The evolution of discovery...
New Product Report – Minelab E-TRAC by Des Dunne Since the Explorer FBS System (Full Band Spectrum Multi-Frequency) gave us the first glimpse of new and very innovative design principles, Minelab has consistently delivered world-class engineering and technology for the hobbyist and metal sensing specialist.
Control Panel design and layout E-Trac’s Display is logically and cleverly laid out starting on the left with the 4 new Navigation Buttons. These four buttons control the up down and side to side movements and nearly all of the E-Trac’s functions making it considerably easy to move around the pre-loaded menu choices. The two large Arrow buttons () on either side of the faceplate control E-Trac’s Edit Modes whilst moving around the screen and making detection pattern changes.
EXCITING NEW FUNCTIONS & FEATURES Note the new interface and fantastically clear, bright futuristic graphic displays and you can then begin to play with the new, very intuitive controls layout and discover what the Minelab engineers have really put into this wonderfully exciting new machine! One of the most exciting new functions is E-Trac Xchange: the ability to communicate with a personal computer to upload and share detecting programs, a great innovation and step forward in making the hobby of metal det
Quickmask™ This fantastic new feature allows you to adjust the level of Ferrous and Conductive rejection, independent of the Pattern / Digital Smartfind™ Discrimination Pattern.
E-TRAC MODES Mode Settings, Universal Settings and Preferences E-Trac’s settings can be divided into three categories: Mode Settings, Universal Settings and Preferences. These are explained below. 1. 2. 3. Mode Settings – these define E-Trac’s performance for a particular location such as the beach or pasture or type of metal detecting as in target type such as coins or iron targets. E-Trac is designed to allow you to save these Mode Settings as a User Mode.
Discrimination Menu The Discrimination Menu allows you to Select, Save, Edit and Combine Discrimination Patterns. Important Note: ALL Discrimination Patterns Pre-Programmed into E-Trac are ‘accepting’ Discrimination Patterns e.g. the Iron Disc Pattern accepts iron.
Sensitivity Modes Now for a bit of Physics! E-Trac has three sets of internal signals used to identify targets. E-Trac continually measures the magnetic ground interference that affects these signals and adjusts the level of Sensitivity individually for each set of signals, to provide the most stable Target ID. Most ground types cause some interference and E-Trac uses this to adjust the detector to the correct Auto Sensitivity.
Audio menu Volume Gain: The Volume Gain controls the amplification of a target’s audio response, relative to the target’s signal strength. It is important to stress that, the Volume Gain control is most similar to volume adjustments in other devices such as a radio or a television’s volume control. Response: The Factory Preset Response is: Normal The Response setting changes the way target signals sound upon detection.
Expert Menu The Expert Menu contains some of E-Trac’s more advanced settings and functions and some of these are covered in extra detail here. Trash Density: The Factory Preset is: Low The Trash Density setting of either Low or High will, enable you to optimize the Discrimination of the detector for areas that have (a) highly variable ground mineral levels (b) ground with unusually high amounts of ferrous objects e.g. habitation sites or old Roman sites.
Preferences Menu The Preference Menu allows you to change the appearance of E-Trac’s detection screens by using installed option settings like, Contrast, Pinpoint, Display Timeout and Show Sensitivity – these new features are explained in more detail here.
Master Reset This control will restore your detector to its Factory Presets and erase all of your User Modes, Discrimination Patterns and other settings you may have loaded into E-Trac over several months of ownership and use. If you want to be safe, backup your settings using Xchange before performing a Master Reset. If you only require a basic Reset (if you wish to cancel a Learn Edit) then turn E-Trac on and hold the Power button for 3 seconds.
Performance in the Great Outdoors I was lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to trial E-Trac for an extended spell and during that time there was no time wasted as I wanted to put it through its paces at some of my sites. As it was early spring and, due to crops being in, access to some of my sites was off-limits – hence I researched and found a few new ones. As I stated earlier when first using E-Trac it took a while to find the best and most comfortable detecting position for me.
Conclusion Well, after reading this far it is easy to see that E-Trac is a true and genuine tour-de-force… Brand new technology, lots of proven and established Minelab technology, and then some! The machine reflects energy, vision and creativity bringing such a radically advanced new metal detector to market.
Technical Specifications Transmission Technology Full Band Spectrum (FBS) Multifrequency Technology Microprocessor 32bit, 48MHz microprocessor – fast and powerful Connectivity USB connector for communication with Personal Computer Software Intuitive User Interface; Fast Target processing; Multi-language functionality QuickMask™ Fast and Easy adjustment of Ferrous and Conductivity Discrimination Depth Gauge Accurate Gauge active in Normal detecting and Pinpoint mode Noise Cancel Automatic & Manu
