is the e trac as deep as

[jondav]

Im thinking of buying an e trac,but the spec on the sensitivity only goes up to 30 , while the sensitivity on the explorer reaches 32 ,not much difference ,but does this mean on paper at least ,that the explorer is deeper,the videos i,ve seen of the e trac seem to give shorter choppier signals ,quicker recovery maybe ,but at the expense of depth?

[Tafflaff (Rob)]

I think you'll find the scales of sensitivity going up to 30 and 32 respectively has nothing to do with the depth capabilities of a machine. For instance the sensitivity 0n a whites DFX goes up to 100 , this does not mean the sensitivity of the DFX is 3 times more sensitive than the explorer range.

Listening to the signals being shorter ,choppier also does not mean quicker recovery as the signal respose can be altered to Short, Normal and long on the etrac.

[Chef Geoff]

As Taff has said the numbers on the sensitivity scale are unique to that particular make and model, so can't be compared. The tones on the etrac and explorer SE are different from the explorer XS and II and are more user friendly and so are easier to learn when just learning the Minelabs.
Where the Etrac is "deeper" is on ground that is higher in mineralisation, you can run with more sensitivity and it doesn't punish you by falsing as much as it would with the explorers at the same level.

[rjm]

If you should buy an E Trac depends if you have previous Minelab multi-freq experience as they are
different to single frequency machines.  They are quite weighty...so factor that in.
 
Also, it depends on the price. If you can get a good second hand one for £600-700 then not so bad.
They are falling in price now and will drop even further if/when Minelab bring out a replacement.

I know I'm an XP Deus addict but they have JUST adapted the Deus to be used in a non motion
discrimination mode and the depth is mineralised ground is phenomenal. It's pretty good in motion
mode as well!

Depth isn't the be all, but the recovery speed between targets is the best on the market. They're
pricey at the moment so if this is a problem the E Trac could be your best bet.

[Rob]

The ETrac is an amazing machine in the right hands and can be made even better with coils such as the SEF range

[Rob Two Spades]

Since I started detecting seriously 18 months ago (and put in hundreds of hours!) I started with the Bulgarian detector Golden Mask 3+, then changed to Etrac and finally switched to the Teknetics T2SE or LTD. I've learnt that each machine has its plus and minus points and these tend to depend on the type of land you go on.
My impartial summary is as follows:
GM3+ (£300 used), inexpensive, robust, deep on all ground, but heavy, gives good signals on iron  , hard to ground balance
Etrac (£750 used), robust, deep on pasture, very adaptable, sensitive to small stuff, awesome discrimination, but expensive, a bit heavy, steep learning curve, some modes can be hard on the ears
T2SE (£600 used). easy to use, light, deep on pasture/hard ground, great amongst iron, good discrimination but it doesnt perform so well in ploughed/rolled soil, also tends to miss the odd tombac, pewter and smaller lead things.

I'd advise you to try out as many machines out on your local ground before you choose one (if you can that is)

[dances with badgers]

when i was in spinal tap all our amps went up to 11