ETRACK did a dumb thing.

[smnjohn]

Been using the Etrack for about 2 weeks; previously used an Explorer XS for 7 years.

Comparisons:

1. Etrack is lighter, mainly due to the lighter coil

2. Etrack seems to be more immune to power line noise. Result is can run higher sens & more depth.

3. Used Explorer mainly in auto and could set to 70 - 100 % (20 to 32)of max sens.
Don't like the Etrack in auto because the machine won't let me set sens to max. The Treshold tone is many times too stable, even with a +3 bump in sens. This means less depth.
I think it was dumb for Minelab to limit auto sens. Also You have no idea what the high frequency sens is in mineralized soils where a lot of small coins are located. You are forced to use manual for depth which is difficult.

Any ideas??

 

[Rick(ND)]

On the Explorers I was never able to run auto sensitivity if it set over 20 as it started losing depth in most areas. I set it at 32 auto and couldn't see a dime on top of the ground unless the coil touched it. In manual at 32 it chattered too much and found at 22 worked good, but when set to auto I lost depth by a little. This gave me a chance to try a few things and notice under 16 auto was the best at 20 where about the same, but over 22 I was losing depth in auto. The area was a bit trash as it was where a side walk was just taken out of. I felt that the higher the sensitivity was in auto was the more it would change in trashy ground from I had seen. Many times I tried this when I notice a lot of nulling in manual and would throw down a new dime right where a null was and auto gave less depth while manual worked good.
Now with the E-Trac I find that auto at a plus 3 works great as what ever the auto decides to run you have 3 higher and will hear a little more plus you can now see how high or low the sensitivity is at all times. Most of my hunting area have been around 25-27 and has been as low as 14. With the Explorers i felt the higher you set the auto sensitivity the more it would drop the sensitivity in trashy areas.
Side by side comparison with a SE Pro and the E-Trac on coins buried for 2 years with the SE Pro in manual at 27 and the E-Trac in auto +3 both gave the same signal on a 7 inch dime, but the E-Trac seem to be a little louder hit.

 

[davew0710]

Dumb idea.......hunt in manual

 

[Nick A]

I used to run my Explorer in high manual sensitivity. When I got the E-Trac I tried doing the same thing and discovered that it was often less stable, so I switched to auto +3. At first I was worried I was losing depth, but this has proven to NOT BE TRUE! I am finding just as much or more than I was before. I am getting less falsing. Good targets are still sounding good. If I get an iffy hit, it is easy to toggle to manual sensitivity with one push of the right arrow key. If I feel I need manual, again, it's easy to toggle in and out of it.

Think about sensitivity like the volume on your radio. If you set the radio volume to max can you hear the words in the songs? No, it's just garbled noise. If you set it to 7 or 8, it's still plenty loud and you can still hear all the words in the songs. When you max out sensitivity, it's like always listening to your radio at max volume. You get a lot more noise, but you actually hear a lot less. The noise will block you from actually hearing a good target! Whereas if you have it turned down a bit you will be able to hear the good target clearly through the noise.

Another point is that depth is not everything. Most of the items I find with the E-Trac are not that deep. Yes I find deep stuff too, but a lot of the targets are things I missed with other machines because they did not give good signals. E-Trac's strength is accurate ID at a good depth. You will dig more and better stuff because the ID is better. If all you want is depth and you dig everything, you don't need an E-Trac. Also, if you max out sensitivity you make the ID LESS ACCURATE, so you are defeating one of the significant features of the E-Trac.

"Don't like the Etrack in auto because the machine won't let me set sens to max. The Treshold tone is many times too stable, even with a +3 bump in sens. This means less depth.
I think it was dumb for Minelab to limit auto sens. Also You have no idea what the high frequency sens is in mineralized soils where a lot of small coins are located. You are forced to use manual for depth which is difficult."

So, here's my opinion:
1) You don't want or need to set the machine to maximum sensitivity.
2) The threshold tone is wonderfully stable! It's stable because the machine is running stable, not running unbalanced.
3) "This means less depth" - I have not seen this to be true.
4) You're never forced to use manual sens. As I said it is easy to toggle in and out. I think as you use the machine you will discover you aren't missing anything by using auto sensitivity +3.

 

[Steve from Ohio]

. The Treshold tone is many times too stable, even with a +3 bump in sens. This means less depth.
I think it was dumb for Minelab to limit auto sens. Also You have no idea what the high frequency sens is in mineralized soils where a lot of small coins are located. You are forced to use manual for depth which is difficult.

Any ideas??

I agree with Nick.

Auto is not a bad place to be especially with +3.

I have also found that highly mineral content soil is one of the E-trac's strong points. I always use auto when in that type of ground. The manual sensitivity I go to when the ground is good ( which is pretty much the case here in Ohio) or when I am hunting relics. I find the E-trac is way better than the F-75 in that type of ground also.

When hunting coins, I pretty much depend on auto sensitivity and have found some pretty deep (over 12 inches) coins.

I would think that stability is good and instability is bad. I also think that you are trying to use logic and compare other machines to the E-trac, which I believe is a mistake.

The E-trac seems to be stable because it is without sacrificing power.

The E-trac is just so smooth and I love that. Compared to the F-75 , which I also own and if pushed can be so unstable as to be useless, the E-trac can beat it even in auto at depths other machines cannot even think of going. I keep the F-75 because it is so darned fast and I clean up trash and coins with it.