Merton - You Get Your Gold Racer Sorted Out Yet?

[Steve Herschbach]

I knew yours had quit soon after you got it. Any details on what happened and has it been handled?

The reason I ask is forum member SLGuin has apparently found new life as Slag on Tom's forum. He also reports getting a Gold Racer and having it fail.

My Gold Racer is one of the first off the production line and I have had no issues, but overall with all Nokta/Makro models I have had some concerns over quality control. Early issues mostly revolved around plastics issues like coil ears and coil bolts breaking, but they seem to have that sorted out now.

With you and Slag reporting Gold Racer failures I got concerned again, but some searching has not revealed this as being widespread. NokMak in general has been superb in fixing issues when they arise but if they really want to make serious inroads as a manufacturer they need to do all they can to put these types of issues in the past. In all fairness we see problems from all the manufacturers. A new (to us) company has more on the line however and can ill afford to get a reputation for building unreliable product.

I got onto the site of an old shack recently with the Gold Racer. My gut feeling has been that the Gold Racer would be too hot for getting into thick ferrous, but it did a great job handling some pretty thick stuff and filling my pouch with non-ferrous targets. As usual flat steel is a challenge as it is with all detectors but I seemed to be getting a handle on it between audio and VDI responses. The unit has something special going with the disc VCO based audio and ability to make low conductors literally squeak.

Anyway I know how you like hunting in the trash and hope you will be patient with the Gold Racer because I would like to compare notes with you on it if you continue to use it. I think Harry (LipCa) has one also but he is not saying much so maybe it is not working for him? Maybe he will chime in with a report.

So far my only problem has been in trying to find the optimal way to deal with really hot ground. The Gold Bug 2 in worst case scenario you just switch to iron disc mode and it will shut most ground and hot rocks up with maybe just chatter at high gain levels. You can do the same with the Gold a Racer but with two disc modes and multiple disc settings it is more challenging, and I have not spent enough time on really bad ground to find what I think are the best solutions there yet. Northern Nevada is pretty tame and running in Disc Mode 1, Gain 79, ID Filter 10, iMask 0, and lowering tone break from 40 to 35 has been a good starting point for me. I set Disc Mode 2 up similarly but gain of 99. This is in general too hot for normal hunting, but once I get a target, I can switch to this to get a more solid response on weak targets.

I do prefer the Gold Racer over the Gold Bug 2 when it comes to disc modes. The Gold Bug 2 has a silent search iron disc that silently rejects most ferrous targets. The Gold Racer can be set to do it this way also but you can vary the ferrous rejection (id filter) setting. In either case however I prefer a two tone setup, low tone ferrous, high tone non-ferrous. The problem with complete rejection is you can pass over a target and never know it was there. Borderline targets may give a poor reading that needs a little analysis and with a low tone alert you get a chance to stop and check questionable targets. The ability to set the tone break on the Gold a Racer really takes it to the next level because you can set the desired level of ferrous bias. I find the stock setting of 40 to be a bit too aggressive for my liking so 35 works better for me at lighting up smaller non-ferrous in bad ground with a high tone.

The bottom line is due to my single minded use of the GPZ last year my Gold Racer did not see a lot of hours. Park hunting this spring got me going with it however and what I saw around the old shack intrigued me enough to make me intend on putting in lots more hours this year. I still consider myself to be a Gold Racer novice and would like that to change. I got the small elliptical coil now also and need to get it into use as that was my favorite coil on my Gold Bug 2.

[Jonathan Porter]

Steve I took a quick look at a Gold Racer for the first time a couple of days ago, what's with the iSAT control is it a bit like the VSAT arrangement on the White GMII units? The ground balance was pretty sudden death too and the first time I have ever heard on a detector an audible alarm when the GB is completed, also it was interesting with the alarm/overload for really hot ground when setting up the sensitivity control.

JP

[Roughwater]

5 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Slag on Tom's forum. He also reports getting a Gold Racer and having it fail.

Sorry to hear that SL Guin's Gold Racer failed as I helped him get it along with another detector and I got his 3030.  A good trade for both of us.  I know his Gold Racer worked initially as he let me know about some of his finds using it.  

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi JP,

Good to hear from you, I hope you and your family are well.

Yes, iSAT is basically the same as V/SAT and very helpful for smoothing the threshold in variable ground. It is like everything detecting a trade, with higher iSAT settings possibly smoothing over very faint target responses. Lower iSAT settings with slow sweep speeds can aid in pulling targets from milder ground.

For anyone who already has a Gold Bug 2 and who is just wanting to chase tiny gold nuggets I do not know that there is any specific advantage in going to the Gold Racer. The Gold Bug 2 is king of the tiny bits and in terms of markets longevity one of the most well proven machines on the market. At 56 kHz however there is no other machine that comes close to the feature list of the Gold Racer and it does bring some interesting capability to the table for uses other than prospecting.

[Roughwater]

6 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

NokMak in general has been superb in fixing issues when they arise but if they really want to make serious inroads as a manufacturer they need to do all they can to put these types of issues in the past.

It's too bad NokMak can't help with the shipping at least when fault is likely theirs and not the user's.  The least they could do is make a repair more user friendly.  

[Steve Herschbach]

I think we would all agree to the same with all metal detector manufacturers, but if you read the warranty statements from every one if them you will see return postage is not something covered in writing by any of them. It does sometimes happen in isolated cases, like the MX Sport disaster. NokMak has actually been one of the better companies in this regard as they rarely require defective items be returned.

I probably know more about warranty policies than most people having run a service department and dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars in warranty from a wide range of manufacturers. Warranty almost always requires that an item be returned to a warranty service center at customer expense. Try, as I have, to explain to a customer why a 200 lb outboard or a snowmobile in the middle of nowhere Alaska must be airfreighted at their expense into Anchorage to get a warranty problem taken care of. It gets worse - they also have to pay the shipping to get it back!

Ask a manufacturer why that is, and they will tell you it is the price of living in a remote area as opposed to an urban area, and that they have no control over where people take things. Warranty generally covers direct cost to repair or replace an item only, with incidental costs like shipping excluded.

I am making no excuses here or defending anything, just giving some insight into the reality of warranty and how it works. Some companies do a better job in this regard and actually reading and understanding a warranty before you buy anything can save a lot of money in some cases should failure occur.

You all do read the warranties, right?

[LipCa]

 

I found 3 pickers in about 20 minutes with mine first time out......  Then I sold it!   

A fellow I know talked me into selling it to him(he wanted it bad)  I figured I would get another when I needed it. 

I continue finding gold with the GB 2 and ATX so don't need it yet.

One of my sons has the Gold Racer. Developed problems with the static through the headphones.   Contacted Makro and they sent him another.....Didn't even ask for the old one back.

[Don71]

Hello Steve,

I have the AU Gold Finder (Gold Racer Circuit) and have been using it inside a large drift mine in areas that have been hunted with every Minelab (including the SDC) except the GPZ 7000. The AU Gold Finder has been finding a lot of little nuggets in cracks where bedrock and soil is hot using the 5" round coil. I use ALL METAL and it works ok but some tiring ground feedback from variable ground. My very favorite setting is SINGLE TONE in DISC with very little ground noise. In 2 Tone the unit will make pops and clicks (or broken signals) in the hot ground on tiniest of pickers. But in single tone, I am getting the tiniest nugget signals loud & clear. (Use Disc Filter on LOW of 5 or sometimes ZERO if scanning a cleaned off crack for the strongest signal, MAXIMUM sensitivity of 10, IMASK at 2-3 in my ground, Almost maximum volume.)  Give it a try if your prototype version has single tone. I usually operate in "Disc 2 Deep" when I am using single tone. It has been a great addition to get every last picker. The only problem is that my Whites TRX pinpointer cannot get these tiny nuggets and it gets time consuming looking for that tiny piece(s) stuck in a bedrock crack.

I have the new small 4" wide elliptical coil on order. (waiting...)

-Don

[Steve Herschbach]

Don,

Thank you VERY much for reminding me of the single tone disc mode on the Nokta AU Gold Finder. The single disc mode does not exist on the Makro Gold Racer. It is a nearly secret setting that does exist on the Nokta FORS Gold also. My prototype AU Gold Finder does have the single tone disc mode. I need to run the Gold Finder and Gold Racer side by side and see how the modes compare. I am curious also what happens if you reduce tone break on the Gold Racer to zero, creating a single tone mode. Will it clean up the chatter?

I think the Gold Finder was a brilliant move with the retro all knobs design, not to mention being highly water resistant. I do still prefer the Gold Racer myself if for no other reason than being slightly less heavy and better balanced, though if the GF is hip or chest mounted that flips to advantage Gold Finder. Right now I am using the Gold Racer more for hunting trashy areas my GPZ hates than chasing tiny bits and the VDI numbers give me a clear edge there for helping make some dig/no dig decisions.

My prototype AU Gold Finder happily runs my Gold Racer coils but I have not confirmed beyond doubt that this is the case with production models.

[goldbrick]

Hi Steve, I am just going under the Golden Gate Bridge on my way to sea. I will be in port on the 25th and will have time to relate my tale of woe then.