Thinking about an upgrade ?

[Bilwnh]

Hi gang,

I am thinking about upgrading from my 705 to an Etrac. It seems that the folks who have an Etrac think they are the cats meow. I like the 705(haven't found silver yet ), but I am wondering if the Etrac will improve my finds. I do mostly parks, ball fields, woods and occasional beaches.

Is it worth it to upgrade ? Am I wasting my money ? Is there a need to keep the 705 if I upgrade to the Etrac or should I sell it. I have limited time to hunt, so I wouldn't be able to use both on a regular basis.

Mayb a coil upgrade on the 705 would make more sense ? I am using the stock coil.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Bill

 

[Bilwnh]

n/t

 

[Old Longhair]

IMO, if you're not finding silver with the 705 you won't find it with the more complicated E-Trac either. The 705 is a very capable machine. I have both a 705 and an Explorer, and while I feel that the two compliment each other well, I have to say that the 705 did a pretty good job of cleaning out my local parks. Going over the same ground with the Explorer hasn't been very fruitful.

I think that if you're still just using the stock coil then another coil will be the most sensable next step. Each new coil that you put on is almost like having a new detector that you're already familiar with. And since the stock coil is a concentric, I'd opt for one of the DD coils, as it will do better in trash, and may indeed find more stuff in places that you've already been.

 

[Bilwnh]

Thanks for the thoughts..... You are probably right about the Etrac not finding the silver that I can't find with the 705. I am hunting in areas that should have silver as I have found wheat pennies and an Buffalo nickel, so I should be close. I just started reading Diggers Xterra book again and I am going to try his settings and see if that helps.

As far as a DD coil, what makes more sense, the 7.5 or the 18.75 ? I have some trashy sights that I detect.

 

[EOS]

I have the 705 with 4 coils,all DD. Just as Old Longhair said you get a new detector
everytime you change coil.
But in trashy sites Etrac is the winner. Have been using
my brothers machine and I think its easy to handle. Much bettet ID on tsrgets and
a discrimination which is way much better then Terra.

I love xterra on fields with a big coil. In trashy ground the 6"DD is absolutely
brilliant. But still I think the setup:Etrac/baby-SEF work better.
But thats just my opinion.

Why dont go for both machines?

Mike

 

[DirtAngler]

If you're hunting coins, get the MF 10.5" DD coil. You might want to also get the 6" coil for the trashy areas. Rule of thumb, you're right in thinking if there's wheats and buffalo nickels there should be silver but I hunt with a few guys who will ignore penny signals, where the wheats are, and trash signals, where the nickels are, and just hunt high tones and Id's. If that's the case, most easily detected silver could be mostly gone by previous hunters but yet the wheats and nickels would remain. JMHO.

 

[Bilwnh]

Why not have both machines ? Good question. I guess my thought is that I can't hunt as much as I would like, so I want to make the best of the time I do get. So, I would be torn on which machine to use....

I already have the MF 6" coil and use it sometimes.

What do you mean by the setup:Etrac/baby SEF ?

 

[Old Longhair]

SEF is a manufacturer of aftermarket coils.


Before you go buying any more coils or machines, you really should read an article having to do with target masking. It's really quite informative, and will open your eyes to what is actually occurring in those trashy sites relative to the good stuff that you seek. The article is written by an Explorer guru, but the information regarding masking is relevant to all detectors and detectorists.
I've sent you this link in a PM too. (you need to copy & paste it, as the system won't allow a direct link)
.
www.dankowskidetectors.com/behindthemask.htm

 

[Bilwnh]

Great article, an eye opener for sure ! Thanks. So, I may try the MF DD coil for the 705 and see how that goes before I invest in a new machine.

 

[Mark in S.E. IA]

Bil, like the others have said, if your not finding silver with the X705 then most likely your not going to find silver with the Etrac. The Xterra's are VERY GOOD at finding silver. since you are finding wheat's and older nickels I would say the problem is that your swinging the coil way to fast. Try to not swing the coil any faster then a 4 sec, swing. With a lil faster swing speed you tend to be able to find the wheat's but yet skip over the silver and I can't explain why that is. Also make sure you over lap your swings by at least half and over lap your grind pattern.

Also buying the 10.5 DD 7.5 coil is a great idea.

 

[Old Longhair]

Time for a short story.

Today when I last PM'd you, I had just mounted a 5" Excelerator on the Explorer. I was headed to a local park that has served as my proving grounds for some time now. The town is out in the boonies, the original part of the park is over 100yrs old, and has been hit hard by everyone with a detector in four counties for years. I've hunted it extensively with several detectors including the Xterra (which performed quite well) with coils in all three frequencies. What all of these detectors that I've used had in common, was that they all had 8" or larger coils. Some were concentric and some were DD, but all were on the large side....'til today.

Today I stepped out with the 5" DD, and settled in after a breif feeling that I was hunting elephants with a flyswatter. To make a short story even shorter, the upshot was that I re-hunted ground that I've re-hunted to death, and in 2