New Etrac user

[dwatson4]

I got my brand spankin new minelab E-trac today from windy city detectors. It came with the Lesche digging tool, a Sun Ray probe, Andy Sabisch minelab explorer and E-trac handbook, the standard E-trac accessory pack, and I got them to throw in the padded case for 1500. I had looked around at several retailers, some had no bundled extras, some had packages bundled with useless crap, all were 1500 for a new one. Windy City detectors were very good to deal with, good experience. My thanks to Ron.

I had set up a test garden 3 days ago in my sandy soil with a old style pull tab, bud light bottle cap, pre 82 penny, dime flat, dime on edge, quarter flat and quarter on edge all at 8 inches. I watered it and the next day it rained for an hour. Today after I set up the minelab I took a Garrett Ace250, Fisher F75, and the E-trac out to the garden. The Ace picked up the pull tab and bottle top strongly and the penny signal jumped but was audible. There was no signal on the dimes and quarters at all. Next I took the F75, It too found the pull tab, bottle cap, and penny. I could hear a signal on the flat dime and quarter but no signal on the on edge coins. The F75 did not give a VDI number but I could hear a fringe signal. I adjusted the sensitivity to 99 tried JE mode DE mode PF mode, BC mode, all metal, and disc mode. In all metal I did get VDI numbers on the flat quarter and dime but the quarters read like halves and the dimes like quarters. I'm sure the longer these coins sit in the ground the easier it will be to read them but guess what....

E-trac picked up every signal right out of the box. Even the on edge coins albeit they were like 1/2 signals or only sounded one way. I am very impressed with the depth on this instrument, the assembly was easy, the upper/lower shaft design is very nice, I like it better than twist locks, I love how the coil wire goes inside the shaft (except if you use the Sun Ray probe). What I didn't like was... It's heavier than the F75 and Ace 250, its close to the weight of my sea hunter II. The rubber plug battery cover seems out of place on this otherwise delightfully engineered product as well as the arm cuff and strap.

Taking it to a few sites tomorrow that I've hit with the other detectors can't wait to see the difference.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[sniffer]

I agree with the battery cover, it does seem kind of cheap. but that's a small trade off for the increased depth and sensitivity

 

[dwatson4]

After the 1st day out I have come tho the following conclusions. The depth of this thing is greater than anything I've ever used, and I need to come up with an alternative way to dig targets in a park. I hate to carry a camp shovel but it may become necessary as the depth of the holes this thing makes me dig is outrageous. The 1st 10 minutes or so I was kinna worried as it was acting weird the signals were intermittent and it didn't even pick up my wedding ring on the ground, then I figured out why...had the sun ray probe switch in the wrong position, so it was reading my keys on my belt as i swung...grrr.

I did get a 1956 Wheatie in a park that hadn't produced any before, and I believe a clad dime that had been in the ground so long the clad part was all gone leaving only the copper behind. This park was re-sodded a few years ago so all the better finds are under the sod. I still dug king cobra bottle tops at 8 inches. I need some more air testing time and I need to carry a cheat sheet of what desirable signals fe, co should read. It seemed to be a penny/dime magnet as that was mostly what I dug. I only dug a few low tones that turned out to be a pencil and pull tabs, but after 2 hours I gave up on that and only dug high tones. No silver this time but I'm confident its coming. Going to a older school upstate next week that I'm sure has more Wheaties and hopefully some silver.

 

[sniffer]

I will drive to a small town away from the big city and detect their park for really nice things. it doesn't always work, but I do find some nice things

 

[Woodland Detectors]

"I had looked around at several retailers, some had no bundled extras, some had packages bundled with useless crap, all were 1500 for a new one."

We can all bundle anything you need. It pays to call around. When you call a dealer, be specific on what you are looking for in a bundle package. It's very easy to put one together at a good price.

Ron is indeed a good guy up there in Ditka land.