Frank in NH
Active member
Must have asked already but can't find it. I only have the round 5" should I buy a oor coil and why?
Find's Treasure Forums
Welcome to Find's Treasure Forums, Guests!
You are viewing this forums as a guest which limits you to read only status.
Only registered members may post stories, questions, classifieds, reply to other posts, contact other members using built in messaging and use many other features found on these forums.
Why not register and join us today? It's free! (We don't share your email addresses with anyone.) We keep email addresses of our users to protect them and others from bad people posting things they shouldn't.
Click here to register!
Need Support Help?
Cannot log in?, click here to have new password emailed to you
Makro Racer 2 which coil to buy 5" or 4.5" X 5"
- Thread starter Frank in NH
- Start date
KindManTall
Well-known member
The Makro RC24 (9.5"x5") coil ... Mid size coil since you have a 5" coil .. Almost the size of Nel Sharp Shooter
OregonGregg
Well-known member
Since you already have the 5" round, I would look at the 9.5x5 like KMT suggested ( if you can find one for sale) or the 7" round concentric. I don't think you will gain much if any getting the "oor" coil when you already have the 5". In fact on a very tough test Monte and I did on the NBPT ( we used a half dime and extra nail).......the 5" coil lasted longer than the 'oor" coil..i.e it fell out of the test first before the 5" coil did.
1.. to make sure I have a very good smaller-size coil for the nastiest-of-trash conditions to help find keepers that might be masked, especially by iron,
and ...
2.. to also have one of the most versatile search coils for regular, everyday use that can provide me decent depth-of-detection when possible while still working in and around average trash conditions, be it Coin Hunting around town or Relic Hunting in some out-of-the-way location, and also be a comfortable coil for long periods of hunting.
Okay, let's consider #1: The two smallest search coils are the round 5" DD that comes with a Racer 2 Pro Pack, or the other small option of the 4.[size=small]7[/size]X5.[size=small]2[/size] DD. The just slightly Out-Of-Round design that I refer to as an 'OOR' coil. They are both very close in size, and I have used both of them a LOT and done quite well with each of them in old town sites and homesteads and stage stops where ferrous debris is abundant.
As Oregon Gregg mentioned, in a very challenging comparison I did last spring, I used my NBPT [size=small](Nail Board Performance Test)[/size] but exchanged an Indian Head 1¢ coin with a much smaller and thinner 1836 Capped Bust Half-Dime. The detector we tried that performed the best of all using any factory-made coil [size=small](by Nokta or Makro)[/size] was the Nokta FORS CoRe w/'OOR' coil which hit on the target 8-out-of-8 times. It barely out-performed the FORS Relic w/5" round DD but both were able to handle the Indian Head 1¢ or a Barber 10¢ with ease and get hits from all 8 directions.
Well, on that toughest test I would have put my $$$ on the Racer 2 w/'OOR' over the 5" DD but would have been a looser. The round 5" beat the 'OOR' DD by 1 hit on the same challenge, all performed at the same time against other makes and models of detectors using both detector-maker coils as well as some after-market coils. So if your question is which of those two smaller sizes might work the best, they are BOTH great in average hunting conditions for 'typical' US coins to be associated with the site. The very slight edge goes to the round 5" DD coil. But when a coil is mounted to the working end of a detector in my hand, I also like how a coil 'looks' or 'feels' and that's why my personal preference to hook up on a Racer 2 is the 'OOR' Double-D.
Now to #2 ...
I very seldom use a standard-size coil because I mainly hunt trashy sites or those that have a lot of weeds, brush, rocks, building rubble and other obstacles to work in-and-around, so when it isn't one of those two smallest coils in use, then I'll have a very good mid-sized search coil mounted. For that with the Racer 2 I have 2 favorites. The newer open-frame 7" Concentric and 5X9½ DD, and this can be a tough call for some Hobbyists to make, and even a few Avid Detectorists might have to scratch their head as to which would best serve their needs. Well, why fuss when the decision is really quite simple [size=x-small]►[/size][size=small]►[/size]►[size=large]►[/size] OWN BOTH OF THEM !!!
That's what I have set up with my Nokta Impact units, with my most often used Impact having the excellent 7" Concentric mounted and the 2nd Impact wears the IM-24 5X9½ DD. The open-frame elliptical coil really impresses me for providing a bit more coverage on the side-to-side sweep when overlapping, especially in low-to-modest trashy sites. I have an 'OOR' coil mounted on my most-used CoRe and the 5X9½ DD FC-24 on my 2nd CoRe model, and the round 5" DD on my first-grabbed Relic, but the FR-24 is outfitted on my 2nd Relic.
So as you can see, the IM / FC / FR '24' coils are certainly a favorite with me, but since you have a Racer 2 I would give it the same consideration I gave my Impact, and that is to have the round 7" Concentric open-frame coil mounted as my primary-use search coil. That's the Impact I grab first and use most often because of the splendid performance the 7" Concentric provides. My other Impact keeps the IM-24 mounted and ready-to-go. I do have the round 5" DD for the Impact, and I keep it on a spare lower rod in my search coil tote. During some dedicated searches when I'll be working old railroad ghost towns and similar sites that date back about a hundred-and-fifty years ago and are plagued with a very dese scattering of nails, rusty tin [size=small](thin sheet iron)[/size] and other ferrous debris and rubble and brush, I swap the 5" DD on in place of the IM-24 because the 5" does an excellent job at unmasking desirables that are in terrible trash.
Perhaps you could plan your search coil budget to invest in BOTH the RC18C 7" Concentric and 5X9½ DD RC-24 coils, a pair of lower rods to keep extra coils mounted, and use your Racer 2 by rotating search coils as needed like I do with the Nokta Impact?
Use the 5" DD, 7" Con. and 5X9½ DD coils for a wide-range of hunt site challenges and you're certain to be well equipped for almost anything, anywhere. 
Monte
and ...
2.. to also have one of the most versatile search coils for regular, everyday use that can provide me decent depth-of-detection when possible while still working in and around average trash conditions, be it Coin Hunting around town or Relic Hunting in some out-of-the-way location, and also be a comfortable coil for long periods of hunting.
Okay, let's consider #1: The two smallest search coils are the round 5" DD that comes with a Racer 2 Pro Pack, or the other small option of the 4.[size=small]7[/size]X5.[size=small]2[/size] DD. The just slightly Out-Of-Round design that I refer to as an 'OOR' coil. They are both very close in size, and I have used both of them a LOT and done quite well with each of them in old town sites and homesteads and stage stops where ferrous debris is abundant.
As Oregon Gregg mentioned, in a very challenging comparison I did last spring, I used my NBPT [size=small](Nail Board Performance Test)[/size] but exchanged an Indian Head 1¢ coin with a much smaller and thinner 1836 Capped Bust Half-Dime. The detector we tried that performed the best of all using any factory-made coil [size=small](by Nokta or Makro)[/size] was the Nokta FORS CoRe w/'OOR' coil which hit on the target 8-out-of-8 times. It barely out-performed the FORS Relic w/5" round DD but both were able to handle the Indian Head 1¢ or a Barber 10¢ with ease and get hits from all 8 directions.
Well, on that toughest test I would have put my $$$ on the Racer 2 w/'OOR' over the 5" DD but would have been a looser. The round 5" beat the 'OOR' DD by 1 hit on the same challenge, all performed at the same time against other makes and models of detectors using both detector-maker coils as well as some after-market coils. So if your question is which of those two smaller sizes might work the best, they are BOTH great in average hunting conditions for 'typical' US coins to be associated with the site. The very slight edge goes to the round 5" DD coil. But when a coil is mounted to the working end of a detector in my hand, I also like how a coil 'looks' or 'feels' and that's why my personal preference to hook up on a Racer 2 is the 'OOR' Double-D.
Now to #2 ...
I very seldom use a standard-size coil because I mainly hunt trashy sites or those that have a lot of weeds, brush, rocks, building rubble and other obstacles to work in-and-around, so when it isn't one of those two smallest coils in use, then I'll have a very good mid-sized search coil mounted. For that with the Racer 2 I have 2 favorites. The newer open-frame 7" Concentric and 5X9½ DD, and this can be a tough call for some Hobbyists to make, and even a few Avid Detectorists might have to scratch their head as to which would best serve their needs. Well, why fuss when the decision is really quite simple [size=x-small]►[/size][size=small]►[/size]►[size=large]►[/size] OWN BOTH OF THEM !!!
That's what I have set up with my Nokta Impact units, with my most often used Impact having the excellent 7" Concentric mounted and the 2nd Impact wears the IM-24 5X9½ DD. The open-frame elliptical coil really impresses me for providing a bit more coverage on the side-to-side sweep when overlapping, especially in low-to-modest trashy sites. I have an 'OOR' coil mounted on my most-used CoRe and the 5X9½ DD FC-24 on my 2nd CoRe model, and the round 5" DD on my first-grabbed Relic, but the FR-24 is outfitted on my 2nd Relic.
So as you can see, the IM / FC / FR '24' coils are certainly a favorite with me, but since you have a Racer 2 I would give it the same consideration I gave my Impact, and that is to have the round 7" Concentric open-frame coil mounted as my primary-use search coil. That's the Impact I grab first and use most often because of the splendid performance the 7" Concentric provides. My other Impact keeps the IM-24 mounted and ready-to-go. I do have the round 5" DD for the Impact, and I keep it on a spare lower rod in my search coil tote. During some dedicated searches when I'll be working old railroad ghost towns and similar sites that date back about a hundred-and-fifty years ago and are plagued with a very dese scattering of nails, rusty tin [size=small](thin sheet iron)[/size] and other ferrous debris and rubble and brush, I swap the 5" DD on in place of the IM-24 because the 5" does an excellent job at unmasking desirables that are in terrible trash.
Perhaps you could plan your search coil budget to invest in BOTH the RC18C 7" Concentric and 5X9½ DD RC-24 coils, a pair of lower rods to keep extra coils mounted, and use your Racer 2 by rotating search coils as needed like I do with the Nokta Impact?
Use the 5" DD, 7" Con. and 5X9½ DD coils for a wide-range of hunt site challenges and you're certain to be well equipped for almost anything, anywhere. Monte