E-Trac on the beach question....

[Pawnbroker_Bob]

I am looking for a beach detector to supplement my waterproof detectors. I want it to be a good gold machine. Where I detect it is trashy, well hunted and black sand sometimes. I was looking at the X-Terra 705 Gold pack. While doing my research I keep running across the E-Trac. Is it all that and a bag of chips? Any beach hunters out there that want to disclose any insights?

Thanks,

PB

 

[Andy Sabisch]

Bob

Are you hunting salt or fresh water sites and if you are hunting salt water areas, are you in areas where there is black sand as well?

Depending on where you are hunting and the challenges you might be facing, a single frequency VLF detector may very well be a better beach detector for gold than an E-Trac or Explorer. The Tesoro Tiger Shark and Garrett AT Pro are pretty darn hot when it comes to small gold and several water hunters I know have made them their primary fresh water machines as a result. I have pulled some ear ring backs and fine chains with both myself.

I think if you define where you are hunting you will get some better input to make a decision that meets your needs

Andy Sabisch

 

[Jason in Enid]

The E-Trac is HOT on silver, but not so much on gold. Small gold earrings and gold chains will not respond on the E-Trac. It won't respond to small gold at the depths it will on silver.

Look for a VLF beach detector that is optimized for gold.

 

[Pawnbroker_Bob]

Thanks Andy for your direction.

I am in SoCal. Forgive my not being specific. I grew up here so beach to me means miles of ocean, water and sand. lol Sand on a lake doesn't invoke any vision of beach to me. No disrespect meant to any inland land lubbers... I'm a sailor. Which means we are a little weird and strange. =) I am also a tech geek so of course the Etrac caught my eye.

Back to beach, I have a Sand Shark and a CZ-21 in route so I have the surf covered. The CZ may be my answer for dry. Some beach areas have black sand streaks and/or patches. My shark needs some adjustment in this sand. Yup a PI is a dig all machine and gives me a good workout.

What I am looking for is a more all around machine that has good disc for the soft sand. Something that does a better job of killing the foil and iron. Im not much of a park guy ( I would rather be sailing) but I do spend time in the desert and gold areas in the mountains. (black sand again) Ultimately I would spend 70% of my time with it on the beach and want coins and gold plunder. lol



Thanks in advance for your input.

PB

 

[Pawnbroker_Bob]

Thanks for the input Jason.

I am well aware of the small gold thing. Every small chain I have found was due to the fact that it had a pendant on it or was balled up. Silver as you mentioned hits harder on my shark as well. It is all a matter of size and conductivity.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Don't cut out the foil! There are a lot very thin womens rings that fall in the foil zone. At todays prices you don't want to miss any gold!

 

[RandyNorthridgeca]

Hey Bob, I have the Sand Shark and a CZ too. ! also have the E-Trac but prefer my Explorer 2 for the beach. I have my Explorer 2 setup with sunray's 12.5" coil and it's a killer setup. The Sunray coil is way lighter and a bit more sensitive than my 15" WOT coil but I seem to do better when I have my 15" Wot coil on my Explorer and I think the main reason is the coverage is better. The WOT coil is heavy but can find those tiny earring backs too.

I don't find much small gold with my Explorer or E-Track but who wants the small gold Just kidding! With any of the good machines (think the CZ 21 you have coming will work great in the wet and dry sand too) in my opinion you're going to have to dig anything that doesn't grunt iron if you want the gold (you'll be abe to discriminate out those pesky bottle caps if you want to but I don't).

Since you're mostly a beach hunter if I were you I'd spend my money on a new SE and use my savings to pickup Doc's 15" coil. If you can't handle the weight buy Sunray's 12.5" coil because it weighs about the same as the stock coil.

Some years ago my buddy and I were detecting at Santa Monica beach. Both of us had Explorer 2's. I had the Sunray 12.5" coil on my machine and my buddy had the 15" WOT coil on his machine. At the beach we both ran our machines in ferrous mode, we both use zero discrimination, and we both dug everything that didn't grunt iron. I got a real crappy hit but knew it wasn't iron. Scooped up the sand and was surprised to see a medium gold chain hanging over the lip of my scoop. Called my buddy over to see it. He asked me to throw it on the sand so he could check it with his WOT coil. He had to actually scrub the WOT coil on the chain to get a tone. I rechecked with my Sunray coil and I could hear the chain with the sunray coil about 1.5" to 2" above the chain. If I hadn't been srubbing the sand with my coil I would have missed it.

CZ 21, Explorer or E-Track you can't go wrong with any of them. Good Luck and HH

 

[Andy Sabisch]

Randy,

You are right in the fact that the Explorer seems to be a tad better on the beach than the E-Trac. That was a comment we noted during the development of the E-Trac but was something that the engineers were not able to address before going into production. Despite they both being FBS detectors, there is something different between them that gives the edge to the Explorer on the beach and the Explorer II seems to be the one many seasoned beach hunters prefer (over the original or the SE models). A larger coil as you mentioned will be the best option to cover the dry sand / surf line and get the depth you want. Remember none of the FBS models will hit the small gold.

As far as the CZ goes, the only drawback to that unit - and I have both a CZ-20 and a CZ-21 - is that it is always in the Salt mode which for you is great as it gives you the stability you want but it does cause a slight loss in sensitivity to smaller gold items. If you have a CZ with the Salt / Normal switch and compare signals from small gold items you will see what happens when you engage the Salt circuit.

As Randy said however, the CZ will give you a great unit for both the water and the dry areas . . . .

Good hunting

Andy Sabisch

 

[Pawnbroker_Bob]

Thank you Andy, Randy and Jason for your insights.

Looks like I will beat the sand with my new CZ for a bit and save my nickels for a Explorer II (if I can find one) or SE and buck up for a WOT.

Is there much difference between II, SE and SE Pro?

Thanks Again!

Bob

ps.. My geeky doppelganger is whispering in my ear E-Trac, E-Trac.... I wish the voices would stop. lol

 

[Andy Sabisch]

Bob,

The Explorer SE and SE Pro are identical detectors other than the decal on the side and the coils (the SE Pro has the Pro coil which can always be added or one of the after market coils used). There were some subtle differences in the Explorer II and SE / SE Pro and many of the people that have used both see little if any difference in the field. There does seem to be a slight difference when beach hunting ocean beaches with the edge going to the EX II . . . . . hard to explain why, just something that a number of users have noted. But regardless of if you opt for a II or an SE, the Explorers have an edge over the E-Trac in this application; i.e., wet salt sand.

As a matter of fact, there are many very successful beach hunters that still swing a Sovereign. I have mine setup with the WOT and can cover a lot of ground without tiring and have hit some pretty small targets with that rig in the Myrtle Beach - Charleston section of the east coast.

Andy Sabisch