Are there others doing as poorly as me...

[DWJ]

Brad....Great response. I don't own an E trac and probably never will. I'm currently using a DFX and am finding mostly coinage at 4 inches or less. Nothing ever over 5. Still, your post was very informative. Anyone swinging a detector could learn from it.
Dennis

 

[Mike Gresham]

Been using the E-Trac since last December. Focused on previously "hunted-out" sites. In approximately 20 hours of hunting, have recovered the following -

- 1835 Large Cent
- 1839 Large Cent
- 1835 Draped Half Dime
- 1856 SL half Dime
- 1906 V nickle
- 1912 Barber Half
- 1951 Washington Quarter
- Silver Thimble
- several Rosies

After MD'ing for over 30 years I am convinced beyond doubt that the E-Trac is the most proficient machine available.

 

[JohnTN]

I remember when I got my first Explorer 2. I was all hyped up about this hi-tech marvel of metal detector engineering.
When I unboxed it and put it together I imagined the coins would just start leeping from the ground because I was so much better equipped than the next guy to find those old deepies. Looking back I can't count the times that I was frustrated beyond words and wanted to wrap that thing around a tree. I would see everyone posting the great finds online that they had made with there Explorers and I kept thinking something was wrong with my machine. Well I stuck with it and after several thousand hours of using this crazy machine I too was digging those deep beyond belief coins. The Etrac is much the same yet very simplified. It is a wonderful machine and can find the coins that are not possible for alot of other detectors on the market today. This machine takes patience and trial and error and reading every tip that you can find on line, but once you get it theres no going back. I have dug more silver with the Etrac than any other machine that I have owned. I bought the machine in October of 2008 and I detect an average of 20-30 hrs a week on my light weeks. I was very frustrated with the machine at times. That just made me dig into learning it even harder. I don't claim to be some sort of wiz on the Etrac but I have had great success with it. Over 150 silver coins and several hundred wheats and indian heads, Civil war bullets down to the 10"-11" range. My deepest coin was a 1935 half dollar at 12", several silver quarters at 11" and the deepest dime was between 9" & 10". This machine will not sweep an area clean in one hunt though. I have gone back to areas that I thought I had cleaned thoroghly and find coins I missed. Sometimes it's as simple as digging a piece of trash out and un-masking a deep coin that you find later or different ground conditions, weather conditions, and most of all attitude. I find that when I am negative I find very little. When I go out positive and really work hard to get in tune with my machine I find much more.

 

[utahshovelhead]

HI Terry,

Ditto to everything said above this post and one more thing that I find really critical...Be positive. It can only work to your advantage...it does for me. How the heck does anyone find anything after its been hunted already if they dont think they will find anything? Personally I find being a die hard and certian there is something down there has worked well for me?

good luck to you!
utahshovelhead

 

[unearth]

I've put in well over 50 hours on my e-trac and have yet to pull a 7 or 8 inch coin out. Since I've had the e-trac, about 8 months, I've only pulled out 2 silver dimes and NO other silver coins. I don't know if it's me or the machine. I keep trying different settings, but, so far, nothing has changed. Maybe it's the area in which I live, LA, or the parks I go to have been hunted to death. Maybe it's my hearing. I know that nothing is ever hunted out, but I'm not finding anything over 5 inches deep. Unless it's a piece of junk. I found a 3" dia. copper disk at about 10 or 11 inches. Any ideas on whether my machine is working correctly, or is it me?

 

[rbholt80]

Im a die hard also. I have a spot loaded down with old iron and new there had to be stuff there but never had gotten the first red cent from it. So a week ago i started hunting with my e-trac in long tone and sense 23 or more and once i got over the screaming e-trac i started finding wheat's and then tonight i was hunting it and wasn't finding anything so i went to long tones and ferrous sounds and pulled a few more wheat's.
I truly think that to learn the e-trac you have to get mad at it cause its beating you and once you get mad you will want to beat it by learning it. Then when you've beaten it you will wonder what was so hard about it.

 

[JohnTN]

Try this one time and see if it helps. Run as little discrimination as you can stand and as much sensitivity as the machine will allow without going bonkers on you. Pick a spot no bigger that 20' x 20' that has produced old coins in the past, then concentrate on going VERY slow with your swing and cover this area from every concievable angle you can. Slap your hand everytime your even think about digging a signal that reads shallow on you depth meter, only dig the ones that show at least half way or deeper on the meter. Then dig these targets. If you don't find any signals that show deep move to another area and start over. Only dig the targets that don't change their tone as you circle around them. You might suprise yourself what you can find.

P.S. an area 20' x 20' that is full of iron can take me several hours to cover as long as it is producing deep signals.

Remember where theres alot of iron, there are coins these are about the only ones left in most parks.

 

[ag4mc]

Hey Jim,

I grew up in Centralia and did some detecting at the SW Washington fairgrounds (between Centralia and Chehalis) back in the 70's. Just curious if you're in that area.

As for not finding the oldies...could be various reasons as others have mentioned...too deep, or you just haven't got your coil over some recently (a silver drought!).
Are other hunters in your area pulling oldies out of these spots? I know my favorite spots are drying up after being pounded by Explorers and Etracs over the past few years...pulling a single silver after a full day's hunt out of one of these spots is doing something!!

Best of luck out there.
HH
Mike

 

[DirtDean]

Lot of good posts in this topic. The more i use my e trac the more i like it. I was in a park in Tulsa, Ok where i'm sure every detectorist in the area has been hitting for years. I started off in the most obvious places... Under big trees, next to the pond, by the picnic tables. 1st couple hours there produced squat. not even much trash, and I started thinking probably because it's been hammered so hard over the years. So I started getting bored just swinging and no signals to dig. Went to the car to take a break and decide what to do next...find another park, or what. I decided to stay a little longer as I had plenty of daylight left. I found myself swinging quite a ways from all the main traffic area at the far end of the park. Next thing I know I'm digging all over the place. Most targets were reading deep, bottomed out mostly. I pass those for now until my X-1 comes in the mail. I was digging mid depth, solid sounding, non-iffy tones only for today. Off the beaten path i ended up with lots of trash, a handful of clad, 1916 barber dime, 1906 IH, 1916 Wheat. The etrac was running very stable in high sens with a modified coin pattern. The point here is to think outside the box and when you think a site is in all probability,"worked out". Try going to a quieter section in the park where it doesn't look like many people go. getting deep trash can be good too because that means there could be deep coins. I'm going back to this park After I get my X-1 It's a 2 hour drive but that will give me an excuse to spend the night and go detecting the next day too. HH everyone and lets see them goodies.

 

[bluefin1959]

Hi there
Can you tell us what the settings are you are running?
And, What kind of targets you dig.
I for one have used other peoples settings that have been posted in here and, for me it seems to work.
I also dig a lot of very funny sounding targets but, I have got some really nice stuff in the 2 weeks I have
had my Etrac.
This forum is fantastic. They have taught me more about the machine, the sounds, and the settings then
I could have possibly learned on my own in months of trying.
Feel free to pm me anytime.
I'm new with my Etrac but, I have done great with it.
The best thing I did to learn it was to go to a hunted ball field and work it super hard!!
I learned what sounds good and what might be good.
I found out for me at least, when I go over a target that I think might be a pull tab I go SUPER SLOW
over the target and I can hear the tab, and the little teardrop.
Last, if you know anyone who has an older home ask them if they would mind if you searched their lawn.
I did this last week and yesterday and came away with an 1821 Farthing - a rosie - a buffalo - a 3 cent silver, and a large cent.
Most people say sure have fun you will not find anything lol.
Good luck my friend
hh
dan

 

[terrywl]

2nd try@#$!& computers! OK, GOM, as it takes one to know one, let this newbe E-Trac owner (14 days now) offer U this. When U are digging a target and think you should have it out of the hole but it has disapeared, scoop out the loose dirt in the bottom of your hole. The coin may be on edge. Two of my four Mercs did this to me. I am at 14 old coins with my E-Trac in just two weeks, More than I got all of last year, so just keep swinging that coil.

 

[grumpyolman]

I've read all your posts about this question I raised. Apparently it has hit a nerve that a lot of us are feeling. Thanks for taking the time to share your kowledge. Jim