Makro Gold Kruzer First Look Video

[PhaseTech]

I hadn't seen an overview type video on the Gold Kruzer, at least not in English, so decided to do one. 

It's just a bit of a run through of the machine and a run across some ground and a few targets. Hopefully of interest to anyone wanting to know a little more about it. 

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Thanks for posting Nenad. If I had a use for only one dedicated higher frequency model I am thinking the Gold Kruzer would be it. Waterproof, wireless headphones, updateable, good coil selection, good price, full target I’d discrimination, very good performance - what’s not to like?

Detailed Review of Makro Gold Kruzer

[Dubious]

Thanks for the video, which is very helpful.  The Gold Kruzer does seem to have the best feature set of the VLF gold machines.  One ground balance option I might like that it apparently doesn't have is "grab"; but it seems to auto ground balance quite easily.

[Steve Herschbach]

The Gold Kruzer has three ground balance methods. Pure manual ground balance by adjusting the setting up or down, full ground tracking, and what Makro calls automatic but which is the same “push button and pump” method that other brands call ground grab. The grab function varies a little between manufacturers. Some models are always ground tracking in the background and hitting grab updates the machine to whatever that system is currently indicating. This is pretty much instant and is what machines like the White’s MXT uses. The hold button and pump method takes a few more seconds but I tend to prefer it as pumping up and down generally gives a better result and is the method used by detectors like the Fisher Gold Bug Pro.

Makro Gold Kruzer Owners Manual

[PhaseTech]

Grab and Auto GB or GB Reset are all essentially the same thing. Quick Trak is another one used by Minelab. 

What I love about the Gold Kruzer is you can do a quick Auto GB (or Grab as some like to call it), and then offset it simply by pushing the + or - keypads. 

I agree Steve, there is really nothing to not like about it. Add the adjustable tone break and iron volume in the 3-tone Micro mode and you have a very powerful unit at your fingertips.

One thing I haven't mentioned is that I really like the Boost. It is a more gentle boost compared to a lot of other units I've used over the years where the Boost was like hyper drive and made it too hot to handle, and pretty much non-useable. The Boost on the Gold Kruzer is the perfect compromise. The other thing I like about it is you can use it as a temporary Boost by holding down the Boost button, or lock it in by double pressing the button. Locking the Boost is great for when you're at the "scoop sweeping" stage of your target recovery.

 

[Dubious]

Thanks for the explanations.  I did mean the Whites-type instantaneous grab as described for the 24K--did not know the term also included pumping/auto on other machines.  I have it on my Racer 2 (and now also the Nox), but am not that used to pumping, as most of my detecting has been with the Etrac, which doesn't have ground balancing at all. Well, it is easier than manual...

[Joe76]

Lots of good info as always & like my self and many others, I think it's fair to say we all appreciate the effort by the pros gone into testing new machines like the Gold Kruzer and many others. There have been some really good reports coming in over the last year on the Gold Kruzer proving it is a hot little gold detector used in the right areas. 

It would be nice to know how good the Gold Kruzer is at detecting gold through moderately mineralised soils,  we always had our Garrett at Gold with us when sluicing out rock bars & using it to check over cracks & crevices for nuggs that might have been missed by hand. One thing that didn't impress me about the AT gold was the significant loss of depth in mineralised ground, air tests on small nuggets and in mild ground had decent results. We carried out the same tests in hotter ground & some cases the test pieces were basically ignored buried just under the soil which was probably masked by the iron rich dirt.

This isn't to say the AT gold wasn't behaving itself over the warmish ground it actually sounded smooth, it just had trouble seeing the gold that was obviously masked by the mineralisation. 

I suppose my question is has Makro improved the performance in the Gold Kruzer to better penetrate hot ground where other VLF detectors have struggled. 

Anyone that would like to chime in on the depth capabilities of the Gold Kruzer or just want to share their experiences with it please do so. I'm located in NTH QLD Australia our ground here is moderately mineralised in most places.

Cheers.  

 

[Steve Herschbach]

All VLF detectors lose depth in mineralized soil, and the Gold Kruzer is no exception. It is a slightly better nugget machine than the AT Gold but basically if mineralization is the issue then a PI is the solution. 

[Jeff McClendon]

Hi,

finally it looks like winter is over (snowed here in Denver last week!!!!) and I got in some testing  with the Makro Gold Kruzer in my fairly nasty decomposing granite and volcanic ash dirt.  I have already used it for micro jewelry and even shallow coin hunting in Micro discrimination mode. It is definitely good at micro jewelry detecting and can do fairly well as a coin detector too in the multi tone Micro mode.

I tested three gold targets down to 4" (11cm): a .75 gram nugget, .15 gram nugget and a tiny .05 gram picker outdoors in my test bed which has buried coin and relic targets and a 1.5" by 6" PVC pipe with PVC/styrofoam insert buried vertically in the test bed that I can remove, insert a small target and replace for in ground nugget testing at different depths. 

I used Gen mode, gain on 89, threshold on 7, ISAT 2, and bumped the tone pitch up to 50 to give it a higher zippy pitch. Ground balanced at 87 with 4 of 5 bars mineralization so almost in the hot zone mineralization wise. In fact if I ran the gain any higher the Gold Kruzer would go into overload. I used the 10x5 concentric and the 7x4 DD. The results were almost the same.

.75 gram nugget was loud and clear down to 3" and was easily detectable at 4" with a quiet zip.

.15 gram nugget was loud and clear at 2" and was easily detectable at 3" with a quiet zip.

.05 gram picker could only be detected at 1" or less. Any deeper was not possible.

I did the same test with my XP ORX and used similar settings especially gain at 85. I could have run it higher with no problems. It ground balanced to similar numbers in both Gold 1 at 31kHz and Gold 2 at 74kHz and had 2/3rds to 3/4ths mineralization bar filled. The results were similar in both modes with Gold 2 being better at the tiny picker.

.75 gram nugget screamed at 4"

.15 gram nugget was loud and clear at 3"

.05 gram picker was easily detectable at 1.5" in Gold 2 and 1" in Gold 1

The Makro Gold Kruzer was similar to the Gold Racer results wise. I wish the ORX was waterproof...............

Jeff

 

 

[PhaseTech]

The Gold Kruzer has one of the most stable thresholds of any High freq VLF I've used, and that's what helps it perform on the ground. Many other machines can air test better, but they are next to useless on the ground. 

Joe76, yes as Steve has said all VLF's will lose depth in mineralisation. The smaller coil will be the better choice of the two stock coils in mineralised soils, with the concentric being reserved for mild ground or if using the Gold Kruzer to chase jewllery. 

The optional GK24 coil is a 9.5x5" elliptical DD, and this is a good choice for mineralized soils, better depth and coverage, but not quite as zippy on tiny stuff as the small 7x4".