(New to me) Racer 2 Pro Pack

[Sataro]

Sold my XP Deus a couple of weeks back to raise some needed funds. In the meantime I sold a few of my ink pens that I make & decided to purchase another detector. Found a nice deal on a used like new Racer 2 pro pack with 3 coils plus the wireless headphones. Looks like the only coil used was the sniper coil. The other two coils don't look like they have been taken out of the box. Started reading through the manual & ready for a nice day to take it out for a test run!

 

[Cal_Cobra]

It's an awesome machine, just spend the time to learn it. It's actually fairly easy to use, but the little nuances in audio and various settings will make a big difference in that dig/no dig decision. First time I took mine out to a pounded early California adobe site, and right in the middle of a sea of iron I dug a Phoenix button and my hunting partner was amazed as he had pounded the site to death. It was a clear signal too. I was running 3-tone audio, iron audo @ 2, sensitivity at 98. and IIRC everything else was at the stock settings. Later I adjusted the tone break down on the high tone so old coins would hit as a high tone, and also turned the audio frequency to the highest setting as it was easier to discern for my hearing (YMMV).

HH, you got a great machine!

Brian

 

[Monte]

While some might like the XP Deus, and I am sure it has some plus points if you take a lot of time tinkering to try and understand it, MY opinion is it was a nice move to part with it. Might have had a need due to needing funds, but I think they are overpriced to begin with. As I said, that's just ME and MY opinion.

To back MY opinions, they are based on the fact that I have been at this a long while and I like 'Simple.' I've mentioned it many times on various Forum posts, but to me a detector doesn't have to be complex or require a lot of tinkering for little changes in site conditions. I like detectors that are 'Simple' yet very 'Functional' and easy to make subtle changes as desired. And with those in my personal detector arsenal, they are ALL 'Simple' and 'Functional' yet provide exceptional 'Performance,' especially with the best coil mounted for the task at hand.

You didn't mention which three search coils your Pro Pack, 'as new' Racer 2 came with, but my guess would be the 5½" round DD, the 5½X10 DD and the standard 7X11 DD coils. If you have the new 2.4 Gig. Makro wireless headphones, that's even a better bargain! I use my corded headphones with my Nokta FORS CoRe and FORS Relic's, but grab my wireless Makro headphones when I use the Racer 2 as I found they work well for me, even with my impaired hearing.

Read and study the User Manual, and do some indoor air test work when you can't get out to become more familiar with the Racer 2. If you have any questions I welcome any e-mail to try and help as I am sure some other avid Racer 2 users would offer, or just post questions and comments here. Glad to hear you got a nice deal, but sorry someone decided to part with one of the best detectors available today.

Enjoy, and I trust this coming new year will have you out enjoying some rewarding searches.

Monte

 

[Sataro]

Thanks for the welcome Brian. Looking forward to learning it.

Billy

It's an awesome machine, just spend the time to learn it. It's actually fairly easy to use, but the little nuances in audio and various settings will make a big difference in that dig/no dig decision. First time I took mine out to a pounded early California adobe site, and right in the middle of a sea of iron I dug a Phoenix button and my hunting partner was amazed as he had pounded the site to death. It was a clear signal too. I was running 3-tone audio, iron audo @ 2, sensitivity at 98. and IIRC everything else was at the stock settings. Later I adjusted the tone break down on the high tone so old coins would hit as a high tone, and also turned the audio frequency to the highest setting as it was easier to discern for my hearing (YMMV).

HH, you got a great machine!

Brian

 

[Sataro]

Thanks for the welcome Monte!

You are correct in your coil assumptions. The headphones were the Makro 2.4 G wireless. I understand about the simple. I've owned & used both the XP Deus & White's V3i. Both are excellent machines but they do require study time to reach the full capabilities of them. At times I feel like buying another Tesoro Vaquero & going back to the way I started detecting. Beep & dig everything.

Looking forward to using & learning this Racer.

Billy

While some might like the XP Deus, and I am sure it has some plus points if you take a lot of time tinkering to try and understand it, MY opinion is it was a nice move to part with it. Might have had a need due to needing funds, but I think they are overpriced to begin with. As I said, that's just ME and MY opinion.

To back MY opinions, they are based on the fact that I have been at this a long while and I like 'Simple.' I've mentioned it many times on various Forum posts, but to me a detector doesn't have to be complex or require a lot of tinkering for little changes in site conditions. I like detectors that are 'Simple' yet very 'Functional' and easy to make subtle changes as desired. And with those in my personal detector arsenal, they are ALL 'Simple' and 'Functional' yet provide exceptional 'Performance,' especially with the best coil mounted for the task at hand.

You didn't mention which three search coils your Pro Pack, 'as new' Racer 2 came with, but my guess would be the 5½" round DD, the 5½X10 DD and the standard 7X11 DD coils. If you have the new 2.4 Gig. Makro wireless headphones, that's even a better bargain! I use my corded headphones with my Nokta FORS CoRe and FORS Relic's, but grab my wireless Makro headphones when I use the Racer 2 as I found they work well for me, even with my impaired hearing.

Read and study the User Manual, and do some indoor air test work when you can't get out to become more familiar with the Racer 2. If you have any questions I welcome any e-mail to try and help as I am sure some other avid Racer 2 users would offer, or just post questions and comments here. Glad to hear you got a nice deal, but sorry someone decided to part with one of the best detectors available today.

Enjoy, and I trust this coming new year will have you out enjoying some rewarding searches.

Monte

 

[staffydog33]

Welcome mate.

I've owned the Makro Racer 2 for approx 1 year and LOVE IT!!!!

Good luck and you will DEFINITELY love the Racer.

Matt

 

[Sataro]

Thanks for the welcome Matt. Now waiting on a chance to get out & use it.
Billy

Welcome mate.

I've owned the Makro Racer 2 for approx 1 year and LOVE IT!!!!

Good luck and you will DEFINITELY love the Racer.

Matt

 

[JackalopeZL1]

Curious to hear your comparisons between the machines.

 

[S.TexasKevin]

Yes, please do a comparison of your thoughts with on the two. I am leaning towards the Racer 2 myself. I would love for the Racer 2 to kick butt, My hunting buddy is Kieth-Tx, and it would be great to hear of your comparison.

 

[Sataro]

With Christmas approaching, my detecting time is slim. So far I have not had time to hardly look in the box & see what came in the package.

To pay for my metal detector habits & equipment, I make custom ink pens out of a variety of materials. I just recently retired this past May, so funds are slimmer. So my time is spent during the holiday season making & seling pens.

This is an example of where my time has been spent.

Pen sample...

Here is how my time was spent this past weekend...
Posing with Santa...

Christmas rush will be over soon & I will be able to find some metal detecting time again. Once I get a chance to try the Makro out, I will post some comparisons.

 

[Sataro]

1st time out with the Racer 2. Spent some time reading the manual. Reset my machine to Factory Default settings night before. Big mistake or so it seemed this morning. First location we went to my buddy started hunting. Could not get my Racer 2 headphones to sync up. Grab my iPhone & start trying to find a solution to this problem. Finally got them synced & started off using the 11 x 7 standard coil. Wanted to learn how the sounds would sound before I went to a small coil. This first location is an old roadside park that was established in 1927. When hunting with my Tesoro on previous occasions this site sounds off like a trash dump. Hunted for a short time & nothing found. Moved on & light rain shower moved in on us. Good time to go find some mexican food for lunch. After lunch, rain shower moved on. Next location is an old yard site. I've hunted it before several times throughout the previous year. I've found (1) washington quarter here last year. My hunting budding has found a few wheats & one silver dime here in the past. Previously I have tried to use a Tesoro Vaquero at this site. Site has been so trashy with nails & such that I had to give up on using the Tesoro here. I have used my XP Deus here before selling it. Very noisy while using the XP. Site has not been fun hunting through the year because of trash & just no luck here. Figured this would be a good site to test the Racer 2 out using the small 5" coil.

I decided to use two tone & no notch. Set ID filter on 28. Figured nickels & above would come in like this. Raised gain to about 88 but eventually dropped back down to 85 due to chatter. Compared to previous hunts here while using different detectors (Whites V3i, XP Deus, Tesoro Vaquero), this felt like a quiet hunt. Detector making a lot of quiet chatter but nothing compared to what I have went through before while hunting here. I ended up with (4) wheats & (1) rosie. Couple of the wheats where overlapped by nails but Racer 2 would pull a signal out. I was very impressed with the Racer 2 today. Cannot wait to get out again. Want to try out some more settings. My hunting partner found one memorial at this site today with his Whites V3i using his 5.75 concentric coil. He may be interested in a Racer 2 if anyone has one for sale!

 

[squirrel1]

Sataro,

Sounds like you had a great hunt.

A few things,,,even though Racer 2 with small coil separates nicely,,,,it does a better job between a nonferrous and ferrous target in separation,,giving tone.

What about trying to find a high conductive near a lower conductive junk target???
The Racer will like most other detectors try and average the conductive values.
So what to do????

Targets like nickels,,,by doing the following will be sacrificed,,,,,but run your ID filter at around 33-35,,,,,in two tone,,,,,this will capture most high conductors nestled with low conductors,,providing tone.

Now all tone provided doing this,,,will some be junk targets?? Most certainly,,,,but after you get tone using 2 tone doing this,,,,you can still look at TID,,,,and walk around the suspect target area and see how the TID responds.

Does it have a spot where TID jumps up quite a bit???
How steady????

This process does work,,,I have had some good luck using.
In sites thought to be hunted out,,,will pull some extra finds,,,,,and may produce some nice finds that are medium high conductive as well.

Btw,, you can even do your own testing using a few different higher conductive coins,,and maybe a few different pull tabs,,,,after doing this,,,,easier to understand what exactly is going on.

Cheer.

 

[calabash digger]

I havent been able to get out had the flu so just tinkerd in my test garden with the new racer I got in. First off let me say this the thing seperates very good on targets mixed with iron one of the best ive seen at doing that so it probably will stay in my aresenal with a small coil just for purpose. For general relic hunting it will take a backseast to my deus for one reason DEPTH its lacking depth in 3 tone and thats what I like to hunt in ,so for thick iron I will give it a whirl . We all have our own style notice montys above im different than him in that I like to be able to adjust my machine if I want to. The deus is not a tinkering machine to me as I know what hunting I do and set it up accordingly and its basically a turn on and go machine now, You do have to invest more time up front with the deus to learn it than the mackro. I watched keith southern test the mackro impressive on seperation but he mentioned in two tone a falsing that occurs on iron can anybody chime in on that ?

 

[Sataro]

Thanks for the info squirrel1! I will give this a try. I'm totally new with this machine so I've got a lot of learning & testing to try out.

 

[Sataro]

Calabash, I'm sure you have given the Racer 2 a workout on the depth testing. I understand about the depth on the XP. I was very pleased with the depth that I was getting with it. I'm mostly a coin hunter myself. I like to hunt the old house sites. My question is what type of depths are you getting with the Racer 2? Most of my coins come in the 3-7" range where I hunt. Occasionally I may find some coins in the 8-9" range. I'm curious about what type of depths you have obtained with the Racer 2? Thanks for any info...

 

[Cousinhap]

Sataro, congrats on the purchase. Is that a situation where there is leftover warranty? I'm in the market for a Nokta/Makro product and am trying to consider whether second hand might not be the way to go. What's a ballpark price for a package like you described go for?

 

[calabash digger]

Calabash, I'm sure you have given the Racer 2 a workout on the depth testing. I understand about the depth on the XP. I was very pleased with the depth that I was getting with it. I'm mostly a coin hunter myself. I like to hunt the old house sites. My question is what type of depths are you getting with the Racer 2? Most of my coins come in the 3-7" range where I hunt. Occasionally I may find some coins in the 8-9" range. I'm curious about what type of depths you have obtained with the Racer 2? Thanks for any info...

Should be great for what your talking about doing.
I was using the 10 x 5 coil
10 inch clad quarter yes
9 1/2 silver dime no
I believe a nickel will be maxed out at 8 or so inchs .
12 inch silver half can get it to hit it with gain jacked.
12 inch silver quarter no
4 inch merc dime surrounded by nails it nails it
4 or 5 inch buffalo surrounded by nails kills it.
5 inch trime hits it
8 inch flat button hits it.
I made a little over statement about depth lacking as these are VERY respectable depths and I was just using my deus as a measuring rod . I have to say this machine is a very competitive machine from what ive seen so far and will have to get some time in the field with it and see how it does. You should kill coins at those depths with it. The nickel is what kind of baffles me I air tested with the stock coil 8 inchs or so is what it hit it in 3 tones and saw scanner guy testing the machine with a stock coil in his garden on a 8 inch nickle and it was struggling with it a little maybe it just doesnt like nickles.

 

[squirrel1]

I havent been able to get out had the flu so just tinkerd in my test garden with the new racer I got in. First off let me say this the thing seperates very good on targets mixed with iron one of the best ive seen at doing that so it probably will stay in my aresenal with a small coil just for purpose. For general relic hunting it will take a backseast to my deus for one reason DEPTH its lacking depth in 3 tone and thats what I like to hunt in ,so for thick iron I will give it a whirl . We all have our own style notice montys above im different than him in that I like to be able to adjust my machine if I want to. The deus is not a tinkering machine to me as I know what hunting I do and set it up accordingly and its basically a turn on and go machine now, You do have to invest more time up front with the deus to learn it than the mackro. I watched keith southern test the mackro impressive on seperation but he mentioned in two tone a falsing that occurs on iron can anybody chime in on that ?

As far as falsing occurring in 2 tone,,,it can happen,,,,but remember gain setting using 2 tone,,not the same as 3 tone. Meaning you can run too high a gain in 2 tone,,and get some falsing,,,but remember lower gain,,,means less depth.

Gain level 70 in 2 tone,,wearing headphones is about max depth,,,,now you can go to 97-99 gain,,,and you might see a bit more depth,,,,but for practical purposes,,gain settings this high,,,too noisy.

Should also point out,,,higher gain will usually give ID or more accurate ID for deeper targets.

Detector does sound smoother in 3 tone,, vs 2 tone overall.

With small coil in milder dirt,,2 tone will have definite advantages depth wise vs 3 tone any gain setting even 99.

With experience though,,,2 tone and how it rep sonde to nails,,iron and good nonferrous targets,,,will be more second nature to you.

Also,,remember,,,,nonferrous targets that are very challenged by ferrous material,,,,,,running in 3 tone or 2 tone,,,,these " challenged targets" may NOT present exactly textbook sound.

 

[Sataro]

Calabash, I'm sure you have given the Racer 2 a workout on the depth testing. I understand about the depth on the XP. I was very pleased with the depth that I was getting with it. I'm mostly a coin hunter myself. I like to hunt the old house sites. My question is what type of depths are you getting with the Racer 2? Most of my coins come in the 3-7" range where I hunt. Occasionally I may find some coins in the 8-9" range. I'm curious about what type of depths you have obtained with the Racer 2? Thanks for any info...

Should be great for what your talking about doing.
I was using the 10 x 5 coil
10 inch clad quarter yes
9 1/2 silver dime no
I believe a nickel will be maxed out at 8 or so inchs .
12 inch silver half can get it to hit it with gain jacked.
12 inch silver quarter no
4 inch merc dime surrounded by nails it nails it
4 or 5 inch buffalo surrounded by nails kills it.
5 inch trime hits it
8 inch flat button hits it.
I made a little over statement about depth lacking as these are VERY respectable depths and I was just using my deus as a measuring rod . I have to say this machine is a very competitive machine from what ive seen so far and will have to get some time in the field with it and see how it does. You should kill coins at those depths with it. The nickel is what kind of baffles me I air tested with the stock coil 8 inchs or so is what it hit it in 3 tones and saw scanner guy testing the machine with a stock coil in his garden on a 8 inch nickle and it was struggling with it a little maybe it just doesnt like nickles.

Thanks for the info Calabash. Definitely info I was looking for.

 

[Cousinhap]

Sold my XP Deus a couple of weeks back to raise some needed funds. In the meantime I sold a few of my ink pens that I make & decided to purchase another detector. Found a nice deal on a used like new Racer 2 pro pack with 3 coils plus the wireless headphones. Looks like the only coil used was the sniper coil. The other two coils don't look like they have been taken out of the box. Started reading through the manual & ready for a nice day to take it out for a test run!

Sataro, congrats on the purchase. Is that a situation where there is leftover warranty? I'm in the market for a Nokta/Makro product and am trying to consider whether second hand might not be the way to go. What's a ballpark price for a package like you described go for?