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RACER REVIEWS??

St Bernard

New member
Would like to see if any reviews for those who have had a chance to use the Racer 2 detector and the PROS and CONS of the Racer 2. Thanks
-------------------
Bill
 
Here's what I have so far. After a few minutes going over the manual and a quick run in the yard. The first thing we Westerners need to do is change the depth from cm to inches, unless of course you prefer the metric system. It is easily done by pressing the +/- buttons simultaneously while turning the detector on, you will then see the letters US on the screen as explained per the manual. Otherwise you may see a depth discrepancy. I was surprised to see that the R2 would overload on the nails of my porch. One of my concerns with the Core was it overloading easily in the field, but I only had the Racer2 overload once in actual ground, that's a good sign. I'm liking the ergonomics and menu system so far, and the build quality is excellent. I hope to give it a real test in some iron tomorrow, possibly Saturday. A couple of other things I noticed was that the charger on the pro pack does not come with the standard US two prong outlet, only European style prongs on the charger. I can always plug it into a cigarette lighter for recharging the batteries, but it is a pain to have to find an adapter for our 110v US plug. Again, not a huge issue, just an observation. Also, I prefer the Core's pro pack case to the Racer's back pack style case. I like that the Racer's coils can remain on their rod's inside the Makro case, but it's not near as rugged nor as organized as the Core's. My initial observations so far. I'm excited to run this detector in some iron with the small coil and see what it can do!
 
I got my R@ in around 6:30 PM but I had some grand kids visiting and then I had an old friend come by wanting to start a band again. I only had time to un-box it and turn it on. I'm hoping to get some videos tonight but now they're talking possible snow today. I did have time to run some quick gold tests since that was my main interest and was pleased with the results. I was able to hit both my small earring and chain with no clasp. Feel good in my hand as well. Good balance.

Racer2_2.jpg

Racer2_3.jpg

Racer2_4.jpg
 
I've had mine out twice for a couple of hours total. The ergonomics are fine and the machine is well balanced.

I'm new and only used an Ace 350 in the past. I need to get used to all of the sounds from the Racer 2.

Both times out I went to a local modern park, just to test. I LOVE the 11-99 non-ferrous range, as I though I would.

I dug all ID's greater than 15 to get a feel for what I was seeing.

When the Racer 2 hit a coin there was no wondering what was under the coil. It hit solid. A handful of times I could hear a coin and some junk together. A solid tone immediately with a scratchy, jumpy signal added in.

I can't speak to power consumption as I haven't used it long enough, but I can say that I hate the headphones it comes with. They're literally dollar store Koss phones.

So far I really like the Racer 2. Within the next week I'll get it out to an old home site for more testing, as the 2 park tests, to me, were just a step up from air tests.
 
Just got my Racer 2 delivered today. Met up with Monte and put it together. Set my settings where I like them and the audio tones where I like them and saved it. Wed Monte and I are going to hit an old site and will give it a work out :)
 
just a little time on mine....(have used G2 then G2+ for 4 years or so, used others since 2007)...

ordered with the 5x10 cause I like the closed coil for glideability...very disappointed at how heavy that coil is!
note to Makro: how about getting the G2 version to see how light they can be!

weighed the R2 with 5x10 on postal scale @ 3 lbs 6.5 oz with the supplied batteries...it's certainly nose heavy with that coil.

the G2's 5x10 is feather weight in comparison...so -1 on the heavy coil there Makro...my arm is ready for the whirlpool bath
much sooner with the R2...vs.....G2....

it's cold up here in the North and I found that the supplied strap could use more adjustment room for the down coat
and layers I need to wear...so, why not make it longer with more velcro....what would the 'Rock' do if he detected?

good build quality, feels solid (needed for weighty coil)....ergos are poor (sorry folks) compared to the G2...feels awkward
coming from the G2...especially with the nose heavy 5x10...balance is much better with the 5" coil but I'm just not a fan of
the little coils...tiny coverage irritates my tiny brain....

urban park hunting is my game (since that's what I've got though some of these parks date back to pre-1900 so oldies are a possibility)....
R2 can't come close to matching the G2's id ability... ....but, G2 can't touch the R2 depth ability so there you go....
and the added depth doesn't come for free, always a tradeoff and in this case you get the dreaded 'id jitters'...
had some deja vu with the R2 harking back to my Minelab Se days of being flabergasted with jumping id's and digging
a lot of deep rusty nails and big iron that sound good (I never did 'grok' the SE and failed miserably with it,
wasn't until the release of the etrac I finally found one I could use successfully (till I ran out of good finds but that's another story))...

a big + for R2 is that it is NOT chatty in the park I tried...I bought an F75 in 2007 and it drove me crazy...(sold and bought SE, sigh...)

onward.... audio is really nice, on-screen access to settings is great....seems to go pretty deep in my dirt....
a lot of upper 90's readings in my dirt cause of lots of rusty chicken wire bits....but to notch those out could be costly as I
dug one such signal and amongst the 'bits' was a nice old silver quarter! so you just never know...

so, overall I'm ok with it for now...and will be getting some hours on it...just avert your eyes from the display (id's) and use the
audio....sounds are where it's at with this one....it's a nice complement to my G2+, especially since the clad finds with that one will
likely pay for the R2 eventually....
note to Makro, chuck the cheap headphones...have you lost your minds! who is going to purchase an expensive detector like
this and use the supplied cheap ass headphones! so just don't throw them in the box and save yourself a few bucks and some embarassment.

so after all this, here's the punchline: I'm really looking forward to the Nokta Impact with the G2 style rod and multiple (one at a time) frequencies...but will play with the R2 till then....cheers...
 
As far as the arm straps, I went on White's website and ordered a dozen of their straps.. They work great and give you the extra length needed when wearing a coat etc.
 
Southwind said:
I got my R@ in around 6:30 PM but I had some grand kids visiting and then I had an old friend come by wanting to start a band again. I only had time to un-box it and turn it on. I'm hoping to get some videos tonight but now they're talking possible snow today. I did have time to run some quick gold tests since that was my main interest and was pleased with the results. I was able to hit both my small earring and chain with no clasp. Feel good in my hand as well. Good balance.

Racer2_2.jpg

Racer2_3.jpg

Racer2_4.jpg


You're putting the band together again!!
 
OregonGregg said:
As far as the arm straps, I went on White's website and ordered a dozen of their straps.. They work great and give you the extra length needed when wearing a coat etc.

thanks Greg, I'll look into that as the one on my G2 also has the same malady...
 
makro/nokta have a ways to go to catch up on ID for US / AU coins, would love a F19/G2+ accuracy on ID for cherry picking on a R2 but they are just pups in this area , Dave J has been making VLF's sense before Alper was out of nappies, ( sorry Dave) but I have hope for them they have a not give up attitude and sure in the years to come they will be up there no doubt in the ID stakes.

all the rest of the tech seems pretty solid like my GR iron /non iron and speed the screen is just for an idea of what's there and well it hits super hard on low conductors and sure isn't as deep as a R2 would be, but for park gold who needs solid ID anyway the tone or rise fall VCO what ever people want to call it has good info I use Tesoro's for park gold and they have no ID unless you like to dial fiddle but its out by then anyway. so for me GR has a place in park and out bush, R2 not so much, but await the 5 tones of the Impact see how that looks sounds.

but from what I have seen with the GR the R2 should do well in iron and after all these are European machines where iron rules and its pretty evident they have a pretty good handle on iron now to get the ID up to scratch and maybe having both is not so easy, but I see this company as wanting a piece of the western market and get that ID up to scratch and sure other company's will be shaking in their boots.

so keep whacking away guys you are on the right track :biggrin:

AJ
 
horikindaguy said:
just a little time on mine....(have used G2 then G2+ for 4 years or so, used others since 2007)...

ordered with the 5x10 cause I like the closed coil for glideability...very disappointed at how heavy that coil is!
note to Makro: how about getting the G2 version to see how light they can be!

weighed the R2 with 5x10 on postal scale @ 3 lbs 6.5 oz with the supplied batteries...it's certainly nose heavy with that coil.

the G2's 5x10 is feather weight in comparison...so -1 on the heavy coil there Makro...my arm is ready for the whirlpool bath
much sooner with the R2...vs.....G2....

it's cold up here in the North and I found that the supplied strap could use more adjustment room for the down coat
and layers I need to wear...so, why not make it longer with more velcro....what would the 'Rock' do if he detected?

good build quality, feels solid (needed for weighty coil)....ergos are poor (sorry folks) compared to the G2...feels awkward
coming from the G2...especially with the nose heavy 5x10...balance is much better with the 5" coil but I'm just not a fan of
the little coils...tiny coverage irritates my tiny brain....

urban park hunting is my game (since that's what I've got though some of these parks date back to pre-1900 so oldies are a possibility)....
R2 can't come close to matching the G2's id ability... ....but, G2 can't touch the R2 depth ability so there you go....
and the added depth doesn't come for free, always a tradeoff and in this case you get the dreaded 'id jitters'...
had some deja vu with the R2 harking back to my Minelab Se days of being flabergasted with jumping id's and digging
a lot of deep rusty nails and big iron that sound good (I never did 'grok' the SE and failed miserably with it,
wasn't until the release of the etrac I finally found one I could use successfully (till I ran out of good finds but that's another story))...

a big + for R2 is that it is NOT chatty in the park I tried...I bought an F75 in 2007 and it drove me crazy...(sold and bought SE, sigh...)

onward.... audio is really nice, on-screen access to settings is great....seems to go pretty deep in my dirt....
a lot of upper 90's readings in my dirt cause of lots of rusty chicken wire bits....but to notch those out could be costly as I
dug one such signal and amongst the 'bits' was a nice old silver quarter! so you just never know...

so, overall I'm ok with it for now...and will be getting some hours on it...just avert your eyes from the display (id's) and use the
audio....sounds are where it's at with this one....it's a nice complement to my G2+, especially since the clad finds with that one will
likely pay for the R2 eventually....
note to Makro, chuck the cheap headphones...have you lost your minds! who is going to purchase an expensive detector like
this and use the supplied cheap ass headphones! so just don't throw them in the box and save yourself a few bucks and some embarassment.

so after all this, here's the punchline: I'm really looking forward to the Nokta Impact with the G2 style rod and multiple (one at a time) frequencies...but will play with the R2 till then....cheers...


I think if you give it some time you'll find that the id's are actually quite stable ( you are right not g2 stable, but still quite stable), not sure how Canadian coins id ( I think your Canadian) but our dollars id $2 66-67, $1 70-71, when you get numbers around these not too jumpy and that unmistakable solid target audio, you know you got a coin, I have already found $600+ with the R2 and I have a pretty good idea when I got $$$$ under the coil. Give it more time and I'm sure you'll have more confidence in the machine.
 
My thoughts after my first short hunt in a trashy park.
There is a lot of information in the audio on this detector.
More than the original Racer from what I can remember..
VID is stretched a little to wide for my liking but I wasn't really bothered by the original Racer scale
like a lot of other people were.
Maybe 0 to 20 for iron would have been the perfect iron range for me. Just a personal opinion and that could change.
Only have a few hours on the R2 so far.

I found 4 wheat pennies (one key date 26s)from depths of 4 to 7 inches as well as a bunch of clad,
junk jewelry and misc. other trash.
When I got home I tested a hand full of wheat pennies and they ranged from 67 to 81..
Zinks can go even lower than that, so that's a big range just for a penny.
Probably double the range of my CTX.
VIDs were all over the place when hunting, but coins tighten up quite a bit and sound good..
Not as tight as my original Racer. It really locked on to coins hard.
R2 is a lot more bouncy on the VIDs.
I need to re-learn my crown cap skills with this detector..
I have been spoiled with my CTX in that regard..
It feels lightning fast after running my CTX though.

I like the new 7 X 11 coil better than the original Racer coil.
Love the iron audio but will need some time to figure where to put the tone brakes and notching with such a huge VID Range.
I think not filtering out the iron and setting the iron audio on the low side will be one of the keys
to unlocking the goods from the iron.
The tones really blend together nicely to provide lots of information..
I see myself running this detector without using the VID once I get some hours on it.
To be fair I don't think the R2 was really designed to be a dedicated park hunter.
It should be really good at old home sites where there is lots of nails and that is where I plan on using the R2.
I'm sure it will be a very good ghost town or relic hunter too.
Bryan
 
I don't own a R2 only the GR and from what I can see its based on the R1 platform with iron at 40 and like you said the tone does give a lot of info and more time with the GR will confirm that I am sure, and like the R2 its more meant to be used in iron for gold in the GR case or just out in the bush hunting nuggets but even in the bush there is junk to deal with unless you are way off the beaten track.

mine will be used for park gold for the most part not its intended purpose but hey its so sensitive picks up gold I cant weigh and fine chains so who knows what pops out and then it can double up out in the bush for nuggets sure the GR and F19 will make a nice pair and maybe the impact when it comes along interesting times ahead.

for me park hunting for old coins well its gotta be hard to beat the FBS machines but I am happy to stand corrected be great to see over time what people are finding with the R2.

thanks for the reports fellas much appreciated !!

AJ
 
"favotti: I think if you give it some time you'll find that the id's are actually quite stable ( you are right not g2 stable, but still quite stable), not sure how Canadian coins id ( I think your Canadian) but our dollars id $2 66-67, $1 70-71, when you get numbers around these not too jumpy and that unmistakable solid target audio, you know you got a coin, I have already found $600+ with the R2 and I have a pretty good idea when I got $$$$ under the coil. Give it more time and I'm sure you'll have more confidence in the machine. "

yes, Canadian, only found 1 loonie ($1, the earlier nickel version) shallow and it hit at a solid 75, also a few 'nickel' composition dimes and quarters and they were ok also...so the pre-2000 small clad and pre-2012 $1 and $2 will be ok....steel core unknown....
Canada went 'steel core' in 2000 and that coinage is awful. haven't dug any of those yet. I would probably have to dig literally all ferrous to get them...I'll try doing some on the ground testing...our $1 and $2 went steel core in 2012 so I'll have to test those out also...

I'll definitely be putting some time on the R2 this season, I like the audio and the non chatty nature of it....with the plan being to hit older parks with the hope of picking up the occasional older coin and/or relic missed with the Minelabs I had in the past (too heavy and lack of finds so sold them). I'll mostly just be going by sound alone and digging 'good' sounding non-ferrous signals that catch my ears...

btw, I stopped using the pin-point (oxymoron) feature as it's way off, reads low....I don't need it anyway but would have been nice to have a semi-accurate depth indication....must be so sensitive to micro metal in the soil that it gets thrown off pretty easily...

I didn't say it earlier but having a very good quality analog audio rheostat is a god send....I can now use any of my audiophile quality headphones with no issues...cheers....oh and 1 other thing for Makro, "come on, how about including a snap on ground standoff device to keep the detector from falling over and placing the speaker/battery cover right in the dirt" or a couple fold-out bars from the battery box or some such. you guys are innovative and smart, shouldn't be a big deal but go out in the rain and see how it's needed!
 
Received my R2 last night and assembled it quickly. I removed the Makro arm cuff and installed the Fisher F19 arm cuff that I had on my R1. It has the stand on the bottom so it holds the battery compartment off the ground by about a 1/4" but also adds stability when you set the detector down on the ground. I also installed the Meter rain cover and mounted the coils to the two lower rods. I also wrapped the grip to make it a little thicker and to protect it from getting worn and dirty. With the 7x11" coil it hit the scale at 3 lbs 9 oz. I usually use the Racer in ghost towns etc but today I was hunting a local park with three hunting buddies. I just wanted to play with some settings and see how it would perform compared to my R1 when just plucking modern coins out of the grass. I'm hunting in the Phoenix , AZ area in a newer park so nothing old is expected. This is how I set the detector for today's hunt. Three tone, Gain 50, ID Filter 28, Notch 33 - 63, Tone Breaks at 29 & 82, Iron tone 10, Mid tone 40, High tone 70, Iron volume 0. Results from my 2 hour hunt was 51 coins, 3 dollars, 6 quarters, 7 dimes, 1 nickel, 34 pennies. Junk targets 1 aluminum bracket, 5 aluminum screw caps, No pull tabs, No bottle caps.
First impressions: Excellent build quality, New 7x11" coil is a big improvement over the R1 coil.
Super easy to navigate through the menu or settings
I almost never use notch but it worked extremely well today to eliminate trash targets
ID numbers locked on to coins very well
The Save feature is Great! Sure like not having to re-enter settings after turning the detector off and back on.
Battery charger adapter to go from European to US wall socket is in a bag with coil hardware (someone said the adapter wasn't included, I think they missed finding it in the bag)
Headphones are crappy
Overall I found the R2 to be an excellent detector for what I was doing today. Can't wait to get out to a ghost town or railroad siding where the R1 was a standout. I'm sure that with the Iron audio and adjustable tone breaks, the R2 will be even better.
 
OregonGregg said:
As far as the arm straps, I went on White's website and ordered a dozen of their straps.. They work great and give you the extra length needed when wearing a coat etc.

I forgot to put the arm strap on, and noticed it on my first trip out with it and though it was going to be an issue, but it's so well balanced, I think I'm actually going to like using it without the strap, makes for quicker offloading of the machine when digging and more comfortable (especially when it's hot). Might be a different story with the 15.5" coil though.
 
My quick review

The audio paints a seemingly real time picture of what's in the ground as you sweep. The Racer rewards a broad smooth sweep with unmistakable audio on non-ferrous targets in iron. Shallow or deeper, doesn't matter they just jump out. Investigating some iffy signals can be rewarding as with other detectors but for the most part, non-ferrous is obvious due to the clean tone response. For me, the best (cleanest) audio response on co-located with iron targets is with a somewhat fast sweep speed. Not super fast, but faster that what one would think for hunting heavily iron infested sites.

Since farmers for the most part have gone to no-till that leaves all of my old sites with no fresh targets turned up on a regular basis. The Racer has unlocked these sites with "fresh" new finds for me.

On freshly planted coins using max sens in 2 tone mode the Racer gives a fairly accurate ID at depth "in my soil". Beats the G2 on depth with similar sized coils.

Cons: Not much just a quibble. I would prefer that the detector stay at the last menu item selected for adjustment instead of reverting back to the top of the list as it does.

An amazing machine really.
 
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