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Minelab E-TRAC

Price: $1500
Avg. Score: 4 stars 4.1
Based on 69 reviews

Avg. Durability: 4 stars3.55
Avg. Ease of use: 3 stars3.27
Maximum detection depth
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E-Trac Gold

April 07, 2010
I was losing faith in the E-Trac until I discovered I was the one with the problem. My first Gold nugget weighed in @ 50.3 grams. The next was 2.2 grams @ the 5 inch mark. Add that to the $400 + coins, then I rate this detector as better than most.

Overall Rating 4 stars

2526

E TRAC TRAINING

March 20, 2010
I have a tdi whites.
So I got this 4 coins after doing 500 coins in the park, I now have over 2000 coins, 20 wheats
couple silver dimes, not much silver?
They dumped fill dirt on this park when they made it. Back in 64, I have dug my handle below
turf on my 18 in wilcox shovel
the heavy silver must be deep.
I go back and forth with the tdi now that I have a
diGGer 14 in coil, they arer both deep machines
I'm new @ this
I GOT THE GOLD PA

COOL DOWN LOAD PATTERNS
EDIT PATTERNS
ACCEPT TARGETS @ A WAVE
REJECT TARGETS @ A WAVE
COMBINE PATTERNS
USER MODES
USERS PATTERNS
SEF COILS
SMART SCREEN
QUICK MASK
IM NEW AT THIS
BUT ITS ALL GOOD

Overall Rating 5 stars!

10108

Better Than An Explorer SE Pro?

January 28, 2010
I have had every Explorer model made and I have used all of them hard. I always bought and tried the newest models that the other manufacturers came out with, but I always ended up with an Explorer. I always made great finds with any of the Explorers that I had.
My last Explorer, the SE Pro I used for over a 1000 hours last year. I hunt every day, weather permitting and it was the best Explorer in my opinion. The Pro coil was a contributing factor to forming my opinion.
I had also bought a Pro coil for the detector I had before the Se, an Explorer 11. It was and is an awesome accessory to any Explorer.

Anyway, I resisted purchasing an Etrac as my SE always produced deep coins from the hunted out parks I frequented. Last Dec. I traded two for one and bought an Etrac. The season was all but done here in NE Ohio and I played around with the menu in the house.
The week before Christmas, the ground thawed and I took my new toy to the park where I spend half of my time. This park still produces, but not much silver. I set the Etrac up with a wide open screen(no disc). I tried to mimic the Iron mask screen I used on all of my other Explorers. After an hour of hunting I had a bunch of deep rusty nails on one clad coin.
It was only 38 degrees and I was not real high on my first hunt with the Etrac. As I was hunting back to the car to leave, I remembered what my dealer and good friend told me. Use the factory coin program and disc out most of the sliver of black in the top right corner. I quickly did this and I also switched to manual sens of 21. I turned and headed back to the trashy area where I have found many coins from the late 1800's, including a 1885 V nickle.
I swear in less than 5 minutes I got a deep signal that would pop through in only one direction and nulled in the other directions. It did sound good so I dug. Found a rusty nail at 6 inches and rescanned the hole and got a 12-44 number. From 8 inches a silver dime.

In the next half hour I found 6 deep(8to 9 inches) wheats that were all close to trash. By this time I was freezing, but I had one more similar area of this park to try. It was at the bottom of a long hill that empties onto a old picnic area. I made one 75 to 100 foot pass along the bottom of this hill and started finding older coins immediately. First a mercury dime and 5 more wheats. I was truely amazed as I had hunted and rehunted these exact spots many time with my other Explorers and other top of line detectors.
It is scary to think that a green rookie could take this detector and make finds like this within hours of turning the Etrac on. The greatest task a new Etrac user will face is pinpointing with the dd coil and learning to creep the coil. If one does this, anyone can find deep coins in the factory modes with little or no programming.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

13710

Top of the line machine

December 10, 2009
I upgraded from the Safari which is an outstanding machine and have used my E-trac for about 3 months now and can honestly say that this machine is out of this world. Take everything that I said in my Safari review and "super size" it. It is absolutely killer in trash infested cellar holes here in New Hampshire and has incredible discrimination in the ferrous trash that litters these sites. It is very well balanced and feels very well made and solid to me. Check out my finds under CONDUCTOR7E on findmall and northeast metal detecting forum,(NEMDF), if you doubt it's performance.

George Streeter from Streeter's Electronics recommended this machine as the best out there as a general purpose land/relic machine and after using this machine and getting to know it, I see what he means. Go low and slow through the iron crap and you will see how it picks through it and nails the goodies. I usually run quickmask set anywhere from 19-23 ferrous with conductive tones. Yes, I have great sites available and have found literally HUNDREDS of old coins, coppers, wheats, silver, colonial buttons, 4 complete colonial shoe buckles and other relics, almost all with this E-Trac!

I do not work for Minelab nor am I endorsed by them or anybody else, just a regular guy that is addicted to this great hobby and gets out when I can. You do your part and the E-trac will do it's part and you will walk away, as I have, making some truly great finds.
The best I have used to date.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

695

Minelab Etrac-worth the price!

December 04, 2009
The Minelab E-Trac Rocks! There are no two ways about it. I updated from a Whites DFX three months ago and am totally impressed by the E-Trac. The machine is well balanced, durable, easy to use and is very simple to learn. Minelab did a great job in engineering this unit. Took me all of about 1 hour to get down the basics and was on my way.

I went to a local park to “kick the tires” on the unit and immediately began pulling coins within minutes. The depth on this thing is awesome. The E-Trac was finding signals in areas that I had hit previously which my DFZ did not pick up. In short, I would recommend the unit to anyone.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

477

Simply Excellent

December 03, 2009
I've had my E-trac for a month now, and love it. The E-trac is locking on to targets that are deep and 'iffy' with my older white's detector. For a high-end detector that is arguably the most technologically advanced, I thought there was almost no learning curve. I'm not a tech guy...I have a hard time programming my VCR. I'm just running the factory coin setting and getting superb results. Slick machine...very well put together. I read hundreds of reviews all over the net before purchasing, including reviews on talk forums like findmall, treasure quest, friendly forums, etc. and I honestly couldn't find a negative review. Not even one. This site has the only three negative Etrac reviews in existance, most likely from the same person who can't afford one.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

494

SWEEET

November 16, 2009
I have less than a year detecting.
I started out with the X-70 for
Eight months found lots of older coins
barber, Mercury's Indians, Rosies, Wheats,
Maybe 30 silver coins total in the 8 months

Well the E-trac was a easy transition very
straight forward. 74 silver coins in two
and a half months WOW The type of soil
is real mineralized here making it tough
on any detector. That's where this machine shines.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

335

The Best!

August 21, 2009
I have been using the E-Trac for about 5 months, and all I can say is WOW. The learning curve is simple, the depth is mind blowing, and the quality is what is expected from Minelab. Using Coin Mode with just a few slight changes, I have found coin after coin at depths in the double digits that my previous detectors (DFX, X-Terra 70, F75) have all missed. The use of both Co and Fe numbers are great for backing up what the audio already tells you.

With a little practice you will easily know a silver from a clad, and that is NO joke. I never thought it would be as distinct as it is, but it's night and day once you start to know your machine. I was considering a V3, but I am a coin shooter, and know the E-Trac is unmatched in this area.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

564

Listen

July 20, 2009
If you are a screen watcher, this may not be for you. If you listen for the sweet sound a silver coin makes as you sweep your coil over its hidding spot, this is the machine for you. While the screen is very helpful, giving both Co and Fe numbers to verify what was just scanned, the audio is dead on. This is a machine you will never have to upgrade from. I don't think its performance will be surpassed 10 years from now.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

511

E-Trac #1

July 19, 2009
I just want to say I love my E-Trac. These boys from Whales (although I think it is one person causing trouble) need to learn how to hunt. This machine beats the V3 and any other machine I have faced off against.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

372

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