Former Etrac owners

[nge]

What is the consensus on the Nox, is it that much better than the Etrac? If so, what makes you think so? Currently own an Etrac and was just wondering. Maybe in future of adding a 600 to my arsenal. .....NGE

 

[Jason in Enid]

Depends entirely on you and what you hunt.

If you have big, strong arms, shoulder and back muscles, keep the E-Trac.
If you only care about US silver and copper coins, keep the E-Trac.
If you hunt in low-trash areas, keep the E-Trac.
If you never want to hunt near water, keep the E-Trac

However, if you want a lightweight, waterproof, lightning fast detector just as much at home digging gold on the beach as it is digging deep silver in yards, or dealing with heavy trash in parks, then you really want the EQX.

UNLESS you live near me, in that case keep the E-Trac!

 

[jmaclen]

I completely agree with Jason's post!!!! The Etrac for me was an awesome detector. The Nox is incredible. I can swing it all day with no fatigue and I'm in my 60s.

Jeff

 

[UtahRich]

Jason spelled it out pretty well. I used my etrac very little last year not because it was bad but because my 800 was very good everywhere. That said, I wish the 800 was built a little more heavy duty. (Coil ears, shaft, cuff). I believe my 800 is a better all purpose machine than my etrac. Since the etrac sat most of the year unused I finally sold it and a couple other detectors as well.

Rich

 

[Mark kus]

Pretty much agree with all the above but the nox holds its own with coppers and big silvers no problem!
I had a Etrac found a lot of silver with it and my first gold coin which had silver also in the hole.
Waterproof and weight and speed are my reasoning for the nox I hit areas hard and slow and the nox has found silver in
Parks not hunted anymore I see guys swinging like mad coil off the ground more goodies for me ...
Sorry sold my Etrac glad I did got good money for it to buy my nox best decision I could have made!
HH
Mark

 

[laplander]

Agreed with all the above but I will add the 800 adds some more flexibility with adjustments and audio.
Jeff

 

[john67]

agree. if you like finding deep nickels Equinox. I never dug nickels past 6 inches with the e trac. the other day I went out for a couple hours with the EQ and dug 13 nickels including 3 buffs and an 1884 V and some were 7 to 9 inches deep with a solid vdi of 12,13.

 

[UtahRich]

Picked up my oldest nickel with my 800 Friday last week, an 1866 Shield w/Rays. Gold coin shouldn't be far behind, right ?

Rich -

 

[Des D]

Am still an E Trac owner. About to head out as soon as I type this!

Tried Equinox but it wasn't for me: didn't;t offer anything on the types of site I like to spend time on. Others would disagree and say best thing since sliced etc..
Different strokes...

Reasons why I still like and use E Trac

* Unbeatable Tonal range
* FE and CO display
* Free moving target cursor indicator
* Deep
* Sensitive to the small items
* Hassle free operation
* Ability to install any battery types I want etc etc

 

[IDXMonster]

After getting and using the 800 for 30 hours now,I agree totally with the first response. 2 different machines that are good at what they individually do with a certain amount of “overlap” in their capabilities.(I’m substituting the CTX/Explorer2 for the eTrac in this instance....all FBS/2). STILL haven’t found any “cleanup silver” with the 800 but it’s out there,I just need more time to make it work. It’s like anything else...time needs to be spent with a machine to understand what it can do and what it’s not that good at,and to use those attributes to your advantage.

 

[Djaymo]

I too was an Etrac owner ,sold it mainly because of the weight and bad shoulders.Bought my Nox about 2 weeks ago and so far I am not impressed.Park 1 is the only mode I can use that's not noisy and erratic, so I have joined this forum to find out what I maybe doing wrong. I know that all machines are not created equal , but , was expecting a little better machine ,just from what I've read on here. I know, give it some time , right ?

 

[Mark kus]

I too was an Etrac owner ,sold it mainly because of the weight and bad shoulders.Bought my Nox about 2 weeks ago and so far I am not impressed.Park 1 is the only mode I can use that's not noisy and erratic, so I have joined this forum to find out what I maybe doing wrong. I know that all machines are not created equal , but , was expecting a little better machine ,just from what I've read on here. I know, give it some time , right ?

Hi I use park 2 almost all the time unless beach hunting maybe your sensitivity is to high??did you noise cancel ?
We can try to help you out check out some YouTube videos on setup I really like mine I find silver almost every time out got a 1953 Washington today and some wheats so I’m really liking the Nox I sold my Etrac to bad tennis elbow now I can go all day swinging..
Mark

 

[Jason in Enid]

I too was an Etrac owner ,sold it mainly because of the weight and bad shoulders.Bought my Nox about 2 weeks ago and so far I am not impressed.Park 1 is the only mode I can use that's not noisy and erratic, so I have joined this forum to find out what I maybe doing wrong. I know that all machines are not created equal , but , was expecting a little better machine ,just from what I've read on here. I know, give it some time , right ?

Yes, you have to put the time on it. Dont try to make it like your past detectors. Learn it for what it is and its own language. You know why those other mode are so noisy? Because the ground is full of trash that past detectors havent been hitting on.

 

[Mark kus]

You may also have it in all metal mode? pushed the horseshoe button by mistake? I run mine in that mode so its noisy in trashy areas with it on..

 

[Djaymo]

Actually all metal is not bad at all, I used it the last time I went out,and the iron was every where, I use park 1,sen 20, iron 1,recovery 1 most of the time, it is really the calmest setting I have found. Coming from the Etrac I know you must study the manual hard, which I have done.I am starting to wonder if something in the programming is causing the other modes to be so erratic and so noisy you cant stand it, I had to send my Etrac in for a bad coil not long after I bought it, it acted similar to what the Nox is doing,but why wouldn't it do it in park 1 if it was the coil. I just may have gotten a bad one.

 

[laplander]

I would go the other way with your recovery speed if there really is that much iron. sticking to some factory setting might help your learning curve.JMO
Jeff

 

[Djaymo]

Thanks laplander, will give it a try, I'm not giving up by no means.

 

[OregonGregg]

Gold coin shouldn't be far behind, right ?

Rich -

Congrats on the nice Shield Nickel, was fun being there when ya dug it outta the ground. Gold coin ???? darn I better get back up there, before ya get back and suck all the rest of the coins outta the ground with your 800

 

[Tab Hunter]

Like others, I can't swing my Etrac for any more than an hour because of the weight. Having broken my shoulder a couple of years ago, it's become a chore, rather than fun. I hope I can get enough for it to replace it with an 800.

 

[BigTony]

Tab Hunter, like you I too sung for years - an Exp II with a large coil and my shoulder always hurt.
This year after swinging the 800 with large coil I broke down and purchased a Detector Pal.
My shoulder doesn’t hurt at all.

Whatever you do look into a detector support that you can use and not keep in the closet.

Tony NJ