DetectingWales.com

would like to hear opinions on using the preset programs on my e trac, have not ventured much beyond searching in the coin program.

Hi Jonny, I search in all metal - you can get quite a bit of ear-bashing if there is a lot of iron in the ground, but the advantage is you don't mask out any of the goodies either.  I know that one of the selling points of the e-trac is to be able to program it to do this, that and the other, but IMHO when you start using any discrim, including iron mask, then you can start to lose depth and sensitivity.  It is a bit horses for courses though - if you are detecting in exceptional conditions where 'all metal' is just not do-able, then having the other programs and settings are useful.  So far, I haven't been anywhere where I have changed the setting from all metal.  The best thing to do is just experiment - even if you spend a couple of hours in a field trying out different settings and see how you get on in those particular conditions - the e-trac will store a few user settings, so it is easy to switch between them. :)

Hi Jonny
The beauty of the Etrac is that nothing is written in stone ie. you can change everything, You will read lots of posts on various forums expounding the virtue of this or that setting, but to be honest each site requires slightly different settings.

If you are new to the Etrac then factory pre-sets are a good place to start and will help you get a working knowledge of the machine, sounds, pinpoint etc.

As you progress you will want to use "all metal" or minimal disc with only one or two bars up on the bottom and maybe a triangular nail pattern in the bottom right.

Also you will want to come out of auto sens and try manual, all I can say is WOW! it's a totally different animal in manual, and a wild one at that so try this in one of the factory disc modes or you may get confused as to what exactly the machine is trying to tell you.

Have a look over on MLO and while your there download the Etrac emulator so you can get a feel for different patterns before you go into the field.

Chef

Thanks Debbie/ Chef, forgive my ignorrance but not sure how to arrive at the all metal mode, would this be similar to the Relic setting

Jonny , I got a Whites DFX , its got all metal and is a very programable machine, what I found was that I started off on the factory settings but my natural inquisitivness made be learn the machine bit by bit to try and learn it all in one go is a big ask.

Good luck fella

Goff the Chef, can you please explain in simple terms (I'm simple) how to download different files to the emulator so's I can try different kinds of targets?. I've tried but haven't had much success.

Thanks, Richy.

OK Jonny
Nice and simple, just turn the etrac on press your smart screen button (the one that looks like the screen) now you are looking at an open (all metal) screen, if your just starting I would put 2 bars on the bottom and 1 on the left, to do this, simply press your up key twice and your right key once, now press detect and then "yes" to save. now you will want to add the nail pattern in the bottom right, so press menu, across to disc then down to edit.
Hope that makes sense if not give me a ring on 07788897660 and i'll try and talk you through it.

Chef

Hi simple Dickle :D

Don't worry your not alone. your pattern files are .ptrn files. the best way is to create a new file on your computer marked "pattern files" to keep them all in one place.
So with emulator working, just press file then import, and navigate to the one you want.

Chef

Oh or did you mean how to get them from the machine to the emulator? if so you need to download them into the computer with the exchange program first.

Hi Chef, thanks for taking the trouble to explain how to get into the program, I will download it so that i can study it , your obviously use to explaining to idiots, thanks again


   Jonny

I'm trying to add emulator files from the MLO site,there's much more to it than that Chef, you have to download zip files, open them, send them to somewhere else, number them and God knows what else. :(

I have no problems programming my E-Trac and using the Xchange software it's just the Emulator that's doing my head in. lol

Richy..

AHHH! OK Richy
You mean "target files" for the emulator.
OK no problem, if your just downloading and not making your own then don't zip unzip or number anything.
Once again download to a file you can remember, when you have downloaded all the ones you want open the folder you stored them in. Now you have to move them  to the emulator program.
So you need to go, My computer, then local disk, then programs, then Etracem-v1-en and datazip.

once you know where they go you can of course send them there at download.

Hope this helps

Chef

Thanks Geoff, I'll give it a go and let you know how I get on :)

Richy.

Hey I've done it! Thanks a lot Geoff, I owe you a beer mate. :) :) :)

Richy.

Well done Richy, glad to help.

Geoff