Treasure Classifieds Forum

Hi Guys/gals,

I just found an e-trac that is very reasonably priced,  and wonder what all of your thoughts are.

Here are the machines that I am considering in order  of consideration:
Minelab safari/Teknetics t2 se
Teknetics omega 8000
e-trac ( only because I found one that is very reasonably priced)

I heard a number of negatives about the e-track  and a lot of positives for the safari and t2.

I primarily will be doing beach combing and coin/jewellery hunting, not into relics at all.

which machine would all of you suggest.  I tried the AT Pro international and absolutely hated (sold) it  ( OK didn't really give it a fair chance at 20+ hours )

I am totally and utterly lost! on this.

Every machine you mentioned is a winner. Honestly, don't think you can go wrong with any of them. The Etrac is one of the best coin hunters of all time, what negatives did you hear about it? That's surprising.

If you will be primarily looking for coins, with jewelry as an off-shoot, and doing some light beach hunting in the wet sand, I'd say to get any Minelab. Again, though, can't go wrong with any one.

I run with a Safari, and have found more silver with it than any other machine I've ever used...hands down

Joe

(07-07-2014 03:06 PM)NjNyDigger Wrote: [ -> ]Every machine you mentioned is a winner. Honestly, don't think you can go wrong with any of them. The Etrac is one of the best coin hunters of all time, what negatives did you hear about it? That's surprising.

If you will be primarily looking for coins, with jewelry as an off-shoot, and doing some light beach hunting in the wet sand, I'd say to get any Minelab. Again, though, can't go wrong with any one.

I run with a Safari, and have found more silver with it than any other machine I've ever used...hands down

Joe

that they can't pick up CDN coins worth a hoot. just got off  the blower with a Minelab techie. he confirmed that and that you have to specifically program CDN coins in or it will by-pass most of our coins here.

was also told that it is heavy? and eats batteries

(again everything I am saying is what I was told and in the case of the cdn coiins was confirmed by a Minelab techie a few minutes ago [ but he was "gung ho" on it] ).

I don't know if it is "too much machine" for someone that has been out of the circuit for over 20yrs

rockhunter, don't get me wrong, but an etrac jump for you may be too much machine to grasp in your venue of detecting areas. Now on the other hand, the Safari, Tek T2se and the Omega are kinda sorta one step up from an AT Pro and seeing that you're excusing your selling it for only 20 hours of use, well, you may have that reaction to those as well. One thing about new machines and new users, you have to really use it. We don't throw golf clubs when we miss the shot. (At least not lately!)

What you have to remember is that a move up involves a lot of learning curve. The machines are definitely built to find the stuff, but the user has to learn how the machine works, what it finds in various soil conditions, and why it finds it compared to other machines. And I'm sorry if that sounds dumbed down as you are out of this hobby for 20 years, but the industry has changed one hell of a lot.

I jumped from a Delta 4000, to a Minelab SE Pro. I knew from the beginning that it simply was not going to be an easy progression. (Actually it was crazy, but it is what it is.) I did a great deal of research (That's what winter is for, and you got plenty up there!) on not only that machine, but the others I had considered. Of which was the Tek T2se, the Safari, the Fisher Gold Bug Pro, the Garrett AT Pro and the Garrett AT Gold. I bought the SE Pro used as well. And your reasoning was the same as mine. Money. I was trying to get the best bang for the buck. Not that those other machines are worse or inferior, as my next machine may be a Garrett AT Gold, but could they do what my scope of detecting involved. And not one machine can do exactly what another can.

This is a very, very tough decision, for "anyone" in the hobby. I feel for you! I fretted for months over what to do, what to buy. And I think many of us have. Specifically define all of your parameters that make you want to go out there and detect. Read, watch videos and digest the free instruction books online, and when you make a call, stick to your decision and make that machine a part of your arm and brain. That's the only way to do it. Dig it all in the first three months or just go home.

I wish you very good luck in your decision. Don't rush it. You will learn to live with any decision you make and may really enjoy the results.

Ed

ps.... I don't have a passport, but if I get one, I'd love to go out detecting with you! You're just across the Lake!

First  , I'd have to say that if you have an opportunity to pick up an etrac for at or near the same cost as the other three, it's a mystery to me why you wouldn't! It's clearly the real thoroughbred of the bunch.

Twenty years ago I swung the White's Eagle Spectrum and when it croaked I went to the etrac with little problem. A week of park hunting I felt as confident with it as I did with the Eagle and could see the value of the advancements over the years. Learning the language and the techniques for programming are just part of the game today and I'm far from a techy--no smart phone and no computer skills and don't want them. Your coins will scream just like US coins once you open the discrimination up to accept them and form your own pattern --it's a piece of cake. The criticisms of a steep learning curve are myth--it's more stable and well mannered than the T2se ( it will kill you in wet sand ) in bad dirt and just abit more involved than a Safari.

The legitimate knocks on the etrac are the ergonomics(weight) and the LCD screen which can be difficult to see in some lighting situations. Minimal compared to what you gain in performance.

The etrac.  I too was sceptical for years.  Here are some of the negatives I read before owning one. 
1. It sounds like a Flute.  I can't get used to the tones
(if you don't like the multi tone option simply set it to 1,2 or 4 tones)
2. It don't hit on Gold jewelry
(as with most machines - non connective (split) gold rings and chains are hard to hit with depth.  But a regular ring is no problem as I have found many)
3. There are too many adjustments and I can't get it right!
(actually there are few adjustments especially if you compare it with a VX3 or V3i. The etrac is like the Ronco Rotisserie - Once you set it you forget it)
4. My battery is always down!
(Dude it's rechargeable - put it on the charger once in a while)
5. There is no way it can find silver at 10+ inches.  Those guys are planting those coins!
(Nope - we are not planting coins- it goes that deep}
6. It cost too much!  You can find coins with a 212$ machine! 
(you sure can - but the silver that's left is usually deeper and if you want silver and wheaties you need to go deeper.  If you want surface clad then buy a 212$ machine)
If you get the etrac I will call you and help set it up.  Like I said most everything will not ever be changed again except your discrimination patterns which are all over the net.
Do I use the etrac everywhere? No. I use other machines. Like the Gold Bug Pro. I can use it for jewelry and coin hunting down pretty deep. Also real trashy sites. Once I get an area cleared out and some old coins have been found I get the deep silver and copper machines out - etrac time. I'm waiting for my shipment of F19's from Fisher. The etrac and F19 combo will be hard to beat.

(07-07-2014 09:20 PM)khouse Wrote: [ -> ]The etrac.  I too was sceptical for years.  Here are some of the negatives I read before owning one. 
1. It sounds like a Flute.  I can't get used to the tones
(if you don't like the multi tone option simply set it to 1,2 or 4 tones)
2. It don't hit on Gold jewelry
(as with most machines - non connective (split) gold rings and chains are hard to hit with depth.  But a regular ring is no problem as I have found many)
3. There are too many adjustments and I can't get it right!
(actually there are few adjustments especially if you compare it with a VX3 or V3i. The etrac is like the Ronco Rotisserie - Once you set it you forget it)
4. My battery is always down!
(Dude it's rechargeable - put it on the charger once in a while)
5. There is no way it can find silver at 10+ inches.  Those guys are planting those coins!
(Nope - we are not planting coins- it goes that deep}
6. It cost too much!  You can find coins with a 212$ machine! 
(you sure can - but the silver that's left is usually deeper and if you want silver and wheaties you need to go deeper.  If you want surface clad then buy a 212$ machine)
If you get the etrac I will call you and help set it up.  Like I said most everything will not ever be changed again except your discrimination patterns which are all over the net.
Do I use the etrac everywhere? No. I use other machines. Like the Gold Bug Pro. I can use it for jewelry and coin hunting down pretty deep. Also real trashy sites. Once I get an area cleared out and some old coins have been found I get the deep silver and copper machines out - etrac time. I'm waiting for my shipment of F19's from Fisher. The etrac and F19 combo will be hard to beat.

I don't think I can put it any better than Khouse just did, as everything is SPOT on

Yes, battery life sucks. Deal with it (like I do), or, simply get the rechargeable battery pack, as mentioned above. Finding good stuff comes at a price, lol.

Heavy machines? Absolutely! However, again, if you're looking for old coins - especially DEEP old coins, nothing can touch these machines. So, once you start pulling out 100, 200 year old coins on a regular basis, believe me, you won't give two shits about the weight anymore

Admission, I tried a Minelab years ago...and hated it. Why? Because I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know the power I had in my hands. Going from a Whites MXT to a Minelab is the equivalent of driving a horse & buggy and then taking a Lamborghini for a ride! Like Khouse said, the tones were driving me loony! I just didn't get it. And I was finding silver with it!!! Lol.

Here's some advice I was given many years ago about the Minelabs...

The controls and settings you can master in a couple of days. Easy stuff once you know what each function does. It's the TONES that are going to be the learning curve.

I put the above in bold, because it couldn't be truer. Forget settings. Yes, it's a bit confusing at first, but, after a week or so, that'll be a breeze. The TONES are the secret sauce of the Minelabs THIS is what will take time to learn. However, you WILL learn them with enough time & patience, and once you do, you'll never go back.

There are 3 evils that every detectorist faces at most of the better known, obvious hunting spots...

1. Hunters before you sniped most of the old surface coins & silver.
2. Heavy fill dirt, in most instances.
3. Sinkage, due to many factors.

Now, couple all three of the above together, and think for a second. How many old coins are going to be shallow, say, 6" or less? Very, very few. This is the strength of the Minelabs - DEPTH. Minelabs aren't the best machines (by far) for iron work, nor are they speedy things, but, what you're paying for is unrivaled depth & a symphony of rich tones that, once learned, can give you almost psychic ability as to what you're digging up on each signal.

Going from another brand to a Minelab isn't easy. However, as with anything else in life, you get what you put in. Time & patience will prevail.

Joe

Joe's right about the settings making sense.  I read the manual and Andy's book and about 25% made sense.  Then I went into the field and played with the settings.  I came home and skipped around Andy's book again and a bunch more made sense.  After a few hours I had the settings down.  I can tell you that even if you have some settings messed up you will still find silver.  I have never used any of the stock programs.  I use mostly some I made up and Bill_S trashy program with some tweaks.  Then I'll use 2 tone ferrous with an open screen sometimes.  You can also use the etrac emulator to run the machine through it's adjustments.

Thanks guys for all of your feedback all of it was very helpful.

I just spoke with a couple of people that have E-tracs' here.  Watched a video on it detecting Canadian coins (air test).  Everyone and the video confirmed it. The way Canadian coins are made, I either go all metal or use another machine (it jumped all over the map on every single current Canadian coin that they showed in all metal  and didn't even register on any of the other standard settings).

 I have decided to forgo the E-trac as it probably is too much machine for me at this time (regardless of the deal I can get (A deal is not a deal if doesn't do the job for you or you can't use it). Now I am back to considering either the T2 SE or the safari... both have features that I like  but i have yet to swing the T2, the safari has a "good" feel to it.

Yes, the E-trac being too much of a machine at this time was/is a serious concern for me as well.
(mind you even with my old GTA 1000 I never did get a good feel for it. I had a much better feel with my AT4). IDK.

Ohio, I look forward to the day that we hunt together.

I don't know the other machines, but I can tell you that the T2 is light, well balanced, and very simple to use.  Mine loves low conductors too.