Is the Explorer II better then the E-trac ? :shrug:

[Cal_Cobra]

I know out here on in Northern California when the E-trac came out, several seasoned Explorer vets tried out the E-trac and didn't like it and went back to the Explorer II (even over the Explorer SE). They claimed they could hear deep signals better, tell the difference between clad and silver dimes, and had better data on what was in the ground prior to digging.

Here's a recent post from another forum from yet another E-trac user that went to the Explorer II..... Can anyone shed some light on this???

"I was sold on this (the Explorer II) when I hunted side by side comparing really deep targets with (name omitted to protect the innocent), my E-Trac was barely locking and only hitting one way on targets that the E-II was hearing fine (both on pro-coil). I sat there making as many adjustments to the machine as I could to get the best possible depth that day and it was never as clear and definitive as the E-II. I am under the impression that the E-II running with a pretty open screen (-6 IM) and Deep off, Fast on, is quite a bit faster in processing signals than I could get the E-Trac to respond and this translates to a little more audible information to entice you to dig an iffy signal. I already feel MUCH more confident on the E-II on really deep/iffy targets and I have only been on it since Sept. I also really like to sounds on the E-II, especially with iron. If you can, compare a rusty bottle cap on both machines some day. He said he can confidently hear a silver dime over a clad on the E-II, whereas he had trouble with that on the -E-Trac (I am not at that skill level yet) I agree with you about the added features of the E-Trac and miss that but I have learned to appreciate the simplicity of the E-II."

What say you

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

I like the E-Trac much better, but that is me. All opinion here. Both are GREAT machines!

 

[DirtAngler]

I would have to see it to believe it that you can tell the difference between a clad dime and a silver dime unless maybe if it real close to the surface. Too many variables to be sure most of the time. JMO though but I've seen quite a few vids where they say it's probably silver, dig it and find it's clad.

 

[Ray-Mo.]

I used both the Explorer II and SE for a good while and went back to my same old hammered spots and picked up a lot of old silver with my E-Trac. These spots had all but dried up before.And folks who judge a machine solely on the last 1/4" of depth are just leaving a lot of good old silver for those of us who use E-Tracs.Far more masked coins at most public sites than their are ones out off reach depth wise except for places with a lot of fill.That is where the E-Trac excels,pulling the goodies out of trash .

My E-Trac will hit a 9" dime with an inch or more grass on top with no problem at manual 25 in factory coins mode and that is plenty deep for me.I have dug a few silver dime at a measured 10"+ and silver quarters at a measured 12" under ideal conditions as in moist mild black soils.

I felt the EXplorer II was a better machine than the SE except for the new improved pinpoint mode as far as that goes. I feel the problem a lot of long time Explorer users had/have with the E-Trac was they refused to learn to use it properly and instead tried to force the E-Trac to be an Explorer III which it is not.I would not trade my 3 year old E-Trac for an arm full of new Explorers if I could not get another E-Trac to hunt with.

The way I judge a machine is on results and the E-Trac has never failed to impress me and every one I have hunted with more than once.They all have E-Tracs now and have no desire to go back to an Explorer.....

If you hunt somewhere besides Mo,KS I can not personally vouch for same results as I get here but after reading thousands of posts from all over the USA I think they confirm my findings.Current resale trends of machines mentioned back this up as well.

 

[Southwind]

I feel the problem a lot of long time Explorer users had/have with the E-Trac was they refused to learn to use it properly and instead tried to force the E-Trac to be an Explorer III which it is not

My thoughts as well.

I personally feel there is no comparison between the Explorers and the E-Trac. I've pulled many good deep coins from our city park at the same locations I had thought was cleaned with my SE.

 

[mike4663]

I would have to see it to believe it that you can tell the difference between a clad dime and a silver dime unless maybe if it real close to the surface. Too many variables to be sure most of the time. JMO though but I've seen quite a few vids where they say it's probably silver, dig it and find it's clad.

A silver dime sounds different on my etrac than a clad dime, the clad just has a smoother sound than silver has JMO.

 

[stasys]

etrac is the same basic explorer-inside control panel too, but a bit faster and with discrimination much more faster. in iron without discrimination etrac works better too compare to all explorers. but something I dont like on Etrac ,cant explain it easy and simple, need more time. one thing on etrac I dont like low manual sensitivity its looks like its a bit different from explorer, but need more time to compare this two detectors to know exactly. Can be some true that explorers can do something better than etracs. But driver is very important too.

 

[gitterdug]

I have used the Explorer since they came out. I LOVE my EX II, and still have my XS. Both of those machines are monsters where I live.

That being said....I have had an ETrac for about a year now. I bought it for one reason alone. The ability to program from my computer, as limited as it was, made a sense to me. That ability is now trememdously enhanced. With my patterns and modes, and with the combine feature, I can preset my machine to fit the area I am hunting. I have made an interesting discovery that echoes what others say.......my silver count is WAY up compared to my Explorers I have 10 years experience with the Explorer, and I would pit my skills both as a 37 year detectorist, as well as my 10 years with my Explorer against anyone. My ETRAC is a monster on silver. The proof is in the production. I am at 30 silvers for the past 8 or 9 weeks, and I have only gone out an average of twice per week.

The ETRAC will hold it's own. The biggest hurdle I had to overcome, was the difference in output of the dible signal vs the Explorer. That being said, I am quite content to continue to rake in the silver.

As for me and my house.......we use the Trac!

HH
Dennis

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Thanks everyone!!

I found it difficult to believe that an old Explorer 2 could hear deep silver that the E-trac could not.....just didn't sound believable to me, but being new to the E-trac, I had to investigate it.

Now to tackle TTF

 

[kabarcoinin]

Let the posts of finds of this machine be the judge! I have been using an Etrac since 3-2010 and still finding old seated and barber silver,mercs , roosevelts, indianheads, buffalo nickels, shield nickels, v nickels, half dimes, wheaties, ect.....in a presumably worked out 137 year old park with large areas of trash and iron. A LOT of locals and occasional visitor detectorists dont stay here hunting long because they either get discouraged or lack the expierience or an Etrac to recover what is good deep in the ground or mixed in the trash. This Etrac machine is a technological wonder. The more you use it the better you understand what its telling you. Dont be afraid to dig off the wall tones or display numbers that dont seem to coincide with whats in Andy Sabisch's manual. The rewards of nice coins and relics you may find are quite stunning . Another post of my recent weekly finds will be shortly. Long live Etrac!!!

 

[Elusion]

Thanks everyone!!

I found it difficult to believe that an old Explorer 2 could hear deep silver that the E-trac could not.....just didn't sound believable to me, but being new to the E-trac, I had to investigate it.

Now to tackle TTF

The explorer II can hear deep silver the etrac can't.. IF the operator is not familiar with the etrac. When I knew my explorer inside and out I was finding silver at unreal depths. The etrac can do that and more, but it has a learning curve too even coming from the explorer. That being said I have both the explorer II and etrac.. the exp II is my backup machine. Both are extremely capable but the e-trac is MUCH faster in recovery speed giving it that edge...

 

[Goldmanjace]

Thanks everyone!!

I found it difficult to believe that an old Explorer 2 could hear deep silver that the E-trac could not.....just didn't sound believable to me, but being new to the E-trac, I had to investigate it.

Now to tackle TTF

The explorer II can hear deep silver the etrac can't.. IF the operator is not familiar with the etrac. When I knew my explorer inside and out I was finding silver at unreal depths. The etrac can do that and more, but it has a learning curve too even coming from the explorer. That being said I have both the explorer II and etrac.. the exp II is my backup machine. Both are extremely capable but the e-trac is MUCH faster in recovery speed giving it that edge...

So what is this "mystical" deep silver sound that these units have??

 

[niterider_58]

n/t

 

[Goldmanjace]

that sure answered my question

 

[Elusion]

Thanks everyone!!

I found it difficult to believe that an old Explorer 2 could hear deep silver that the E-trac could not.....just didn't sound believable to me, but being new to the E-trac, I had to investigate it.

Now to tackle TTF

The explorer II can hear deep silver the etrac can't.. IF the operator is not familiar with the etrac. When I knew my explorer inside and out I was finding silver at unreal depths. The etrac can do that and more, but it has a learning curve too even coming from the explorer. That being said I have both the explorer II and etrac.. the exp II is my backup machine. Both are extremely capable but the e-trac is MUCH faster in recovery speed giving it that edge...

So what is this "mystical" deep silver sound that these units have??

Nothing mystical about it. Both machines require field time to learn what deep silver responds like vs lets say a square nail that is giving a narrow high tone one way. On the Explorer II you really need to creep and crawl with it. The E-trac is alot faster and handles iron better IMO. As for the sound they are similar (basically the highest note the machine can produce) and become engrained in your head so when you are out hunting and hearing all these different tones, when you hear silver you know it and you lock on to it. It's totally addicting. It's that reason why the explorer and e-trac are so successful at finding silver.

I think one of the best improvements they could make in an E-Trac II is to allow customization of the response for various TID's. I for example would want 12-12/13 to come in as a high tone... Maybe if I was in indian head territory bump 12-30/37 up too. Then I wouldn't need to look at the screen at all.

 

[banditicey]

Thanks everyone!!

I found it difficult to believe that an old Explorer 2 could hear deep silver that the E-trac could not.....just didn't sound believable to me, but being new to the E-trac, I had to investigate it.

Now to tackle TTF

The explorer II can hear deep silver the etrac can't.. IF the operator is not familiar with the etrac. When I knew my explorer inside and out I was finding silver at unreal depths. The etrac can do that and more, but it has a learning curve too even coming from the explorer. That being said I have both the explorer II and etrac.. the exp II is my backup machine. Both are extremely capable but the e-trac is MUCH faster in recovery speed giving it that edge...

So what is this "mystical" deep silver sound that these units have??

Really good response

My first thought was a chirp and a high conductive number

Nothing mystical about it. Both machines require field time to learn what deep silver responds like vs lets say a square nail that is giving a narrow high tone one way. On the Explorer II you really need to creep and crawl with it. The E-trac is alot faster and handles iron better IMO. As for the sound they are similar (basically the highest note the machine can produce) and become engrained in your head so when you are out hunting and hearing all these different tones, when you hear silver you know it and you lock on to it. It's totally addicting. It's that reason why the explorer and e-trac are so successful at finding silver.

I think one of the best improvements they could make in an E-Trac II is to allow customization of the response for various TID's. I for example would want 12-12/13 to come in as a high tone... Maybe if I was in indian head territory bump 12-30/37 up too. Then I wouldn't need to look at the screen at all.

 

[jbow]

n/t

 

[utahshovelhead]

Good post and answers.
I have to add one thing about the XS and EII... Although I wont go back to it, they were Awesome machines and lots of guys still use them for there uncanny ablity to feret out coins and jewelry and still have a really big following of guys who buy them now for pretty cheap and they still kick butt at finding good targets, you just have to get the machine dialed into your brain. That being said, The E trac for me has been a big jump forward with it's features that make the hunting easyer and faster for me. I have found coins deeper and more consistantly than with the older explorers now and after three years or so of use enjoy manipulating the machine and seeing what it can discover down there. I was really good with my EXII and my freinds would always test me on targets to see what I thought it was before we dig them up but i would still not trade it for the E trac It just works for me much faster, easyer, and with more consistant results...not much left for my freinds to ask about now and they started to not hunt with me as they get there butts kicked so much.

I'm just sayin.