well I had to give up my E-trac. gave it a solid attempt at 150+ solid hours, and only found well over 100 lbs of iron. I can say that I really liked that machine. Held off selling it as long as I could (if only I found just 1 dime or quarter, I more than likely would not have sold it). Was it too much of a machine for me? was 150+ hours too short of a time span to learn the basics of it? or the programs that I was running on it? I really have no clue. I tried in earnest at least 9 different programs and always either nothing or iron, bottle caps or pull tabs.
I wish the guys around her that told me that I wouldn't find anything were wrong. but they were wrong on 1 part they said I would hate the machine. on the contrary it really had a nice feel to it
Dunno ... i picked up an Etrac a little over a month ago, i hunt an IRON LOADED SITE
and i have pulled a gold coin several silver and copper coins with it , as well as tons of relics with it. took me a month and still figuring it out, i noticed based on how i set it up, it can operated completely different. may not have had it set up right for your hunting or location ... i only pull iron with it when i want to ... it is spot on on telling me if the object is iron or not. down to objects the size of a BB ... it is amazing ...
I LOVE MY Etrac ...
it is an awesome machine .
but it can be tricky and maybe not for everyone ....
next on the list is the CTX3030 .
BONES ...
like you I did love that machine. I did try 9 different programs to no avail I would either pick up iron, pull tabs or bottle caps but no silver, gold or clad ( new or old)
(09-23-2014 01:58 PM)rockhunter005 Wrote: [ -> ]like you I did love that machine. I did try 9 different programs to no avail I would either pick up iron, pull tabs or bottle caps but no silver, gold or clad ( new or old)
after a week with it i tried to get fancy and loaded a few programs into it, but quickly realized i did better just putting it in ML coin or relic mode, i tweaked it out so much it was driving me nuts. i did a quick reset in the field, and ran from there just fine. i still play with it and test out different settings, but over all, i think it works great in its factory settings. with just a few adjustments. this whole week i have ran it in coin mode with the sens at 24 any higher it gets my steal toe snake boots. today before getting rained out, i switched over to relic mode. it signaled on the iron but I ran over it and kept going . i have to admit, it does have quite a learning curve. it has only been in the past two weeks or so i have really started using the added feature of the Iron Masking. truth is i forgot about it ... but man does it tell you what is there fast ... if i get an iffy signal, or signal that looks good but bouncing , i hit the iron mask , it has been very accurate on telling me if it is iron or not, i often dig it just to check the machine, so far it has been spot on ...
as far as depth and still getting the ID , this is a photo of the spot i pulled the brass sword handle the other day, that is a 3 foot folding shovel with only a few inches sticking out above ground ...
it was DEEP and still got it .... i had to widen the hole a bit, once i saw the handle i wasn`t sure if it was a complete sword or not ... unfortunately ... not ...
but it hit on that handle at an unbelievable depth of 2 + feet ....
for me, it`s Etrac ... nothing else ...well, until i get my CTX
best a`luck my friend ...
and you`ll find the right machine for you, it may just take a bit of trial and error.
but don`t give up ...
BONES ...
[attachment=3345]
you're fortunate that it is designed for U.S. coins it doesn't recognize Canadian coins except in all metal. and for pin pointing it always picked up what ever had a stronger signal even after I hit pin point.
Thanks I sure hope so. as it stands it is beginning to look like I am a used metal detector dealer.
instead of a metal detectorist.
(09-23-2014 04:50 PM)rockhunter005 Wrote: [ -> ]you're fortunate that it is designed for U.S. coins it doesn't recognize Canadian coins except in all metal. and for pin pointing it always picked up what ever had a stronger signal even after I hit pin point.
Thanks I sure hope so. as it stands it is beginning to look like I am a used metal detector dealer. instead of a metal detectorist.
i dont get that statement, i find British, Spanish, US, i don`t think the Etrac knows the difference in nationality of coinage. it does however, know if it is metal in the ground, unless your coins are made of plastic, it will find them...
also, i have many coins from all over the world, including Canada. i did air tests, it hits them just fine for me ???
BONES ...
Just to double check, i just did an air test on a dozen Canadian coins.
it range just fine for me on every one of them. don`t know why its giving you such a problem ...
BONES ...
Location is the most important factor in whether you find anything good or not.
You can hunt for a 1000 hrs on a patch of ground (or several) but if there's nothing good there to find in the 1st place = you won't find anything good no matter how much time you spend using any machine!
The machine used and skill of the operator come 2nd to "location"...
I'd say 150 hrs on an etrac is to the point of just getting to know the machine fairly well (took me about 200 hrs) to get to know the etrac to the point of being comfortable, confident and accurate with it...
(09-23-2014 09:04 PM)MichiganRelicHunter Wrote: [ -> ]Location is the most important factor in whether you find anything good or not.
You can hunt for a 1000 hrs on a patch of ground (or several) but if there's nothing good there to find in the 1st place = you won't find anything good no matter how much time you spend using any machine!
The machine used and skill of the operator come 2nd to "location"...
I'd say 150 hrs on an etrac is to the point of just getting to know the machine fairly well (took me about 200 hrs) to get to know the etrac to the point of being comfortable, confident and accurate with it...
What Wayne said X 1,000%
I've been saying it for years...
Location, location, location. Take the greenest greenhorn with a Radio Shack special to an amazing spot, and he'll have a field day. Yet, take a pro with 30 years of experience and a $2,500 detector to a beat-up, hunted to shreds place, and he'll be lucky to eke out a couple of decent finds. Of course...
NOTHING can beat a great spot, coupled with the best machinery AND a skillful operator, however, first and foremost, it all starts with the SPOT.
Joe
(09-23-2014 09:10 PM)NjNyDigger Wrote: [ -> ] (09-23-2014 09:04 PM)MichiganRelicHunter Wrote: [ -> ]Location is the most important factor in whether you find anything good or not.
You can hunt for a 1000 hrs on a patch of ground (or several) but if there's nothing good there to find in the 1st place = you won't find anything good no matter how much time you spend using any machine!
The machine used and skill of the operator come 2nd to "location"...
I'd say 150 hrs on an etrac is to the point of just getting to know the machine fairly well (took me about 200 hrs) to get to know the etrac to the point of being comfortable, confident and accurate with it...
What Wayne said X 1,000% I've been saying it for years...
Location, location, location. Take the greenest greenhorn with a Radio Shack special to an amazing spot, and he'll have a field day. Yet, take a pro with 30 years of experience and a $2,500 detector to a beat-up, hunted to shreds place, and he'll be lucky to eke out a couple of decent finds. Of course...
NOTHING can beat a great spot, coupled with the best machinery AND a skillful operator, however, first and foremost, it all starts with the SPOT.
Joe
I will have to agree with that statement to a degree. I think it was either the programs I was running. because as soon as I would use my fisher 1280 on the same spots bang, up popped coins and some other interesting finds ( no silver or gold)
i feel your frustration and pain rockhunter005 ...i was close to getting shot of
my xp deus ...i was struggling for months well 6months to be precise...i was
trying many different programs ...settings/ frequency's ..but nothing seemed to work for me ...my finds rate dropped so much.....in the end i decided to sort out one program ..after many many hours testing in the back yard found a set up that gave me the best results ...and went back out in the fields and stuck with that program .yes odd tweak here and there for ground conditions...but the main settings was the same .......so went back over old ground ...and it started to produce finds again for me ......i also will say i ignored the control unit vdi ...and just went on the tones and for me it seems to have worked ...my finds are returning.
i know its a completely different machine .....but what im saying is i do know what
it feels to not feel confident in you machine ...i was a matter of days before the deus went in the bin ..and went back to my vista smart ..or the garrett ....both worked well for me ..and i was saying why did i get the deus ..but im happy now.
i hope you get the right machine ..that brings them finds back for you and
you have more confidence in.