More questions for experienced ETRAC users.

[dlrwaitnonadime]

Hey guys, me again. I got out with the Etrac for the second time today for about an hour and a half before the rain started. So far I have dug three memorial pennies and assorted metal garbage. I am getting a little more used to all the sounds it makes but I have a couple of questions. I started with an ACE 250. It has bell tones and as I learned it I found that 99% of the time if it hit on the dime, penny, quarter etc. and stayed there it was in fact one of those coins silver or clad or it was a similar size object like a token or some other trinket and of course sometimes it was larger metal trash, but pretty reliable. When I have hit the three memorials the numbers were pretty stable or at least the conductive number would stay around 41 and the ferrous number would be 11 or 12. Is that they way the Etrac generally works? If it is a coin will it generally give you a steady set of numbers with multiple sweeps? Next question. I have heard a lot of people say to dig the repeatable high tones. I seem to be getting a lot of higher tones but with sets of numbers that jump all over the place. When I dig those it is trash, even a rusty nail on one occassion. I had a pretty steady 12-44 today and dug a rusty piece of nail. Now the site I have been hunting is a early 1900's house where I found a Merc about a week ago with the ACE. There is a lot of trash in the yard and we have dug a bunch of it with both machines now. We have dug a lot of memorial pennies and some other clad with the ACE. I guess it is possible that there is just not a lot there but I would think that there would be with the age of the house. Tell me what you think. I am hoping to get a whole day of hunting in tomorrow. I feel confident that it is just a matter of learning the machine and being in the right place I am just looking for a little help with the learning curve.

 

[NebTrac]

There is a sticky note up top that gives you the target id's (generally).

1. Repeatable signal first and formost on a one way swing.

2. What does it do on the 90 (when you swing perpendicular to your "repeatable signal")

3. Does your Conductive numbers stay fairly consistant

4. Your threshold will give you a lot of information too. (are you nulling out, do you have threshold - a short null - then a signal OR threshold then signal)

Learning the machine takes time and can be fun. I think you got the right attitude about it. Have fun and don't get discouraged when you dig up rusted nails. I/we still dig those from time to time.

NebTrac

 

[Nick A]

When I have hit the three memorials the numbers were pretty stable or at least the conductive number would stay around 41 and the ferrous number would be 11 or 12. Is that they way the Etrac generally works? If it is a coin will it generally give you a steady set of numbers with multiple sweeps?

Yes, that is correct. Watch the CO more than the FE number. I hope you are using preset coins program. Nails will sometimes fool you, but the signal on a nail is rarely as good as a coin. But yes, a signal that is generally repeatable, say 11-41, 12-43, 13-42 bouncing around tightly like that or something like that will tend to be a penny every time.

 

[Tenspeed]

One way to tell is you are seeing a "halo" from iron is to wiggle the coil over the object (1 inch to 2 inch sweeps) and slowly back the coil off. When the signal goes away this tells you the object is just off the tip of the coil. Then pinpoint the object. If it moves to one side, that most likely means you are looking a the halo from rusting iron.

The wiggle also works well in trashy sites when you have a good target with trash around it. If I can get a good repeatable signal with the wiggle and the target pinpoint doesn't move, I dig it.

Most coins I am seeing (wheaties (12-43/44 most of the time down to 12-41 on occasion), dimes (silver and clad 12-45/46) and quarters (silver and clad 12-46/47) will give a constant conductivity. Sometimes if you have iron nearby, the FE will go up and the conductive can come down a little.

I used this technique today at a site that has a lot of trash in places and it works well. The problem I had today was that there are some screw off beer caps that are a nice

If you can find a local Etrac owner to help a little, that is the best way to learn it. If not, just use it as much as you can.

Stick in there and you will get a handle on the Etrac. I love mine and don't ever even pick up my Xterra 70 anymore.

 

[dlrwaitnonadime]

Well I got another five or six hours on the ETRAC yesterday. I dug a lot and came away with very little. My wife found five wheats with the 250 and I found one on the surface with the ETRAC. We hunted one newer home in a good area for history but found very few targets. We then went to an old collapsed farmhouse between to cotton fields. These fields have been farmed for a long time and the cotton has not been turned under yet so we stayed around the old house. There was a LOT of modern farming trash in this area so we both dug a lot. I stuck with trying to mostly dig the conductive numbers from 37 to 50. I got several of what I thought were good solid signals, 12-41, 12-44, 12-46 etc. Those all turned out to be older screw cap type bottle and jar lids. I dug a lot of junk but it was good practice. I guess I have now only got about 93 hours more to get familiar with the ETRAC. I am gonna try to knock that number down by at least five today. Thanks for all the tips. I will keep at it. Monday I have got a hunt lined up at an old plantation home, should be a good hunt.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Sometimes you get trash that comes in really good. Don't worry, the coins will come. Just remember to swing S L O W. This is the E-Tracs strength.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Something that may help with IDing non flat junk as opposed to flat coins, is when you find a high target, wiggle the coil back slowly and listen to the audio break off. Flat targets will give you a clear drop off, while non flat targets will give you a lowering tone as you come off the target. When you pinpoint, look at how big the signal is on the ground. A coin will be pretty tight. it's not a perfect method, but it does reduce the amount of junk that you dig by a fair margin.
Mick Evans.

 

[N2Treasure]

Hi, in my opinion, I am listening for the right sound coming from the target. I have been logging LOTS of hours on the etrac lately and this weekend alone I netted three barber dimes (12-43), a barber quarter I think on edge (12-44/45), four Indians (12-34)(12-31)(12-3 etc, a V nickel and buffalo nickel both (12-13/15) and several wheats mostly (12-44/46/47). what I really am listening for is how "soft" or "sharp" that signal is. I have noticed that the silver coins have come in a bit softer than a beer can or screw cap or even new pennies or dimes. They'll have the same pitch and FE CO numbers but have a softness to them. When I go into pinpoint mode I also listen for how it sounds in pinpoint. Coins have a short wa-wa sound while trash has a longer, bigger whoa-whoa sound. Sorry if that sounds kinda goofy, but it's the only way I can describe it in words! About the iron false sounds. I have NEVER dug a coin or anything good if the sound didn't repeat in a least two directions. Trust me, I have dug plenty of one way squeaks that that I could get to repeat only one way. I guess I'm the eternal optimist and hope that I will beat the odds and get that squeaker to actually be something but NO! Didn't happen, so now I only dig the two way repeatable sounds. As far as numbers, yes look at the TDI numbers posted on the link at the top of the page but only use It as a guide. As Andy's Minelab book says.... "Audio Wins over numbers"

Duane

 

[sugar]

all the above information is helping the new etrac owners like myself alot i am hanging onto any information about the noises you hear buuuuut do you think you guys could tell us what your main settings like conductive multi ect you are using to obtain these sounds as if we use different to yourselves then we may miss targets listening for your type of sounds that dont appear on our etrac it would be so helpful cheers guys

 

[Jason in Enid]

Like I tell all E-Trac newbs, start in the factory coin mode. When that is no longer serving your needs, and you understand your machine THEN start making changes to settings.
Read your manual many times, it has all the answers you need.
High trash= on is probably the most important, everything else is more personal preference.

 

[Bell-Two]

Those screw tops sound good at 12-40 to 12-42 range but you really need to look at the depth and to know where your hunting. An older homsite will generally not have many screw tops whereas a public park may be littered with them. Saying that even in a park if the depth is good and that depth is determined by good targets you have been digging you just gotta digit and live with the trash.

 

[tippyhound]

Hi, in my opinion, I am listening for the right sound coming from the target. I have been logging LOTS of hours on the etrac lately and this weekend alone I netted three barber dimes (12-43), a barber quarter I think on edge (12-44/45), four Indians (12-34)(12-31)(12-3 etc, a V nickel and buffalo nickel both (12-13/15) and several wheats mostly (12-44/46/47). what I really am listening for is how "soft" or "sharp" that signal is. I have noticed that the silver coins have come in a bit softer than a beer can or screw cap or even new pennies or dimes. They'll have the same pitch and FE CO numbers but have a softness to them. When I go into pinpoint mode I also listen for how it sounds in pinpoint. Coins have a short wa-wa sound while trash has a longer, bigger whoa-whoa sound. Sorry if that sounds kinda goofy, but it's the only way I can describe it in words! About the iron false sounds. I have NEVER dug a coin or anything good if the sound didn't repeat in a least two directions. Trust me, I have dug plenty of one way squeaks that that I could get to repeat only one way. I guess I'm the eternal optimist and hope that I will beat the odds and get that squeaker to actually be something but NO! Didn't happen, so now I only dig the two way repeatable sounds. As far as numbers, yes look at the TDI numbers posted on the link at the top of the page but only use It as a guide. As Andy's Minelab book says.... "Audio Wins over numbers"

Duane

To bad about you are walking away from one sided targets. I have dug Silver Dimes, Wheaties, Buffalo's, V Nickles and Tokens, that were a one sided bad broken signal and the other side a good sounding signal. On some a complete circle of the target read the same.

Three things make me dig those targets, Good repeatable CO numbers 38-47, depth of 5 inch's or deeper, and a check of my Quick Mask program, If it shows a repeatable high target reading and not in the lower right hand corner of the screen, I'm digging. Often a nail or a pull tab will be in the hole with the good target. It isn't a 100% guarantied dig (what is?) but by far most of them are worth digging. I do not dig a lot of trash using this method. The Quick Mask function is a back saver, and produces some really good targets I would have other wise walked away from. Rick-Illinois