The E-Trac will find non-ferrous targets and you don't have to do much to make it happen. You can probably adjust settings to less than ideal and make it harder on yourself but it is unlikely you can go too far wrong. Once you have the setting selected it becomes a turn-on-and-go detector.
Most settings don't have a big impact on performance - some may make the E-Trac less stable or make it harder to hear the non-ferrous target, so the following setup is recommended:
Sensitivity Mode ..............Auto
Manual Sensitivity Level (leave alone for now)
Auto Sensitivity Level ......+3
Threshold Level .............14
Volume Limit .............15
Volume Gain ........... 26
Response .................Normal or Long
Tone ID No. of Tones........2 or 4
Tone ID Sounds ..........Ferrous
Tone ID Variability ..........30
Tone ID Limits.............. 30
Threshold Pitch......... 16
Recovery Deep......... OFF
Recovery Fast.......... ON
Trash Density .......... High
Ground ......... ............. Difficult
Contrast ......... .......... 15
Pinpoint Mode ........Normal or Sizing
Show Sensitivity........ ON
Show Mode Info ......ON
Display Timeout........ ON
TTF and 4TF are popular because it divides the audio tones into 2 or 4 bins. In TTF the Fe values (1-35 North-South on screen) are divided High 01 to 17Fe and Low tone 18 to 35Fe. Most good targets are along the 12Fe line, give or take +/- 4Fe values. Co values (1-50 East-West on screen) show increasing conductivity - such that a 03Co might be foil (or a white gold thin ring) and 15Co might be a pull-tab (or a nickel) and 45Co and higher might be silver ring, quarter, dime, etc.
So, if you get a 12-13 for instance, the cursor will be at 12Fe and 13Co (Fe-Co), which is about pull-tab or nickel area. You'll never know if something along the 12 Fe line is valuable unless you dig it (the TID is nice but you gotta dig to confirm). Generally, if you get a repeatable audio signal, whether weak or strong, it is worth digging up.
The E-Trac is most sensitive when it doesn't have DISC'd zones (set to darkened pixels). DISC'd area will not give a TID display or audio - you get nothing. The more DISC you use the less depth you get and the more likely you are to miss good targets. So, most people will eventually find that using an open screen pattern (no DISC) or very limited DISC along the bottom edge is all that is needed. If you are looking for shallow coin targets (don't mind losing some depth) and just want to quiet the iron nail responses - you can use more DISC and it will run much quieter.
The E-Trac gives you 2 screen patterns to switch between. Most people have one pattern set to Open and the other to a DISC pattern (to silence iron or low conductors). You can switch between them any time by pushing a button.
Here is an example of a DISC pattern that shuts up most iron (including the wrap-around High tone). Wrap-around is when the Fe35 (along bottom), which is strong magnetic (ferrous) signal, gets pushed to 01-02Fe (along top) and gives a High audio chirp (in TTF). It is distracting and makes novice users think they hit silver. But the difference between a true High tone and the wrapped High tone is easy to hear: the wrapped tone is truncated and non-repeatable (nails have sharp points, bends, or large oval nail heads that produce sparks of non-ferrous-like signals - but do not repeat). You will want to dig any
repeatable signal that has high Co values - it is likely valuable.
As you sweep the coil even with the ground, the machine in Open (no DISC) will sound off in TTF with High chirps (iron) and Low tone (iron) and High Tone (non-ferrous targets). You need to learn to discern the wild intermittent chirps from a repeatable High Tone. Also, dig a few Low Tone repeatables - they're probably nails at 6-12", but you need to know what makes the sound you are hearing. Elongated iron (nails) will often appear to center in one spot while sweeping over the target and then appear to be offset when you go to pinpoint. You will often find that the TID will show something like 6" deep but when you dig the nail will be at 12". This is because iron is ferromagnetic and enhances those eddy currents - making the nail appear shallower (stronger) than it really is. If you dig for your coin and it isn't there (and the pinpointer says "dig deeper"), you are probably chasing a nail.
Dig those low Co values too - they're mostly foil gum wrappers and assorted junk - but they can easily be a thin ring (you can't know by hearing - you have to dig to be sure, especially if the depth indicator shows it a few inches down - most junk is near the surface). Note: If you sweep a target and don't get any depth indication, be aware that you have to sweep past the center-point (bell-curve) so that the signal drops again, this way the processor knows the max signal has occurred and can give the depth. Note2: The depth indicated is for a coin-sized target - if the target isn't a coin then it isn't going to be as accurate.
The image below might be a bit confusing - it is a basic map of the E-Trac display and where a variety of targets would be expected. Now, if the soil is mineralized (magnetite) the Fe values can be pushed downward - so a target that would be 12-41 (Fe-Co) in the air is 15-39 (Fe-Co) 6" down in mineralized soil. Is it iron junk? Could be - but most ferrous targets are below 18Fe and are elongated - so that they are highly sensitive to the angle of sweep. That means if you alter your sweep direction the TID will bounce around (jump about) with each new attack angle. Coins are not directional like that - so you can be confident that higher Fe values that jump about is probably (not always though) an iron object (could be a non-ferrous target surrounded by iron - which is usually masked and will only give a stable TID in one narrow sweep direction and won't give a two-sweep tone. These take some practice to hear and wiggle out. You actually have to narrow the sweep down to a wiggle over the target and listen for a one-way repeatable audio - that is the signature of a deeper coin in and around iron).
There is quite a bit of overlap between some ferrous metal targets - they can register a TID as if they were a valued non-ferrous target. For instance, here is a screen shot of many, many bottle caps and where they fall on the TID. You can see that bottle caps can be just about anywhere. So, you're gonna dig some junk.
In fact, just to prove a point - I air tested a hundred junk targets (bottle caps, pull-tabs, wire, bits and pieces of junk) of all sorts just for the purpose of showing where they fall. Many are right amongst the 12Fe line - which is the gravy spot for non-ferrous coins and jewelry (for instance, a gold ring might be 12-02 or 12-06 or 12-09, which could also just be junk).
Here is a picture of some of the junk you will be digging with your E-Trac:
Here are a variety of pull-tabs - the enemy of all detectorists, and where the fall on the E-Trac display (note: that is down the 12Fe line, so it could be a good non-ferrous target too - you'll have to dig to be sure it is really a pull-tab, though most pull-tabs are less than 3" deep, so if it is deeper your probability of recovering something valuable increases):
I'm making this point, not to disillusion you about the E-Trac but so you'll know what to expect when you are out detecting. The E-Trac is a good detector and has one of the best TID in mineralized soil. It is deep and runs stable, unlike some others that chatter constantly. It runs on a very low frequency and therefore isn't good on small gold chains and thin jewelry - it just isn't able to 'see' low conductors very well. To do that a higher op freq is needed. But because the E-Trac does operate at a low freq (forget the hype - it processes two frequencies low and high, 3.125kHz and 25kHz, where 25kHz is a harmonic and not particularly strong), it is less sensitive to iron - which is a good thing (its a trade-off, ignore iron and you also ignore low conductors like small gold).
Remember to play with the detector - try different settings. I haven't found that the various so-called "Expert Menu" settings (Deep, Fast, Trash Density, Ground) make much difference, set them to whatever you like. I keep Trash Density High on all the time - and leave the others OFF. If you want to increase depth, you can run in Manual-30, but the machine will likely chatter (false) on tiny ferrous bits in the ground - which makes the good non-ferrous harder to discern. Try backing off to Manual-24, or whatever is necessary to recover a more stable audio. The TID will be less accurate in Manual too. All in all, Auto+3 does very well for most hunting.
When you press "pinpoint" button you are in an "all metal" DC mode - which means the detector audio will increase over whatever is the strongest signal (VCO audio). This may not be the target you wanted when in DISC (or Open) mode. I'd suggest you X point the center of the target while in DISC (or Open screen) and then use "pinpoint" with the coil moving slightly (1" either side of center). If you find while in pinpoint that the center is not where you expected - you've probably wandered off to some nearby nails or junk. As with other detectors, when slightly off-center of the max pinpoint center - re-select "pinpoint" button to reset the audio and narrow the response. It will help narrow the audio so the target center is clearly defined.
Since the detector is heavy - you should sweep with an economy of motion. That means, use your wrist and save your elbow from pivoting. The torque should not be on the arm-shoulder as the constant sweeping (changing of direction) will tire the forearm quickly. Use the wrist and sweep in a relaxed fashion. Try switching from right hand to left, you can learn to be ambidextrous with a little practice, which gives one arm a rest. Always Noise Cancel before hunting - you can have the coil in the air or on the ground - whichever makes you happy (I've not found any particular cancel number to have any affect on sensitivity. Noise cancel slightly shifts the freq but not enough to make any difference - about 20% change in freq across the range of noise cancel values, that is, cancel 1 gives you 22.2 kHz while cancel 11 is 27.78 kHz. But do play around with it in your test garden and see if you find any difference.)
That's about it. Use some wireless headphones with the E-Trac. I Velcro the tiny transmitter to the back. I've been using some cheap Rapoo H3070 stereo headsets. They're light and run for about 6 hours on one USB charge. I bought two sets - just in case I'm out longer and need to replace it. There is no delay with these. I use them with the E-Trac and CTX-3030 and they work just fine for me (and did I mention they are cheap?)
Most important - take your new E-Trac out and experiment, play around, don't give up, and have fun with it. Allow yourself about 100 hours to get used to it. It is really a very simple machine to set-up and use and the TID is simple to interpret. And don't fret - I've used the CTX and it is no big gain over the E-Trac - so you're not missing much, if anything at all.
In fact, the E-Trac is better in some ways and has better target resolution in certain cases (in other cases the two are about equal), so go out and find yourself something valuable!
