Coming from an ATPRO.. questions..

[spemcc]

I purchased an ETRAC a couple months ago and still am struggling. I had expectations to make my "hunted" out sites to reawaken and give me plenty of goodies...that hasn't really happened.

Here are a few things I've struggled with since the change. For reference, i am using the Andy S coin program.

1. I am relying heavily on the depth meter. I was able to tell depths of targets very well with my AT-Pro based off of the sound.
I realized I had Recovery Deep - ON and have since turned it off but don't get much off a sound difference with deep targets. Should I not expect the ETRAC to behave like the ATPro in this regard?

2. At old homesites with lots of iron i cant seem cover any distance since threshold nulls every inch. I have read that this is the time to use TTF and I just recently tried this out on a clean site with a wide open screen. I really liked the simplicity and am wondering what are some reasons why I should not be using this at all times?

3. Recovery Speed. In comparison to the at-pro it feels likes a snail. When detecting with a friend, they are covering way more area than I can enabling them to pick out the quick and easy signals. Is this something I should just accept?

Any insights to help me out would be appreciated.

-Spencer

 

[Mcdetect]

1. The etrac varies the pitch of the pinpoint tone based on depth. The more shallow the target the higher the tone. Deep tone for deeper targets. I rarely look at the depth meter and rely on pinpoint pitch.

2. Since it only has two tones, TTF provides less information via tone than multi tone conductive. I mainly use multi tone conductive for that reason. I pretty much know what is under my coil based on the audio without looking at the display. .

3. The etrac should go deeper than the AT pro if you go low and slow. I did slow my swing a little coming from a Whites machine but not much. Even with a faster swing my finds have been really good. In hunted out spots I do tend to slow down to go after super deep or masked goodies.

 

[Bryan V]

1. Reducing your Volume Gain will give you depth modulation but most seem to run at the max setting
so they don't miss the supper deep signals.

 

[sprchng]

Bryan is correct on the volume gain and it's impact on modulation and depth. Most people try to run it at max not to miss the deepies and because it over modulates high conductive tones to help get the "silver warble". The silver sound can be plenty good without the high volume gain setting simply by raising the threshold pitch.

The etrac performs better in iron with a little iron discrimination than with a fully open screen. Great video on that here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM9lD8YBXGs or do a search for "setting the etrac up for iron". It will not have the recovery speed of an AT Pro even with a smaller coil but a 6x8 , 5x10 will certainly help and still have the depth or better than the AT.

The AT Pro , especially with a 5x8 coil , is a formidable detector in terms of speed. Look at it as a complement to the etrac , not a rival.

 

[Ksdirt]

Correct on the threshold pitch ...that is important.....I keep mine on about 28 ...don't like to max it out ....at this level you can really tell dimes , pennies and so on...just learn the falsing swing....you'll no when it's good..just hope it's not a nail ......damn nails anyway....but just work with it ....

 

[daddyflea]

Turn Down Volume Gain to about 24, run High Trash ON, run Ground on difficult, Fast ON. Get rid on the stock coil and get a Sun Ray 8" if you can find one. Make sure you do not run too hot in Sensativity. If you do not get a steady Threshold when you swing turn it down.

 

[BryanM362]

1. The etrac varies the pitch of the pinpoint tone based on depth. The more shallow the target the higher the tone. Deep tone for deeper targets. I rarely look at the depth meter and rely on pinpoint pitch.

2. Since it only has two tones, TTF provides less information via tone than multi tone conductive. I mainly use multi tone conductive for that reason. I pretty much know what is under my coil based on the audio without looking at the display. .

3. The etrac should go deeper than the AT pro if you go low and slow. I did slow my swing a little coming from a Whites machine but not much. Even with a faster swing my finds have been really good. In hunted out spots I do tend to slow down to go after super deep or masked goodies.

Above you said:

"2. I pretty much know what is under my coil based on the audio without looking at the display."


How can you do this in multi tone conductive, when an iron nail at 35:45, will give the same high tone as a silver dime at 12:45?

 

[Mcdetect]

1. The etrac varies the pitch of the pinpoint tone based on depth. The more shallow the target the higher the tone. Deep tone for deeper targets. I rarely look at the depth meter and rely on pinpoint pitch.

2. Since it only has two tones, TTF provides less information via tone than multi tone conductive. I mainly use multi tone conductive for that reason. I pretty much know what is under my coil based on the audio without looking at the display. .

3. The etrac should go deeper than the AT pro if you go low and slow. I did slow my swing a little coming from a Whites machine but not much. Even with a faster swing my finds have been really good. In hunted out spots I do tend to slow down to go after super deep or masked goodies.

Above you said:

"2. I pretty much know what is under my coil based on the audio without looking at the display."


How can you do this in multi tone conductive, when an iron nail at 35:45, will give the same high tone as a silver dime at 12:45?

When I'm hunting in multi tone conductive my discrimination would eliminate any FE 35 co 45 signal. You must use some discrimination to eliminate the iron signals.

Also to rule out the iron false signals turn 90 degrees and attempt to duplicate the signal. If the signal is not in the exact same spot at 90 degrees or doesn't repeat it is likely iron falsing. There are exceptions to this rule and I will sometimes dig a non repeatable signal but only if something else like a really interesting tone is telling me to dig it...or I'm at a site where iffy signals are all that is left to dig.

 

[BryanM362]

1. The etrac varies the pitch of the pinpoint tone based on depth. The more shallow the target the higher the tone. Deep tone for deeper targets. I rarely look at the depth meter and rely on pinpoint pitch.

2. Since it only has two tones, TTF provides less information via tone than multi tone conductive. I mainly use multi tone conductive for that reason. I pretty much know what is under my coil based on the audio without looking at the display. .

3. The etrac should go deeper than the AT pro if you go low and slow. I did slow my swing a little coming from a Whites machine but not much. Even with a faster swing my finds have been really good. In hunted out spots I do tend to slow down to go after super deep or masked goodies.

Above you said:

"2. I pretty much know what is under my coil based on the audio without looking at the display."


How can you do this in multi tone conductive, when an iron nail at 35:45, will give the same high tone as a silver dime at 12:45?

When I'm hunting in multi tone conductive my discrimination would eliminate any FE 35 co 45 signal. You must use some discrimination to eliminate the iron signals.

Also to rule out the iron false signals turn 90 degrees and attempt to duplicate the signal. If the signal is not in the exact same spot at 90 degrees or doesn't repeat it is likely iron falsing. There are exceptions to this rule and I will sometimes dig a non repeatable signal but only if something else like a really interesting tone is telling me to dig it...or I'm at a site where iffy signals are all that is left to dig.

Got it, I wasn't thinking about using discrimination. I usually just run an open screen if at all possible.

 

[Mcdetect]

The Andy S discrimination pattern is pretty much open but discriminates iron and bottle caps. Try that if you like more open discrimination. For a tighter pattern in a trashy area try Bills Trashy Park pattern. Those are two of my go to patterns.