal in most situations vs the etrac. Etrac in test would report 3- 6 high, the same scenarios the nox only reporting 1-2 high. This reporting is disproportionate to the conductive scales of both detectors. Meaning etrac more in error. Naturally many folks think etrqc is more accurate. For high conductors yes, for low conductors (very dependent on what's near a nickel.

I have also witnessed etrac wearing 6x8 sef coil when compared to deus where one detector would id properly the coin (in the wild) and the other wouldn't even signal and vice versa.
This happened multiple times on multiple hunts. With me at the controls of both etrac and deus, even though at the time inwas not actually detecting using etrac, rather another person. But i had to see and hear for myself.

When the 6" coil becomes available we will know more with time as far as the advantages it may provide for nox users.

Meanwhile stay tuned.

I certainly will report on soon hopefully.

Also should note, although nox is multi freq capable and most folks tend to run in this fashion. In areas with lots of modern trash i have definitely when doing head to heads with etrac seen advantages using nox when locating high conductive coins using 5khz single freq using speeds 6,7 and 8. This when comparing both detectors wearing stocks coils.
Click to expand...

facts!
 
I agree that for coin hunting in places without too much old iron, the Etrac is generally better than the Nox. And the 6x8 SEF coil is itself a very good reason to hang onto the Etrac IMHO :)

I have found the Nox to do better than the Etrac in some places with lots of old iron nails and similar, finding coins the Etrac just could not see. However, these were places that were heavily hunted in the past (including by me with the Etrac)--so, mainly a case of the Nox's superior separation unmasking some additional targets. Carrying both machines in fairly trashy parks, but mostly more modern trash, both "see" about the same for me, but the Etrac does a better job in that it convinces me to dig coins I would not dig with just the Nox.

Now, what I say applies to the higher conductors. I know many really like the Nox's ability to find deep nickels; but I have so much trouble with pull tabs that I generally leave the 13/14s alone. Also, there are probably relic hunters that prefer the Nox over the ET/CTX for everything.
 
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