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I have the itch to switch...

Yep, did a lot of depth testing, but only in MY ground with my hunting style....your results may, and probably will, vary. So much depends on how you have the machines set up and if they are properly set up for your ground. A lot also depends on what mode of operation, especially the V3 is in, so saying how deep one goes compared to another would not be a fair comparison for anyone except me. That is something each user has to determine for themselves. If you are a Minelab guy and you hunt primarily deep silver, I suggest sticking with what you know best. Before the V3, I used two machines for most of my hunting, the SE Pro for deep silver and my DFX for jewelry and general detecting. The V3 filled in the gap where I am very happy with the deep silver performance and still get the gold jewelry all in one machine now. I also plan on hunting more jewelry this year too...old silver is fun and fine....been doing it for 30 years......but dang it, gold is $1100 an ounce and just one gold ring find will pay for a lot of old silver coins...........:laugh:

Fang, you might want to get someone to check out that SE, if you are not happy with it......something might be wrong with it. An SE with an SEF or Pro coil should be a silver monster.
 
No I am not a seller of any detectors at all.Just speaking from my personal experiences.You might try to sell or trade your SE for a E-Trac if you get a chance as they hold there value quite well and you should be able to sell it if it did not work for you with minimal loss.And believe me I am far from rich as well but old coin detecting is a passion of mine and I want the best tools I can get to do the job,Ray.
PS The way I judge a machine is by what is in my pouch at the end of the day and then compile several days finds and I then know if I have a winner.And I do the testing at hard hit public sites.
 
I know depth is important to us but don't overlook the importance of how well a machine can pull old coins out of iron and trash. There has yet to be a better detector than the explorer series or e-trac for that.

You are not going to find a deeper machine out there either. If something was going several inches deeper than the Minelabs we would all know about it.

I wish you luck finding the improvements you say you want but I would bet it may be a decade or longer until we see it.
 
My E-Trac is lighter than my old Explorer II. The weight is all in the coil. I gave my Son Nicholas the EXP II because he is younger & stronger than I am. I am finding more older coins at depths that my EXP II could never obtain that kind of depth. So I am happy & and my Son is too. HH...Jesse.
 
Big Fang Coin Biter said:
I have been using the Explorer since around 2000. Don't get me wrong - I love my Explorer II! I really would like to try out a lighter, better machine. Better is the tough part. I personally don't think the E-Track is better. I have a feeling the F75 and T2 are not better, lighter weight and similar results from what I can gather.

So what is the deal? Is detector technology so pushed to the limit that 10 year old technology cannot be bested? It just seems like the progression to the new super detector is painfully slow.

Whites came out with the innovative top of the line pulse machine. It is too specialized for my hunting though. Has anyone compared the new Whites Spectra 3V to the Explorer, depth wise?

To be honest, I figured by now the Explorer would be the weight of a Tesoro, have a rock solid ID, and be punching down another six inches! Unfortunately the weight has not changed, the ID still dances like a dervish, the ID at depth has actually gone worse with the SE model. I have no experience with the E-Track, but to me it is more of the same non-advancing upgrades (does anyone really use the electronic program transfer?).

So what do you think? Are we due for a quantum leap in detector technology? Are the detector companies really trying to make the next super detector? Why is ML adding electronic program transfer, when the thing needs to loose weight, have steady ID and to have more depth (to be the super-detector)?

Dang, I am suffering cabin fever here in the snow belt!

Take care and HH - BF
Click to expand...


BFCB,

DO IT ! ! ! ! ! JUMP JUMP JUMP

I bought my Explorer XS in August 2000. What's that, 9 or 10 years? Has worked very well. Felt like it was time to switch. I sold the XS a few months ago along with the accessories. Now, I am in the process of finding that new just right detector. Lighter, better target separation, better depth. I have a couple older detectors to use in the meanwhile until that :surprised: perfect detector comes along that says BUY ME ! ! !. Local dealer thinks I should give a Fisher F75 a go. He's a big minelab guy but was very impressed with the F75. But the Etrac looks good a well and I am already familiar with the minelab signals......

You jump first and let me know what you buy and how you like it.


Rich (Utah)
 
I had my SE into the shop where ML played dumb about my complaint. I know they have heard it many times. They did replace the "guts" of the machine. I used it a couple times after that but had already lost faith in the thing.

Well here are my thoughts on the Whites machines. I had an XLT so I do have some experience. As someone said, they are a tinkerers dream. Many things to adjust etc. When I had mine it became an obsession to gain more depth. Tweak this, adjust that, run it hot, on an on but not too darn much depth at any setting as far as I could tell. To be honest, I was a beginner at that time so I take part of the blame. My next machine was a CZ 7a Pro. What a relief, turn it on, ground balance, set the sensitivity and you are running deep. Why it is so complicated on the Whites is anyone's guess - some folks like that fiddling around.

Your response to the comparative depth testing is a dodge. OK preface the results with your disclaimer but give some results. Maybe you need to fiddle with the V3 some more first.
Thanks - BF
 
Ive read mich bagers and your posts on the SE, sorry you got a bad one. It might not cost you as much as you think to TRADE up. Personally when im pulling coins at 9 inches or more i get pretty darn pleased. If you find that machine on the market right now that can do it at 11 with out me guessing at the target let me know. These explorers do a pretty amazing job when you think of how much they have to process with one swing...especially with the size of these coils now. Are there improvements that can be made.. no doubt. Give us a processor we can play with on the net and watch out for some of the egg heads.

Dew
 
:laugh: You caught me on the big dodge. The V3 goes just as deep as the SE Pro for me anyway, but there will be hundreds of users that will argue otherwise for many reasons, most of them valid, so I don't want to get a thread started on mine goes deeper than yours. The limitless adjust-ability of the V3 is a blessing for some while a nightmare for others. It is not for the serious turn on and go hunting person, at least in the beginning. Ideally, I would like to get it set up to emulate the SE, Iron Mask, Ferrous Mode yet have the sensitivity and target ID for gold rings, bracelets and chains with the most common tabs not notched out, but to have the audio for them reassigned as an iron target. Some V3 users have them emulating the Goldmax and Deux in the UK for the small cut silver and other users have it set up to emulate the MXT and F-75. Most users are happy with using it as a plain ole V3.

My apologies to Bryce....this IS the Minelab forum, I didn't mean to highjack this thread, just wanted to answer your questions. For more info, you know where to find me............:devil:
 
Larry (IL) said:
:laugh: You caught me on the big dodge. The V3 goes just as deep as the SE Pro for me anyway, but there will be hundreds of users that will argue otherwise for many reasons, most of them valid, so I don't want to get a thread started on mine goes deeper than yours. The limitless adjust-ability of the V3 is a blessing for some while a nightmare for others. It is not for the serious turn on and go hunting person, at least in the beginning. Ideally, I would like to get it set up to emulate the SE, Iron Mask, Ferrous Mode yet have the sensitivity and target ID for gold rings, bracelets and chains with the most common tabs not notched out, but to have the audio for them reassigned as an iron target. Some V3 users have them emulating the Goldmax and Deux in the UK for the small cut silver and other users have it set up to emulate the MXT and F-75. Most users are happy with using it as a plain ole V3.

My apologies to Bryce....this IS the Minelab forum, I didn't mean to highjack this thread, just wanted to answer your questions. For more info, you know where to find me............:devil:
Click to expand...




take your diggin tool back to the whites forum larry hahahaha......:devil:
 
Big Fang is an expert on the Explorer. He helped me learn mine and has helped many others. My guess is there are as many as 50 people using Explorers now instead of other brands because of Big Fang's success and recommendations. Many may have bought one eventually but it's hard to say for sure.
If Big Fang gets an Etrac and finds out it's nothing more than a few bells and whistles that the Explorer doesn't have with the same performance then that means there is going to be one big solid recommendation in the Michigan/Indiana area against buying an Etrac. Could mean thousands of dollars of lost sales potential for Minelab.
However, if the Etrac is a better performer noticeably then Big Fang will know it and there will definitely be more Etrac's sold. In fact if Minelab really believes in their product they should give an Etrac to Big Fang! It would mean a prettier bottom line for them in 2010 for sure!!!!
I'm pretty sure that the Etrac has "advantages" but I'm doubtful it will find anything that the Explorers can't find.
JMHO
HH
peace
Neal
 
We are all friends here, no offense taken......... BTW that is my spaghetti spork, not my digging tool.
 
Hey Neal .... put me on your Christmas list to ML as well:detecting: BF...glad you hurt those ML sale of the SE... got mine cheaper. Now if you wouldnt mind... kill those sales for the E-Trac and im in business. Just yanking your chains guys.

Dew
 
And I try not to step on too many toes. I know I have whined too much over my SE purchase. I feel guilty sometimes posting my thoughts on that, but I try to keep it to a minimum.

Ever notice that folks started using all metal and ferrous tones once the SE came out? That is how I ended up using mine too, out of necessity. Not many ran the XS or II like that.

Come on Minelab trade me up to an Etrac and I will give it a good year long trial run with reports.

HH - BF
 
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