when 'organizing' my personal detector arsenal, and it is very basic:
I know the types of sites I prefer to search. I know the types and amounts of challenging trash I have to deal with and the ground mineral make-up. I know what types of targets I am after, and the challenges I face that cause good-target masking that I nave to be able to deal with.
Then, taking what I know about what I face, I can easily sort out the models I need and the search coils available for them. The detectors must be relatively 'Simple' and lack a lot of excessive tweaking and adjusting and other time consuming maneuvers. The detectors must be 'Functional' such that the features they have and controllability all work, and work well. And 3[sup]rd[/sup], they must provide ample 'Performance' for the challenges I will face and have the ability to provide worthy 'iffy' to 'good' responses under challenging conditions. Finally, they must be comfortable and well balanced. Naturally, they are not worth much if they do not have a proper set of search coils for what I want and need.
If or when I come across a detector and coil set-up that fits the
'Simple' and
'Functional' and
'Performance' trio of categories, and the overall package is a better 'fit' for me and my needs, and matches or excels in performance over what I currently own and use, then it is time to make the move to upgrade my personal arsenal and thin out the detectors that will not be used or would be used very, very rarely.
earthlypotluck said:
what is the Racer doing or has done for you to unload your tried and true?
I got an original Racer prototype in February of last year and it gave me close performance to my Nokta FORS CoRe. The FORS CoRe zi got the month before, and it excelled in all three areas of consideration and the improved performance over the models I had and used at the time [size=small]
(A Teknetics Omega 8000 and G2 and the White's MXT All-Pro and MX5 and a few more)[/size] were all bumped to 2[sup]nd[/sup] or back-up status as the CoRe became my #1 all-purpose detector.
Then the Racer's performance at the challenging places I love to hunt, pushed everything out of the very close #2 position and I started thinning them out.
earthlypotluck said:
What was the "eye opening" event (s) for you?
A solid, durable design that was 'simple,' 'functional' and provided great performance wherever I took it.
earthlypotluck said:
Was it going to your favorite hunting hole only to find many wonderful items missed by your other detectors?
Yes, that was part of it, but that was after my initial out-of-the-box assembly and working it on several test scenarios where it was quite impressive.
earthlypotluck said:
Was it the precision of pulling the goods out of infested iron hunting grounds?
Yes, excelling over most of my other detectors.
earthlypotluck said:
The ease of distinguishing good signals from the bad?
Yes, it can provide that performance, especially if you listen to and learn the audio behavior.
earthlypotluck said:
There is a threshold if you will before some are willing to part out their flock of machines. The Racer is obviously doing something pretty darn good. I am curious and would like to hear your comments on the performance and abilities of the Racer.
The racer is an excellent detector for most people who will give it a try.
This year started out with some changes that appeal to me in the form of Iron Audio Volume, Tone Break and an expanded non-ferrous TID range with the Racer 2 that also has a more comfortable grip angle for me, and the Racer 2 is my main-use Makro detector.
The Racer 2 joins my favorite detectors that travel with me, my Nokta FORS CoRe, a couple of FORS Relics and a Tesoro Silver Sabre [size=small]micro[/size]MAX. All of these models can do what I want and need at various sites I hunt, especially through the winter months when I do more Coin Hunting and am limited on Relic Hunting access. I do have my 'special-use' FORS Gold + and Makro Gold Racer at home and ready for travel as needed. The Racer 2 is usually my 'go-to' detector for Coin Hunting tasks.
Monte
[size=small]
PS: All but one of my other detectors are gone.[/size]