Menu
What's new
Find's Treasure Forums

Welcome to Find's Treasure Forums, Guests!

You are viewing this forums as a guest which limits you to read only status.

Only registered members may post stories, questions, classifieds, reply to other posts, contact other members using built in messaging and use many other features found on these forums.

Why not register and join us today? It's free! (We don't share your email addresses with anyone.) We keep email addresses of our users to protect them and others from bad people posting things they shouldn't.

Click here to register!

Need Support Help?

Cannot log in?, click here to have new password emailed to you

Changed email? Forgot to update your account with new email address? Need assistance with something else?, click here to go to Find's Support Form and fill out the form.

Learn on the fly OR Learn then fly?

P

Phillip_in_NM

Member
Hi all,

Just got my used Etrac about a week or so ago. Read the manual cover to cover. Then started reading Andy's book on the Etrac. Trying to make sure I understand every topic before moving on to the next. On page 58, Andy suggests that it's foolish to head out with a detector before you understand it completely. (If I'm reading it right!)

While I feel like I've got a pretty good handle on the way most of it works, I think it's time to get out and start getting some practical experience. I've only had it out twice thus far, for less total time than an hour. I found some coins (one pocket spill of $1.05) and one small sterling silver ring.

I know when I got my White's M6, I glanced through the manual quickly and went straight to a neighborhood park. Within 45 minutes of opening the box, I had found a 14K men's wedding band (turned out to be my cousin's ring which he had lost 8 years before - crazy story!!!) and within the first two hours had found 4 more rings - 2 silver and 2 junk.

So....here's my question. Will I be reducing my chances for future success with the Etrac by taking it out now - before I have completely digested all the material that I have on it? Or should practical experience count for part of the learning? (I hope all this makes sense to you like it does to me.)

I'm absolutely "chomping at the bits" to get the Etrac out to a couple of parks. One of the parks, I had specifically in mind when I bought the Etrac. So I'd love the opinions of you experienced users: "Learn on the fly" OR "Learn then fly"?

Thanks for your help!
 
My "total" experience with the Etrac started on June 3rd of this year, so, I'm far from the top of the learning ladder but.....there was no way I could hold back hitting the dirt as soon as she arrived. I used the E for about 3 weeks before I got Andy's book but I read the manual online and scoured the forums for a couple months before the machine arrived and downloaded the Etrac emulator so I felt like I had a decent handle on it.

I hunted and studied, hunted and studied.......seems to be working for me. There are some great knowledge sources on this forum, and I have never sent a PM question to any that were not returned without a thoughtful answer.

GET OUT!! Learn her language!!

HH

Dave
 
You have read the books, now get out there and learn how to apply that knowledge!

Don't worry at first if you aren't finding anything old, although most are amazed at thier finds. Start by digging the solid, repeatable tones and FeCo numbers. After you start to get a feel for the responses and pinpointing, then you can start to expand your target recovery in to the "iffy" range. Just don't make a bunch of changes to the settings for a while. Start out in factory settings.
 
Definitly learn on the fly. Now that you've read the books. I believe what Andy was referring to was actually knowing what the menu buttons and different changes do in reference to where you're hunting. Being able to make the changes and know why you're making them. I personally think that comes with time and understanding.

I really like the idea of digging a lot of different targets and seeing what's there and what the machine's telling you.

NebTrac
 
You likely bought the E-TRAC to find things that you were missing with the M6. Correct? Your E-TRAC has the capability to do just that. But if you don't understand "what makes it tick", you've defeated the purpose of upgrading from your previous detectors. Your "future success" depends on how well you combine what you've read with "hands on" experience. So although you won't reduce your chances for "future success" by heading right out on a hunt, you will greatly enhance your "immediate success" by having a basic understanding of the E-TRAC's functionality and how one setting can (and will) affect another. As your experience level (and confidence) grows, so will your degree of success. JMHO HH Randy
 
Thanks for all your advice. I'm going to jump right into it, but like Jason suggested, I'll start out with the factory settings. Also, I think I will follow my hunting partners advice and give the M6 a rest for a few months and use nothing but the Etrac. (Can't make myself part with the M6 completely. It has been too good on gold!)

But like Randy said, the more my confidence with it grows the better my finds will be. I have no doubt it goes deeper than my M6 and so, given the right environments, it should provide me with better finds.

Anyway, thanks all for taking the time to respond.

HH,

Phillip
 
Yes, that is something I left out. DON"T TOUCH THE M6!!! You will want to. You will feel frustrated by the new machine. You will worry that you are missing good coins. Just keep using the E-Trac and learn how it talks to you.

I did the same thing with my old 6000 Pro SL. I kept wanting to go back to it, but after I finally learned the E-Trac I never wanted to use anything else!
 
i will second that....coming directly from a whites 6000....only used it one time to see what IT had to say about my new test garden i buried when i got my etrac. theyre so different. i was very frustrated but also fascinated and impressed with the etrac, thats what kept me from wanting to use the 6000. i still am, really.

i agree with everyone else....get out there and dig some targets....anything repeatable, that doesnt seem to "move" around (iron "falsing")... with a nice tone....has potential.
 
I learned on the fly. My F75 was in the shop and a buddy of mine had an SE and a new etrac. He let me use the etrac as it had 4 tones and I wasnt used to the SE multitone setup. He explained the TID numbers and we started hunting an old park in Hammond Indiana. I got a high tone (in 4 tone) with a number of 11-47 at 6 inches. I told Greg what I had and he said dig it. I dug a 1924D SLQ. After that I dug 13 more silvers in a week of using his detector. After a year I went to multitones and after a learning curve of the new tones I continued to be succesful. Just get out there and dig it up. TMAN...
 
Andy's book is fantastic - if you read it - then go back and read it again and refer to it as you go along - it will really help you through the learning curve.

This forum is also a great place to get your questions answered - lot's of great people here - I sure leaned a lot from these guy's over the last two years !

But - from what I've found after spending between 1200 to 1400 hrs.hunting with my machine - is that you learn the most just by getting out in the dirt - even junk targets help you get more familiar with your machine. The more hours you spend in the field - the faster you'll learn what the machines trying to tell you - it's a lot like learning a new language.

Good luck this season ! --- Mark
 
n/t
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top