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earthmansurfer
02-26-2012, 09:27 AM
This intro to the E-Tracs 2D screen is more for those unfamiliar with it’s operation but also might be of interest for those of us who use it on a regular basis. My ground is iron mineralized, so a lot of what I am writing here might be more important to those not in sweet ground. I should say I’m not brand loyal and just try to hunt with what works in my ground.

The E-Trac was my first Minelab machine and consequently my first machine that gave me a 2D screen of the Target’s ID’s as well as two sets of numbers (Fe and CO) to work with. The two sets of numbers give us more data points to work with and the 2D screen allows one to get a very quick visual representation of the targets VID numbers. I quickly found advantages to using this system, in particular on deeper targets in my iron mineralized ground (1% highly iron mineralized according to the White’s V3i’s ground probe). My iron mineralized ground had given all other machines fits at depths of greater than 6”-7”, basically in the form of jumpy VID numbers and inconsistent sound (at times).

On the E-Trac, Fe numbers range from 1 to 35 (North to South) and CO numbers from 1 to 50 (West to East). 12 is generally the Fe number that coins hit at (out of the ground) and the CO numbers vary according to the conductivity of the coin, anywhere from 18 on a Nickel to as high as 47 on a silver coin (or there abouts). I’m not sure that the Fe numbers truly represent iron but they serve a function nonetheless. Generally non ferrous targets do not stay in the 18 on up Fe range, outside of bounces. That said it does depend on your soil as many have dug solid Fe 24 targets that were indeed deeper coins. Solid 30+ Fe range target are always iron targets in my ground. Fe values beginning at 18 due seem to be a typical iron cut off point though.

At depth the Fe numbers (in my soil) often jump around a bit (often ranging from a low of 8 to 25 at the extreme end) but the CO numbers are usually very very consistent (+- 3 to 5 is typical). The sound remains relatively consistent as well (running in conductive). By steady re-sweeping of the target you can use the screen as a “discriminator” of sorts to see where the majority of the numbers lay (should they be jumpy). In other words, we try to exclude the not so consistent data points (target VID’s). This is MUCH EASIER to do visually on a graph than compared to a typical machines numbers going by imo. (I only do this when investigating a target after the sound catches my attention, as I’m not a screen watcher).

Regarding the 2D screen, well, a picture is worth a thousand words and really transforms the data points imo. Some people just focus on the CO numbers, but I follow the Fe numbers in that if they are jumpy it is often a confirmation of depth in my ground (when coupled with the depth meter for verification.) Numbers that seem jumpy when plotted on a 2D screen, usually have a great deal of order involved. Fe numbers jump more but the CO numbers are in a tighter range. We can now search for patterns in this two coordinate system.

My point is that the E-Trac’s 2D screen gives hunters an additional weapon, that unless you have experienced, I’m not sure can appreciate. Again, this might be more significant in difficult ground. I primarily go by sound when hunting, but when investigating a target, the 2D screen is a huge assistance to me on deeper targets in particular in my iron mineralized ground.

Below this short article are the following:
Graphed plot points of the E-Tracs 2D screen on an 8” deep small silver ring.
23 second video clip of the E-Tracs 2D screen from the actual hunt (referencing the above plotted points as best I could).
Picture of ring to appreciate its small size.
Full (5 min) Video of target acquisition and dig (if interested), there is also another deeper small ring on my Youtube Channel and a few deep coins showing this bounce and 2D coordinate system in operation. (Channel is earthmansurfer69).
*Note – all videos are ad free and just contain actual information, nothing in it for me. I’m just sharing information.

The ring registered at 12 41 out of the ground – noted by an “X” on graph. This was not a planted target – I came across it in the field. I plotted the crosshair points on the below graph in the order that I saw them (as best I could) and on the right side of the graph are some of the more consistent Fe CO numbers that I received in order, but not all of them.

This target has more extreme jumpiness in the VID’s due to it being at near the limits of detection and it’s a quite small target, but it still serves this example perfectly. It is quite easy for me to collect the “good data points” and throw out the “bad data points” in my mind from the 2D screen during a hunt. I tried to represent that in red below on the graph.

Finally, I’m relatively new with the E-Trac, perhaps 100 hours of use so I don’t claim to be an expert. Please jump in with your opinions and experience or questions.

Enjoy,
Albert


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E-Trac Screen Movement on Deep Silver Ring (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reOUnkj:crazy:98#ws)

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Thunk Thunk Goes a Small Silver Ring at 8 inches (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVjzM4kmCaw#)