and many people nowadays have become so used to a multitude of tones with many different models, they are a little sluggish when it comes to being comfortable with just two tones. It also depends on the audio tones the detector makers use to for their tone ranges.
There are some newer models on the market from Nokta/Makro competitors that seem to have audio tones that are just a little 'muddy' to me. I've had some multi-tone audio models that I never liked with all the tones they offered, and only a couple of them had a decent 2-Tone audio that I came to rely on. Single tones still were often preferred just because many detector models were not engineered with acceptable audio tones ... at least for me and my hearing.
Then along came Nokta with the FORS CoRe and they had an instant convert! I really like BOTH the 2-Tone audio and 3-Tone audio Discriminate modes, and the soon-to-follow Makro Racer had very close audio tone performance. Better than the detectors I had been using and they were soon replaced and I maintain my favorite detectors models for my
Regular-Use Team, and my Nokta and Makro devices have grown.
Kapok said:
I have completely bonded with two tones now on my R2. When I first got it, I used only 3 tones since I thought 2 was too noisy. But after spending many hours with it this summer, I now almost exclusively run 2 tones with the ID filter at 3-5.
It looks like you're starting your 41st year of detecting this summer Scott [size=small]
(starting in the summer of 1977)[/size], and I'm sure that by now you've come to learn and appreciate good audio tones and target responses. Along with my Nokta FORS CoRe and FORS Relic, which each have very clear and functional audio tones for their 2-Tone and 3-Tone modes
But my Racer 2 and new Nokta Impacts also provide me the opportunity to tweak the Audio Tone adjustment for each mode for the best, and more pleasurable, Audio Tone [size=small]
(aka pitch or frequency)[/size] that I can hear well and that help alert me to targets within the different conductivity ranges they provide. That's one of the better features on the Racer 2 and one I especially enjoy using on my Impact models.
That made using all modes better for me, and with the Nokta/Makro devices I still prefer 2-Tone audio modes for the bulk of my open-site searches; for working areas with low-to-modest trash that is mainly nails or similar, easy-to-deal-with, ferrous junk; and especially when I am hunting with a mid-sized to standard-size search coil mounted. 2-Tone Audio is by far the cleanest and most useful auto tone for finding non-ferrous targets in dense iron nails contaminated sites, or if dealing with similar wire-iron types of debris.
Kapok said:
Even in thick iron, it is surprisingly stable, and I am willing to accept the little extra sparkiness in 2 tones in return for the added sensitivity and depth. And hearing the iron helps me separate out the good stuff from surrounding junk.
I know we will all have our own opinions of what is "thick iron" littered places and "sparse" or "modest" iron trash, and I can guarantee you that these detectors work very well when the iron junk gets challenging. As it occurs, I immediately am working in and amongst the iron using a smaller size search coils because "thick" or "dense" iron nails where I usually sweep a coil is VERY dense and challenging.
Many people just Discriminate all common iron with a setting at the ferrous/non-ferrous break point, but I also like to work in a 2-Tone or 3-Tone mode so I can hear the presence of iron. That way I will be alerted and can slowly and methodically work my coil around the iron trash in search of a partially masked non-ferrous target.
Kapok said:
The more I use the Racer 2 and learn its nuances, the more I love it.
Yep! It's hard not to develop a liking for the Racer 2.
Kapok said:
In high trash, the 5x4.5" coil is so good, and deeper than I thought it would be.
The Racer 2 is just 'deeper' regardless of the coil used, but both of the smaller-size DD coils are quite surprising in the depth-of-detection category. Even though my Racer 2 Pro Pack came with the round 5¼" DD coil, I keep it on a spare lower rod. It does provide a little different performance than the slightly smaller 4.[size=small]
7[/size]X5.[size=small]
2[/size]
'OOR' DD coil, but I found the
'OOR' coil very "eye appealing" and enjoy the performance and depth in the very trashy sites I work and it stays mounted to my Racer 2 the bulk of the time.
Kapok said:
I picked out these two coins from fist-sized underlying chunks of iron.
A very doable task for the Racer 2, and congrats on your success!
Kapok said:
The side story is I bought a used Explorer SE and am supposed to be learning it this summer, but I keep find myself putting it back in the car and grabbing my little R2.
Here's a hint: http://www.findmall.com/list.php?44 A great place to show off your Explorer SE and get a little more elbow room.
Now my thoughts on the Makro and Nokta detectors and how and why I enjoy them when hunting in dense iron littered sites. With my CoRe and Relic, Impact and Racer 2 models that have their smallest coils mounted full-time, they are all ready to turn-on in the 3-Tone Di3 mode. Is 2-Tone audio a better mode choice when hunting in iron? Yes, it can be, if the main iron targets are nails and smaller solid-iron objects, and also when the amount or iron is minimal and well spaced. As I stated earlier, I rely on 2-Tone Discriminate modes almost exclusively when using a mid-sized or standard-to-larger size search coil for the simple reason that non-ferrous targets just sort of jump out at you in an iron contaminated site.
But 95% of the time it is the 3-Tone Di3 mode I am using,
along with a small-size search coil, when hunting the most difficult sites I concentrate on. Those are mainly ghost towns, homesteads, old pioneer and military encampment sites, fort sites, stage stops and railroad depots, and I can't forget logging camps, gold mining camps and towns sites ... and the list could go on about old, out-of-use locations where there is a lot of building rubble complemented by discarded ferrous trash.
And the biggest annoyance when hunting these places isn't rusty nails, railroad spikes or other similar junk. It is the thin 'sheet metal' better known as 'rusty tin.' Oregon Gregg expressed his preference for working in Di3, and the main challenge at the sites we hunt is rusty tin. While a 2-Tone search mode can still work okay, I prefer, as Gregg has found, that Di3's 'processed' audio can be very telling and help to audibly recognize, and classify, probable rusty tin debris. I hear a better tell-tale low-tone audio most of the time as the small coil just starts to encounter and then just as it departs rusty tin and similar forms of 'sheet iron', and it is much more discernible,
for me and many I know, than any of the 2-Tone Disc. modes can provide.
Other iron stuff, okay we might call it a toss-up on Tone ID preference, but I give the nod to Di3 when encountering a lot of sheet iron, and in those cases it is the smaller coils that are being used. The other great design feature of the Racer 2 and Impact is that you can easily switched from one more to another and back again with minimal effort or time loss. When working smaller coils, in dense iron, and using Di3, it's quick to switch to a Di2 or another 2-Tone mode to quickly cross-check a probable good target signal. That was one of the reasons the Racer 2 appealed to me as there is no mistaking a good target signal in iron trash, but Di3 can help audibly 'classify' a lot of rusty tin.
Like all modes and functions, it might take some field time to learn it and adapt to the 'duck squawk' audio it can sometimes produce.
Monte
