utahshovelhead
Active member
Im listening ... I would love to see the rest of this thread.
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etrac not picking up gold
- Thread starter greedykind
- Start date
greedykind
Member
Well.........what detector are you using larry?Thanks charlie
Larry (IL)
Well-known member
White's V3i.
I agree. The Etrac does not seem to hit small gold. I use my MXT at tot lots and the beach with my 10x12 Excelerator coil. Now I only hit the beach once or twice a year and I have hit gold 50% of the time with the MXT. In three months of pounding soccer fields with my new etrac I have not found one gold item but I did hit several silver rings. This may be silly but I think the Etrac is too deep and too powerful for tot lots. I much prefer the MXT in the chips.
greedykind
Member
so am i hearing what i think i am hearing that the whites v3i may be an all around better detector than the e-trac?
Larry (IL)
Well-known member
No, not necessarily, the E-Trac is one of the best at what it does as many thousands of satisfied owners will tell you. If you want to find small gold though, you will need some other kind of detector and the V3i is a great machine but certainly NOT for everyone. It just happens to be my choice of detector for the kind of hunting that I do. As others have said a second detector is their solution for small gold and deep silver.
Unless you plan on looking for small/micro gold the E-Trac is more than enough machine and will far surpass the other machine unless you have months to learn all the different settings needed to get max performance out of it for each individual site.
If you really want to find small gold get a Garrett AT Pro as it will hit it much better than most of the $1500.00 plus machines at a third or less cost.
The E-Trac does hit hard on medium size and up gold and will also hit some tiny natural gold test nuggets I have that are about the size of a BB.It is the small chains, tiny ear rings and very fine wire gold that it will miss and many other high end machines will struggle as well.
Take the other mentioned machine to a lot of high EMI sites and it will fall flat on it's face while the E-Trac will never miss a beat.....No one machine will do all things perfect at all sites so you have to pick the one that performs the best for you at the majority of your sites and on your desired targets.Then if you can afford it pick up a second machine to fill in the gaps you will be in good shape.
If you really want to find small gold get a Garrett AT Pro as it will hit it much better than most of the $1500.00 plus machines at a third or less cost.
The E-Trac does hit hard on medium size and up gold and will also hit some tiny natural gold test nuggets I have that are about the size of a BB.It is the small chains, tiny ear rings and very fine wire gold that it will miss and many other high end machines will struggle as well.
Take the other mentioned machine to a lot of high EMI sites and it will fall flat on it's face while the E-Trac will never miss a beat.....No one machine will do all things perfect at all sites so you have to pick the one that performs the best for you at the majority of your sites and on your desired targets.Then if you can afford it pick up a second machine to fill in the gaps you will be in good shape.
Jason in Enid
Active member
Interesting reports. I posted in an earlier thread that my E-Trac couldn't pick up even a heavy gold chain. I tried all my wifes rings, and even the smallest responded easily.
greedykind
Member
So if i am making a trip to florida this summer would you recommend purchasing an at pro or just take my garrett pro pointer?
I am surprised no one has mentioned the X-705 for small gold.
If one wants to stay in the Minelab family and have a very versatile, stable machine that IMHO would be the way to go.
The 18.75 kHz coil would be the best, but even the 7.5 kHz stock coil works well on small gold.
If I was a rich man I would have both the E-trac and the X-Terra 705.
Happy Hunting!
Denny
.
If one wants to stay in the Minelab family and have a very versatile, stable machine that IMHO would be the way to go.
The 18.75 kHz coil would be the best, but even the 7.5 kHz stock coil works well on small gold.
If I was a rich man I would have both the E-trac and the X-Terra 705.
Happy Hunting!
Denny
.
Southwind
Well-known member
Well this smaller gold may not mean much for you but it counts for a lot of my hunting. Last year I bought both an E-Trac and a V3i with the money I got when I sold the gold I found with my DFX. That cross in my video only weights 1.4 grams but that is still $36 and it doesn't take long for those to add up. Just since January I've found enough gold to buy any top of the line detector again if I want. In fact I'm looking at buying a Fisher F75 LTD with this pile of gold because I have yet to try a Fisher. Small gold matters to me.
utahshovelhead
Active member
I bench test 6 of the smallest gold rings on the E trac. All of these rings were found by me with the XS the EXII or E trac. They were found at depths of 6inches and greater some at near 12 inches but keep in mind I predominatly used a 14 inch excellorator coil. Today I have on the 10x12 SEF loop. Gain is at 27, I am indoors at the center of the room. fast and deep are off. I laugh cause all that means nothing when bench testing as we both know the ground you are working is what they get adjusted for. Anyway:
Here is some information: 3 inches 6 rings hit solid in number
All these rings hit VERY STable at 3inches solid number
At 6inches on the side of them are almost non existent in sound
Here is some information: 3 inches 6 rings hit solid in number
All these rings hit VERY STable at 3inches solid number
At 6inches on the side of them are almost non existent in sound
utahshovelhead
Active member
whoops hit the wrong button so here is the rest of that:
anyway At 6 inches 3 of them get almost no signal
at 6 inches 2 of them still give a very good signal up to 8inches and one gets a broken signal up to 12inches (12x10sef)
at 4 inches 4 of them five numbers all over the 12 line right to left 02 to 28 and up and down from the 12 10 to 15
In EVERY case the ring position to the coil makes the MOST difference. IF the head or large part of the ring is facing up to the coil then the solid numbers are better. 5 of the rings have a very hard time getting solid numbers when they are on the side laying flat. 2 of the rings if vertical have more trouble being recognized when perpendicular to the coil or at 90 degrees they work better in line with the length of the coil. One ring hits great all directions and distances. These are very small gold that have differing Ks.
Again I found them much deeper than 6 inches when I shoveled em up. So I am convinced that Air testing is no where near real world. Also even the mix of the K with silver, copper, or whatever to hit the K is different for each ring and the harmonics are different. But I am getting enough sound on every ring to justify investigation and after a few sweeps If I know items like that are in the area then I would dig them and I did.
Soil matrix also changes daily on every site and in many cases the rings I have found I had gone over and over and over and then one day the stars are aligned and everything works to give me a ring find.
Sound a bit disconcerting? The E does a great job on small gold, and I have many medium size gold rings to show that it does great on those. But Knowing your machine and its responses make the biggest difference. In most Cases I go by sound then check the id just as backup for more information. Hope that was useful to you, utahshovelhead
anyway At 6 inches 3 of them get almost no signal
at 6 inches 2 of them still give a very good signal up to 8inches and one gets a broken signal up to 12inches (12x10sef)
at 4 inches 4 of them five numbers all over the 12 line right to left 02 to 28 and up and down from the 12 10 to 15
In EVERY case the ring position to the coil makes the MOST difference. IF the head or large part of the ring is facing up to the coil then the solid numbers are better. 5 of the rings have a very hard time getting solid numbers when they are on the side laying flat. 2 of the rings if vertical have more trouble being recognized when perpendicular to the coil or at 90 degrees they work better in line with the length of the coil. One ring hits great all directions and distances. These are very small gold that have differing Ks.
Again I found them much deeper than 6 inches when I shoveled em up. So I am convinced that Air testing is no where near real world. Also even the mix of the K with silver, copper, or whatever to hit the K is different for each ring and the harmonics are different. But I am getting enough sound on every ring to justify investigation and after a few sweeps If I know items like that are in the area then I would dig them and I did.
Soil matrix also changes daily on every site and in many cases the rings I have found I had gone over and over and over and then one day the stars are aligned and everything works to give me a ring find.
Sound a bit disconcerting? The E does a great job on small gold, and I have many medium size gold rings to show that it does great on those. But Knowing your machine and its responses make the biggest difference. In most Cases I go by sound then check the id just as backup for more information. Hope that was useful to you, utahshovelhead
utahshovelhead
Active member
I add one more thing; I say the E does a great job on small gold but I do not mean tiny gold or gold chains. The rings I am sampleing are like the classic dimaond ring or just a bit smaller. sorry no pics. They are not wire but 4 are close to on the circular part. I love finding them no matter how small and would try another machine for small gold but in the mean time my E is doin just fine.
Sorry bout the 3 posts in a row.
Sorry bout the 3 posts in a row.
Good post and thread I brought this very topic up a year ago on Safari board and I have had 2 Etracs.Southwind you are correct on what you are saying and Minelab knows it that's why they brought out the Xterra where you could change coils to change frequencies.The FBS will work against you for gold in certain soils depending on where you are and what it decides what set you are to hunt in.To bad it does not hunt like Minelab advertises and scans like a police scanner all 28 frequencies.The purer the gold the harder it will be to find.That being said I have found a lot of gold rings mostly large men's I think it picks up base metal in ring more than gold.If I think there could be chance for gold in area I use another detector for that purpose.
I air tested all of the gold I have found with my MXT (9 items) and the etrac rang on all buy a 18K heavy split hoop ear ring with 8 diamonds and a really work 14K band with a missing stone. So it is safe to say I would have missed twenty percent of my gold items had I been using the Etrac.
greedykind
Member
Here is a post on the quattro site warning to all quattro on page 35.I have a quattro also and i understand they are both fbs detectors so the gold will probably not be found with the quattro also but would the etrac go as deep as the quattro in sand?
I have decided that Minelab should be required to put the following Warning on all ADs, etc.:
"IF YOU PLAN TO USE Quattro IN WET SAND YOU MAY WANT TO ALSO PURCHASE A BACKHOE"
Guess I am getting too old! Spent a few hours at "-" low tide each of the past three days. Everything I have found has been just TOO DEEP! By the time I finish digging, the holes are 3' in diameter from back fill! This is just too much work for an old man! Perhaps I should reduce the Sensitivity to "8" or so, then I wouldn't have the problem! I shouldn't have specified "wet" sand and just said "on the beach". Yesterday I was detecting as I was walking back through the dry sand. "Ping", a "37", a quarter! (I had stopped digging for "32s" [pennies] already, but still dig quarters). Graph indicated 12"+. I dug 12" (shovel handle marked at 12", 15" and 18") It was still in the hole. Dug past 15" and it was still there! (bottom of hole hard with broken shells, so it had not fallen back-in) Okay, I took one last scoop and there it was! My wife suggested I start working-out at the local gym to build strength and endurance before I go back to the beach! But.... Since the scenery is getting so GOOD at the beach, think I will keep going there and just continue to complain about having to dig so deep!
I have decided that Minelab should be required to put the following Warning on all ADs, etc.:
"IF YOU PLAN TO USE Quattro IN WET SAND YOU MAY WANT TO ALSO PURCHASE A BACKHOE"
Guess I am getting too old! Spent a few hours at "-" low tide each of the past three days. Everything I have found has been just TOO DEEP! By the time I finish digging, the holes are 3' in diameter from back fill! This is just too much work for an old man! Perhaps I should reduce the Sensitivity to "8" or so, then I wouldn't have the problem! I shouldn't have specified "wet" sand and just said "on the beach". Yesterday I was detecting as I was walking back through the dry sand. "Ping", a "37", a quarter! (I had stopped digging for "32s" [pennies] already, but still dig quarters). Graph indicated 12"+. I dug 12" (shovel handle marked at 12", 15" and 18") It was still in the hole. Dug past 15" and it was still there! (bottom of hole hard with broken shells, so it had not fallen back-in) Okay, I took one last scoop and there it was! My wife suggested I start working-out at the local gym to build strength and endurance before I go back to the beach! But.... Since the scenery is getting so GOOD at the beach, think I will keep going there and just continue to complain about having to dig so deep!