Minelab E-Trac

Here is a question I had today. What sweep speed is everyone else using?

The manual says to use a 4 second sweep. I almost can't go that slow. It feels incredibly slow to use about 2 -3 seconds per sweep, which is what I was using today. I keep wanting to go back to about 1 second per sweep like the old detector.
 
Having used an MXT extensively the last few years, it was hard for me to slow down. I have though and reaped the benefits. I probably use a 3 second swing most of the time. Here's the great thing about the E-Trac, it may seem like it's taking long time to cover a spot, but I'm actually going about as fast as I did with the MXT because I'm digging a lot less trash and finding more goodies.
 
Jason in Enid said:
Here is a question I had today. What sweep speed is everyone else using?

The manual says to use a 4 second sweep. I almost can't go that slow. It feels incredibly slow to use about 2 -3 seconds per sweep, which is what I was using today. I keep wanting to go back to about 1 second per sweep like the old detector.
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Hi, I adjust my sweep speed in different areas, but not by much. In a field where targets are far and few, I use about a 3-4 second sweep. In areas that are cluttered, especially with iron I use a 5-6 second sweep. It is sometimes in constat null. That is where my E trac picks up coins that were masked from my DFX. I have used White's since 1974 and it was hard to change. But change we must. It is not a White's (or any other fast swing machine) and needs to be swung slowly. As far as some of the questions on pinpointing:huh: I gave that up right after I had a 3 coin Barber quarter spill and gouged the best one. :( I have since bought a Sunray X1 and have not looked back. I must admit - What a pinpointing probe thumbsup01 Try those speeds out in a trashy park. You will be surprised what will show up that is shallow!!! HH
 
I personally have some trouble keeping my swing speed as slow as it should be and I have to constantly remind myself to slow down, even after using a Minelab for years. But recently, using the DFX and swinging faster, it felt very strange to swing fast.

In those trashy areas you have to practically crawl if you don't want to miss the goodies buried among the trash.
 
Is the 4-5 second swing speed you are referring to consist of a swing in one direction or a total from left to right and back to the left:huh: Just curious.
 
Epi-hunter said:
Total... so about two seconds each way.
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The manual says 4 seconds for one swing, left-to-right. That would be an 8 second lap.

This is why it's so hard to adjust.

PS, I tossed those coins in the tumbler. I'm gonna check on them in about another hour. They were junked to start with so I'm worried about hurting them.

PPS, I posted the coins in the finds section.
 
I swing 3 seconds from left to right, then another 3 seconds from right to left. It's slow enough for me to find 8 deep silver dimes and wheats without too much trouble. Steve can attest to that having seen how slow I go in person. I also go slower the worse the trash becomes. I think your sweep speed should really be determined by your location and what you're looking for. The worse the soil, the slower you might want to go (with Difficult Ground turned ON). Also, if you're in an area where clad is being found 6 deep, you'll probably want to go slower because more likely than not, the older coins are going to be another 2 or more deeper than that (assuming you're at an older location).
 
OkieDigger said:
I swing 3 seconds from left to right, then another 3 seconds from right to left. It's slow enough for me to find 8 deep silver dimes and wheats without too much trouble. Steve can attest to that having seen how slow I go in person. I also go slower the worse the trash becomes. I think your sweep speed should really be determined by your location and what you're looking for. The worse the soil, the slower you might want to go (with Difficult Ground turned ON). Also, if you're in an area where clad is being found 6 deep, you'll probably want to go slower because more likely than not, the older coins are going to be another 2 or more deeper than that (assuming you're at an older location).
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Yeah Dale has always been a little slow! :grin: J/K
No in all honesty I think the slower you can go in areas where there is trash and iron the better chance you will have at picking up the silver. Time and time again I have personally dug coins right near iron or with iron above the target.
 
OK, I just got back from my 3rd day out with my E-Trac. I went to the same park again. I took the area I have been wandering around in and spent 3 hours working a 150 X 150 foot area. I found 3 more wheaties. Every single one was next to a piece of iron.

But I have a question. I keep getting these little chirps that ID in the 40-50 CO range. All are right on the edge of iron. They aren't very repeatable and the numbers jump quite a bit. My gut tells me these are iron falses. What say you wise E-Trac users?

Also, I've dug a number of pipes, bars, and assorted long, thin targets. Every one seems to have pinpointed (very clearly) in one spot, and it was always at the highest end instead of the whole thing. Has anyone else noticed this?
 
Yep, sounds just like rusty iron nails or what not. You're a fast learner. A lot of the iron will chirp CO 47 or 48, but you'll notice the FE is usually 20 or higher. When you switch to quick mask you usually get a solid FE 35 with a CO of 47,48,49 or 50. Also, if you X the iron spot, it may chirp from one direction, but not the other. This is a pretty good indicator of iron.
 
OkieDigger said:
Yep, sounds just like rusty iron nails or what not. You're a fast learner. A lot of the iron will chirp CO 47 or 48, but you'll notice the FE is usually 20 or higher. When you switch to quick mask you usually get a solid FE 35 with a CO of 47,48,49 or 50. Also, if you X the iron spot, it may chirp from one direction, but not the other. This is a pretty good indicator of iron.
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Yep, that's it. Only from one direction. The pinpoint is never right under the chirp either. Thanks, I thought that was it, but I wanted to make sure.
 
If you haven't done it yet, you might want to turn the Trash Density setting to High. The manual states, In High setting, E-Trac searches for the best accepted target signal during detection and then displays the most stable target ID. Basically it's saying that if you have some iron next to a coin then the coin will show on the display more often than not. It will not be masked by the iron. It works. Repeatedly.
 
Jason you definately are getting a good handle on the E-trac! The Etrac rarely lies about what the target is when it comes to a coin near iron. I have to agree that it is one of the best features of the machine and definately why I am finding silver in areas where I had gone over with my DFX.
 
SteveMN said:
Jason you definately are getting a good handle on the E-trac! The Etrac rarely lies about what the target is when it come to a coin near iron. I have to agree that it is one of the best features of the machine and definately why I am finding silver in areas where I had gone over with my DFX.
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Yep, what he said!!! :grin:
 
OK, since I was at work and couldn't swing the coil yesterday, I set out to re-read the users manual and Andy's book. I have a correction to an earlier statement.

The sweep speed should be 4 seconds per lap. That's left-right-left. Half the speed I posted earlier.

The extremely slow sweep speed STILL works with the E-Trac (unlike any other brand of machine I've ever used), it's not supposed to be the normal speed.

Just wanted to clarify my mistake.
 
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