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Makro Gold Racer Tiny Gold Chain Test


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So, I really like the Makro Gold Racer. I keep finding more things about it. Recently, I found a really tiny 14k gold chain visually, just lying on the ground.  I had my compadre and it couldnt pick it up. I took the chain home and tried it on my GR. I had the factory settings, 10 on disc, using Disc 2 the deeper one, and tone break at 30. Nothing, I couldn't get it to detect it.

So, while I was waving this chain in front of the 10" DD coil I started lowering the disc, I realized the ID number was about 3. So, I experimented with going one number at a time all the way to 0. At 1 I could get a somewhat clear signal. At zero it was a nice signal. Even the big coil coild pick it up at about an inch.

I have been trying to find micro jewelery with no luck. Maybe this is why. I have not used the disc mode in all metal. You see, I really like the clear signal the disc modes give. I have a hard time "reading" the all metal mode. I can really hear the signals in the disc modes. Why is the all metal mode so hard to understand? So very faint target sounds compared to the really obvious ones in disc.

So, am I searching in all metal when disc is at 0? It sure seems as deep and sensitive as all metal. I get much more audible info than all metal in my opinion. However, I have to state here, I'm not an expert. I know the all metal has a way of indicating a target with thresh hold sounds too, or, the silence of the thresh hold sometimes on tiny targets. But, it's not as easy as this method. I really could hear this tiny chain this way.

Can I hunt just as effectively like this or should I keep trying to learn the all metal mode? What's your opinions? And, please, lets keep this discussion to the Gold racer and those who have one. 

I'm actually really glad to have discovered this. I'm fortunate to have this chain to test.

 

  

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Hi TahoeGold.

Good post.

Couple of things:

In Discrimination mode, the size of the gold you can detect is directly related to how far down into the iron range you are willing to go.

What part of the chain are you actually detecting, a link?   the clasp?,  the loop the clasp connects to?   When chain hunting you are really hunting one of those parts and you have to setup for that part.

Wrap your head around this:  I found a nice looking 10K bracelet that has a VDI of 43/44 on my Gold Kruzer.  But the Kruzer will not respond to it in Disc mode unless I have the disc set down into the twenties.  All my detectors act the same way on this bracelet.  I have to be really down far into the iron range to hit it, even though it gives a non-ferrous ID number.  I attribute this to the solder used for the links and the really sharp angles where they fold over.  But it further illustrates my point.  Smaller gold requires a really low iron setting and some sites don't really support it.

The key about tiny/small jewelry is that the target is tiny/small so the response from your detector should also be tiny/small.   If you hunt in All Metal for tiny/small jewelry you have to set up so you can key into the tiny/small sounding targets.  The hard part is how much sensitivity is required to hear the tiny stuff in the first place can nix the ability to hear the small stuff in the blast of all the larger targets that respond.   I recommend learning to use the minimum about of sensitivity that will give you a intelligent response at the depth you are most likely to find the item.

That is what I like most about gold prospecting when it comes to jewelry hunting.  It really teaches you how to setup your detector to best hear the target.

HH

Mike

 

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With all metal mode you need to keep it stable especially on the tiny stuff and the GR will lock on to the target but if your threshold is cutting out you may miss passing over the target again.

If you like the disc modes try Disc 2 and set the gain down until the machine is not chattery.

Set your ID filter to 0 and nudge it up to 1-2 if you get a constantant chatter from the ground if needed. I prefer 0.

Keep imask on 0

Next set your tone break to 19 (this is well below the iron range but where an iron square nail will break at).

I can pick up .06g 10k earling loop at about an inch with those settings.

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Mike,

That's a great post on how to hunt micro jewelry. 

You need to write a book on how to jewelry hunt.

Thank you,

Rick

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1 hour ago, kac said:

With all metal mode you need to keep it stable especially on the tiny stuff and the GR will lock on to the target but if your threshold is cutting out you may miss passing over the target again.

If you like the disc modes try Disc 2 and set the gain down until the machine is not chattery.

Set your ID filter to 0 and nudge it up to 1-2 if you get a constantant chatter from the ground if needed. I prefer 0.

Keep imask on 0

Next set your tone break to 19 (this is well below the iron range but where an iron square nail will break at).

I can pick up .06g 10k earling loop at about an inch with those settings.

Thanks KAC!

This is what I needed! I kinda found out some of this. But these settings confirm and add to my understanding. 

   0 seemed to be great in Disc 2. But I didn't think about using 1 or 2 for ground chatter. ( We're talking disc not imask) I could use 1 and 2 and still get a signal. 3 was barely making a signal. I can see how that method would quiet it down. That's a nice tip.

   I had set my tone break at 35 because it would make most iron go to the low tone. I like the idea of making the nail tone break up. I'll try that. 

   I really started to like the sounds rather than the ID. Since I have a compadre, I'm used to hearing targets anyway. I was having a hard time setting it up to work best. I already like what it sounds like, and, the sensitivity now. This is why I got this detector. I knew I was not quite dialed. I couldent even hear this chain at first because of how I had it set up. 

    Now this chain and my other tiny gold bits ring out solidly. Thanks!

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3 hours ago, Mike_Hillis said:

Hi TahoeGold.

Good post.

Couple of things:

In Discrimination mode, the size of the gold you can detect is directly related to how far down into the iron range you are willing to go.

What part of the chain are you actually detecting, a link?   the clasp?,  the loop the clasp connects to?   When chain hunting you are really hunting one of those parts and you have to setup for that part.

Wrap your head around this:  I found a nice looking 10K bracelet that has a VDI of 43/44 on my Gold Kruzer.  But the Kruzer will not respond to it in Disc mode unless I have the disc set down into the twenties.  All my detectors act the same way on this bracelet.  I have to be really down far into the iron range to hit it, even though it gives a non-ferrous ID number.  I attribute this to the solder used for the links and the really sharp angles where they fold over.  But it further illustrates my point.  Smaller gold requires a really low iron setting and some sites don't really support it.

The key about tiny/small jewelry is that the target is tiny/small so the response from your detector should also be tiny/small.   If you hunt in All Metal for tiny/small jewelry you have to set up so you can key into the tiny/small sounding targets.  The hard part is how much sensitivity is required to hear the tiny stuff in the first place can nix the ability to hear the small stuff in the blast of all the larger targets that respond.   I recommend learning to use the minimum about of sensitivity that will give you a intelligent response at the depth you are most likely to find the item.

That is what I like most about gold prospecting when it comes to jewelry hunting.  It really teaches you how to setup your detector to best hear the target.

HH

Mike

 

Thanks Mike,This is good too!

   I can detect the chain itself. Holding the clasp and dangling the chain. It reads 3!! So yeah, it's in the iron/hot rock range!!

    However, it sure doesnt sound like a hot rock. It gives a distinct but short signal. I do know at that point it's a tiny but valid target.

    I'm ok with the sensitivity and trash, in some areas, there's some trash but not piled together. I just needed to be able to hear it and now I do. I had no way of knowing until I found this chain. It's really tiny. It looks like a necklace for a small person, but it has really tiny links and is thin. I think I weighed it to be just short of a half gram. Really really thin. So, now, I am aware of the proper settings and feel a lot more confident I can detect this kind of jewelry now. Thank you!

Side note, I find it important to be able to hear as much about a target as I can. These settings give me a full tone range on tiny targets. I can actually hear the chain bouncing as I dangle it in front of the coil. It sounds crisp when I pass over it on the ground, not scrachy. My ears tell me, "Hey, thats a tiny target..." That kind of info is what I value most when hunting micro jewelery. I have that now. Thanks!

   

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Ok, I just did a test hunt, I was finding tiny bits and parts. I found a few coins too. However, now I seem to be kinda excited to find tiny tiny bits. I didn't care if they weren't jewelry. The ID isn't accurate in this hunt mode. But, I sure can tell that, indeed, it's a target, and it's tiny. Like, a staple, a tiny screw. 

   So, now, I think, I'm not going to disc out anything when hunting like this. 

   Here's my question. To you that have found small earings, tiny rings and chains etc. Do you just dig it all? I'm thinking that's the only way to even know for sure. I finding myself ok with that if that is how this works. 

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I have found some really tiny silver earings but the tone break on those are higher than gold. They were so small and was dark my pulsedive pointer couldn't sense them so I just took a palm full of dirt and chucked it in my pouch to sort out later.

There seems to be a fine line where old iron breaks and foil is and this seems to be true on all the machines I use of different frequencies. Difference on a high frequency gold machine is high conductors are scrunched up in the higher end of the scale. As you lower the frequency on the machine the scale will start to spread out more evenly number wise. Lower frequencies respond better to high conductors, high frequencies respond better to low conductors.

Trick for me is finding that iron line.

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   This has been very informative. Sensitivity for the right depth of target, id filter off or 1 to 2 for chatter. Find the iron break point. That one about the gold showing 30s-40s but not sounding in the high tone until the tone break is down in the 20s was surprising. All good stuff. I just wonder how much stuff I missed. It's ok, this is changing things for me. 

   My chain would sound off all balled up, but when I dangled it, I had to go down to 3 before it sounded. 0 was clear and crisp. I hunted in 0 today and that was really great. I feel like I finally have the detector I wanted. Now these tips are really helping. Thanks!!

 

   

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  • The title was changed to Makro Gold Racer Tiny Gold Chain Test

I bought my Gold Racer not too long ago and ended up using it for coin/relic hunting in the woods. You can play with the ID filter which trims out targets below from sounding off and tone break to control the iron audio so it can essentially be a 1 or 2 tone machine. Running the Tone break at the same as the ID filter makes it a single tone vco machine. I use disc 2 for that and keep disc 1 as stock for referencing back. Can make cherry picking copper and silver from parks fairly easy.

Recently snagged the concentric coil which puts bottle caps into the 50's and flat iron in general low on the scale. Handy around places that have a lot of bottle caps but unfortunately being just in the 50's you can risk losing small jewelry.

Small thin chains are tough on any machine so skimming the ground is almost a must.

You may want to keep tracking off when using disc modes and ground balance manually more often. I noticed that if you keep the machine just at the brink of being noisy you can hear if ground balance starts to go off. If it chatters it's getting hot and if it gets quiet it's running too cold. Just do a ground grab every once in a while and you should be good to go.

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