Etrac coil

[JewelleryRescue]

The   etracs  standard  double  'D' coil is real the best all round coil for the job treasure hunting.

The Double "d" puts down a narrow blade like field the near full width of the coil that means you don't have to over lap your sweeps much. Plus it helps  heaps to reject mineral interference IE salt in beaches.  That  fact of the matter is   Aust history is 200 years so most relics coins are rarely deeper than 300mm except  where earth and sand is moved.  Beach  etc I find coins easy 400 mm down clear as a  bell.use  Expert_ DEEP mode. Deep mode will amplify faint signals automatically.

Larger mono coil  means you will go deeper but you  wont cover more  ground !!! The mono coil emits a cone shape so the edges of the coil area aren't detecting deep so you want a full deep search you will need to over lap  each sweep  by  half the coil width.

A smaller mono  coil will  assist in rubbishy  areas as there will be less targets  to identify and shallower at the one time.  But if you learn to slow sweep across rubbishy areas  with  fast recovery on  and trash density high you  can learn to use existing  coil.

Another advanced skill and fantastic feature on Etrac  is in  Target  mode SLOWLY move the  coil over the rubbishy ground until it locks on to the target signal you want......... IE   Gold or  coin 12:24 what  ever.  Once locked slowly target etrac in the normal manor.   

Note when you step 90 degrees around the target  it might vanish due to other rubbish masking it, Try another angle to refind it and form an X to dig as per normal.

OR

Pro Tip: Finding surface targets: Even  over steel re-enforced concrete. This no book taught me, probably for  good reason but it works.
 " Deep mode will amplify faint signals turn it off. Always have deep on" Exception In rubbishy areas and you are looking for a surface target DEEP off. Set "Fast recover", "high trash"  Set sensitivity to  manual. while detecting reduce the manual sensitivity to about 6.  if you still are picking up  deeper rubbish/steel lift  the coil 100mm above the ground  place a coin on the ground so you  know only a ground target is in range/detected. OK off you go find your surface target  excluding 90% deeper  rubbish.

OR   For  beginners  a surface  target  with  NO other metal  around  will  beep  three times on the etrac. Bepp Beep Bepp.

 Firsts Bepp is leading edge of  coil (note incorrect reading will display here) 

Middle beep is  main coil field (correct  reading

third  beep is tailing coil edge leaving target .  Note if you hit a surface target  with the outer edge  the wrong  id will show  only  centre  field will be correct.

So  Three beeps matching sweep speed will  mean surface target to IE 50mm down approx.

If you  have two surface targets under coil you will get 6 beeps,  3 targets 9 beeps.

EG  two  surface targets will give you 6 beeps a deeper target  will also  give you a single normal beep  so you will have 7 beeps all up. lol
"tip step 90 degrees to  target  area this may eliminate separate pieces of rubbish from coil  path making life easier and reducing  confusing beeps signals.  This really screwed me up  when i was  learning till i dug all targets and worked it out.

[hungry]

Thanks for that advice.  I went to an area about 2years ago down in Gosford that was built over an old tip. I had an Explorer SE then and nearly went mad with the noise. I have only used the original coil once as i use the 15" all the time.  I have to go to Gosford next Friday, so i will put the Original coil back on and try your settings, it will be a good test for the E-Trac, if other people have not done the same

[Eray]

Thanks for tips Jewelleryrescue

Just what I wanted to know  you make it all seem so simple
Keep it up

May the beep go on !

Eray

[Banjo]

hi JR

i used some of your tips for my first outing with the E-Trac this evening, the surface coin tip (3 beeps) was handy as darkness was setting in

pin pointing is a little dusty at the moment, not far off but not good enough 

i made myself a little cheat sheet with all the popular stuff on it so once i got a signal i could do a quick reference to what should be underneath the coil, it was nearly dark, the E-Trac was suggesting to me its a 20 cent piece and when i dug it im looking at this dark old thing that looks like a penny, oh well i thought, happened twice, got home and washed them an indeed they were 20 cent pieces, i guess you can now tell i'm pretty new at this 

having a ball though, especially love digging the pre-decimal stuff

Darren

[JewelleryRescue]

Mp   problem   Darren relax enjoy the  ride you will be great at it in no time.

Ps  no problem when you come to sydney be happy to  hook up with you .

[Balf]

Guys..............I use the baby E-trac FBS 800 6 inch coil in the heaviest trashed ground, it is easier to wave in between the junk than the stock "Spider" Double D coil, the larger Double D coil is great on areas with light to medium trash or when large areas need to be covered, but when an area is completely trashed out , the large "Spider" coil can have multiple signals under it ( i.e 6 pull tabs, a coin , nails, etc) , which can be confusing to the operator and can confuse the processor  to some degree( although gentle feathering & patience will smoke the buggers out!) The FBS 800 coil costs around $250 , but in my book it is worth every cent in Mega Trashed areas ( the results speak for themselves)....................................Balf

[JewelleryRescue]

Thanks  for  that  post  Balf

I  was  small coil  curious lol  for a  while.  Well  I  think I am doing pretty  well  with the  new pattern smoking out the  goldies. 

I  do  owe it  to  customers to give it my all on finding their stuff  I  have  always   had a  nagging fear of  rubbish  under the  coil would  mask their  lost targets. Even  though I go ultra carefull ID ing  targets.

Well now  Balf has taken a walk on the wild side lol  Might  consider the smaller coil as a  tool of the trade.

Note  to  newbies a smaller  coil will be shallower finds too.

Oh  Tip....  if you buy a new coil for the  etrac  also  buy a  bottom shaft to go with it  it saves a lot of mucking  around swapping them.

Now I  imaging  walking  around with a golf   bag full of   coils sticking out.   I think i will do this  job  with the 6"  coil lol.  LOL Laughing at  my self,  We are on the  beach  hand me the 15" sand   wegde  coil.

Ummmm  food  for thought.  Any  one in  Sydney  area  own a  FBS 800 coil  would  like to  try it maybe.

Tony Jewellery Rescue

[Balf]

Small Coil Envy methinks!!! lol............ your right about the depth JR, it doesn't bite as deep as the big  "Spider" and I wouldn't use it on the beach ( haven't had too) it still gives good penetration though , and lets face it , most of the coins in the ground in this country are well within its range. As for the bottom shaft , the small coil comes with one , they are an item ( which initially pissed me off , but as you said makes swap over easy) As I said above anyone with a polished technique ( like JR) will still sniff out the good targets in amongst the the junk with the "Spider" , the small coil just takes a lot the noise out of the game and for me has found numerous small items ( threepence's etc) in amongst a sea of junk ( I'm talking areas that I would not have even bothered trying with some of the earlier machines I had).......Grab your golf bag JR , we'll go for a round! lol, 6 inch coil on the fairways( parks & gardens) , 15 inch sandwedge for the beach !!lol.....................Balf

[werewolf]

Small coils ROCK! I was loathe to try a smaller coil on my Tesoro as I liked quick coverage. On a whim I bought one cheap from the UK and now I'm converted! Absolutely awesome sniffing out the goodies amongst the crap - like having a pinpointer on a stick!

[Balf]

Yeah , I agree Wolfie, for me it's "Horses for Course's", the coils are easy to swap over and I use the coil that suits the conditions, it's nice to have a choice.............Balf

[TeeJay]

I was told that the smallest coil available for the ET was an 8 inch and now I read that there is a 6 inch available ---- is there a smaller one that will work on the Et? I have a situation where a smaller coil about 4 inches or a tad larger would be most helpful. Appreciate any advice.

TeeJay

[JewelleryRescue]

Teejay

As you say you are new to Etracing so my best advice  right now is to learn the great double 'D' standard coil I think Xterra uses have to  pay bigish bucks for as it is not standard in their  kit?  I could be wrong there.

i an  lucky  as I have learnt to swing it in all?  environments so  far. But that took me 3 months of near  every day learning. I dont blame any one trying to bypass learning curve.

My point would be learn the one  coil and all the ins and  outs  then try  another coil so at that  point in time your built up of knowledge will aid you tremendously. 
i fear if you chopping and changing  coils it will slow your etrac  understanding.

But Tee jay you are doing more trashy  areas so get a smaller coil but stick with it till you learn its sounds and  target responses. 
Coil  sizes I dont know the smallest coil  made for the Etrac?  Others here  will be able to advise Try to keep in mind it takes all day to cover an area  with a  4 to 6 inch coil especially a mono coil as you haveto over lap sweeps by at least 50% to maintain depth.  Also the smaller  coil  will probably half the etrac  detecting depth. This  will still find majority of  coins as most sit less than 200mm unless  lots top dressing etc  occured.

If you track down a  4 "  100mm coil recommended for the  etrac  post it here   IO migh get  one>  I would  hope it turns  the  etcac into   strong  earring  finder too  like the  Ace 250 with 100mm sniper coil.

Regards Tony  JR

[TeeJay]

Hi JR----No it was not for the trash area but another location where I want to shove the coil down a very long partition wall about 20m long and a cavity about 500mm deep wher a larger coil wont go. Have been some interesting finds raked out of this location and I am just try ing to make life a bit easier on the back LOL. After the multitude of information gleaned on this site and some others I quiet agree with you re the 11 incoil supplied with the ET. Actually am just coming to grips with this coil and know that it has to be mastered first matched to the ET. I do a lot of digging just to see whats there and as strange as it may sound I just absolutely like doing so----just never know whats at the bottom of the hole. Teriffic to se what the ET masks out when you dig a susposed good signal and when you go looking for the target with the Garret pointer all the bits and pieces of rust and nails around the target. The pointer I feel can be a bit of a hinderance picking up all these bits so have taken to grabbing a hand full of diggings and passing it over the coil to get the original tone---works about 60% of the time for me LOL

TeeJay

[JewelleryRescue]

I  hear  you  TeeJay  all good.

Just as a  quick  heads up for you hear it was a good learning point for me..  the etrac sees all the metal  under the coil all the time regardless of discrimination.  So  when you  are in an  area full of metal (iron junk?)  keep in mind  keep the sweep speed  down so etrac can work for you beter IDing the good stuff.

A good tip is I nearly always go into all metal mode  just to survey how much crap about.  So it the site  is messy go half speed sweeps to slow and/or use trash on. (at the  expense of some target id accuracy).

Switch back to discrime and  will give you better result.

Also on your tool list the gold lads  will tell you get your self a  super magnet approx 10mm thick x 20mm dia. they are  cheap as  chips   ebay.  I  might  glue mine onto the garrat battery end of the pinpointer pro It shouldnt interfer. 

These super magnets will pull out small pesky iron fast to  aid recovery time.

Regards  Tony  JR

[Rwork]

Tj ,you may not know that if you start the pinpointer up near a coin it will be less sensitive and might not show the rust you talked about but will still show nails though.  Rwork

[TeeJay]

Tj ,you may not know that if you start the pinpointer up near a coin it will be less sensitive and might not show the rust you talked about but will still show nails though.  Rwork

Didn't know that Rwork----thanks mate.

TeeJay

[TeeJay]

Hi JR, Haven't used trash on asyet ----didn't even think about it but have been going slow but you know how it is with thousand of acres in front of you and only the present life time to explore it LOL----yes I guess I'm a little bit guilty of picking up speed some times

Bought a pack of 5 super strong magnets for the job on ebay----will lift 35 kg the add said and I think it is correct---have a little hook screwed into the back of them. Forgot to bring them to the site with me----I'm known to do those sort of things----was keen fisherman (sorry--fisherperson) and left the bait home a few times but lucky to have a cast net on hand. Thanks for the tip much appreciated ---love the help from this forum.

TeeJay

[JewelleryRescue]

Teejay Balf  from an earlier post wrote this, as follows. (should be  perfect coil for your needs  if it fits? I talked to a guy today that swears by it.  It will/should  help  new etracers to  learn the etrac to as less under the coil at any one time.

Ps  any one  heard from Balf??  I heard he was not so well at one point in time .  Hope hes  ok.

Guys..............I use the baby E-trac FBS 800 6 inch coil in the heaviest trashed ground, it is easier to wave in between the junk than the stock "Spider" Double D coil, the larger Double D coil is great on areas with light to medium trash or when large areas need to be covered, but when an area is completely trashed out , the large "Spider" coil can have multiple signals under it ( i.e 6 pull tabs, a coin , nails, etc) , which can be confusing to the operator and can confuse the processor  to some degree( although gentle feathering & patience will smoke the buggers out!) The FBS 800 coil costs around $250 , but in my book it is worth every cent in Mega Trashed areas ( the results speak for themselves)....................................Balf

[TeeJay]

Naaa JR---the little bugger is a tad too big for the job on hand---read the post previously and got all excited but to no avail. Thanks for the interest.

TeeJay