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Makro Gold Racer As A General Jewelry Detector For Parks


serg

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Hi Steve,
in your posts you mentioned several times that you are using the Makro Gold Racer as a go-to detector for the jewelry detecting in parks, which surprised me quite a bit since I originally bought it as a micro-jewelry detector based on advice from Tom Dankowski.

could you please share a few tips on how to best utilize the gold racer for that purpose? e.g. are you greatly reducing the sensitivity to ignore the smaller (aluminum) junk, what exactly you are looking for in the signal, do you ignore the no-number-just-audio signals, etc?

I also have a CTX 3030 and was wondering how you'd compare the two for this particular purpose with the goal of digging the least amount of junk and using the screwdriver method of recovery.

and last question - do you ever record yourself in process of detecting/recovering? It would be super helpful to see how its being done by someone like you - there is a Russian proverb that says "its better to see one time than to hear a hundred times".

thanks in advance for your time,
Sergey

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Hello Sergey, welcome to the forum.

First off, let me say I have not been doing nearly as much jewelry detecting in parks the last year as I have intended. Partly due to a longer, colder winter this year in Reno which has had the ground covered in snow more often than normal. It is only now finally warming up and melting.

I do not vouch for my methods as being the best or most efficient. I simply hunt in a way I enjoy and it works for me. But since you asked....

I run the Gold Racer at full sensitivity and rely on the fact that it uses VCO audio to decide what to dig. I only like to use a screwdriver and recover shallow targets. Whether using All Metal and eyeballing the meter or Disc 1 with two tones I go after all non-ferrous. The VCO audio in either mode causes shallow targets to "squeak" and generally I go after the squeakers. Deeper targets have a softer edge to the sound. The use of a pinpointer is critical however. I acquire a likely sounding target, then stab it with my pinpointer. If the pinpointer locates it I pop it with the screwdriver. If the pinpointer will not hit it then it is too small or too deep to bother with. For me anyway.

In tot lots, around playground equipment, volleyball courts, etc. I just hunt like I am nugget detecting and recover all non-ferrous, even the tiny stuff. If digging is easy and non-destructive, why not?

If small aluminum bothers you just watch the VDI numbers as they come up and either ignore them or disc them out. Small aluminum will be on the very low end right up against ferrous (ferrous to non-ferrous breaks in the 35 - 40 zone). Of course post ear rings, thin chains, etc. will be missed also. If you are trying to cherry pick rings, they are targets that really squeak and have tight or even single number VDI responses.

With the CTX again using the pinpointer is key, and tight, dense screen targets would be reflective of rings and pull tabs.

I don't overthink things much. For me two things are important. First, that in my judgement is the area likely to have jewelry. If I think so, then I want to clean it out of all non-ferrous targets. Except those that require digging a plug. The secret for me is keep it very easy which in turn makes it fun. I do not mind digging aluminum if it only takes seconds to recover it. I hate digging a plug for aluminum however. Too much work, too much potential damage, too little potential for payoff per target. I am not saying I never dig plugs, but I am typically looking for old coins when doing that and being much pickier as to what I dig. The key on jewelry in my opinion is sheer volume in the right locations.

I got a Go-Pro for Christmas with the intent of shooting video at some point, but don't hold your breath there. Shooting video is work and takes away from detecting time, and so I have a hard time motivating myself to do it.

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thanks a lot, Steve!

it makes a lot of sense now that you explained it in more detail - I might try your way in a park that has a couple festivals every summer that might still have some shallow jewelry. 

and I guess for the parks with a bit more history and a chance to find silver coins the ctx would still be preferred choice. by the way, the ctx also sings differently (double beeps) for the really shallow targets.

will be waiting for the videos from you sometime this year :)

Sergey

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