DetectingWales.com

One of the reasons I like pasture, especially old pasture ,theres good chance of recovering complete artefacts and not
damaged by  plough or fertilliser. I have been in hobby 34yrs and have had dozens of machines and nothing
comes close to Etrac on pasture. Old sites have become active again with etrac locating finds at superb depths.
Marvellous detector in my opinion,

I agree with the pasture producing the better and complete artefacts and coins.

I have never tried the E-Trac, so I am unable to comment, but my Explorer 2 still astonished me on pasture - I regularly go further than 12 inches down.

For ploughed by favourite has always been my trusty old Musketeer - a cracking machine. For any newbies out there you can pick up a Minelab Muskateer pretty cheap on ebay {under £200 for a professional detecting machine is a bargain} now as they seem to have been forgotten about. They don't miss much and is responsible for loads of my hammered coins. Unfortunatley it likes coke though and not the sniffing kind! ::) Never selling mine - its a cracking back up.

Neil

The se pro is excellent on pasture, but doesnt like fresh airiated soil or recently ploughed.

Always pondered buying something else for fresh ploughed ground, might look at this musketeer !

Dont see the point in changing se for e.trac, both machines are same spec, except for usb port, another hole for water!!

Outlaw you might like try a E,trac in field tests against the S.e. When Toddy Irwin tried the E.Trac against the S.E
the E.Trac beat it hands down. :) :) :)

I have had the SE and now have the ETrac. They seem to have the same performance and depth but the E Trac is quieter than SE when used at high sensitivity settings. Rob, I agree that the E Trac is best machine for pasture and I am finding stuff in fields that I thought I had emptied.

Richie on central searchers also field tested the explorer 11 and se pro and e.trac, the e.trac didnt win any prizes !!

However, If my se, God forbid broke or was lost, I would buy as i would advise anyone, to buy the latest technology, which is the e.trac.

I dont hold much confidence in Toddy, but then thats my personal view.


Imotin, unless you detect using both detectors and compare signals, your statement is pure speculative,

On M L.O.the general opinion (not just Toddys) is the E.trac  is the best detector brought out by Minelab. Would you
you buy a machine thats no better than what you got? Tell that to the experienced users on M.L.O...

Hi all, back after a bit of a work change.
OK well first about MLO, there are not many people about who would admit that their £1300 investment wasn't the best, me included, plus Neil, Gog, Tony etc are pretty dedicated to using the Etrac and know it inside out.
I have been using mine for about 7 months and yes it is a fantastic bit of kit and on a clean site (no iron) it is sooo deep but i have also been using Sovereigns for 15 years and with a 12x15 SEF not much can touch it on clean pasture.
the site I am detecting at the moment is probably the worst I have ever been on for iron and the Etrac even running wide open is totally confused, so is the Sovereign but the Xtera copes better but still hates the iron, I have just got a T2 and it loves it so does my mates Trident. So I don't think there is one daddy that does it all. It all depends on the type of ground your on

.



" Beauty is in the eye of the beholder "  ;D

well said geff i do agree its not the detector its were you use it all this hype about this so called super detectors yes it do help if you know your machine so sick to what you know :)

Geoff my advice to you is to use 8ins by 6ins sef coil on your iron infested areas, That is a little beauty and works
a treat in my beholding eyes. ;D ;D ;D

Hi Rob
I have the 8x6 SEF and though better it is still hard work and only pulls the depth down to  under that of the T2.

I used to own a t2 and the sites Which went quiet (pasture)are now active again  including the iron infested areas. The t2 was a superb machine and i had a chance use it on scatterred hoard  site. It pulled out lot of hammereds,but only the
E,trac got  the deep ones, I had the T2 for 3yrs and put in hundreds of hours with but its not the same league as the
E.trac in my opinion :) :) :)

One thing that amazed me during the launch of this e.trac, was the imediate search for a different coil  ( sef )to improve its performance, which to me defeats the object in buying it. Un less you wanted a supposed new look tector and listened to the sales hype thats still floating !

1.5khz range on last  3 explorers now e.trac,

so someone explain to me, how can it search deeper ?

There are so many reasons why certains targets are detected on one day compared with another, wet dry, slower swing speed etc etc.

I wish that minelab would cure its inability on the se explorer 11 to search over freshly ploughed ground, without having to buy a second machine.


Its a pity that we all cannot have a temporary swap of detectors to experience their individual performance.

i agree with phil stick with what you know i've change my machine 3 times this year and i've gone back the frist machine i had 12yrs ago
mine exlp

An interesting post, does fatigue set in with the E-trac or is it lighter and can be used longer without feeling k*******d?

I think the E.tracs return of signal is much quicker  than the Explorers(I dont know the about S.E) maybe thats the
secret of deeper signals in pasture.  I suffer  from Parrkinson disease and find the balance of the Etrac much better
on the arms than the Explorer.  :) :) :)..

I seem to remember that Toddy decided the V3 was better than the E-Trac in the end.

Having had both I kept the Nautilus and bought another as a back up in case of need of repairs. I've done a report on the V3 for another forum. "Put alloy wheels and go faster stripes on a Lada and its still a Lada". But I don't like the Explorer range either because all its problems could have been sorted years back and I feel they like to drip the modifications out to "encourage" you into the next revision rather than sorting everything out in one go.

Some will say the Whites TDI would be the best bet especially on bad ground (though the GS5 is better again) and no one ever mentions the Nexus.

Maybe I shouldnt have used Toddy or MLO as a examples. But II was at Stixwould rally where a deep scatterred stater hoard was found . Almost every  top machine was on that field and only Explorer 11 with big search  coils located the
14ins depth coins. The ground was clean and I feel the Etrac is a improvement  on the E11.

Oh don't get me wrong Rob, I do think the Etrac is a superb detector and in my 30 year experience the deepest I have ever used but only if conditions allow, (as with all detectors) but on certain sites others do better.

Do the sef coils improve detection on the explorers ?

are we talking a matter of an inch or greater depths ?

Having been faithful to minelab for 4yrs, have not really experienced other manufacturers, are there other detectors out there that detect as good as the explorer range?????

Its always been a dilema, you change a setting and find a deep coin, was it the change or just you swept at a different angle.

Same with new detector, deep coin : must be because its a new better detector  ;D not because last time you missed the target or swept at a different speed.

Manufacturers all know we want depth, if they can persuade us to keep buying their new models, their quids in  ::)


In reality, there probably isnt much difference between models in performance, just looks and sounds  and price !!

Lets forget the hype, all  my pasture is now a brand new site because of E.Trac that  is fact..

Outlaw quoted:
"Imotin, unless you detect using both detectors and compare signals, your statement is pure speculative,"
I made the statement after comparing both detectors on same signals before digging them. I also have a lot of experience of using both detectors so I think that I know what I am talking about.

I think it has been said many times before, it depends on the user, if you have bought a detector get the best possible use out of it that you can, don't listen to the hype, until they make advances in technology they have gone as far as they can with detectors.
The best detector out there is the one you have at the moment and enjoy using, hope your finds are many!

Having owned and used various makes and models over the years I,ve come to the informed conclusion not one machine will do it all :(contary to hype /belief having owned three minelabs a sovereign xs2a aquattro and at present an explorer 11 theres a big differance in preformance between these three with the exlporer definately being the deepst and fastest of the three never used the se apparently same preformance as the 11 differant wrapping same parcel but it appears the etrac is a differant beast altogether  :o faster recovery speed  cleaner signals wether it,s deeper than the explorer 11 is another matter ??? between using the explorer 11 which is the deepest machine that I use the goldmaxx in the iron contamination and the whites m6 is very good on the modern trashy areas these three cover Just about every site ;)

I think the Explorer II was the deepest Explorer but the E-Trac edges it out as though deep weak signals have a little boost applied.

The Whites TDI though a very limited machine in many respects, and a poor man's GS5, will kill most machines on bad ground (and only bad ground).
The Nexus has its own limitations but Buzzerman told me that there's a very sucessful user of one mid Wales somewhere.

However good the machine weight/balance is still a major factor and you do see people at rallies starting out very well but an hour later they are stopping for breaks and their sweep pattern has gone to pot. A detector has to suit you and your detecting style or your unlikely to enjoy using it.

i dont know what you lads are on about that is so a load of bull ive went head to head with the ex11 and the e track on the same field and beat the two of them with the xs the ex11 could not find the target i found to deep for it and the e track only a one way on it that happend three times on the test but to be fair on the e track rich did not have it long so do think he had tuned a bit green but i know for sure the xs is deeper and rejects iron more that the ex11 and its down to the person useing it still a load of hype hype hype :)

Well!! Phil  :D all I can say is from my experience using the machines I,ve owned the xs not being one  ??? if you could put the proof in the pudding I,d get an xs tomorrow  ;D  but the Jedi master has programmed my machine he goes by the alias of border fox I ,ve got to give credit where credit is due I,m reaching depths  never thought possible as you rightly say no one machine does it all one mans meat is another mans poison   ;)

yes mole im sick of saying that program is mine which i put in john(border fox) detector and he,ve give it to every  man and his dog and just for the record i got a new ex11 and got rid of it mate not as good as the xs  :)

I replaced an old Spectrum with the new XLT when it came out not for the claimed extra performance but it was lighter, slightly better balanced and had more programme slots so I could have a programme set up for each coil (Eliminator, Whites 6", 8", stock 9.5" , Hot shot and 18" Bigfoot).

Straight out to the test bed with the XLT and it could find half of the coins the older model could. Machine returned. Came back and it could manage 8 out of twelve, went back and it was up to ten with a couple of iffy whispers you would not dig in normal detecting. It also suffered from being a Vampire and did not like being in the hot sun. If laid on the ground in direct sun on a hot day it would start beeping and get faster and faster. George was in charge of Whites at that time and was very good. In the end the coil, circuit board and even the meter were replaced and this cured the hot sun problem but the depth still lagged slightly behind the older machine.
From then on I checked every detector I could get my hands on with the same settings as my own machine on the test bed side by side so dampness of ground etc was not a factor. Depths varied by as much as two inches.
Whites by this time had stopped quoting air depths at pre set settings and Fisher soon followed suit. Now air tests don't mean much but if you have two brand new detectors and there's one that delivers an inch or two more even though its in air, thats the detector your going to pick.

Bill at Search Southward in Dorset would get two or three machines of the same model out of their boxes and you could try the lot against each other. Pick the best and then rotate the coils round to get the best coil.
He gave great discounts which meant that Whites stopped supplying him. Mike Longfield had his supplies of Arados stopped because he gave discounts...the discount was free coil covers !

Anyway, back to Explorers. The deepest I tried of the original models was the II but I've tried the same model that was way down on performance and coil swaps didn't help. I've seen some rubbish XS's but a couple of really good ones where you would be stupid to waste the extra money "upgrading". Its what scares me off buying on E-Bay.

One of the people who really pushed the SEF coils for the Explorers when they came out forgets to mention one thing. It transformed the depth by inches, was more stable etc but he never mentioned that his original coil was rubbish. He sold it on to a fellow club member who suddenly found his machines performance had dropped.

Those who do have a "hot" older machine should hold on to it, though with Minelab there is that 10 year repair wall looming.

There's no doubt that the E Trac is the best all round machine currently out there. But it's still heavy after an hour or two, and is way over priced for what it is. There's also a longer learning curve too.

I've had a few Minelabs over the years but there are a lot of good machines at a third of the price that will perform as well or better.

Different machines in different conditions do different things....that's what makes the hobby so frustrating and interesting.

Personally I'd rather get a machine I can detect with in most conditions with excellent
performance and not have to keep stopping for a rest, twiddling knobs, resetting programs etc.

To get the best out of the Minelab multi-freq you really do have to slow down...more so than single frequency ones.

The E T is brill on pasture.......doubt it's so good on ploughed or disturbed soil!

It's all horses for courses.

There's one thing that all the manufacturers like to ignore at this time of year....the G.N.R.S. (Grand National Relic Search).

Its a hunt open to all detector manufacturers who enter a team to search undetected ground in the U.S.  Conditions are strict, you are searched entering the fields so no taking items in to find. Marks are awarded according to the number, type, age of finds etc.

Who wins each year ?  Nautilus, though admittedly once in the last ten years Tesoro did come in first. The important thing is that the Nautilus single frequency design has not changed in over twenty five years and its still bringing home the bacon.

I've heard the Nautilus name a lot over the years but it's a machine I've never seen, probably as it's not sold in the UK?

Brian, I'd give it a try on your recommendation. Where do you buy them and is there a particular model you prefer?

In a post you mention a machine GS5  - what is that short for?

There's no doubt the multi-frequency machines are good but for some reason I just prefer the single frequency ones. Most seem pre-occupied by depth but it isn't everything.

It's very hard work to detect properly (correct technique) with an 15 x 12 coil (or larger...and they do come big!) on an already heavy detector, for more than 2 hours.
You really have to slow down and the big coils can miss the small stuff that's not so deep. To me, especially on a new site or on a rally, it's better to have a light machine and be able to detect comfortably for a good few hours and cover some ground. THEN consider a larger coil.

Talking about technique, I've seen some experienced users swinging their coil like a pendulum, an even when they've the proper 'U' sweep I've seen the detector three or four inches off the ground. I've mentioned it to some but no longer bother now as I find people just don't like being told.

Some people have their own ideas and are not for turning!

we have an e-trac and a S.E plus a DFX. the e- trac wins most times and turns up far more coins. it's not as heavy as the SE, which goes deep.  But there is no better balanced machine to work with than the DFX .

The best performing Nautilus is the DMC IIB. Its a land machine only, though you do have a TR mode for the wet beach the performance is relatively poor. A big plus is the ability to be able to put 44 volts through the coil compared to the average machines 8. You can also alter the set up of the coil geometry to allow for the expansion/contraction of a coil that occurs in extremes of temperature. Drawback for years was the balance. Weight is not bad but its all in the wrong place. The manufacturer in the U.S. now offers an option with a Whites shaft fitted thats far better (or you can cut the shafts down on the original design and detect nearer to your feet.
Most import though there's supposed to be a dealer somewhere in the country.

The GS5 (now on version 3) is the Goldscan Pulse 5 by Eric Foster.

Picture below is a DMC. There's a few more controls on the front panel you can't see but its not as bad as it looks.

They now seem to be on sale from the UK agents on Ebay, they do look interesting.

Chef

quantec in suffolk are the uk distributers. i've been doing a bit of reading up on this machine and it sounds quite good the only thing putting me off is the solid search head a bit like the c-scopes the price is not to bad either 800 odd dollars about £799.50  ???

I believe Eric Foster is the one involved in the design and development of a machine that has yet to hit the market, called 'Pulse Devil'.

I understand the machine is in the final stages of field testing and is due out later this year if all is satisfactory.

The machine is a pulse machine with discrimibation and will "make the E-Trac look like a toy".

Interesting times ahead!

Anyone interested in the Nautilus can get more information from the UK distributor at:

      http://www.nautilusmetaldetectors.co.uk/page_1190245.html (http://www.nautilusmetaldetectors.co.uk/page_1190245.html)

Your a bit adrift there RJM. Eric has nothing to do with the Pulse Devil which Dave Emery has been developing over many years. Its was renamed the Nemisis as well.

Eric's nearest effort at a discriminating pulse is the GS5 which is a land machine that makes a stab at discrimination by using ground cancelling to provide a degree of iron rejection. The ground balance is a filter that reduces depth so on the beach you switch it off to gain performance and end up with a dig everything monotone detector. You can get a magnometer from Reeves Jones in Australia and this fits onto the coil and provides an independant iron I.D. system. The Whites TDI is a sort of cut down version of the GS5.

Eric also has a pulse with induction balance discrimination that was a development of his P.P.D.1 pulse discriminator "under his bench" so still awaiting completion I assume. The P.P.D.1 worked fairly well on land but not on the beach as the I.D. system could not cope with wet salt. Depth very limited compared to straight non discriminating pulse machines.

Dave's Pulse Devil was up and working years back in prototype form years back. It used Whites hardwear but had two small meters.
It then developed into a digital chestmount masterpiece using a single joystick type control for all functions.
Then came a more standard type of shaft mounted design which was the one I was supposed to be getting my hands on last year for a test in North Wales. Unfortunately Dave has a medical condition thats caused problems over a few years so he never made it up to Wales and things have remained in limbo since.
The difference between Dave's design and all the others is that he wanted full range discrimination not the partial ferrous only effort that everyone else has come up with so far.

Meanwhile the Adonis Titanium I saw demonstrated in France didn't live up to the hype and that company folded.
One interesting snippet I had from the other Dave (of MXT/T2/F75 fame) was that he produced a discriminating version of the Fisher Impulse when he produced the Impulse design but that Fisher didn't go forward with it because it was of the old fashioned static (non motion design). As Bounty Hunter took over all the design rights to Fisher machines I assume they could carry on with this machines development if they wanted to.

Hi Brian
 
You really are a mind of information. Your knowledge of detecting matters knows no bounds and beats me and I conceed!

I got the information about Pulse Devil from Pulsar Electronics Web Site which says (quote) "Look out for the New Minelab Explorer beating "PULSE DEVIL". In recent tests it found a hammered silver at 22" in ground an Explorer wouldn't even work properly on. It's easier to use and MUCH lighter too!!

We will be one of the few UK dealers who will be selling this superb machine designed by Genius Dave Emery."

Site link...      http://pulsar-electronics.co.uk/ (http://pulsar-electronics.co.uk/)

How does this fit in with what you know? Nothing about it being renamed the Nemisis.

That's Sean's old site and well out of date. Pulse Devil was the original model name for "Hellfire Detectors". Dave's wife did the rather attractive artwork of the devil for him.

The machine Sean is talking about is the Nemisis model with spider coil, control box mounted under the armrest and stem similar to the Sovereign GT. He had a few different models all on the boil at the same time, one of which was a waterproof version, the Surf Devil, thats waterproof to 10 metres.

Problem with all these detectors is that they take years to arrive on the market if they do at all. The "Crone Pulse" that was reviewed in "Metal Detecting" 25 or more years back was supposed to be fully up and running and only needing a reduction in componants to make it more affordable. We are still waiting on that one !

Hi Brian

I haven't spoke to Sean Goddard for a while now. He used to work at ABC Electronics, Rogerstone, Newport before he moved to Taunton to set up shop there.

About two years ago he was trying to bring his own machine to the market, called the Aureus, and was after someone to manufacture the plastic moulds for the control box and I put him in touch which a friend who owns a plastic mouldings firm. As far as I know we are stlll waiting!

Sean seems to have a problem with a certain dealer that are the UK Minelab disributors whom he says are/have been 'leaning' on him.

His website / shop seems to have gone quiet now. Do you know what's he doing these days?

Minelab is the TOP DOG for every location so that ends all arguements.

LOL

It's a great machine...........especially for developing upper body strength and stamina!!!
 ;D

I never quite understand why makers of detectors have to spend money on visual displays.

For one brought up on minelab tectors, i would rather shell out £1000 + on a tector that out performs other leading makes where the performance is advanced through audio. Perhaps the overal costs would come down without displays !

I think visual displays are more of a gimmick.

Minelab especially take advantage using them. The new e.trac may have signal processors slightly more finely tuned than previous models, but it is an explorer turned upside down, captilising on convincing users,  using the display !
  
There are far more inteligent people than me out there, but if you look at the design specs of explorers 11/se/trac, operating ranges 1.5khz - 100khz !

It is that makes my mind boggle about all detector manufacturers, if you put a mini engine of the same spec into 4 new bodies, can you make it go faster dependaant on what body it is in ? It certainly reflects on the price we all pay.

It isnt a good thing for metal detecting as a whole if one manufacturer controls the markets and media forums, because smaller manufacturers with new designs that could be advances are pushed out. It becomes a one way street.

My other point, the costs involved for supposed top end detectors are becoming very very costly to the ordinary man in the hobby.

Its a great shame that there isnt a place where you could put a deposit down and hire a new model for a week or so and all of us could try out new detectors as they come on the market, it could change our views drastically.  ;D

a very good point outlaw well said i agree with you ;)

Outlaw - The point you make below

"Its a great shame that there isnt a place where you could put a deposit down and hire a new model for a week or so and all of us could try out new detectors as they come on the market, it could change our views drastically."

is one I made on this site some weeks back but seemed to get disagreed with !!!

I made the point that before you buy a car you can take it for a test drive, or buy a tv - you can see it working, etc etc.

Personally I don't see why it can't be the same with metal detecting. If a manufacturer has confidence in their product then surely they will allow you to use for up to 28 days and return for a refund. But Oh, No, you've got to buy and take a chance. AND, your lucky to get a one year guarantee. Minelab have just extended their guarantee period to 3 years, BUT, should you sell the machine it is not transferable !!!

I'm not a great fan of Minelab as a Manufacturer as they strictly control the market and I've heard stories of the UK distributor leaning on the smaller detecting shops who have managed to import their own!! Also, in my opinion, Minelab seem to drip feed their products with 'improvements' that they could/should have done previously. EG. Why hasn't the ET got cordless headphone facility? (XP system works brilliantly and theirs has been about for years now).

I also agree with you about the display. If it's a good signal you're going to dig it regardless of what the display says. The displays are seldom accurate. Every make of machine I've had, the numbers or icons have jumped about!

The best on the market for price/performance is the Garrett Ace 250, which I enjoy using for coin shooting especially in parks etc. I got a couple of coils, headphones, bag, coil cover and pinpointer for less than £250! I was shocked by how good the performance / depth is....and that against the latest Minelab Safari !!!

I do think that a lot of the detector manufacturers are ripping us detectorists off.

I'd love to see a detector shop willing to let us "try before we buy"!!!.....

minelab only control the market if your a slave to their brand. there's plenty of other brands out there that on their day with the right conditions will make a e-trac look like a waste of money which in my mind it is anyway. going back to vdi displays i find it good on my fisher 75 as anything thats under 20 i dont dig as it's foil but if you were going over the same targets with a audio only detector you would be digging them as a good signal but i do agree it does jump about a bit on some signals.  mike

Bronze age & Viking Gold is almost pure and gives a  poor signal not like staters or hammered gold which  have a percentage of bronze & silver.in them. I dig every dodgy signal because some of the best  finds have come these signals.. Up to now the E. trac has exceled on every site I been on. The downside is the pinpointing.with the E.trac.

........yes, the downside is the pinpointing AND............ that huge price tag!!!

In fairness it is an impressive machine when  used by a person who knows how to use it properly. It does have a learning curve.

I saw my friend use the ET today with the 5" coil and find a french dime (5p size) at 10 inches. That's quite good going. No trouble pinpointing with that size coil !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

I appreciate that it would be very difficult for any retail outlet to let potential buyers use new detectors on trial periods, because it becomes 2nd hand !

You would need a lot of detectors, and outlay. As much as I would like it, I can understand why it would be difficult to set up.

When you buy any new detector it can take quite a while before you understand what it is telling you.  The e,trac is a prime example ! 

I see regton's are supporting xp forum, minelab do it with mlo, and successfully manipulate the markets.

More manufacturers should set up forums and sell their wares, the internet is a powerful selling tool.

Personally Outlaw i prefer forums like DW,more about detecting less about manufactures hype,trouble with manufactures sites is there just about that brand. ;D

I was given the E. trac as a present so i didnt put a hole in my pocket and I was not taken in by any hype, because
I simply could not afford it and had no intentions of buying it. But since I have had it Iam amazed by its depth and
minelab have not paid me for saying this.  If you dont own.a E.trac and you  are openly criticising the machine . Please borrow  a Etrac for a day then cpme and tell me  what  yoiu think ;D       

will they buy me an e.trac as a prezzie  ;D

You re a lucky man !

and a quick reply to simon c :
 Personally Outlaw i prefer forums like DW,more about detecting less about manufactures hype,trouble with manufactures sites is there just about that brand.  

I agree  ;D

Thank you for calling me a lucky man with the free detector, but your  not to know that my Parkinson Disease is
making it more and more difficult  for me to carrry on the hobby i love. I dont feel lucky at the moment.

I agree with you. My mate I go detecting with has the ET and is now getting to grips with it and is becoming more and more impressed with it.

But even he admits he only thinks the machine is worth about £800 and not the £1249 it actually cost. Originally when they came out they were selling at £1000 but Minelab put the prices up because of the $. Now the $ has gone down against the £ the prices have stayed at £1249. It's like the Petrol companies being slow to change their prices when the cost of a barrel of oil comes down............they're ripping people off. The Utility companies are at it too, so Minelab are in good company!!!