Joe Diggerall
New member
Was wondering if any of you guys ever used an etrac for an extended period of time then switched to AT pro in the heavy trash.
Am curious about the results.
Am curious about the results.
Find's Treasure Forums
Welcome to Find's Treasure Forums, Guests!
You are viewing this forums as a guest which limits you to read only status.
Only registered members may post stories, questions, classifieds, reply to other posts, contact other members using built in messaging and use many other features found on these forums.
Why not register and join us today? It's free! (We don't share your email addresses with anyone.) We keep email addresses of our users to protect them and others from bad people posting things they shouldn't.
Click here to register!
Need Support Help?
Cannot log in?, click here to have new password emailed to you
Changed email? Forgot to update your account with new email address? Need assistance with something else?, click here to go to Find's Support Form and fill out the form.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
any old etrac users here?
- Thread starter Joe Diggerall
- Start date
Frank in NH
Active member
I use both in the heavy trash, both work well if you know how to use them. Lot of times will just use AT Pro or AT Gold because they are lighter. All three do an excellent job!
I own both and love both for different reasons. If the trash is running deep or I suspect the good targets are deep the Etrac still wins out. The AT-Pro though is no slouch and so light in comparison. I like the tones better as well.
For modern park hunting AT-Pro all the way.
In the rain, well, guess who wins?
Different horses for different courses.....
For modern park hunting AT-Pro all the way.
In the rain, well, guess who wins?
Different horses for different courses.....
Joe Diggerall
New member
Thanks Frank.
the reason I ask, I've had an etrac for a few months and have been missing targets in hjgh trash with it. My hunting pard uses an AT pro and pulls stuff where I dont(he pulled a 7" merc out of a mess of nails that I apparently missed, and a couple of old pennies from the same area).
We basically are coin hunters, not relic.
I have pulled some good silver and right now I'm ahead of him in silver count for the year(got a measured 11" silver dime the other day). But in high trash he gets them where I dont.
He also has an etrac but prefers the AT pro in heavy trash.
I know your set up on the etrac may not work in my area but am curious how you set up your etrac in high trash.
I dont mean to say I miss all the coins in trash just missing them in high trash,he hits them with the at pro in the high trash.
the reason I ask, I've had an etrac for a few months and have been missing targets in hjgh trash with it. My hunting pard uses an AT pro and pulls stuff where I dont(he pulled a 7" merc out of a mess of nails that I apparently missed, and a couple of old pennies from the same area).
We basically are coin hunters, not relic.
I have pulled some good silver and right now I'm ahead of him in silver count for the year(got a measured 11" silver dime the other day). But in high trash he gets them where I dont.
He also has an etrac but prefers the AT pro in heavy trash.
I know your set up on the etrac may not work in my area but am curious how you set up your etrac in high trash.
I dont mean to say I miss all the coins in trash just missing them in high trash,he hits them with the at pro in the high trash.
I pulled a Merc at 6" that was 1" under a AA battery and it had a nail next to it in the hole with the Etrac. Is that good in trash???
I've also wiggled (literally, coil on the ground and just barely wiggling the coil in between trash targets) clad out of bottle cap and pull tab hell in a bar parking lot with the AT-Pro.
Both were using smaller then stock coils. The 5x8 DD on the AT-Pro and the Sunray X5 on the Etrac. With the Etrac I think settings and coil can play a huge difference in getting the goods.
With the AT-Pro that 5x8 coil is also a big help as is Pro Audio and Iron Audio.
I've also wiggled (literally, coil on the ground and just barely wiggling the coil in between trash targets) clad out of bottle cap and pull tab hell in a bar parking lot with the AT-Pro.
Both were using smaller then stock coils. The 5x8 DD on the AT-Pro and the Sunray X5 on the Etrac. With the Etrac I think settings and coil can play a huge difference in getting the goods.
With the AT-Pro that 5x8 coil is also a big help as is Pro Audio and Iron Audio.
Joe Diggerall
New member
Sailorman
That's similar to what he he pulled- nails all around the target, bigger type 2 to 3 inch nails.Also nails scattered thru out the area down to 10" deep or so.
My problem was I never got a good enough hit to wiggle on, using a 5" sunray. I've used ttf and modified coin coin program generally auto plus 3.
I/m thinking going back using auto minus 3 with the same programs.
I wouldn't worry to much about it but this is the third time he's pulled stuff that I didn't.
I know your set up on the etrac may not work in my area but am curious to know how you set up your etrac in high trash.
That's similar to what he he pulled- nails all around the target, bigger type 2 to 3 inch nails.Also nails scattered thru out the area down to 10" deep or so.
My problem was I never got a good enough hit to wiggle on, using a 5" sunray. I've used ttf and modified coin coin program generally auto plus 3.
I/m thinking going back using auto minus 3 with the same programs.
I wouldn't worry to much about it but this is the third time he's pulled stuff that I didn't.
I know your set up on the etrac may not work in my area but am curious to know how you set up your etrac in high trash.
Metal Magnet
New member
interesting discussion, thanks for posting!
Interesting thing was that day my hunting partner with his AT-Pro with the stock coil missed the Merc. We usually run pretty even unless the targets get really deep.
This was a sandy area at a mineral spring and the ground was murder for both of us. Really chattering from whatever that mineral spring had saturated the ground with. I ended up in:
Auto sens with no plus. (Although I often run in +3 but here it was impossible) on this ground I think it was only giving me about 20.
Trash high
Soil difficult
Tones long (I'm finding this setting really helps bring out the hard targets)
Tones multi and conductive
Deep off
Fast off
Also was running variability at 29 to make any silver really stand out.
I was swinging low, slow and careful. Got a strange set of numbers and mixed tones but each pass had that high pitched silver component on the edge of it and decided to dig it, was glad we did! Silver is pretty rare around here.
Sometimes I think in high trash too much sensitivity can work against us unless the stuff is deeper then 7" or so.
Both these machines are good and can make some great finds. I'm not planning on parting with either one!!
This was a sandy area at a mineral spring and the ground was murder for both of us. Really chattering from whatever that mineral spring had saturated the ground with. I ended up in:
Auto sens with no plus. (Although I often run in +3 but here it was impossible) on this ground I think it was only giving me about 20.
Trash high
Soil difficult
Tones long (I'm finding this setting really helps bring out the hard targets)
Tones multi and conductive
Deep off
Fast off
Also was running variability at 29 to make any silver really stand out.
I was swinging low, slow and careful. Got a strange set of numbers and mixed tones but each pass had that high pitched silver component on the edge of it and decided to dig it, was glad we did! Silver is pretty rare around here.
Sometimes I think in high trash too much sensitivity can work against us unless the stuff is deeper then 7" or so.
Both these machines are good and can make some great finds. I'm not planning on parting with either one!!
Joe Diggerall
New member
Thanks sailorman,
That's one thing I haven't messed with to much is long tone.
This small area i'm working in has been pretty good. Using the se pro I got 2 barber dimes, a barber half, wheats and couple indians.
Been using the etrac for 5-6 months and doing pretty good, have dug some silver in fairly trashy places, but etrac hasn't pulled any in this area, a little unsettling for my pard to come into this area and pull 3 coins on different hunts with a machine that costs half as much.
That's one thing I haven't messed with to much is long tone.
This small area i'm working in has been pretty good. Using the se pro I got 2 barber dimes, a barber half, wheats and couple indians.
Been using the etrac for 5-6 months and doing pretty good, have dug some silver in fairly trashy places, but etrac hasn't pulled any in this area, a little unsettling for my pard to come into this area and pull 3 coins on different hunts with a machine that costs half as much.
Dont know about the U/S but here in blighty uk we have a lot of iron infested Roman sites and i found the E Trac often struggled on those sites where the AT Pro nails everything, but i have to confess that the E Trac can be a very long learning curve, allthough a brilliant machine i knew i was only capable of running the e trac at around 50% of its capabillities (too complicated for me) so i got most of my money back and bought the Pro (no regrets there) and im pretty sure im around 100% capable with the pro for less than half the price, im not slating the E Tac at all, its a awsome machine but to get the best from it you MUST run it wide open and even then it wont beat the pro in high trash regardless of how compitant you are cheers Andy
Well that's interesting. Sometimes you wonder if it's individual machines, ground conditions or the individual people but in heavy iron trash I do better with the Etrac and a small coil. One thing though is it will be slow going. You have to work the Etrac very slow in those conditions whereas you can work a little faster with the AT-Pro. Some folks think that if you lose the null on the Etrac it won't hit a good signal but in my experience if you are working slow it still will hit the goodies.
Honestly though, I take Etrac breaks to run the AT-Pro as well. It just takes less physical and mental effort to use well!
Honestly though, I take Etrac breaks to run the AT-Pro as well. It just takes less physical and mental effort to use well!
Joe Diggerall
New member
Hey Sailorman.
Yep I go at a snails pace compared to the AT pro. I didn't mean to come across as not finding any good targets. I've pulled a little over 20 silver in the last 3 months with the etrac(no world record but it keeps me huntin).
Some of it laying next to nails and some in a dead null depending on what I'm running.Also pulled a deep silver dime at a 11" recently.
This area is heavily infested but have managed to get a barber half ,couple barber dimes some indian heads and wheats out of this small area.
I used an SE pro for a couple years before getting the etrac about 5 months ago.Have hunted this area pretty hard and haven't pulled any coin the last 6 or 7 hunts except 1 wheat. Last week a guy with an AT pro goes and pulls an old wheat and a merc. So I go back the next day and hunt it with a 5" coil and get zip. The next day the pard with the AT goes in a pulls an indian head.
Yes I could have just missed them as one expert pointed out but it's a little unsettling for my pard to get 3 coins on 2 different hunts and I pull diddley. Just trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong.
Yep I go at a snails pace compared to the AT pro. I didn't mean to come across as not finding any good targets. I've pulled a little over 20 silver in the last 3 months with the etrac(no world record but it keeps me huntin).
Some of it laying next to nails and some in a dead null depending on what I'm running.Also pulled a deep silver dime at a 11" recently.
This area is heavily infested but have managed to get a barber half ,couple barber dimes some indian heads and wheats out of this small area.
I used an SE pro for a couple years before getting the etrac about 5 months ago.Have hunted this area pretty hard and haven't pulled any coin the last 6 or 7 hunts except 1 wheat. Last week a guy with an AT pro goes and pulls an old wheat and a merc. So I go back the next day and hunt it with a 5" coil and get zip. The next day the pard with the AT goes in a pulls an indian head.
Yes I could have just missed them as one expert pointed out but it's a little unsettling for my pard to get 3 coins on 2 different hunts and I pull diddley. Just trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong.
I still have the Etrac and have another AT Pro on the way. I have to admit the AT Pro is real good at pulling targets out of trashy areas, espcially iron. I may post a video of a pattern (Etrac) I tried the other day for an area with a lot of rusty nails in it. I will post it on the Etrac forum of course but it did seem to work for the few targets I tried it out on.
EtracTom-AdirondacksNY
New member
Joe Diggerall you said you used the 5" sunray coil, what size coil did your friend have on his ATPro, the stock 11" or the 5x8" new coil?? I bet he crossed the targets and either you didn't with that small coil or he got it at just the right angle of attack sweeping direction coming at the target and you didn't is all. Do you have a sunray 8" coil to try out?? That 5" sunray is small and unless you really sweep perfectly while overlapping your sweeps some you could miss things as it don't cover much ground but gets pretty deep and seperates well. Next time your friend finds a signal take your machine and double check his hit. Try the 11" Procoil out on it too in there just cause it's big don't mean it will miss targets in the nails and iron if you go slow.
You may be running too much discrimination for that area as well and your friend is running what on his AtPro, pro mode zero discrim?? Or very little iron discrim with iron audio on or off?? Open up your pattern for that area and use your hearing for the discrim more instead maybe.
I hit an area with different sized coils from larger then on down to smaller sized coils and I hit it from multiple different directions of my sweep so as to hit targets lying next to each other from the right angle coming at them first before the trash target next to it to detect them there and not be overridden out by the bad targets next to them.
You maybe didn't come at them from the right angle and your friend just happened to do so. Sometimes it's just plain old luck in this game. I don't think it's your ETrac don't try to second guess yourself or you'll drive yourself crazy.
You may be running too much discrimination for that area as well and your friend is running what on his AtPro, pro mode zero discrim?? Or very little iron discrim with iron audio on or off?? Open up your pattern for that area and use your hearing for the discrim more instead maybe.
I hit an area with different sized coils from larger then on down to smaller sized coils and I hit it from multiple different directions of my sweep so as to hit targets lying next to each other from the right angle coming at them first before the trash target next to it to detect them there and not be overridden out by the bad targets next to them.
You maybe didn't come at them from the right angle and your friend just happened to do so. Sometimes it's just plain old luck in this game. I don't think it's your ETrac don't try to second guess yourself or you'll drive yourself crazy.
rarysgaard
New member
I only own an etrac,but I find most of my finds in heavy trashy parks. I use a 6" excelerator coil & it's great. What size coils are you using? I friend of mine is going to buy an ATPRO. I've heard they are great machines.
Joe Diggerall
New member
Tom-Adirondacks and rarysgaard,
Tom yes he was using the smaller coil and I believe pretty much opened up. He also I think, digs everything that has any hint of a coin sound to it, and one way hits.
What I've done is back off my sens. and starting to have a little success.
The coils I have, 5" sunray, sunray 8" and the pro.
I've ran ttf but since I figured out to lower the sens I've been running a modified coin with top right opened up, high trash, diff ground, recovery fast and some sound adjustments.
Am thinking I might run quickmask set to 28 and the 8" coil with -3 auto.
Yeah sometimes I aint got much luck, makes me wonder if it's better to be lucky than good.
Tom yes he was using the smaller coil and I believe pretty much opened up. He also I think, digs everything that has any hint of a coin sound to it, and one way hits.
What I've done is back off my sens. and starting to have a little success.
The coils I have, 5" sunray, sunray 8" and the pro.
I've ran ttf but since I figured out to lower the sens I've been running a modified coin with top right opened up, high trash, diff ground, recovery fast and some sound adjustments.
Am thinking I might run quickmask set to 28 and the 8" coil with -3 auto.
Yeah sometimes I aint got much luck, makes me wonder if it's better to be lucky than good.
EtracTom-AdirondacksNY
New member
In high trashy areas try sounds Long helps make the good sounds scream out amoungst the others since they may just be slight chirps with all the nails around.Since he's running small coil and probably Pro Zero mode he has no discrimination and just goes by the sounds (I also have an AtPro myself) So I would try a more opened pattern to let more targets in but it still likes some discrimination to work properly. Try Andy's coins pattern search on Etrac forum to find it it's there. Hope some of this helps. Remember Fast chops the signals but makes it process signals faster. Double edge sword.
Joe Diggerall
New member
Hey Tom,
I put the 8" on went back to my modified coin program, and decided to run auto with no plus or minus.
Went to an empty lot near my home. I live in an old section of town.
Had hunted the lot before using the pro coil and found 6 or 7 wheats but no silver.
This time pulled a couple wheats and a merc(5" or so) out of an iron trash area, so was feeling alot better. Also checked the hits before digging with ttf.
Went back to mod coin program because the conduct sounds better to me. Hit another wheat and hunted that little area for awhile and then moved to a part of the lot I hadn't hunted much.
There's quite a bit of big targets in the ground(the house was torn down just a few months ago). I get a big hit and had silver sound and 11,12 and 45-47 numbers, I was hoping maybe a quarter, dug about 5" maybe a little more and pull out a disk, I thought get down, a half. Rub the edge and see silver, but was thinking thats to big to be a half. So I rub a little dirt off, it was starting to get dark, couldn't see anything where I rubbed off the dirt so rubbed off some more and couldn't really see anything. Thought well crap it's just a disk, couldn't feel any reeding around the edges and at this point to dark to see. So when I got home and washed off the dirt, hot damn a morgan silver dollar. It is the most worn coin I ever dug but the eagle is on the back and lady liberty on the front, having trouble making out the date but appears to be 1892. If I can, will post a pic. It is worn to beat hell but is diffidently a morgan. First I ever found.
Anyway appreciate your suggestions and will give long tones another try. Have tried it before but for a short time as it didn't sound good. But will give it a go.
I put the 8" on went back to my modified coin program, and decided to run auto with no plus or minus.
Went to an empty lot near my home. I live in an old section of town.
Had hunted the lot before using the pro coil and found 6 or 7 wheats but no silver.
This time pulled a couple wheats and a merc(5" or so) out of an iron trash area, so was feeling alot better. Also checked the hits before digging with ttf.
Went back to mod coin program because the conduct sounds better to me. Hit another wheat and hunted that little area for awhile and then moved to a part of the lot I hadn't hunted much.
There's quite a bit of big targets in the ground(the house was torn down just a few months ago). I get a big hit and had silver sound and 11,12 and 45-47 numbers, I was hoping maybe a quarter, dug about 5" maybe a little more and pull out a disk, I thought get down, a half. Rub the edge and see silver, but was thinking thats to big to be a half. So I rub a little dirt off, it was starting to get dark, couldn't see anything where I rubbed off the dirt so rubbed off some more and couldn't really see anything. Thought well crap it's just a disk, couldn't feel any reeding around the edges and at this point to dark to see. So when I got home and washed off the dirt, hot damn a morgan silver dollar. It is the most worn coin I ever dug but the eagle is on the back and lady liberty on the front, having trouble making out the date but appears to be 1892. If I can, will post a pic. It is worn to beat hell but is diffidently a morgan. First I ever found.
Anyway appreciate your suggestions and will give long tones another try. Have tried it before but for a short time as it didn't sound good. But will give it a go.