Makro Gold Racer Or Minelab X-Terra 705 Dual Pack ?

[Monte]

On ‎9‎/‎14‎/‎2016 at 3:29 AM, Ricardo P. said:

Hello everyone.

I'm a newbie looking to purchase my first detector. My budget is up to 1.000 €. I'm in Portugal, Europe.

The first problem is that you are new to this outdoor sport, looking to purchase your first detector, and you have somehow narrowed your selection between two very different detector models.  Also, you refer to your budget, and if my computer is correct, that should equal about $1123.00 in USA money.   My suggestion is to consider more than one detector.  Most avid, enthusiastic detectorists will own at least 2 detectors and at least 2 search coils for each of them, in order to complement their arsenal and be better outfitted for a variety of hunting applications.

 

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I'm looking to primarily look for gold nuggets as I live in areas where gold has been mined before (granite with quartz veins abound around here.

Most places where gold has been 'mined' can suggest that gold is only in sufficient quantity to make it feasible to spend the costs to mine it, and most mining operations are recovering gold that is deeper in the ground than you might be able to detect it, and quite often it is in smaller, particulate size that it is not able to disrupt the electromagnetic field to  cause an audible response.

You have to have gold nuggets, from 'picker-size' and larger, located withing a relatoively shallow area to be 'findabale' with a good detector.  Even more to consider, Gold Nugget Hunting is more of a specialty field of detecting and can require a greater amount of time doing research, knowing the location you are hunting quite well, and using a Threshold-based All Metal search mode which is not something most 'average' Hobbyists detector users understand.  It also takes ample patience and a skill-set that is best learned over time.

How deep has most goodl been discovered at in that area?  How large, or small, is the gold that is being recovered?

 

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The soil is highly mineralized and several streams cut through these granite rocks). But as I also live near the beach and also possible historical sites, I would like to try my luck with some coin / jewelry / relic hunting. I would say 70% gold hunt and 30% coin/relic/jewelry hunt.

Coin & Jewelry Hunting, which can include Beach Hunting, is a more casual and easier to learn (and enjoy) metal detecting activity compared with serious Relic Hunting (which generally includes a lot of trash, especially iron junk that can easily mask good targets)  or Gold Nugget Hunting.

I would suggest you reevaluate the time you might spend for the type of hunting you will do.  Where I currently live, Coin & Jewelry Hunting doesn't have many opportunities for high-production sites.  I also live close to some old Gold Nugget Hunting areas, but most were more productive using pans, sluices and other forms of gold specimen recovery due to the smaller-size of the available gold.  Most also needed to be dug from the ground and was not of a sufficient size or quantity to make 'electronic prospecting' a very rewarding pastime.

Since 1969 my interest in Relic Hunting homesteads and ghost towns has increased, and today I probably spend 90% of my detecting time Relic Hunting rather than just doing urban Coin Hunting.  Besides, unless you are in a location where there is a large population, and there are ample outdoor locations for activities that will draw a lot of people who will engage in various forms of recreation to lose pocket-carry coins and knickknacks, then there just isn't as much reward like their used to be.

At least here in the USA, the mid-'60s thru the '70s and even into the mid-to-late '80s there were many places to enjoy Coin & Jewelry Hunting where a very adequate quantity of coins could easily be recovered.  Those days are mostly gone now and have been for a couple of decades. 

I deal with bad health and accompanying mobility issues that keep me from being as active afield as I used to be, but I don't give up.  I will hang in there and enjoy Relic Hunting as much as possible, and at times I will do some Coin Hunting in and about town.  I do have my inner drive to get out when I am able for some Gold Nugget Hunting, and for that I could use my FORS CoRe or Relic or Makro Racer 2, but I relay mainly on my Makro Gold Racer.

I have used my detectors for in-the-field comparison as well as classroom demonstration with those units attendees bring to my seminars, and I was left unimpressed with th4e Minelab 705 compared to any detector I use.  I have  also grabbed my Gold Racer at times just for some casual fun detecting with others, both in-town Coin Hunting as well as out at a ghost town or other older-use site when Relic Hunting.

While it might lack a little depth and performance on some higher-conductive, silver-type US coins compared with the CoRe, Relic, Racer 2 and some competitor's models, the overall performance of this 56 kHz Gold Racer is absolutely amazing.  I sometimes make it a main-use detector over my others simply because it works so well, and gives me a better opportunity to learn just how well its strengths are.

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Will a more specialized gold hunting machine be able to also find coins? I don't quite seem to find that answer.

Yes, ALL Gold Nugget oriented detectors can find coins, but they will not always sound so good and they might get to be quite annoying because most Gold Nugget Hunting models do not have automated or manual  Ground Balance, and most also lack any form of reasonable, useable, adjustable Discrimination to knock out any unwanted trash targets.   The Gold Racer is both well equipped with versatile adjustment features, even to where my CoRe/Relic/Racer 2 and Gold racer are almost all tied at that #1 spot in my detector battery.

 

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Preferably I would like a machine where I could switch frequencies without having to change the coils. But I guess that throws me into a much higher price tag?

I don't think you need that, and as a "newbie" there really is a lot ot learn to get a working knowledge of operating frequencies and their pros and cons.  Any of the models I listed that I use can be grabbed for Gold Nugget Hunting or Coin & Jewelry Hunting or Relic Hunting, but if you really have a very good opportunity to hunt sites that have an ample supply of nuggets big enough to disrupt the EMF, then I would suggest going with the Gold Racer, but plan to add another detector to your outfit as soon as you can.

 

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I narrowed it down to the Makro Gold Race and the Minelab X-Terra 705 Dual. I'm slightly more inclined to the Makro because its coils can be submersible. Any other suggestions within the set of functions I'm looking at? Having two machines is no option for me, not only because my time is limited, and also because my wife might divorce me ;)) (unless I get rich doing it, that is...)

A good inclination, and I also think you should go with the Makro Gold Racer.  You did just add that your "time is limited" and that can present another challenge for you.  Metal detecting isn't just a simple matter of turning on a detector like a TV.  It calls for a person to get involved in doing research to locate more new and potentially rewarding sites to hunt.  To put in an ample amount of time to read their User manual and work with the detector and coils in various applications and site conditions so as to know all the strengths and weaknesses possible.

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Based on what you said, I guess the 10x5'' 18,75kHz Elliptical Coil (the best suited for gold nuggets) that comes with it isn't water-proof.

All of the Nokta and Makro search coils are waterproof.  As for the size and type you select, that will be a personal thing as you master the detector.  In most of the sites I Nugget Hunt, I do prefer to use one of the 5½X10 search coils.  That said, I still opt for the smaller round 5½" DD coil almost as often due to the sites having a lot of brush and rock, plus they are a little more responsive on the smaller-size gold specimens that we typically encounter.

Sorry this reply is tardy.  I thought I had it posted the other day but somehow got distracted ... and on distraction was I went out relic Hunting for a couple of days.   Let us know what decisions you make on detector selection and how things go down the road.

Monte