Request Input - Makro Racer 2, XP Deus And Whites MX Sport

[Roughwater]

I've been on the hunt lately for a reasonably priced New VLF Detector that I can use primarily for the beach and prospecting trashy areas but any other additional modes I would consider a bonus such as coin and relic modes as I know I would use those modes at times also if available.  

 

I have tried to include all the positive and negative features I could find or think of but I invite any of you, especially those of you who have used one or more of these 3 machines for your opinion positive or negative.  If you know of a better machine you feel I should look at please feel free to advise me.  I highly regard your input.

 

In short I've narrowed down the selection to the following 3 detectors as they all 3 seem to have the features I'm looking for, at least in the mid-priced range.  

I have also considered the CTX-3030 and the Garrett Pro as the Garret seems pretty solidly based but there is some uncertainty about it's salt water ability.  The CTX- 3030 looks awesome just not sure I can go the steep price and a single freq machine I'm thinking would do as well or better in mineralized ground for my prospecting needs.     

 

 

XP Deus

 

Plus Features:  Selectable (4 Frequency 4, 8, 12, & 18 Khz), Very Fast Recovery speed, Ultra Light weight, breaks down easily, No wires to deal with.  Has beach and goldfield modes notch Disc, Iron level, Multi-tone, motion and 4 non - motion modes, 10 pre-configured factory programs, 8 user programs that can be saved, ground tracking and grab ground balance, 5 yr Warranty, wireless digital, Rainproof, Backlight, low power consumption, lithium batteries, 20 hr life, 2 hr charge time, offset Freq.   

 

Negative Features: Coils very expensive, very small selection of coils, 1. Each component has it's own battery that needs recharge, Battery in coil is only factory replaceable. 

 

 

Makro Racer 2

 

 Fast Recovery speed, handles mineralized ground well (ISAT), Has beach and deep mode. great price per feature economy, great selection of coils, notch filter, Auto or manual ground balance, remembers settings, threshhold, Iron audio, Volume control, uses common batteries (4AA), screen backlight, vibration, frequency offset  

 

Negative Features: Single Freq (14Khz), not waterproof, Good target ID's bunched together in the 80's,

 

 

Whites MX Sport

 

Pluses: Waterproof, 6 modes, Beach, prospecting, Relic, coin, all metal etc, Volume and threshold control, Ground grab, V/SAT, 20 hours on a charge,screen backlight, adjustable notch disc, Tone ID, frequency offset, 

 

Negatives: 4lbs, 8 AA batteries, 1/4 headphone via adapter, only 2 optional available coils so far, Single Frequency (13.8 Khz), New model, not fully tested by a large group,

 

Terry

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Beach detecting and prospecting tend to be diametrically opposed detecting tasks. Machines that do well at both excel at neither. For the price I do not think the Deus is a particularly fabulous beach detector or prospecting detector. Its strength is extracting non-ferrous targets from ferrous trash and it is good at general purpose dry land uses. To submerge the coil more than a foot requires a wire be attached to the coil and run up above water as an antenna as the wireless signal does not penetrate water very far.

The original Racer bunched up target id numbers around 80 - not so Racer 2.

If you are serious about getting in the water - obvious advantage MX Sport, although a few reports on its salt water handling so far have been mixed. While single frequency machines can be made to handle salt water they work best in low mineral situations like Florida. The more mineralization you add to the beach, the better multi frequency and PI machines look by comparison.

[Roughwater]

Thanks much Steve for your input.

[Jackpine]

If Makro were to come out with an elliptical concentric for increased sensitivity to small gold that might tip the balance a bit more toward the Racer 2 on the prospecting aspect.  Just my thoughts.

Tom

 

[Roughwater]

2 hours ago, Jackpine said:

If Makro were to come out with an elliptical concentric for increased sensitivity to small gold that might tip the balance a bit more toward the Racer 2 on the prospecting aspect.  Just my thoughts.

Tom

 

They do make a elliptical DD coil for the Racer/Racer2 which would be slightly more sensitive than the stock coil I would assume as it's a bit shorter and narrower like the minelab Joey coil.  But I'm maybe confused by the term "Concntric" as referred to a coil?  Are you talking about maybe a mono coil?  I'm not sure mono's are made for a VLF machine?  The little 5" for the racer coil I heard referred to as a "DD concentric" coil. I'm assuming the term concentric refers to it being round, although the 5" isn't perfectly round?    

[Roughwater]

10 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

The more mineralization you add to the beach, the better multi frequency and PI machines look by comparison.

Steve,

Again, appreciate the input and I'm sure you are correct.

You are not the first person to recommend a Multifrequency machine for me to use at the beach.  Beach hunting for me is kinda of a secondary need so wasn't looking for the latest greatest for that purpose.  However, I thought of a way to get a Multifrequency machine for cheap which would still leave me enough money and more open to also buy if I wish, a more dedicated VLF gold machine.  However the Racer 2 might still be my choice over a more dedicated gold machine.    

I'm thinking to buy a used Minelab Quattro for 400 dollars.  Then I will have my occasional use beach detector.  I never really planned to be diving and such so I think it would do better than any single frequency machine at the beach and probably as good as the Excalibur in many ways. If I get more involved in beach detecting I can probably later resell it and get my money back to put toward a more dedicated beach detector.   There are newer FBS/BBS machines but they are also more expensive.  Some say the Quattro is a beast on the beach with depth.  It seems to share it's coils with the newer model Minelab machines which is a plus.  

Any thoughts on that that potential purchase would be appreciated?  

Terry

 

[auminesweeper]

1 hour ago, Roughwater said:

They do make a elliptical DD coil for the Racer/Racer2 which would be slightly more sensitive than the stock coil I would assume as it's a bit shorter and narrower like the minelab Joey coil.  But I'm maybe confused by the term "Concntric" as referred to a coil?  Are you talking about maybe a mono coil?  I'm not sure mono's are made for a VLF machine?  The little 5" for the racer coil I heard referred to as a "DD concentric" coil. I'm assuming the term concentric refers to it being round, although the 5" isn't perfectly round?    

The easiest way to put it is to say that a Concentric is A VLF's version of a Mono and like Mono's they don't like hot ground, normally a DD can be expected to see a coin sized item in depth equal to it's size IE 10DD = 10" or a 6x10  should equal 8" because to get an Idea of an elliptical coils depth 6 + 10 = 16 divided X 2 = 8" where as a 6 X 10 Concentric = 16 divided 2 - 8" X 1.33 = 10.46 inches possible Depth, Not only that they pin point better and don't suffer from EMI as bad and they can see smaller targets, but you will start to loose depth once the ground reading gets up around the early 70s on the MXTs scale, about 75 is the most you would want to keep using a concentric after that you are going down hill fast,

hope this helps,  john.

[Steve Herschbach]

Sure, a Quattro would work fine on the beach.

Let me ask a question back Terry. Have you ever done much metal detecting? Or is this something you are just getting into?

If you are not getting in the water but just detecting up around the towel line a Racer 2 will do as well as anything. The answer to all your questions is sure, they will all work. To varying degrees with ins and outs and opinions from everyone most any decent detector will work for almost anything. Certain uses have hard fast lines - you want to get in the water, you need waterproof.

If all you want to do is detect out of the water on the beach and do some prospecting now and then, then virtually any mid frequency general purpose metal detector will do the trick. The questions then just boil down to a popularity contest for those you ask. One person might say Teknetics T2, another AT Pro, another Racer 2, another Tesoro Lobo, Minelab 705, White's MXT, etc etc and all would be right. For most of metal detecting it is shades of gray and matters of opinion.

It is like saying you want a car for city driving and highway driving, what car to get?

VLF Concentric Vs DD Coils

[Jackpine]

On 4/11/2016 at 6:23 AM, Roughwater said:

They do make a elliptical DD coil for the Racer/Racer2 which would be slightly more sensitive than the stock coil I would assume as it's a bit shorter and narrower like the minelab Joey coil.  But I'm maybe confused by the term "Concntric" as referred to a coil?  Are you talking about maybe a mono coil?  I'm not sure mono's are made for a VLF machine?  The little 5" for the racer coil I heard referred to as a "DD concentric" coil. I'm assuming the term concentric refers to it being round, although the 5" isn't perfectly round?    

Roughwater

No such thing as a "DD concentric coil" It's one or the other.

Steve's link is a great read on the advantages of Concentric coil posted by some very knowledgeable people. 

One of the reasons I picked up the Teknetics Omega 8500 was that it can use either type.  I was very disappointed to find that Fisher/Teks new concentrics are NOT the concentrics that the old Fisher made.  Kinda cheap looking and sonic welded or something. Don't trust 'em to be reliably waterproof for wading.   They are not the solid epoxy built like a tank coils of old.

Progress?

Tom

[sjmpainter]

Roughwater, I use a old Excalibur for the beach and a Fisher F19 for park hunting / general prospecting and a GPX for dedicated prospecting.

I support your thought on buying used for the type of metal detecting you are NOT going to concentrate on. You can find excellent deals and most likely recoup the investment when you sell not to mention the value of the finds. At 400.00 I can't see losing any money.

I took the Excal and F19 to the beach recently and the Excal smoked the F19 anywhere near water or wet sand. Took the same setup to the park, hands down the F19 was more fun.

Anyway don't be afraid to look at used and remember between finds and resale you will come out fine no matter what you get. The real thing to consider is what will give you the most fun!

FYI- If you are anywhere near water get a detector that can be submerged.