New Etrac user.

[dlrwaitnonadime]

I have had an ACE250 since the end of August. My wife and I have gotten so addicted to the MD thing we decided we needed another detector and went with the ETRAC. I got it assembled last night and did some air testing. I am gonna tweak it some this afternoon and can not wait to get out and try it this weekend. I will probably be asking some questions of you guys and gals that are more familiar with it so help a brother out when you can.

 

[gingerlm]

congrates on the purschase....my partner, donglassdigger and i did the same thing about a month ago...we've found over 39 colonial coins and i found a awesome gold bracelet in a 1831 trashed out cellar hole...you will love the etrack..get andy' book...i read it daily..i'm wearing out the pages...lol...but it really is the best...the manual is hard to understand in my opinion....90% of my time has been studying history and every other spare moment is going to get the goodies....we had the minlab se before..this e trac rocks...we now have to go back to all are old places and do them all over again....thats how good this machine is...i would suggest the first time out with the factory set and deep on hi trash on.....and watch the sensitivty bar for your ground conditions...and dont forget to push the noise ccancel button when you start and every time ground conditions change.....i think thats the best thing..that and the quick mask button for questionable objects.....but most of all , you and your wife have fun.....ginger

 

[NebTrac]

Glad to have you aboard. What area of the country you huntin' in? Mainly looking for old coins, beach hunting, relics???

NebTrac

 

[dlrwaitnonadime]

Glad to have you aboard. What area of the country you huntin' in? Mainly looking for old coins, beach hunting, relics???

NebTrac

We live in deep south Alabama. Yes, we like looking for old coins, tokens, and relics of times gone by. I have watched a lot of your videos on YouTube. Very good and informative stuff. I can not wait to get the hang of this Etrac. For those of you who have had one for a while, are they pretty durable? I feel that the ACE250 is very well built for its price and the Etrac looks a little underbuilt for it's price. Just wondering how they hold up. I will treat it with kid gloves I am sure but these things cost a lot.

 

[NebTrac]

Well, anything can happen. But I certainly do not treat mine with kid gloves, although I think RayMo keeps his in the trunk and hasn't had a problem. The first problem I addressed, and would do this before even using it, was the foam grip. I wrapped mine in Plastic wrap then wrapped it with grip tape, then finished with electrical tape. You could skip the grip tape and just wrap with electrical tape after he plastic (seran) wrap. This has worked extremely well for me for over 300 hours in all types of weather. The grip just wipes right off.

Some people put different arm cuffs on. I haven't yet, but they are available and better than the factory.

Pinpointer - probably either Garrett pro-pointer or X-1 Sunray probe. I have both, but just got the garrett. I think both are probably the best out there.

Have fun with it.

NebTrac

 

[DukeOBass]

My son just moved out of Magnolia Springs this summer. I've been detecting down there for the past 4 years.

 

[cginn]

I have had my Etrac a little over two months. I learn something new every time that I use it. I found a 1908 Barber Dime the first day out and I was hooked. BTW, I live about 30 miles west of Mobile in Southeast Mississippi. Good luck with your Etrac.

Carl

 

[dlrwaitnonadime]

Well Magnolia Springs is in the county that I live in and I am about forty miles from Mobile so I am close to where some of you have hunted. Today I got off work a little early and my wife did too so we took the Etrac on it's maiden voyage. We only had about an hour and a half before dark and believe it or not the mosquito's do not yet know it is fall here so we cut it off a good half an hour before dark. We found a couple of memorial penny's and a toasted old token I believe. I can see that I am starting over with this machine after using the ACE 250. I think it is a good machine and I am going to just keep working it until I get a feel for it. It comes very highly recommended. The guy I bought it from is a dealer and I met him on another forum. He gave me a lot of good advice and helped me to set it up to hunt so I am gonna do what he said and dig the solid repeatable signals for awhile and just get to know the machine. Any pointers on pinpointing would be appreciated. I watched a lot of videos on youtube of people working with the ETRAC before I bought one and it appeared to me that after digging the plug that a lot of digging was under where the plug was folded back, kinda like an Armadillo hole. That was the same kind of holes I was digging today using the pinpoint instructions in the manual. Does this thing pinpoint toward the rear of the coil or am I imagining that? It seemed that when I pinpointed the way the book said to that the target was always a little outside the area I thought it should be in, usually back toward the back of the coil. I know it will take some getting used to but I got some great tips from people on these forums when I first got the ACE 250 and I am sure some of you will be able to help me through the curve with the ETRAC. I have six days off for the Holiday and will be swinging as much as possible. Man I love this stuff. I know that this ETRAC is way different from the Ace already but I don't thing it's a bad thing just a different thing.

 

[cginn]

Pinpointing will get much easier with practice. I rarely use the pinpoint mode anymore. Instead, I slowly bring the coil toward my feet as I tightly swing over the coin. The coin is located at the top center of the coil when you lose target response. You may have to adjust this a bit for multiple coins close together, but this too will come with practice.

 

[tippyhound]

The kids gloves won't be necessary. These are a well built durable detector. The only recommendations I might have is to get a good control box cover if you hunt in the rain and to protect the screen from scratches (Sun Ray builds a really good cover at about the same price as Mine lab). You might want to put some kind of protective covering on the handle grip, plastic wrap and electrical tape would do the trick. Otherwise they are a little hard to keep pretty if you hunt in muddy conditions.

I have only had my E-Trac about 21/2 months and Like you I love to hunt for old coins, and tokens, haven't got into the relics to much. I have hunted two Civil War Camps and prisons not to far from where I live. I am far from new to this hobby as I bought my first metal detector in 1968 and have owned and used numerous different brands over the years.

If you haven't already, purchase the Andy Sabisch Explorer and E-trac Handbook. It's a very informative book with a world of good information on your new machine. Read it thoroughly and if you can read it a couple of times, and keep it handy as a reference. Read this forum, these fellas offer a world of good information and tips. Don't be afraid to ask questions, as they are really great about helping when they can.

Since the weather is so great in your part of the country get out and use that machine. In the short time I've had mine I have found 5 silver dimes a silver nickle, a really small heart shaped frat charm 5 inch's deep. Numerous nickles,4 buisness tokens,half a dozen wheat pennies and of course the copper and clad.

The Iron Mask is great on this machine as I have as yet to find a nail that wasn't in the hole with a good target. and no bottle caps. Learn to use the Quick Mask function as it will save you digging many questionable targets. Its great for separating good targets and iron.

Don't know if I've helped you any here, but this is a great machine. I Up graded to the E-Trac because good coin hunting was getting few and far between in my area. I seldom ever dug a silver coin or a wheaty any more and that problem has been much improved with the E-Trac as it is really good at weeding them out of the trash.

Well I've bent your ear long enough, you and your wife get out there and enjoy that machine, you'll be surprised at what it will do for you. Rick- Illinois

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

A great way to learn about your new machine is to read Andy's Explorer & E-Trac book and read others posts and post questions of your own in this forum.

I always carry a little pocket notebook with me in the field that's full of notes from Andy's book and from this forum - target ID numbers, settings, tips from other ET user's, etc.

This little notebook has helped me out more times then I can count in the field !

We look forward to reading stories and seeing photo's of you future finds !

Good Luck ! --- Mark

 

[dlrwaitnonadime]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I have the book your talking about on order, should be here next week. I also ordered a rain cover at the same time. Speaking of rain we finally got a little more overnite and I think me and the wife are going out a for a little while this morning if the weather holds up and get in a pre-Iron Bowl hunt. Then were gonna come home and try not to kill each other during the game, I am a Bama fan and she is an Auburn grad!!!!! Weather permitting we will definately be at it all day tomorrow as our JETS got their game out of the way last night. I have three really good sites,(I think) lined up and ready to go. I will be working the machine and I am sure I will have questions. Good to know that there are helpful people like you guys when I get to a wall. Thanks again.