Is The E.trac Top Dog On Pasture.?

[U.K. Brian]

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.

[rjm]

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.

[U.K. Brian]

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.

[rjm]

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!

[earth24]

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 .

[U.K. Brian]

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.

[Chef Geoff]

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

Chef

[altinkum]

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 

[rjm]

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!

[rjm]

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

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

[U.K. Brian]

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.

[rjm]

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/

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

[U.K. Brian]

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 !

[rjm]

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?

[Malcolm.mtts]

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

LOL