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Announcing The New Makro Racer 2!


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I have the gold prospecting end sorted out now so done looking there (GPZ and Gold Racer). Got the underwater PI sorted out (ATX).

Basically that leaves me looking at a dry land VLF and underwater VLF. They could be one and the same unit but that would be pretty hard for me. Water machines just weigh more and have sensitive seals to deal with so I tend to prefer a dry land machine for dry and and leave water units for the water.

In the dry land VLF category they keep getting closer and closer to what appeals to me and the Racer 2 is one of the closest yet. With my V3i sold and F75 pending sale I am making room for something and I sure am eyeballing this one hard.

Decisions, decisions........

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I had to go look of the weight each detector and like said the wet one is a pound over the other. Now that's not a lot to deal with. The thing is I'm not getting younger and stronger. So anytime I can trim off any weight I'll last longer in the field detecting. The more time one can spend in the field nugget hunting are coin hunting that's what will put more in your pocket.

  Why is it a decision cost you money every time ?Haha I've been told it's only money but this why I don't have any because of decisions'

  Chuck

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This Makro 2 has my full attention now...

For the reasons Nenad and Steve have pointed out, along with it's medium freq,(would have prefered a lower freq and a straight shaft with stand to protect the rear assembly, but that's only a small whinge)

Good on them! My first positive post on a Nokta/Makro unit too, except the CoRe which I've always liked and have applications for.

I may becoming less negative in my middle age.

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Help me out here, Steve...

Here I am thinking I have my mind nearly made up to go for a Gold Racer...then here I find on the Makro Racer 2, it is a little more stable on the gold end (not using quoted verbiage, but close).  That part is great.

So thinking back to the original Fisher Gold Bug from way back when, it operated at 19 kHz...  That was designed for larger nuggets, because there were more larger nuggets back then relatively close to the surface.  Relatively.  I remember seeing a miner in Alaska on the back page of a prospecting magazine using one to dig out nuggets from the permafrost.  Isn't that kind of the way that it went?

A person could still find nice little nuggets with a well tuned original Fisher Gold Bug 19 kHz machine, I think they are called "clinkers" from the sound they make when being dropped into a metal gold pan.  So now I am thinking this Makro Racer 2 running at 14 kHz, that might be still good for some "clinkers", using the small round coil, but as well, we might be looking at a detector that quite possibly could detect even deeper, larger nuggets than that old Gold Bug @ 19 kHz could find using the larger coil option, plus being a killer coin machine with 3 tones. 

Now, that notion, because that is all it is, a notion, should make Paul squirm, while scratching his head even more, would now be my guess, because I am scratching mine, perplexed...as you say, decisions, decisions...  

Where am I off the tracks in my thinking?  Or am I??  You can be harsh if you wish, no matter.  

Thanks very much, These new detectors have my Washingtons, Grants, and Franklins ready to jump ship right out of my wallet! 

Spring is coming, and in the words of a famous person:  BCOT!!

Gary/Largo 

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Hi Gary,

It is pretty simple. You have a pile of VLF detectors that run 13 kHz to 19 kHz. In general the lower end is a tad less sensitive to ground issues (hot rocks) and a tad less sensitive to small gold. The higher end gets a smidge hotter on small gold but a bit more reactive to ground.

Frequency is not everything because voltage to the coil (transmit gain) and receiver sensitivity (receive gain) also play into it. The old original Fisher Gold Bug was a low gain machine and so not even close to the new Fisher Gold Bug (Gold Bug Pro) although both run at 19 khz. But all the newer 13 kHz to 19 kHz machines tend to be running very high gain levels, and in some cases maybe too high depending on where they are getting used. The early Nokta/Makro units were pushed so high that overloading in really bad ground is an issue. The solution is to back the gain down via the controls but people hate doing that, yet they complain about the overloading. Personally, I do not like machines that are sent out tame from the factory to prevent that as I feel like something is left on the table if I can leave the sensitivity control maxed out wherever I go. But I see now the quandary the manufacturers face there.

Anyway, in my playing around with all these units it is pretty hair splitting stuff. Now, when you make the jump up to 40 kHz  or higher the machines get extremely sensitive to tiny gold but they also, depending on the machine, can be a lot harder to tame in difficult ground conditions.

I am guessing what you are asking about is what Argyle is alluding to and what Nenad is mentioning. And yes, lower frequency VLF detectors can do well on larger gold and even some not so large gold. I have made pretty plain that I like the Gold Racer because it fills a gap in the GPZ capability, which is tiny gold, and discrimination. But if I had to go nugget detect full time with nothing but a VLF I would be far more likely to chose something like a Gold Bug Pro or Nokta FORS Gold+ at 19 kHz and possibly even this new Racer 2 at 14 kHz. They just offer a better balance of overall performance, and in the case of the Racer 2 you have a true multi-purpose detector.

I just love going round and round about this stuff and I truly enjoy speculating on and using different machines. I promise you though even having never laid hands on one that if all I had was a Racer 2 for the next five years I would still go out and bring home gold nuggets and coins and jewelry and more. For me it is kind of like talking about which PC runs Microsoft Word the best when the real limitation is my typing skill. The machines are not limiting me as much as the access to ground and time spent detecting. Give me a so-so detector, I guess I just need to work harder on getting on good ground and putting in more hours. That is what puts gold in the poke - a little smarts and a lot of hard work.

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I bought the Makro gold racer-a fantastic machine at the first of the year. Now I am in the market to buy one of the new detectors coming out. My choices are the Makro racer 2, Whites mx sport or the Nokta impact, if it ever comes out. I would appreciate anybody's input, particularly Steve's- good, bad or ugly on each model. What I have heard and read, the Nokta impact is the way to go- if they ever release it. I'm going to direct this to the Nokta/Makro research and development, if they made a Mackro Racer 2 that was waterproof, it would be a no brainer.

thanks,

. Keith

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Well, my friend of many years the Fisher F75 sold yesterday, soon to be replaced by a Racer 2. Get ready to wave the checkered flag, the Racer is on! The original Racer was not enough to convince me to let the F75 go so I guess you can call this a vote of confidence on my part. The Fisher F75 now joins the long list of detectors I will look fondly back on.

makro-racer-2-coin-jewelry-gold-metal-detector-.jpg

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I subscribed to Keith Southern and he just put out a video using the F75, Racer 1, and Racer 2 ..

Basically it showed the recovery times of the detectors even paying then over a nail and then an Indian head penny...

I don't have the link right now, but it is out there.

I suppose I don't need to tell you which detector was triumphant....

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