Bye Bye Racer soon.

[staffydog33]

Been using the Racer series ever since they came out...but always said the only time I would ever sell it was if my perfect machine came out.

It would have to be 100% waterproof, wireless, various frequencies....but must have the option to run all frequencies at once....plus be reasonably priced. And light!!!!

Never thought that would happen until now.

The Minelab Equinox 800! ! ! !

Damn...im in love. So very soon it's up for sale for my lovely Makro Racer 2 and hello Mr Equinox.wahhooo.

How much do you reckon I can ask for my Racer 2 standard pack in excellent condition with box and instruction book etc?

Also comes with rain covers.

Matt.

 

[OregonGregg]

You will probably regret selling your R2 as I doubt the $900 broomstick aka Equinox will even come close to the unmasking abilities of a Racer(s) Fors Core and Impact and Relic machines can do fitted with a small coil. The Equinox looks to be a decent general purpose machine......but far from being a magic wand do all machine capable of doing it all great.

 

[Southwind]

I'm on the same boat staffydog. I've got my AT Pro, a Makro Racer 2 and the E-Trac. Currently I'm not sure why I still have both the AT Pro and the R2 as they both are so close in abilities one could go. The R2 has a slight advantage relic hunting while the AT Pro has a slight advantage in general coin shooting. Neither can compete with the E-Trac. They can get as deep but do not do as good at accurate ID'ing at those depths and the great tonal abilities like the E-Trac/CTX.

I wait in hopes the Equinox will become that one that fits all my needs. From the videos I've seen I'm confident enough to give it a shot when it comes out. It looks fast enough to make a good relic hunter, as long as it doesn't suffer the fluffy field issues, and poor small gold detection the FBS' do, and if it has the deep coin ID accuracy and tonal ability of the E-Trac/CTX it will rock the detector world at $900.

The only thing that bothers me at this point is that so many have requested some video showing the gold abilities and no testers have stepped up to the request. This makes me think it either doesn't do well or they don't give a rats behind about our requests at this time.

 

[dfmike]

Don't want to rain on your parade but how can you know the Minelab will be your perfect machine if you have never tried it ? Theoretically, it seems excellent. In practice you might or might not concur. I had a Minelab 705 and was impressed by all the options it had for the price. Though it did certain things very well, I just couldn't stand the tones on it among other things. To me it always sounded like a ghost on acid. It annoyed the heck out of me. I was surprised to see that the Equinox has the same tones (judging by the vids I saw on youtube).

Go ahead and get the Minelab for yourself if you think it's the perfect machine but I wouldn't sell the R2 before living with the Minelab for a couple of months at least. Convincing me that the Equinox is the perfect machine will take a lot of persuasion.

 

[Southwind]

Oh you ain't raining on my parade so don't fret. LOL

I've been at this more than 40 years. I know what I'm doing believe me.

 

[mossy99]

Forums really opening up with the new model due out from Minelab-----the Equinox. No genuine tests done yet so my Deus stays with me ! Got alot to prove before I consider selling it ----might not be the best beach machine where depth is a priority but still ranks highly in my book ! Will wait for the experienced reports to start hitting the many forums before my toe goes in the water . Fantastic proposed price level for the Equinox---got to be investigated thoroughly. Mossy 99.

 

[staffydog33]

I won't be selling the Racer until the Minelab Equinox has been out for at least a couple of months and had some real genuine reviews and tests etc from genuine non biased users.

Matt.

 

[dingdong]

Will NEVER defect from my MAKRO RACER red..and remember!!!."all that glitters may NOT be good
Also,never forget the tremendous back up you get from the MAKRO/NOKTA organisation.

 

[staffydog33]

But I want to be able to detect underwater and if on wet sand....not have to worry about the next wave coming in and killing my Racer.

Multi frequency

Completely waterproof

Wireless

Light

If Makro hurry up and finish their current waterproof project...i will stay with them.

To be able to grab a machine like the Equinox and not have to be concerned about rain or sea water and the ability to run loads of frequencies at once or one at a time....damn...what a turn on...lol.

Matt.

 

[woodchiphustler]

I hope the "Divorce" will be amicable!

 

[Cal_Cobra]

I have a Nox 800 on pre-order, BUT I won't be selling my R2 anytime soon, heck no that machine has been the best ROI detector I've ever used in my life!!!

Heck the finds I've dug with the R2 not only paid for the R2, but also my Impact Pro and then some, so it stays

-Brian

 

[NiagracountyNY]

Makro is a top notch company with the great support.Wont be long and they will have waterproof units im guessing...They listen to what we want and build it...Good luck with whatever choose..Interested to hear how it goes for you..Keep us updated!

 

[Chapy]

I have a Nox 800 on pre-order, BUT I won't be selling my R2 anytime soon, heck no that machine has been the best ROI detector I've ever used in my life!!!

Heck the finds I've dug with the R2 not only paid for the R2, but also my Impact Pro and then some, so it stays

-Brian

I've had the racer 2 now for close to a year. Along with a Nokta Relic and I haven't found hardly anything even worth mentioning with the racer. Wonder what I'm doing wrong?Lol

 

[Cal_Cobra]

I have a Nox 800 on pre-order, BUT I won't be selling my R2 anytime soon, heck no that machine has been the best ROI detector I've ever used in my life!!!

Heck the finds I've dug with the R2 not only paid for the R2, but also my Impact Pro and then some, so it stays

-Brian

I've had the racer 2 now for close to a year. Along with a Nokta Relic and I haven't found hardly anything even worth mentioning with the racer. Wonder what I'm doing wrong?Lol

It's location, location, location. We spend a lot of time researching sites to detect, looking for the less obvious, off the beaten path sites, not the hammered to death sites. If the finds aren't there, you can have the best magic stick in the world, and it won't find anything. Not sure what kind of detecting you do, but researching new sites, although a lot of work (I'd say we strike out at 8 out of ten sites) is the best way to make nice finds.

HH,
Brian

 

[Bigtom123]

I have a Nox 800 on pre-order, BUT I won't be selling my R2 anytime soon, heck no that machine has been the best ROI detector I've ever used in my life!!!

Heck the finds I've dug with the R2 not only paid for the R2, but also my Impact Pro and then some, so it stays

-Brian

I've had the racer 2 now for close to a year. Along with a Nokta Relic and I haven't found hardly anything even worth mentioning with the racer. Wonder what I'm doing wrong?Lol

It's location, location, location. We spend a lot of time researching sites to detect, looking for the less obvious, off the beaten path sites, not the hammered to death sites. If the finds aren't there, you can have the best magic stick in the world, and it won't find anything. Not sure what kind of detecting you do, but researching new sites, although a lot of work (I'd say we strike out at 8 out of ten sites) is the best way to make nice finds.

HH,
Brian

You are 100 percent correct,location.I don’t post a lot here but always read the finds and topics.I have a few machines including a r2...I usto go out to those beat to death places ,find nothing and go home and either sell that machine or just buy what’s new on the block thinking it would find hat wasn’t there...I’m way over all that nonsense,and truth is I think any machine is capable of finding anything within reason,if your machine is made for your desired targets.But those targets hafto be there to find them.

 

[Southwind]

While I agree LOCATION is among the most important factors to a successful hunt, But even a old coin rich location is worthless without a good detector capable of taking advantage of that great location.

Our club hunted the city park for 20 years with all kinds of different machines. Not beginner detectorist either, but well seasoned hunters. We used all kinds of detectors from Garrett's Tesoro's and never found anything but a hand full of wheats that were more than likely recent drops. Not until one day I bought a new high tech detector and took it to that park just for testing. What I found was thousands of old coins we had missed all those years. So many that there were more multiple coin holes than single coin holes. The coins had been dropped for so many years they were stacked on top of one another. My buddies bought them a new high tech detector and those detectors turned what we thought was a cleaned out baron site to one of the coin rich site to date.

Location is important, but having a good detector rates very highly as well.

 

[doc holiday232]

Attention Nox-A-Bees-----stay outta tall buildings.

 

[Cal_Cobra]

While I agree LOCATION is among the most important factors to a successful hunt, But even a old coin rich location is worthless without a good detector capable of taking advantage of that great location.

Our club hunted the city park for 20 years with all kinds of different machines. Not beginner detectorist either, but well seasoned hunters. We used all kinds of detectors from Garrett's Tesoro's and never found anything but a hand full of wheats that were more than likely recent drops. Not until one day I bought a new high tech detector and took it to that park just for testing. What I found was thousands of old coins we had missed all those years. So many that there were more multiple coin holes than single coin holes. The coins had been dropped for so many years they were stacked on top of one another. My buddies bought them a new high tech detector and those detectors turned what we thought was a cleaned out baron site to one of the coin rich site to date.

Location is important, but having a good detector rates very highly as well.

Definitely agree, I'd love to find a site like you encountered.

Years ago I had a spot, that given its history, I knew had to be a decent spot, but in my early detecting years, the machines I had didn't get much there.

What I discovered is that the ground at this site was mineralized, and someone had strip mined this site digging the top 6" of targets. I found that after I got a CZ70 that could handle both the ground mineralization and punch through to the deeper strata of coins, that someone basically did me a favor by removing the top 6" of junk, and left the older coins Ended up recovering dozens of old silver coins, IHPs, early wheaties, tokens, etc.

It was a combination of location, and technology that brought home the goods from this site. Yet there are other sites, that are so have been thoroughly hammered by above average detectorists using the likes of the Etrac, CTX, CZ, F75, etc., that you will work hard to dig a single old coin.

 

[UtahRich]

There is real value is having a couple three detectors that compliment each other. For decades I had been pretty much a one detector at a time guy. My little area of interest was hunting the yards of old homes. I always had THE detector I thought did that job the best. One stubborn yard opened my eyes that my ONE detector was great most of the time but did have troubles under some situations. I used another detector and was enlightened when I found many coins that had been hidden. A third detector found some coins left over and a fourth detector some coins and relics left by all of the previous.

I don’t usually get to hunt one particular yard so many times, but I did learn my lesson that detectors have different abilities and that having a couple three detectors allows me to come at a site from different directions if needed.

Rich (Utah)

 

[Monte]

There is real value is having a couple three detectors that compliment each other.

There is no such thing as a 'perfect' detector. You did learn early on that there could be one very good 'specific purpose' detector for one or two types of comparable sites, but it really takes more than one detector to make a more versatile detecting arsenal.

As for a "couple three detectors" I think it could be simplified by saying 'some' or 'a few' because the number of different makes and models it might take to satisfy someone's outfit to be very versatile could be two, or it might be half-a-dozen to a wider range. That's what I've done since late 1971, and by '75/'76 I have generally maintained a detector battery of 3 to 6 complementary models and hand-picked search coils. Since mid-'83 to the present, very seldom have I owned less that 6 units and more commonly have 6 to 10 models and a good working set of search coils for them.

I do know many average Hobbyists who really don't get out metal detecting all that often, with some maybe only one or two times a month and only during very favorable weather. I guess for them one decent detector might do because they seldom venture into really stubborn sites with a lot of iron and other junk. But for the Avid Detectorist who puts in ample time and effort, frequently, 2 or 3 or more detectors ought to provide them with improved success in the long run.