Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Etrac help

zach66604

zach66604

Elite Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2013
Messages
608
Location
Lawrence, Kansas
I got a used etrac three weeks ago. I have found hundreds of coins and other items, but almost everything I have pulled is under 3 inches. Max depth is around 6. I have hunted several old properties that should at least give up wheat's, but nothing. Wondering if it's user error or if my machine needs work. Coins air test to around 10 inches. Help from experienced etrac guys would be appreciated. Thanks!xd

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 
Please give us your settings that you were using. And remember, it has to be there for you to find it. I regularly get coins at 10 to 12 inches here in our soil.
 
It may just be luck of the draw, but I would think targets deeper than 6 would definitely be within easy range if they were there. I bought my Etrac used (3rd owner) and one of the better things I did was a master reset, then I used Goes4Ever's settings and haven't changed much since. I've dug some pretty deep coins, but to hear them I must remind myself to GO SLOW. Here are the settings copied right from G4E's site:

sensitivity auto +3
threshold limit just barely audible
volume limit 29
volume gain 29
response normal
tone id multi
sounds conductive
variability 29
threshold pitch 28-29 makes silver scream out
deep off
fast on
trash high
ground difficult

Hope this helps! Good luck
 
robby4570 said:
Please give us your settings that you were using. And remember, it has to be there for you to find it. I regularly get coins at 10 to 12 inches here in our soil.
Click to expand...

I am using these settings
set manual sensitivity to the same as auto
threshold limit just barely audible
volume limit 29
volume gain 29
response normal
tone id multi
sounds conductive
variability 29
threshold pitch 28-29 makes silver scream out
deep off
fast on
trash high
ground difficult

Also I run andys coin program. I
 
BlueDog said:
It may just be luck of the draw, but I would think targets deeper than 6 would definitely be within easy range if they were there. I bought my Etrac used (3rd owner) and one of the better things I did was a master reset, then I used Goes4Ever's settings and haven't changed much since. I've dug some pretty deep coins, but to hear them I must remind myself to GO SLOW. Here are the settings copied right from G4E's site:

sensitivity auto +3
threshold limit just barely audible
volume limit 29
volume gain 29
response normal
tone id multi
sounds conductive
variability 29
threshold pitch 28-29 makes silver scream out
deep off
fast on
trash high
ground difficult

Hope this helps! Good luck
Click to expand...

I have done a master reset, and run the same setting as you except I sometimes switch to manual sensitivity. I am wondering if i am just not hearing the deeper stuff, maybe I haven't gone over any, or maybe I have an issue with my machine. I find tons of coins, trash, and other odds and ends but its not deep. I have found deep nails 10+ inches. Maybe at the group hunt we can compare our machines.
 
zach66604 said:
I have done a master reset, and run the same setting as you except I sometimes switch to manual sensitivity. I am wondering if i am just not hearing the deeper stuff, maybe I haven't gone over any, or maybe I have an issue with my machine. I find tons of coins, trash, and other odds and ends but its not deep. I have found deep nails 10+ inches. Maybe at the group hunt we can compare our machines.
Click to expand...

I'm looking forward to it. I would have given just about anything to beep someone's else targets when I was trying to figure out the Etrac. I'll also bring all my coils so you can give them a try. As a side note, very very few silvers I've found have been more than six inches deep. Most are in that 5-7 range, but I've found quite a few much shallower than that. Maybe the old timers cleaned your spots of the easily found old coins in the 80's? I hear tell it was something to see!
 
zach66604 said:
....set manual sensitivity to the same as auto....
Click to expand...

Zach, I'm a little confused on this: Are you saying that you are hunting in manual sens ? Or auto sens ?

Because since there's an over-lapping elective "sens" setting that users can choose WHILE in auto, the 2 aspects are sometimes confused. So that just because you can choose a # to be running WHILE in "auto", you might think this is somehow a cross-over ?

But be aware that the only thing that choosing a # while in auto does, is to set an NTE for the auto. Yet trust me: The machine will still "dumb down" a lot below that setting, of whatever # you've chosen.

So make sure you're running TOTALLY manual. Do NOT run auto. Otherwise the machine dumbs down in the interest of stability . Better to let your ears do the mental adjusting, and not rely on the machine. The only time I ever use auto, is extreme black sand. Just use your ears. If you get stutters that don't repeat (try different angles too), then you might have your sens. set too high. Back off little by little so there's no random flutters.
 
Also: try to hook up with someone in your area who's using any of the explorer series. Someone who routinely comes in with oldies/deepies. If they allow you to tag along to some place that has prolific deep targets to choose from, then have them flag various suspected signals.

Then you swing over those flagged spots, to hear exactly what it is they're trying to isolate. And have them un-plug their headphones momentarily so you can hear what it is they're hearing. Watch the way they swing, listen to what they're trying to isolate.

This is how the "lights went on for me" when it came to the explorers: A proficient local hot-shot took me out to a park where he'd been harvesting upwards of 10 to 20 silvers at a pop (some of them up to 10" deep!). He flagged a few of these wheatie/silver signals for me to try. After about the 3rd such marked spot, the "lights went on" and it all made sense.

Prior to that, just walking about with no such tutoring, then it all just sounded like a flock of sick geese.
 
I would bury some coins and do some testing.

It's not easy to get dimes past 8" or quarters past 10" no matter what you read. Go dig a 10" hole and realize how deep that really is.

I would just verify a 6-7" dime and 8-9" quarter in a quick bury test so you have piece of mind.
 
BlueDog said:
threshold pitch 28-29 makes silver scream out
Click to expand...

Sorry, I have to challenge you on this. I've been running the E-Trac for some time, having moved up from the Explorer XS. Turning up threshold pitch simply changes the pitch for the entire range of sounds. It doesn't make a target sound better, just different. Literally all threshold pitch is doing is raising the octave of the audio response.

Take a clad dime and a silver dime and do a side by side comparison at threshold pitch 16, and then do it again at 28. If the test conditions are correct, the clad will read 44 conductive and the silver dime will read 45, regardless of threshold pitch settings. Therefore, regardless of your settings, the two targets will sound different.

Personally, I find raising the pitch that high to be unbearable. And since there's no real advantage to doing so, why do so? You're used to that pitch, and that's fine, but let's not pretend it gives the machine improved performance.

Also, why do you leave Variability at 29? Just put it to 30 to get the maximum audio response range!
 
All these responses and no one has yet to ask you a very simple question;

When running in MANUAL mode, what level is your sensitivity set to? It goes from 1 to 30. What do you have it set at?

Personally, I never run my E-Trac in AUTO, and the manual points out that this mode is recommended for beginners. I keep the machine in MANUAL and pay attention to the recommended sensitivity number on the right side of the left gauge. If the machine chatters or is unstable, I'll lowered sensitivity. But I like to leave that decision to me, rather than the machine.

In a relatively clean area, or the beach, I run the following settings:

Sensitivity Mode: Manual
Manual Level: As high as possible
Threshold level: 15
Volume Limit: 30
Volume Gain: 30
Response: Normal
No. of Tones: Multi
Sounds: Conductive
Variability: 30
Limits: 30
Threshold Pitch: 16
Recovery Deep: OFF
Recovery Fast: ON
Trash Density: High
Ground: Difficult
Discrimination: As open as possible but edited depending on junk present (turf); Coins & gold (beach)

When there really is too much trash, I feel like the machine gets overloaded and is nulling too much, so I switch to Two Tone Ferrous:

Sensitivity Mode: Manual
Manual Level: As high as possible
Threshold level: 15
Volume Limit: 30
Volume Gain: 30
Response: Normal
No. of Tones: Two
Sounds: Ferrous
Variability: 30
Limits: 30
Threshold Pitch: 16
Recovery Deep: OFF
Recovery Fast: ON
Trash Density: High
Ground: Difficult
Discrimination: All metal

I think three weeks is still relatively new with a machine like the E-Trac. It took me a few months to really get the hang of it, and I'm still learning things even over a year later.
 
Tyberoz said:
Sorry, I have to challenge you on this. I've been running the E-Trac for some time, having moved up from the Explorer XS. Turning up threshold pitch simply changes the pitch for the entire range of sounds. It doesn't make a target sound better, just different. Literally all threshold pitch is doing is raising the octave of the audio response.

Take a clad dime and a silver dime and do a side by side comparison at threshold pitch 16, and then do it again at 28. If the test conditions are correct, the clad will read 44 conductive and the silver dime will read 45, regardless of threshold pitch settings. Therefore, regardless of your settings, the two targets will sound different.

Personally, I find raising the pitch that high to be unbearable. And since there's no real advantage to doing so, why do so? You're used to that pitch, and that's fine, but let's not pretend it gives the machine improved performance.

Also, why do you leave Variability at 29? Just put it to 30 to get the maximum audio response range!
Click to expand...

As my original post says, that group of settings was copied directly from Goes4Ever's website under "Etrac Settings". That's why Zach's list of settings is EXACTLY written the same. G4E's settings have been utilized and mentioned here on FMD for a long time, as well as G4E has been around a long time and has found more with his Etrac than I ever hope too. I have found him to be helpful and willing to answer questions, feel free to ask him.

Like many others, I have utilized those settings and they have worked quite well for me, and I also know dimes in real world conditions depending on depth and soil type aren't as well behaved as a three inch air test. I've dug clad dimes that had a CO of 45 (a let down every time) and I've dug quite a few silver dimes at a CO of 43/44. (A pleasant surprise to see when thinking it's just another penny!)
 
and the manual points out that this mode is recommended for beginners
Click to expand...

This is not to imply this setting is only for beginners as this statement insinuates. I have been running the E-Trac for 7 years and there is a time and place for Auto +3 and Manual. Auto in more stable than manual so that is why it is recommended to begin with. Manual CAN give more depth in the right conditions but is not always the best choice.
 
1. Are you using headphones? At volume gain of 29 you should be hearing deep targets pretty loud but headphones still help a lot.

2. In only 3 weeks maybe you haven't been over deep stuff yet.

3. Are you noise cancelling?

4. Maybe make a test garden.

5. Remove coil cover and clean cover and coil.

Also, as has been said, don't dismiss auto. It sets sensitivy in a way that manual can't. And that can really help, especially in heavy minerals.
 
Last edited:
Detector said:
This is not to imply this setting is only for beginners as this statement insinuates. I have been running the E-Trac for 7 years and there is a time and place for Auto +3 and Manual. Auto in more stable than manual so that is why it is recommended to begin with. Manual CAN give more depth in the right conditions but is not always the best choice.
Click to expand...

I know this is an old post, but there's still guys out there that are buying E-Tracs with no experience on a Minelab FBS and I've run into many new detectorists who feel that running at full sensitivity will somehow help them "blast through" the trash and find the coins below. I was told early on by a guy who had 20 plus years detecting that running high sensitivity was like trying to use your high beam headlights and a light bar in thick fog... it just blinds you more.

I hope the OP got his issues resolved
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Z
Silver ore
Replies
6
Views
81
KOB
KOB
V
Who did it?
Replies
8
Views
137
jimther
jimther
strandjutter
Traveling by plane
Replies
3
Views
87
strandjutter
strandjutter
longbow62
Older vs. Newer Coins
2
Replies
27
Views
480
Xxray
Xxray
randy
filling holes
2
Replies
23
Views
551
Rock Jock
Rock Jock
Back
Top Bottom