how do you use your etracs abilities?!! :huh:

[rbholt80]

i know most people run a pattern of some sort and then switch to an open quick mast screen on iffy targets to see where the cross hair bounces around to.
i sometimes run with a pattern like coin mode pattern in my regular screen but on iffy targets i switch to a quick mask screen that i loaded a tight custom coin pattern into. the reason i do this is to see if the target bounces into this small area at all or how much. i use the pp to watch also and if my target drops all the way down to iron then i normally wont dig. so an open pattern hunting, then iffy target comes along i go to extremely tight quick mask custom pattern to check to see how much the iffy target falls into a coin area then pp to see were the cursor tries to run to and if the cursor doesn't drop all the way to the bottom in pinpoint i dig. but this inst my only style of hunting just one i use at some sites.

now who does what? just curious about how others have developed there own little styles really.
so lets talk about how you all setup and run and tricks y'all have developed.

 

[NebTrac]

I run Andy's coin pattern and have a wide open quickmask. Most of the time that is all I use. One thing I do on one way hits though is to go to Ferrous Tones (usually Two tones) and play with a signal in All Metal on quickmask. That has gained me a keeper or two, by at least getting enough of a high tone to make you dig. You can hear it in Andy's pattern, but depending on ground conditions and what falsing you've been dealing with, you can convince yourself you're not digging that because its a false.

NebTrac

 

[rbholt80]

yea i like doing the open quick mask on old sites. i run the pattern quick mask as a style that requires little screen looking more of a sound hunting style for cherry picking. but on old sites i do like you do.

ok lets get some more styles in here im sure someone has a unique style or trick that will be handy to know.

i know us long time etracers know most tricks but there's always room for learning and new guys may find some hints to help them here.

 

[moonshine]

im a learning/new guy, loving the etrac, wanting to learn.

let me just throw this out there.... in a normal pattern with discrim. such as a coin pattern, i am under the impression that the etrac will show you the strongest NON-disc'ed target..(for example, hitting on a silver dime amongst a nulling area....which has happened to me a few times but only last weekend did i realize what was going on and actually dig the target a merc!)..but when you "open" up the screen (wide open quick mask) the detector will simply give you the strongest reading. For that reason I do not use the quick mask because i want to see a coin (or any non-ferrous) reading. (all i would have heard is constant high FE squeals) so, im glad i DIDNT switch over. any thought on this? is this correct?

 

[bael41]

"the etrac will show you the strongest NON-disc'ed target..(for example, hitting on a silver dime amongst a nulling area....which has happened to me a few times but only last weekend did i realize what was going on and actually dig the target a merc!)..but when you "open" up the screen (wide open quick mask) the detector will simply give you the strongest reading."

I'm anxious to hear the opinions of the more experienced etrac owners on moonshine's post because it would definitely change the way I am currently hunting with my etrac. I normally run in wide open quick mask in TTF with manual sensitivity jacked up all the way if possible. I hunt a lot of trashy sites and I hate the empty null as I pass over all the junk in the ground, makes me feel like I'm missing targets. SO..I hunt in quick mask wide open, thinking that this way I will hear everything that I pass over. Am I wrong? I switched over from swinging a dfx to an etrac in April, so I'm definitely still learning....albeit as fast as possible. So far I've "rescued" about 20 silver coins since then, a gazillion wheaties, several dollars in clad and quite a few nice relics (I've been lucky with the silvers, although there are beaucoup hours represented there. I've been hunting some local demolition sites with long history. I got scooped by another detectorist on the one day I was unable to get to one of my spots after they moved some choice soil.....he dug a 1878 silver dollar!! BUM! My biggest old silver has been a 1907 barber quarter I found in the same spot yesterday). I usually hunt in quick mask until I hit a good signal. If I hit a questionable signal that I think may be a deep coin or something covered by trash, then I switch over to a coin program to see if the numbers fall in a decent range. If the target is shallow or I'm getting a lot of bouncy signal, I may then switch back to auto sensitivity to see if the signal will settle down. I'm sure I've missed a few deep targets here and there due to being in a hurry or not digging some of the questionable targets, so I'll be watching this thread to see if any experienced opinions entice me to make changes in my hunting style.

 

[bael41]

n/t

 

[rbholt80]

well like i said in my post i use a pattern in quick mask that i made its really tight. i hunt in coin mode and use its pattern with just a tinny mod to it. then when i get a signal that sounds good but jumps a lot i switch to my quick mask with the tight pattern to see if the signal jumps into that tight coin range i have set in the quick mask pattern. basically I'm doing the revers of what y'all do. i don't have to look at the screen much at all by doing this. only in pp do i look down at the cursor to see if it falls all the way down and checking for depth.

but i don't always run like this. on really old sites i never really use quick mask at all. i go mind numbing slow and dig almost all sounds above iron one way hits, blips and i use that little minelab wiggle to bring out those blips into something worth digging or not.

 

[moonshine]

on page 72 and 73 of the instruction manual, it talks about what i was saying about the detector attempting to display the "best" non-discriminated target. it seems like it has to be on trash "high" and there has to be some kind of a discrimination pattern in use, if the screen is wide-open then it doesnt know what is "acceptable" or not. (everything is acceptable) just read the paragraph under "HIGH" on page 73. Thats what ive seen in the field as well, coin signals coming through nulled areas. rereading the manual reaffirms what i thought. after i first realized that last weekend i tightened the bottom of my coin pattern back up to about the 26 or 27 line from 30. cant remember the numbers exactly now. ive noticed that the coin readings coming through nulled areas have crazy FE numbers though. now im new so i could be misleading myself and i dont want to mislead anyone else! im just starting to feel my way through this. i went from a 1984 model analog detector to this e-trac. the e-trac is awesome, there is no question.

last weekend i pulled a merc out of a dead nulled area. things like that have a way of setting our beliefs. we're all going to have our own beliefs when it comes to the etrac. i dont think theres anything wrong with that. it seems like there are SO many ways you could use this detector.

good luck out there!