is the safari a "poor man's" etrac?

I've had thoughts of getting a mine lab and thought I'd start doing some research. Some people say they really like the safari but I don't see a whole lot about it. I know I had a v3i and a dfx and could never mesh with the menus and couldn't get over that you had to mess with some to get them to really preform. So if the mine labs are as complex or close to as complex as the whites menus then they wouldn't be for me! Can any one shed some light on pros and cons of the safari etrac and maybe explorer series a 3030 even well used is not in the budget! Thanks!

Don't think you'd go wrong on any units you mentioned. Your doing your homework.. pick one and get to having some fun, bro.

Farmerboy.

Big difference in simplicity to operate an etrac vs V3 I.

I haven 't used safari but have loads of time with etrac--- plus I'm a former V3 I user as well.

The ole etrac--not hard to operate.

The detector comes with a grid screen layout, where the lowest conductive targets fall on the left portion of grid, and the higher on the right.

This in itself is one of the things that makes the etrac a copper/ silver slayer.

So based on what your are wanting to find vs not--- you can use the screen grid, and blacken out what you don" t want to hear conductive wise.

Ground balance--- never worry, automatic, no adjustments provided---- could be the best system in the business

Emi--- do a noise cancel, takes a few seconds, hunt away---- my experiences have shown me, if after doimg noise cancel and emi is bothering etrac causing the etrac to be unusable--- you can almost bet no other detector will be any better.

Once you get your disc patterns loaded all down hill

There are some other settings, most instances once you set them--- you can just about forget about adjusting them in the future-- with rare exceptions

I'll be straight up with you, the biggest problem newer users of etrac have---- they are impatient, and once they infact learn how to distinguish high tone iron falses from good nonferrous targets--- game set match

Depth meter is as accurate as any detector out there-- although it a graph not digital readout

Mineral handling--- handles mineral well, except the worst of,ground like in the Cullpeper Va and some places down south in close to the Appalachian chain, and out west

This mineral handling and the detectors ability to actually ID say a silver dime at 9" is for real, no BS
Now target commingled this outcome not as clear,or likely to happen at times

Another reason why the etrac is a good higher cmductive deep coin hunter.

Tone--- when properly set up settings wise, you can hunt say for silver,coins by just tone alone--- it's that good at discerning the high vs low comductor targets.

Generally no up averaging or down averaging with conductive number ID, something I'm sure have witnessed while using V3i and Dix

For a serious coin hunter etrac is a wise choice--- a wise detector for one to have in their stable.

So, most of the time when approaching a site, you'll do the following

Turn on detector
Select sensitivity level
Noise cancel
Select pattern
Maybe change recovery speed slow or fast
Sweep and have fun digging coins

Very simple



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2015 06:06PM by tnsharpshooter.

I never tried a Safari. I looked at it alot an read about it alot but never jumped to try one. The main reason was the field test that was published. In the field test the guy alluded to finding good stuff among the high tone falses. I knew if it high toned falsed alot I'd never like it so I let it stay in cyberland. Whether that is true or not I don't know but I never could get past that statement.

I did like the fact that it could be selected to run in both conductive or ferrous audio modes.

Good luck if you try one. I'd like to know if the statement in the field test was true or not.

HH
Mike

If all your after is depth get the Safari...

Actually the Safari for relic hunting is a nice choice as in you can jump from ferrous to conduct with a push of a button for target checking when running wide open patterns..

I Know a few who say the old Blue Quattro was the deepest ever made of any FBS..

If you need options a Etrac is fully loaded with more ability to fine tune..

The Safari is more of a Explorer than a etrac.

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

And too add,
You asked about a CTX

CTX from a depth perspective almost carbon copy to etrac

Does have adjustable tones and tone breaks

Faster recovery than etrac

Waterproof

Balances better-- still as heavy

Color,scene of sorts--- though not the highest quality

Coils are very expensive

Tones provided for the highest of conductors not as ear piercing as etrac

Does have a manual GB function--- but not generally used in most places

Has a better battery system than etrac-- longer run time

Has gps-- I never saw a need to use it

Wireless headphone capability of sorts, still have to be plugged into remote though

For the overall difference in price between etrac and CTX--- dry land coin hunter I feel- etrac better choice overall

Now an se pro Minelab is a very good choice as well.

Some do do,e up,for sale used at very reasonable prices--- it's ID system different than etrac, but make no mistake as deep as etrac, and a good coin hunter.

One thing I should mention, Minelab unlike,other makers, they tend to not support their units very long after they are discontinued vs say fisher/ white's

So repairs may not even be feasible should you have a problem with such a unit.

Cheers



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2015 06:36PM by tnsharpshooter.

Perhaps a poor mans Explorer is more like it....As much more user friendly....however Explorer just has more abilities for different conditions...and is superior...Etrac is another animal sort of...Perhaps a good fit for you would be the Safari....however explorer models can be as easy or hard as you want them to be and the preset with a few minor changes Is an excellent unit..

If it was me i would find a clean Explorer XS..

learn to run it on the edge..

It's the deepest FBS I've ever ran..

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

With the caveat were getting close to hair splitting, as all FBS machines are very similar on MOST targets. I'd get a clean explorer over the safari. Few more tweeks that you can do and there have been some amazing deals packaged with multiple coils floating around.

The original XS is the most ground reactive so it's the deepest..for just plain Raw depth..more noisy but the deepest..

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

My XS explorer air test a clad dime with repeatable high tone to 12.25"
Screen wide open, 32 manual sensitivity.
Bone stock even the coil.

I keep reading about minelabs don't air test well vs in ground depth-----??????

A small but good read on the XS model

[www.minelab.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2015 08:28PM by tnsharpshooter.

In my search for an Explorer XS I ended up with 2 of them.
Both very nice condition.
If interested I could sell one.
$325.00 + $25.00 shipping.
PM me and I can send photos.
I'll keep the worse of the two for myself.
Bryan

Reminds me of a story-- a small hunt a few months ago

Three of us were hunting. I was using Deus, one gent a etrac and the other a White's V3i.

Well I had hunted a few minutes and ditched the Deus and pulled out my new to me XS explorer--- and really had never ever run or hunted with it

This site btw busted hard by many.

The 2 gents with me sorta sniggered and said, you'll never find anything with that old dinosaur.

Well about 10 minutes went by, and I get this higher tone, the number 27 popped up on the screen.
I tried to pinpoint, well I started digging and missed the coin by a good 4-5" in the ground, eventually a coin surfaced.--- deep, 1900 IH

The find of the hunt between the 3 of us.
It goes without saying the 2 other gents didn't rag me anymore for using the supposed "dinosaur".
I laugh to myself sometimes thinking about this.

And the same 2 gents got the first laugh a few months before this episode above, but that time I had the Nokta CoRe with small OOR coil attached, and beleive,it or not--- same thing happened--- the Nokta,actually got,the best 2 finds of the day-- one a seated coin, rare for these parts
But they didn't get the last laugh.

Folks,don't ever discount someone either because they are running an old detector or a detector with a smaller than usual for the site at hand coil

You never know--- just saying

I bought a Explorer XS the first week they were released...

Must of been 15 years ago now..

The airtest depth was Amazing on the XS...Minnie balls would give that Tinkle Bell Pixie Dust ring at 17+ inches...

I proceeded over the next couple of Years to re-hunt ALL the dead camps around here...WELL it was nothing short of AMAZING..

Ill never see those days again Im afraid...

Some places produced more bullets than they did when Virgin because of sink rate..

All the camp's around here have Been explored LOL..

If I could locate my old Post from the Treasure Depot days the amount of lead in those pics would boggle the mind...

I'm talking Hundreds of bullets a week..

And crazy deep buttons...I used to post dozens of buttons at a time back then...Civil War Military buttons...not flat buttons ..

Again get a XS for depth.. earn to use it Wide open...no patterns sens 32...learn ground noise from legitimat hits..it takes time...better dirt not as hard...If someone hasnt beat you to the site with a XS you will recover DEEEEPIES..

I could dig minne balls off the hardpan in sites back then and leave the iron...A good bit of those sites have been developed since then and very few to any additional Bullets came out upon scraping...I remember guys saying what happened to this camp or that camp after grading took place..All I could do was laugh in my head and say I KNOW!!!

It was a great time...most had given up on camps..and that was the answer to our prayers...I spent probably 50 hours a week back then non stop digging on sites...you would have to pile the lead up it was too heavy to keep up with in a pouch..

what's bad it was so good there's not alot left in those camp sites..so iron hunting is my only option unless I stumble on a Virgin camp.. and that's as hard to do as Algebra..

Ive hunted Alot of camp's that produced in the 80s and 90s but the Explorer XS was UNREAL for awhile till others found out how to run them..

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Keith Southern Wrote:

>
> I Know a few who say the old Blue Quattro was the
> deepest ever made of any FBS..
>

> Keith


I had the Quattro for a year, it was the worst Minelab I ever used inland, yes it is deep on medium to large finds but terrible on small finds at any depth. As far as unmasking well it has no ability at all due to its unbelievably slow recovery speed, actually I was told by someone at Minelab that the Quattro had an "unmasking problem".......!
One thing I will say is that it was the deepest beach machine I ever used on large coins probably due to that slow recovery speed but again terrible on anything small.
Any Explorer is in a totally different league and my Explorer 2 is still the most productive detector I ever used.

If you want to enter the FBS field and aren't sure you want to spend CTX type money, then the Safari is a good one to buy. When I got mine, I wasn't sure if FBS was all it was said to be (it is) +and the CTX wasn't out yet, so I got a Safari to stick my toe in the water. I figured I could always sell it at a slight loss if I didn't like it. Well, after subsequently buying an Excal for water hunting and then a CTX, I still keep my Safari as a backup machine and because I love the silver sound it sings.

But if money isn't an issue, just gut up and buy a CTX. Get Andy's book, study it a bit, and set up the CTX to be a (mostly, you still need to noise cancel) turn on and go machine if that's what you want. Something may be (barely) better at this niche or that but you wont find a better do everything machine imo.

I've had the Etrac, CTX and now came back to an SEPro. I kind of like the SE the best just because of its sweet silver sound and I seem to find silver every time I use it! One thing to consider is Minelab no longer services the explorers prior to the SEPro if that matters in your situation. I see some XS and Exp ll on EBay going for $250-400.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2015 11:08PM by Fletch88.

What's an explorer xs vs se? I'm milking cows now and on phone so I'll post more when done. Thanks for the huge out pouring of advice and knowledge!

I think folks here would agree.
All of the explorers will find the goods.

Probably the one to stay away from is the explorer S model.

Now as Minelab progressed with their releases. Each progressive model was a tad faster recovery wise, and a tad more stable to run.
A few bells and whistles with settings were thrown in.

Depth across the board ever so close.

Starting with the se pro model, a,pro coil was used--- lighter than the previous models

Batteries were changed slightly with some

The target target id system as far as layout changed somewhat with the etrac and CTX having the latest and greatest.

They will all find coins, etc

Support from Minelab has been discontinued on some of the earlier models.

The tones on all very similar except for CTX, but on the original explorer machines some say the higher pitch squeal is more,pronounced on say explorer XS vs,say etrac--- and I concur with this since I"ve owned and ram both.

I have an aquaintance who uses a se pro and he has ravaged the neighborhood so to speak--- extraordinary finds

There are some good units that come up for sale,frequently.

An older model, with out repair support is a gamble of sorts.--- but they are generally cheaper
So it could be a pay now or pay later scenario.

One thing to note--- the explorer line to include etrac seem to be very reliable

And and all coils will work between the etrac and explorer,units, but the lower rod on some of the ealier explorers has a small groove and utilization of aftermarket coils may be troublesome.
Maybe some/ someone will comment on this as I haven 't put aftermarket coil on my XS model, but have read comments from others.

If you can find a clean unit at reasonable price--I think you will be impressed.

Cheers



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2015 12:43AM by tnsharpshooter.

For what its worth I have a mint Explorer XS and have to agree with the field test in quickstart with threshold adjusted down and raising the sensitivity to low to mid 20's you have a formidable unit. In other words it can be as easy or hard as you want it to be...definetly user friendly in the right hands and as deep or deeper than the units that followed.

For years I read about how hard the etrac was to use. I read about the annoying musical tones. I heard that it was over rated. I saw where it was over priced. I held off in buying one. Let's break it down - The etrac has very few adjustments especially compared to a V3i. Most every etrac adjustment is a "set it and forget it" type of adjustment. What about all those 1.2 million tones? Well guess what? There are tone adjustments of 1, 2, 4 and multi tone options. You don't like multi? Just switch it to 4 tones or?????? With a price close to the V3i the etrac is worth every cent. No detector does everything. But I have dug super deep CW bullets, Silver and copper with proper ID. The etrac is super easy to run. Some have even said it's a heavy detector. This actually is a correct statement. But it's not bad. When you dig us a 10 inch Seated you will not feel the weight of the machine.

Kenny
[www.youtube.com]

My hunting buddy has been using an Explorer2 since they came out. It's not often I out hunt him. It's a versatile machine, he uses it mostly for relic sites, but also deep turf park silver hunting and a LOT of salt water beach hunting, he does very well at in all environments.

The XS was the first model out.. the whitish cream color..

the SE is the black one..

The First one was geared at depth and more depth.. the later ones tried to calm the units down some and also they tried to develop new coils and such for better unmasking...Tighter.

But if ou run them all side by side and LEARN them well...not just read about them but actually use them all you would find the XS is the deepest, yet its the noisiest ..You have to work in the Noise to get that ultimate depth..And since few liked to work there machines in the noise the later models may of been better suited.

BUT if its depth your after and you figure out how to run it it will flat out dig what others cant...

One thing to note is that white DD stock coil is a BEAST.. its the deepest coil from the factory..

the slimlines and pro coils dont have the depth of that first coil..

Plus the first XS was very GROUND REACTIVE..and some users will never GET IT and some will...and it takes a special way of running it to GET IT right...I've only met a few people in my last 15 years that can run it for ultimate depth day in and day out..It takes a relic style..It takes alot of exploratory digging not what you may think its telling but digging hundreds of holes at teen depths to assure yourself if its lying to you or not.. then Knowing the dirt your in and how that sound at depth will change for each type dirt...

Alot of machines dig deeper than you make think but you have to unlock the audio to do so.. and to be honest the XS its not something you read about and learn its something you go out in he field for hundreds of hours and learn...It a 6th sense realm...you have to decipher ground noise ringing from legitimate deep target ringing...and a disc pattern wont allow that and till you've experienced it for hours and hours it will not make sense to you..you can capture it on a video and you cant talk about it you have to LEARN it to push this certain FBS model past the others...

With all that said all the Explorers are deep...Just one can go extra deep IF it's LEARNED...

Till you've seen it you will never believe it...At times I still dont...

What's funny is some of those first XS's were deeper than some of the later XS's..

Mine was a Screamer..Ive had some other XS's that while still deep they were not that first run..My buddy had a first run it was a screamer too..

Have you ever laid on your stomach and reached into a hole past your elbow for three ringer's.??Its a crazy experience...Not to ever be repeated I some times feel..

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Had a Safari for 2 years. Great park and yard machine. I found that outside of that when in a spot with nails and minerals it would just null out in conductive and ferrous was too noisy. I went to the E Trac for the 2 tone ferrous option with a 5" to 6" coil due to it using less resources which gave it faster recovery speed and separation to pull coins out next to ferrous items at old home sites. I bought a used ET with warranty left for a long time for just a little more than the Safari. If you get the Safari pretty sure you will want to upgrade to the ET. I Used the CTX and unless wanting to get in the water I would stay with the ET. I like the larger display on the ET and can hunt the wet sand as well with out the high cost and the loss of the "Flutie" tone for silver. I have hunted with a guy that uses an XS on the beach and it seems to be good on small targets as well as deep but it was so noisy it had to be an acquired taste for it. Not for me in that environment. FBS is just a good all around machine.

Wow! All I can say is wow that's a ton of amazing information! It sounds like a lot of the people that I've heard negative reports from didn't take time to use and learn them because it sounds like they have a solid reputation and have done well for you folks. Is it a concern that minelab doesn't support the older models? An explorer se or the e trac I'm thinking from posts gets the nod. But sounds like the safari is good as well have to do some more reading and thinking! And keith only times I ever hand in a hole that deep here in old rocky farm country it's usually a broken plow point mower guard or sometimes pieces of cast. Never dug nothing of importance that deep though! I'm not much into war relics but that sounds like it would have been an awesome time to be digging and even better time if you were leading the tour!

I see the Quattro mentioned a few times, yeah it was deep but the recovery speed is too slow not a good machine for trashy areas. However, a few of the Quattro's were modified by Minelab mine was one of them with a lightning recovery speed which made it into great machine. Only a few were modified maybe a handful because this was done secretly we send ours in for the mod, the rest stay away from them the odds of finding a modified one is next to impossible.

I want to say I've owned a Safari, can't remember but do remember owning a simple FBS. It was good very simple may have been the Safari, the XS with pro coil is good too or an SE with pro coil.

Can't go wrong with any of these, except the Quattro stay away from this model.

Paul


Get an XS Explorer and also on a pro coil, then you're ser an Se



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2015 03:09PM by Old California.

I found the pro coil on the XS to clip the depth..it's a narrower footprint coil..

It works better in trashier spots yet the Stock mates to tecovery speed of the XS PERFECTLY..For depth..

For camp sites with scattered deep targets or deep turf silver in less trashy areas the XS with stock coil is DEEEP..

IF you want best of both depth and trash just add a 4.5x7 sef to the XS..and it will hunt trash as well in my opinion as any FBS..


Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

For me the tones were to weak on the quatro. The XS id agree is a really deep machine especially on silver, but i totally ignored the screen. Once the Pro Coil and SEF came out they really improved them all. I never found the Safari could get the depth on silver that the Explorers could..... but then i felt the same about the ET. Once you got past the learning curve an Exp was just hard to beat.

Dew

Ive owned Both and never saw any Depth advantage between the two, One thing I Did notice was the Safari was 1 pound lighter

The Safari is the only one of the FBS machines I have not used. My latest go around, just a couple months ago, I had the XS and eTrac along with a plethora of coils for them. They are good machines for certain applications. Like anything else, they are dependent on soil type. In a lot of places with my soil here, and in parts of Virginia, and north Alabama that I have hunted with them...they weren't as good as in other places. Signal interpretation is a big part of metal detecting but the truth is...no matter how good you are or think you are, you can't intrepret silence but for what it is...silence. If the metal detector doesn't give a signal or even break threshold...then you have no idea of a target beneath the coil. Thus is how it was in my soil beyond 8 inches. A minie ball at 10-11 inches in my iron dirt would not even break threshold on the eTrac or XS...that was with open screen, and any of the coil combos I had. In real world and in test garden. But I could go to better soil and things changed.

Of the FBS machines...my favorite two still remain as the eTrac and CTX...with large favortism towards the CTX. But the availability and lower cost of coils for the eTrac made it widely more appealing. If you ask around the forums and post some WTB ads, you can find eTracs for $500-600 pretty easy and a lot of times, with an additional coil or two added in.