Nokta to E-Trac comparison ?

[dbado1]

I have never swung a Minelab FBS machine like the E-Trac. Seems many swear by them and are supposed to be very deep seeking machines. They seem to have a "cult like" following by their users.

A question for you guys that have swung both...How does the CoRe or the Relic compare to the FBS machines (specifically the E-Trac)?
Was wondering about the E-Trac's ability to handle trash, seperation, recovery speed, depth compared to the Nokta machines.
Thanks!


Dean

 

[amberjack]

I can tell you one thing for sure the Nokta will be faster than the etrac and that's all I can tell you.

AJ

 

[Stoof-tabsallday]

Never swung an etrac, but I'm sure I remember seeing comparisons on youtube. At least between the etrac and core, but can't remember.
Do a search and see.
The fors detectors are wicked fast with separation.
There is one video I remember by scannerguy where he took two pieces of wood and put a dime, iron, a nickel and iron on the ends and spun it. The core kept up to the point that your eyes couldn't even see, but you could hear it. That's a great one to watch!!!
Makes me proud to own one lol

 

[aag800]

I bought a Core as a replacement to a F75 and as a back up to my Minelab Safari. Not exactly the etrac, but close. Sold the safari after my first trip around my property with the Core. There were so many signals in my searched out yard that I assumed that there was a penny stuck to my coil or something. The f75 was so chatty that I could not even figure good vs bad signals. Headache. The minelab was so slow that it missed a ton of signals of all types. I started digging all of the signals with the Core just to amuse myself and sure enough there was a lot of stuff in the ground. I found 6 Wheaties and a few bullet casings on my property that I promise you, I had swung the coil of the minelab over. Bottom line, the Core is fast and pretty darn reliable with the id's.

 

[dbado1]

The CoRe and the Relic are super fast. I've swung the CoRe for over a year and loved it so much that I bought the Relic. The Relic seems to be the faster of the two. My back up is a Minelab X-Terra. Good machine but slow by comparison to the Turkish machines. I didn't know if the E-Trac was slow as well. Seems so. I'm guessing that the E-Trac is a good coin machine in less trashy ground. Thanks!

Dean

 

[Trashfinder]

I have had 3 and still own two Fbs machines,, the Etrac is not slow , it seems slow if you set it up wrong. But it is heavier , the tones are easy to miss if you are not really familiar with the flute type sounds. If you want to see how fast or slow an Etrac is go watch a video on you tube called how to set up your Etrac in iron. But all that being said i love the Fors Core and the Relic i sold my core and bought the relic. In my soil, which it will be different for everyone else as all soil is not the same,,, but where i am i do not believe Etrac is any deeper with the stock coil than the depth i got with the Core and now the Relic. And there is a big difference in price between the two machines. For me at least if someone told me tomorrow that i had to get rid of the Etrac or my Relic,,,, i would sell the Etrac , at the moment it would bring more money and i like the weight and balance of the Relic more and it is a lot less complicated to learn and setup properly. One thing the Etrac will do if put it in high trash mode it will tend to lock on the better target under the coil, but that being said it still will not pass my masking test which i have on another thread called " Fors Core is so close".

 

[amberjack]

etrac not slow compared to what?

AJ

 

[Monte]

a stopped, out-of-commission train, a positioned manhole cover, or my 'ex' parked in front of some nutty soap opera. Those are definitely 'slower' than an E-trac.

 

[amberjack]

that's great Monte you made a joke very good

AJ

 

[Trashfinder]

Amberjack if you are interested in the recovery speed of an Etrac watch this video ( how to set up your etrac in iron) . The author of the video is mowerdog. I would post a direct link but not sure if that is acceptable.

 

[amberjack]

you can put up a link if it doesn't have ad's if people put stuff on YouTube its public property from what I understand , although I have seen one fella from the UK get his panties in a bunch because someone put one of his videos up on here didn't find them very interesting anyway

post away I say

AJ

 

[dbado1]

Thanks, Trashfinder!
That's exactly what I was curious about. I appreciate your opinion.
I absolutely love my Minelab PI units for prospecting. None better IMO.

HH

Dean

 

[Monte]

but never an E-Trac. I have several friends and acquaintances who use only or mainly Minelab FBS models, almost exclusively in urban grassy environments, who progressed to the E-Trac, but of 7 of them, 6 went back to an Explorer II or Explorer SE Pro within 1-4 months of frequent use. They didn't care for the reconfigured packaging or the performance compared to what they had used. The only thing they liked was the newer 11" DD coil that was first introduced on the SE Pro, which was simply an SE with 'Professional' decals and a new 11" coil.

In the past decade-and-a-half I have owned at least 5 BBS models, and 7 FBS units, to include an Explorer XS, five Explorer II's and an Explorer SE Pro. They worked and can do what they have been touted to do, or at least match some of the boasting. Their strengths really favor hunting for higher-conductive silver coins and working places like wide-open grassy parks and schools. If you don't mind their heavier, awkward weight and balance, and learning the odd-sounding audio response, required slow sweep and recovery, and -- to me -- limited versatility, then you might like them as some people do.

I know that I prefer the build quality, features and performance I get from all the models I own and use that are made in Turkey more than I do those FBS models that are made in Malaysia [size=small](the last I heard the Minelab folks state)[/size], and I have hunted over the same area in a small park in Arlington, Oregon where I lived using the Nokta FORS CoRe w/7X11 DD coil and had hunted with two Explorer II's w/11" coils. I found dimes I hadn't found with the FBS units, and a 10" quarter and a few coins over 7" that didn't produce hits with the FBS models. This is a very small park and I concentrated on one area of search about 20' X20'. I have hunted a variety of sites with different search coils and compared in-the-field performance with several FBS model users and I don't have an issue at all when it comes to depth of detection performance from the FORS CoRe, Gold + or Relic models.

But that was open, grassy conditions with little trash. You asked:

Was wondering about the E-Trac's ability to handle trash, seperation, recovery speed, depth compared to the Nokta machines.

There are many adjustments you can make on the FBS models, but you can't match the separation and recovery speed and performance of the Nokta FORS series models.

Monte

 

[dbado1]

Thank you , Monte!
That confirms what I had suspected. I'm always curious about a machine I've never swung.
Thanks again!

Dean

 

[amberjack]

lucky you said that on the nokta forum, now I made a joke

I don't care what any one uses that's up to them, I been busy looking for a detector to add to my list and I just cant find one , think I am just waiting on the impact see how it does.

learnt one thing about detectors none of them find everything and some are better at something's than others and sometimes ones that are not meant to be good at something do really well at it.

really was impressed with the mx5 until I seen something's about it that put me off, so 99,9% window shopper here and well its free

AJ

 

[dbado1]

AJ,
I think you NEED a GPZ7000! Venture out in to the gold fields a bit. I think it's about the only detector you don't have!

Good luck with your shopping!

Dean

 

[amberjack]

Dean,

that would be very nice and a winnebago to go with it , and you wont see me for dust I am outta here which is on bucket list 100%

but until then just need one more

thanks for the smile, I did like the etrac video as well.

AJ