Critterhunter
New member
I thought I'd write a little overview comparison of the pros and cons of the Etrac VDI system compared to the Sovereign. I'll try to be as "objective" as one can be who is a big Sovereign advocate. 
(Yea, right...) Let's start with the way the Etrac sets it's VDI up.
The horizontal axis of the Etrac is based on the conductivity of the target and ranges from 1 to 50. The vertical axis is based on the extent of the target's ferrous characteristics and ranges from 1 to 35. At first glance this seems rather impressive. However, unlike the Explorers, the Etrac compresses the ferrous range of most targets (rings, tabs, most coins, etc) into the 12th line on the ferrous scale. Further, ask any seasoned Etrac user and they will tell you that the ferrous reading of targets can range wildy based on the ground content and other factors. Most experienced Etrac users don't regard the ferrous reading on targets for this very reason. Lacking that as a guide, you are now left with a conductivity range of 1 to 50 on which to base target identities and split hairs on stuff.
One of the strengths of the Etrac and a weakness of the Sovereign is that the Etrac can identify more coin types based on the conductivity number, while the Sovereign compresses everything above copper pennies into the 180 number. As you can see, this range of the scale is expanded on the Etrac and makes it more useful for certain types of hunting. Mainly, a clad hunter who wants to avoid certain coins while digging others would have a distinct advantage using the Etrac for that purpose. However, Minelabs aren't exactly the best machines out there for fast clad hunting. There are many lower costs machines on the market that can be swung faster and thus rack up faster clad totals when doing that kind of hunting.
On the other hand, relying on coin type identification for old coin hunting can be risky. Coins at depth, coins on edge, coins in trash, worn coins, ground minerals...All these factors can make one coin read like another. For instance, on my 6000 Pro XLs I've dug silver dimes that read like pennies due to all of these factors at one point in time or another. A worn silver dime can easily read just like a copper penny, for instance.
Ask yourself this...If you are old coin hunting and you hit on a coin at depth or even shallow but mixed in trash, are you really going to pass it up because your machine thinks it looks like one coin versus another? Not me. If I get a penny signal at depth or in heavy trash I'll dig it in the hopes of an indian or a wheat, and as said many times I've been surprised to find a silver dime that for one reason or another read lower on the conductivity scale.
The Sovereign's ID scale is based on numbers up to 180 with most meters. Using a conservative starting point of 80 being the lowest useful VDI number, it has roughly double the conductivity resolution of the Etrac. It's strength is in the expanded low to mid range resolution of targets, which is greatly expanded compared to most other machines on the market. You will have a much easier time IDing nickles, for instance, as compared to other closely reading trash such as pulltabs on the Sovereign than you will on many other machines.
Another strength is that there is a much broader range of pull tab numbers that are identified, making it much easier to pick out two or three pesky pull tab numbers that keep showing up in a particular site and avoid them, while still digging other close by numbers in the hopes of a gold ring or some other good find. Block out one particular tab reading on a machine with a lower resolution mid range conductivity scale than the Sovereign, and you block out more good potential targets than you would otherwise do by avoiding a specific tab number on the Sovereign.
Just yesterday I used this ability at a site I was hunting in the hopes of a gold ring. I hit one particular spot where I dug three or four pull tabs that read the same specific number on my VDI. It was obvious that somebody had dropped a bunch of these tabs in this particular area. I noted the number they read and avoided digging any more of those numbers in that area. Had I not done that I would have spent the next half hour digging who knows how many more of these identical tabs.
One other pro/con item of note...With increased resolution in the coin range it can make coins at depth or in trash rather jumpy in ID. If you are the kind of person who likes to use the stability of a coin's VDI to decide if it's junk or not this can be a bit frustrating to use as a tool to decide it the target is dig worthy. In a sense, a "bigger net catches more fish" in that a wider "COIN" window (on say a Sovereign or a QXT Pro for example) can have you digging more potential targets...if you are one to allow the VDI stability to talk you out of a target being worth investigating.
So there you have it. There are pros and cons to the VDI on both the Sovereign and the Etrac. As we all know, just like the Sovereign, the Etrac has MANY other strengths than just the pros and cons of it's VDI system. You shouldn't base your purchase on that alone for either machine, but it is something to consider when shopping for various detectors. You have to decide which VDI system suits your hunting style more for the specific types of hunting you do. Based on that you'll favor one over the other for your intended purposes.
(Yea, right...) Let's start with the way the Etrac sets it's VDI up.The horizontal axis of the Etrac is based on the conductivity of the target and ranges from 1 to 50. The vertical axis is based on the extent of the target's ferrous characteristics and ranges from 1 to 35. At first glance this seems rather impressive. However, unlike the Explorers, the Etrac compresses the ferrous range of most targets (rings, tabs, most coins, etc) into the 12th line on the ferrous scale. Further, ask any seasoned Etrac user and they will tell you that the ferrous reading of targets can range wildy based on the ground content and other factors. Most experienced Etrac users don't regard the ferrous reading on targets for this very reason. Lacking that as a guide, you are now left with a conductivity range of 1 to 50 on which to base target identities and split hairs on stuff.
One of the strengths of the Etrac and a weakness of the Sovereign is that the Etrac can identify more coin types based on the conductivity number, while the Sovereign compresses everything above copper pennies into the 180 number. As you can see, this range of the scale is expanded on the Etrac and makes it more useful for certain types of hunting. Mainly, a clad hunter who wants to avoid certain coins while digging others would have a distinct advantage using the Etrac for that purpose. However, Minelabs aren't exactly the best machines out there for fast clad hunting. There are many lower costs machines on the market that can be swung faster and thus rack up faster clad totals when doing that kind of hunting.
On the other hand, relying on coin type identification for old coin hunting can be risky. Coins at depth, coins on edge, coins in trash, worn coins, ground minerals...All these factors can make one coin read like another. For instance, on my 6000 Pro XLs I've dug silver dimes that read like pennies due to all of these factors at one point in time or another. A worn silver dime can easily read just like a copper penny, for instance.
Ask yourself this...If you are old coin hunting and you hit on a coin at depth or even shallow but mixed in trash, are you really going to pass it up because your machine thinks it looks like one coin versus another? Not me. If I get a penny signal at depth or in heavy trash I'll dig it in the hopes of an indian or a wheat, and as said many times I've been surprised to find a silver dime that for one reason or another read lower on the conductivity scale.
The Sovereign's ID scale is based on numbers up to 180 with most meters. Using a conservative starting point of 80 being the lowest useful VDI number, it has roughly double the conductivity resolution of the Etrac. It's strength is in the expanded low to mid range resolution of targets, which is greatly expanded compared to most other machines on the market. You will have a much easier time IDing nickles, for instance, as compared to other closely reading trash such as pulltabs on the Sovereign than you will on many other machines.
Another strength is that there is a much broader range of pull tab numbers that are identified, making it much easier to pick out two or three pesky pull tab numbers that keep showing up in a particular site and avoid them, while still digging other close by numbers in the hopes of a gold ring or some other good find. Block out one particular tab reading on a machine with a lower resolution mid range conductivity scale than the Sovereign, and you block out more good potential targets than you would otherwise do by avoiding a specific tab number on the Sovereign.
Just yesterday I used this ability at a site I was hunting in the hopes of a gold ring. I hit one particular spot where I dug three or four pull tabs that read the same specific number on my VDI. It was obvious that somebody had dropped a bunch of these tabs in this particular area. I noted the number they read and avoided digging any more of those numbers in that area. Had I not done that I would have spent the next half hour digging who knows how many more of these identical tabs.
One other pro/con item of note...With increased resolution in the coin range it can make coins at depth or in trash rather jumpy in ID. If you are the kind of person who likes to use the stability of a coin's VDI to decide if it's junk or not this can be a bit frustrating to use as a tool to decide it the target is dig worthy. In a sense, a "bigger net catches more fish" in that a wider "COIN" window (on say a Sovereign or a QXT Pro for example) can have you digging more potential targets...if you are one to allow the VDI stability to talk you out of a target being worth investigating.
So there you have it. There are pros and cons to the VDI on both the Sovereign and the Etrac. As we all know, just like the Sovereign, the Etrac has MANY other strengths than just the pros and cons of it's VDI system. You shouldn't base your purchase on that alone for either machine, but it is something to consider when shopping for various detectors. You have to decide which VDI system suits your hunting style more for the specific types of hunting you do. Based on that you'll favor one over the other for your intended purposes.
