The Ultimate Guide to Minelab E-Trac & CTX 3030 Deep Iffy Signals Metal Detecting Live Digs 

Thanks for the kind words Chuck glad you liked it =)

Glad they have helped comments like this are what keeps me posting =)

Thanks Jersey GL and HH =)

Glad you like the video thanks for the kind words =)

Maybe go back to your old sites and find some more =)

Glad you liked it! Good luck with that etrac I'm sure you'll love it =)

Thanks Adris! Glad you liked the video and it has helped you find some cool stuff =)

Thanks for the kind words Andris glad the video has helped =)

Dumpsite Digger the more learning curve the more potential =)

Thanks for the kind words Ralph! GL and HH =)

Glad you liked it thanks for watching =)

Thanks for the kind words Robert GL and HH =)

Glad you like the video Dennis GL in 2017 =)

Thanks Fred! Maybe you should pick up a new minelab and go back to all your old spots never know what you'll find =)

Ah that sucks hope you get to feeling better. Guess you'll have to play some Uncharted or something to keep busy lol

I'd pay attention to the consistency and especially the moving part as it applies to a lot of different machines. GL and HH!

Thanks GL and HH to you too =)

How did you get on with it ?

hahaha too funny thanks for the kind works! GL and HH =)

Ya it can tell you so much info when switching between the two =)

Thanks and HH to you too! I have a video on those exact settings on my channel if you want to check it out.

Thanks!

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9tP7gC3Yfp8.html

No town is ever hunted out, especially by a Deus =)

@@cutaplug Love your response Cutaplug. I am retarded and cannot program a metal detector, or struggle doing so. I owned a deus, and hated it. Only thing I liked, it had a clock, and it's so nice to know what time it is when you have to be somewhere.. I think the dues was made only for Europe.

haha it's that time of year isn't it lol Sometimes I forget cause in my area it's been unrealistically warm for this time of year. I live in TN and still have a single little flower in my flower bed =)

The Etrac is great for silver coins and I think you'll be really happy with it. I'm not sure what you mean when you say you have to smile about a 10 inch silver coin. Do you think that's an exaggeration or do you think 10" is shallow on a silver dime?

Cutaplug Metal Detecting ten inches is normal unless your in boost mode on a F75. But I really enjoy the videos. Thank you for sharing

Thanks Gregg! Best of luck to you in 2017 too =)

I had set up that TTF pattern for that site just cause I wanted deep stuff and felt lazy about going full TTF lol. The main part to keep open is the FE side when looking for deep coins. You can descim out some of the CO and still find really deep stuff. You do run the chance of a lower conductivity target masking a high conductivity target but the chance is very slim I'd say.

Thanks! I look really hard to find those types of places =)

Something really cool happens when you start to find silver coins. The more you find the more your brain learns to recognize them and the easier it is to find more. This snowball effect thing sort of happens. It takes a lot of work and hours to get to that point but once you're there it is sort of like putting your shoes on in the morning lol. JD and I got 25+ silver together in a single day TWICE within an 8 day period. Sort of makes you jaded after that.

wowd

Lol. Got mine 3 months ago and ALL I dig is deep iron nails. Not fun at all. How's it been working for you?

Tone first then investigate is exactly right =) Too many people get caught up in numbers that they forget to listen and learn/grow with their machines. That TTF was something I put together because I was being really lazy that day and didn't feel like looking down every time there was a pull tab or can slaw. The idea behind it was to be able to take advantage of the TTF, open screen, and depth on super deep silver while discriminating lower conductivity targets. To be honest I don't even know what I had it set at but you can probably get really close to the descrim numbers by the screen shot. I know exactly what you're referring to when you say sixth sense. I've thought about that phrase a lot when seeking out highly productive sites to detect =) Grats on silver and gold already in 2017 I haven't even been out yet lol

Cutaplug Metal Detecting LOL, is hard to explain the sixth sense and tone first to people. I was thinking of the screen shot thing LOL:) All the best this new year:)

Glad you were able to get some deep coin! I don't have any experience with the huge coils but would love to hear your feedback once you give them a try. GL and HH =)

GL Ed hope you find lots =)

I quit 3 times...lol. Just stay with it. I just bought an Etrac today.

This is normal and part of getting better. The more you practice the more your brain will learn to distinguish good from bad signals. Eventually you will be able to detect very quickly at high sensitivity. You will receive a lot of information and be able to decipher it and primarily dig the good tones. I think an important part of being able to find a lot of silver is to be efficient. This means 1. covering a lot of ground quickly, 2. being able to distinguish good from bad targets so you don't waste time on the bad ones. The 3rd part is gaining an advantage by finding deeper targets running higher sensitivity. So basically I detect fast with the etrac, receive a lot of signals, and decipher those to find the good targets. You have to be careful though because you will get "brain fatigue" if you are running your sensitivity too high for your ability and at that point you will start to even miss the good signals. Even I do it sometimes and have to take a break by reducing it some. If I feel like having a lazy day I will either add more discrimination or reduce sensitivity so I can relax =)

Agree 100% I was thinking the same thing and cringing as I watched this and his other videos. The only thing I'll say to the contrary is that sometimes, a very deep and narrow hole doesn't leave a lot of room to maneuver, but the solution is to dig wider toward the bottom of the hole. Avoid making the top of the hole wider if you possibly can.

To be honest I don't have that much experience with 4 tone FE. I like running 50 CO because there is a lot more information in the tone and I can cherry pick easily. I do know that the FE numbers will jump all over the place on very deep coins so I would be careful about the FE tones. For example the FE tone will be cut off at a certain number (maybe 17FE?) but if you're only digging the high tones you can miss a deep silver coin if it reads in the 20's on the FE line (which often happens). I have found the CO numbers to be much more stable than the FE numbers on very deep coins so I would probably stick to CO. The reason 2 tone FE numbers will sound louder and more clear than 50 tone is because with FE it's almost like an analog audio signal (beep or don't beep) but if you're comparing 4 tone vs 4 tone I'm suspecting the results would be similar. A good test would be to go to an area where you know there are deep coins, find a deep coin signal, then switch between the two and see which you prefer. Or you could just bury a super deep merc and test that way.

Pay attention in the future and see how many of the nails you find like this are bent at a 90 degrees. Sometimes bent nails really can trick you and you just have to deal with them. If you're digging straight nails like this I would pay attention to the FE number and if it goes over about 25-26 skip it. The FE in the 25-30 range is where you start to lose efficiency. GL and HH!

Sure it will stll be detectable. Just remember to use an open pattern because it's hard to tell what metal the lid will be made of. GL!

Honestly I don't use pinpoint so I have no idea. Sorry I couldn't help =)

Big Mex Etrac is the same damn way. Its starting to piss me off. Not very fun when you're digging your ass off and come home empty every time.

The Andy S. is a custom pattern and I have a video on my channel that shows how to set it up. The factory settings are OK for finding coins but I would work my way up to a more open screen and higher manual sensitivity eventually for the deeper stuff. Spend some time with factory and auto +3 for a while and then try Andy S. =) GL and HH!

I use manual 27 most of the time in low trash mild soil. I don't know what the inches are I haven't read the manual in years and I pay attention to both numbers. This video will help explain what to look for in signals.

Always with. There might be some merit to running it without but not sure if the benefits outweigh a new coil cost lol. You will lose approximately 1/8th inch depth =) Also if you have mineralized soil and it gets trapped between the coil and cover that could cause interference. Just a few things to consider. I'm pretty lazy and never clean my coil so don't think it's a huge deal.

Edward Deaton yep same on copper =)

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NfcQzDUpMdQ.html I don't think it's downloadable from the minelab site. The ctx and etrac are really similar so you should be able to set it up the same. I can't remember what I have my tones set at on the ctx but if I get time I'll go through and list it on my website. GL and HH!

It's been years since I set the pattern up so not sure what page number it was on. I'm not even sure it's the exact pattern but I'm sure the settings are different. The settings are something I created based on Andy S., Goes4ever, earthmansufer, and my own experience with deep coins. I have a video on my channel of my exact settings and pattern I use for deep silver and I've used the same ones for years with great success. I got the CTX in TN and almost all the coins here are shallow so I haven't dug that many deep coins with the CTX. The CTX and e-trac are extremely similar so I would say it will perform the same way as the e-trac in that regard. An open pattern is great for finding coins but you have to find the right balance so you don't get brain fatigue and start missing good targets. If you hear 100 signals in an open scene and miss the 1 good signal in there then it would be much better to have discrimination on and hear one good signal and dig it.

Would love to see some videos of you hunting deep coin targets using the CTX. I have learned a lot about what I know from my friend Ed Huffman. Have bought several CTX's from him. Mainly interested in the patterns you use and where you set your fe line in combined. Do you know if there is a way to set the CTX up to give that high pitch flutty sound on silver like the etrac gives you? Just wondering Thanks

There is a live dig in the video with the CTX but to be honest there are way more shallow coins here in TN than deep ones. The CTX will act pretty much identical to the e-trac on deep stuff. As far as the combined settings I messed around with combined a little but wasn't that impressed with it so switched back to the multi tone conductive. The last stretch of detecting I did I found 136 silver in less than 3 months using the CTX, Andy S., and multi conductive so i'm absolutely positive that it works. I think too many people get caught up in trying to find the perfect settings when it's actually about using as much of an open screen as you can and learning to quickly analyze the audio signal and number readings to dig good targets. As far as the flutty sound you can't produce the same flutty sound on the CTX I think due to the more stable circuitry. You can definitely tell silver from non silver coins by looking at the numbers and though.

I guess I will have to try 50 tones cond. I have always used combined on the CTX. I have always used a almost totally open screen until I seen the pattern you were using in your videos. Seems like most the places around my area have iron in them so I deal with iron falsing. Was hoping your pattern would help with that. And yes silver coins are a lot deeper in my area.( North Vernon, Indiana ) Most silvers are 7 inches plus. Most the places I have hunted are spots that most have given up on. Older sites that are high in iron or trash. Thanks for your help and keep the great videos coming.

Great Video!!! Thanks so much for sharing your deep silver knowledge 😃

Congrats that's awesome! The depth meter tells how deep the target is =) Just kidding I don't know what to say about it other than it's pretty accurate on the etrac. It's been so long since I read the manual but you might check out what it says.

Co number tends to hit as a penny/ dime and fe drops to 1 for some reason

I think the stock coil would struggle with a lot of those signals. I feel like the larger 12x13 coil is getting about 1" more depth which I think makes a huge difference. After using both coils for thousands of hours the large one is my go to coil for medium to low trash areas where there are deep coins and loose black soil. Now that I live in TN there are hardly any deep coins so I use the stock coil primarily. If you notice I have a ton of etrac deep targets and only one CTX iffy live dig in the video. The only reason is because I got the CTX right as I moved to TN and hardly any deep coins here lol

Cutaplug Metal Detecting thanks for the reply! I figured I should but they are so pricey lol. Love your videos they have helped me out a ton! Keep em comin always enjoy watching. Thanks again for replying I sure appreciate it. Good luck on the silvers this year bro!

Depends on what you want to do with it. What is your primary goal? Deep low trash sites, high trash sites, gold rings, beach hunting, what are your priorities?

Rusty Craig I do the same type of detecting you do. Coin hunting in yards parks and old foundations in the woods. I'm in South West pa.

The etrac is great at low trash areas and is better at cherry picking silver signals from other coins. That doesn't mean it's better at finding silver than the eq 800 though because the 800 is so much faster and will far outperform the etrac in higher trash areas. Plus if you want to do any freshwater hunting for gold the eq 800 is killer on lower conductive signals like gold. If I could only own one detector right now it would be the eq 800 because of how versitile it is and it's strong in so many areas. It has great depth on coins, amazing at lower conductive targets like gold rings, and plus it's waterproof and extremely light. Went out with the EQ 800 today and pulled 4 silver dimes with it. I've hunted 3 yards with the eq 800 and each yard I went back over it with the etrac and I haven't found anything with the etrac that I missed with the eq yet...

P.S. When I lived in MO my goal was to find low trash sites with deep coins and to use a large coil to get better depth. I hit a lot of parks and other large open areas like picnic groves. That's where I got my advantage. Now that I live in TN the soil is much more mineralized and the coins are much more shallow due to red clay. So my strategy here is to use a stock coil and door knock. I managed to pull 136 silver coins in under 3 months using the stock coil with an average silver coin depth of about 4 inches. My point is that you have to find what advantage you can get in your area and then focus in on that. It might not be a deep seeking detector with a large coil like I show on a lot of my videos. GL and HH =)

Rusty Craig wow. You got me thinking about the eqinox more now. Thank you for the reply. Some of the old foundation sites are loaded with junk. I was thinking etrac because I could use some if the coils from the safari but sounds like the eqinox may be better for me. Thank you for the advice.