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Having a problem with the 4.5X7 elliptical coil just purchased and wonder if anyone else has experience with it. At sensitivity 90 and above it overloads, 89 or below it appears to operate normally. Other settings appear to not be involved, just sensitivity. Even running at 89, it seems to offer excellent target separation and beautiful sensitivity to small. Just want to be able to push the gain a bit. Is this just a bad coil or am I doing something wrong?

I've been playing with the G.R. at home testing it out with different size nuggets in the ground etc. First time out in the field with the Gold Racer yesterday. I was at a hydraulic pit in the area where the Scott River meets the Klamath River in Siskiyou county Ca. To get a stable threshold the settings were: Sensitivity 69, Threshold 35, iSat 3. The mineralization was 1 bar from max. The ground I started in was about 1/4" dirt over shale. The GR would lock hard at 99, the non-ferrous bar all the way to the right. I dug into the shale/Copper stained soil, kept checking the hole with GR then no more target. I checked the dug out material w/no target. Ok so I thought a glitch and kept swinging. Not more than 8 feet away and same target readings, same rusults. This happened three times . It was getting dark so decided to quit for the day. Steve or any other Gold Racer owners have any thoughts ?

Typical contrived test in that a gold ring is a near perfect target. Still, I am noting that the Gold Racer at 56 kHz is different than most machines and does have some unique ferrous handling capability. The only problem is the machine is very hot, and can produce some really sparky responses on flat steel that will fake you out. The response time as shown however is near instantaneous and quite impressive in some locations.

Hello Steve, the quote below is part of a message that I received on my site. As you know I refer all the high tech stuff to you. While it is interesting to know some of this stuff I still prefer to just use what continually works for me. I thank you for your time. TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS "A question regarding future use of my new Nokta Au, and the INTERACTION between two of its discrimination-mode controls (it's Discrimination Filter and its iMask function).I have been detecting/prospecting since 1968, minored in geology in college, and in the last decade and more, have owned Bug 2's and successive MineLab units up through my GPX 5000. I find I always do better if I understand my unit's processor/filter operations. So bottom line ... do you or anybody I could communicate with have an explanation of how the two discrimination processors (the Disc. Filter and the iMask) interact, i.e. compliment or conflict with each other??The manual generally refers to the Disc. Filter as being appropriate for trash and the iMask for hot ground and hot rocks, but it appears we are clearly talking about two overlapping discrimination functions here. Nokta's recommended "default positions" fall short of explaining the interaction the two controls' in keeping with the excellent manner they covered the "All-Metal" control interactions on pages 15 and 16.Just to be clear, I'm less interested in other's field experience and much more interested in a page 15 and 16 type explanation of how my Au is using/combining/filtering my "Disc. Filter and iMask setting choices."

Dear Valued Customers: First of all, we thank you all for the increasing sales of our Racer series detectors. As you all know, Racer 2 is an addition to our current Makro product line up and we have no intentions of discontinuing the original red Racer. As a matter of fact, for those customers who do not need the extra features of the Racer 2, the original Racer still stands as a very good performing hi-end detector. Many of our dealers and customers have been asking Nokta& Makro for a device that would retail around the $500 price range.. Therefore, as of June 1, 2016 we changed the price of the Racer as below to meet this request. We believe that the new price change makes Racer absolutely the most competitive and attractive product in that price range! RACER STANDARD PACK SUGGESTED RETAIL $499 RACER PRO PACK SUGGESTED RETAIL $699 Thank you!

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.

I was out last week playing around with the Makro Gold Racer alongside my GBPro. I've grown quite accustomed to the "hot spot" on the 5" x 10" DD Gold Bug coil right at the tip, maybe 1.5" back from the very tip, and with the Racer it seems the strongest signal is right dead center on the 5" x 10". All coils have that sweet spot, but it got me wondering why it would differ? I've never dug into a coil and looked at the guts but it would seem to me that they are all pretty similar inside(of the same type of course). In other words, I would assume the inside of both the 5" x 10" DD coils on both detectors would be about the same inside, so why would the hot spot location be different? Curiosity got the best of me.

GB will be in the upper 80's low 90's but only show one bar ,is this normal?

Hello and thank you - large, for the excellent information. This is pretty exciting for someone who's sighting in on his first detector. I've followed countless threads here and on Tom's forum, and was about to buy a Gold Bug Pro. With experience and a few ounces gained, the intention is to add a gpz or gpx to the quiver. My first detector will be a complementary tool for my placer mine. I hope to qualify and outline pay-streaks in succession with stripping ops. If the detector in question can also help in prospecting some nearby quartz veins, that would rock. Regional geology appears hot, but my definition of hot is no doubt different than a detectorist's. Volcanics, greanstone, pyrite, pyrotite, arseno, tetrathedrite..., and magnetics scattered here and there. With this in mind, would the Gold Racer be a more appropriate tool than the Gold Bug Pro? Tim

Makro Gold Racer and Racer 2 metal detectors Just some tidbits as I play around with these two detectors. The Makro Gold Racer unsurprisingly has an edge on low conductive targets, but even the Makro Racer 2 is geared towards low conductive. Both machines in two tone mode have a VCO type audio response. This means you get not just a solid tone, but a tone that increases with the signal intensity. As you get nearer a target the pitch of the tone increases, to the point that when right on top of a target it can practically squeak. Anyone used to running a Gold Bug will know what VCO audio sounds like. In two tone mode a nail, a dime, and a nickel do not respond quite the way you might think. The nail gives a very low tone response with both detectors. The nickel though will actually sound like a higher tone target than the dime even though in two tone both should in theory be the same. This is because both machines hit harder on a nickel than a dime and the VCO response kicks the tone up. On the Racer 2 and Gold Racer the dime sounds more like a mid tone, the nickel more high tone. This is a relative thing; both items at same depth the nickel hits harder. A deep nickel will sound however like a shallow dime. The Gold Racer at 56 kHz really enhances the low conductive signals, and it hits a nickel twice as hard as a dime. The Racer 2 may be more like a nickel hitting 50% harder than a dime. In two tone mode low conductors really jump out with the Gold Racer. The Racer 2 adds a three tone mode that cleans this up for classic coin hunters. It is far less a VCO effect, more solid tone, and high conductive targets at default settings give a much higher tone. So a nail will go very low tone, nickel solid mid tone, and dime solid high tone, again with minimal VCO effect compared to the two tone modes. Anyone hunting high conductive coins will find Racer 2 three tone mode to generally be the way to go. It is its own mode with its own responses and with a small coil can really do well on coins. That said the Racer 2 is not a depth demon on high conductive coins. I would not buy one just to hunt coins per se if max depth was the goal. It is a relative thing however. I played around with my Deus and 11" round DD coil and it also is no depth demon on high conductive. However, you can flip the Deus from 8 kHz to 18 kHz and watch the responses on a nickel and dime flip right along with the frequency. For just outright depth the Racer 2 and Deus are in the same ballpark in bad ground, but you can get a better high conductive response with Deus at 8 khz than Racer 2 at 14 kHz. My CTX 3030 does better than either in general for depth on coins though again the Racer 2 is very strong on nickels. I do not have the 10x5 elliptical for the Racer 2 so have used both 11x7 elliptical and 5" round DD coils on it. The stock 10x5 DD elliptical on the Gold Racer does a better job at target separation but also punches deeper in bad ground on low conductive targets than the larger coil on the Racer 2. Not in terms of absolute depth per se - it is just that the Gold Racer obtains and maintains a solid non-ferrous signal to better depths while in disc mode. The Racer 2 signal shifts more quickly to a ferrous reading at depth. This is probably a reflection as much of the frequency of the Gold Racer as the coil difference but I do prefer the 10x5 coil with the solid bottom and smaller footprint for what I personally use a detector for. I personally prefer the 5" round DD over the 11x7 DD for the Racer 2 unless I need ground coverage so the optional 10x5 DD would be a good compromise. The Gold Racer with 10x5 coil has tremendous target separation characteristics, easily matching or exceeding my Deus with 11" round DD coil. The super high frequency is unimpressive on high conductive coins at depth, but I have been finding surprising numbers of dimes at fairly shallow depths with it. The high frequency and ground handling I think may give it an edge even on high conductive coins in really bad ground as it hates to let any target VDI numbers get pulled down and with the superb separation - well, lets just say the Gold Racer does far better in parks than I was anticipating, but not because it punches real deep (except on low conductors) than perhaps because of its target separation/ground separation characteristics. The 10x5 concentric on the Gold Racer cleans up the complex multi signal that you tend to get with shallow targets and a DD coil, but does not handle the bad ground as well. It does seem to do even better on low conductors relative to high conductors in bad ground. It is as if the ground effect is canceling the high conductors more than the low conductors with the concentric coil. To the point where a nickel will bang out at twice the depth of a dime using the concentric on the Gold Racer. There currently is no concentric for the Racer 2. I prefer the 10x5 DD on the Gold Racer overall, as the mixed signal on shallow targets tells me they are shallow. But I like the concentric also - I just have not used both in enough different scenarios to have a hard grip on which is best for which situations. I do have two Gold Racers so will have to rig one up with the DD and one the concentric and run together to get a better feel on this. The Racer 2 oddly enough overloads more easily than the Gold Racer on shallow targets. Again I can use the overload as a shallow target indicator so it is not a bad thing, just a difference. Might bug some people though. My gut tells me the Racer 2 will overload on really, really bad ground that the Gold Racer will handle with no problem, but again coils play into that. The Gold Racer splits ferrous from non-ferrous at 40 and the Racer 2 makes the break at 10 (out of 0 - 99 on both machines). This is fine for most items. However, for non-ferrous in bad ground the Gold Racer has the distinct edge. Normal small ferrous on the Gold Racer bangs hard at about 21. The same item on the Racer 2 will hit at about 4. In bad ground, a small item like the smallest lead split shot fishing sinker you can get, will drift as low as about 4 with the Racer 2. The Gold Racer will see a similar item drifting no lower than about 35. That means on the Racer 2 ferrous and non-ferrous can bump right up against each other at about 4. I have been running my Racer 2 with ID filter and tone break set to 4 or maybe even 3 but have not settled on which might be best yet - probably just depends on the situation. The Gold Racer on the other hand you have a 14 point spread between where ferrous normally hits at 21 and a normal low end non-ferrous response at about 35. This is huge and means you have a far better ability to get clean separation between small non-ferrous and ferrous in bad ground. I like hunting jewelry and so depth is not a big issue. I like to hunt more for targets that have both extremely tight VDI clusters and strong responses that indicate they are not super deep. The 56 kHz and VCO response in two tone mode is really working for me. I basically hunt for "squeakers" and the Gold Racer really makes low conductive targets squeak. It is like hunting with a Deus in Pitch Mode. The Racer 2 works for this also but not as well due to the lower operating frequency. I really am just blabbing observations here in hopes there might be useful tidbits for somebody. I right now have four machines that overlap to some degree - Gold Racer, Racer 2, Deus, and CTX. More and more I am finding what works for me is a collection of specialty machines with specific uses. Minelab GPZ - nearly all nugget detecting Garrett ATX - water detecting DFX/Bigfoot - jewelry Minelab CTX - coin detecting The Gold Racer at 56 kHz is different enough to fit the bill for me as a specialty unit. Great for gold the GPZ can't see, or nuggets in trashy areas. But I am finding it to be a great park and tot lot hunter, not just for jewelry but for quite a pile of coins that have been popping up while jewelry detecting. Kind of like hunt jewelry and find lots of coins by accident. So it joins the group above. The Deus just has its own kind of magic and lots to learn there for me, so it stays put for awhile, possibly as part of the permanent collection. The Racer 2 though I am struggling with in a way. It is a great all around detector, and if it was all I had I would be quite happy. I prefer it to many of the other 13 - 15 khz machines on the market. But when I put it up against my core units - well, I like the Gold Racer more for gold/jewelry detecting. And I like the CTX more for chasing silver coins. The Racer 2 actually does give the Deus a run due to the small coil but the Deus has the four frequencies to work with and weighs a pound less. Costs twice as much also! So I run into a situation where the Racer 2 like the Fisher F75 or Garrett AT Pro or Minelab 705 or Teknetics T2 or White's MXT is a superb do-it-all machine. But for any one given task, one of my specialty units will eclipse every one of those detectors. So while I am in no hurry to part ways with the Racer 2 I am not really counting it as a core necessity unit either. It may do nearly everything well but I have not found that one magic thing it does better than anything else - and that is what it takes for a detector to find a permanent place in my collection. The Gold Racer though is getting double duty. If I go gold prospecting my GPZ is main unit, Gold Racer secondary though for specific situations the Gold Racer is lead unit. Same situation now exists with my DFX/Bigfoot and Gold Racer but a bit more a pair of equals there. The DFX/Bigfoot is for any large area. But for anywhere I really want to clean it up the Gold Racer does the trick so for tot lots and similar situations the Gold Racer is the better jewelry machine and a clad coin vacuum. P.S. The main thing I really like on the Racer 2 is the ability to set three custom tone ranges each with their own tone, and also an iron volume setting. If I had to choose a machine just for jewelry detecting it would be the alternative to the DFX because of this. If there was a Bigfoot type coil for the Racer 2 then it is almost certain I would sell the DFX and replace it with the Racer 2.

Makro dealers are now taking pre-orders for the new 2.4 GHz wireless headphones and transmitter module for the Gold Racer and Racer 2. They will start shipping dealers in June. MSRP: $119 PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NEW 2.4 GHz HEADPHONE OPTION IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THE RACER AND WILL ONLY WORK WITH THE GOLD RACER & RACER 2 MODELS. This is the last picture that was available but the actual shipping units may vary in appearance.

I want to start detecting some of the iron trash dumps that I come across out nugget hunting. I currently don't have a detector that can successfully hunt these areas. I have done some research and have narrowed it down to two. The MXT, proven winner and the Racer 2, because I have read good reviews. What I need is the opinion of the users on this forum and if you think there is something else that I should consider, please let me know. I know the Deus excels in this area, but not sure about having to charge so many batteries. Also, I thought I read the coils for the MXT were being discontinued??? Brian.

Hello, I received the new gold racer 7.5 x 4" elliptical waterproof DD coil this evening for testing. I wont have a chance to get out on some gold with it till this weekend, but I made a little demonstration video at home. looks like it is going to be a real winner for tiny gold and for hard to reach places that other coils cant reach. Good luck

Dear Valued Customers:Please note that we are adding a new, optional elliptical coil to the Gold Racer based on customer demand.This smaller coil is excellent on exposed bedrock or hunting around rocky areas or tight spaces. GR19 Waterproof DD Search Coil19cm x10cm (7.5''x4'')MSRP: $119

I've been on the hunt lately for a reasonably priced New VLF Detector that I can use primarily for the beach and prospecting trashy areas but any other additional modes I would consider a bonus such as coin and relic modes as I know I would use those modes at times also if available. I have tried to include all the positive and negative features I could find or think of but I invite any of you, especially those of you who have used one or more of these 3 machines for your opinion positive or negative. If you know of a better machine you feel I should look at please feel free to advise me. I highly regard your input. In short I've narrowed down the selection to the following 3 detectors as they all 3 seem to have the features I'm looking for, at least in the mid-priced range. I have also considered the CTX-3030 and the Garrett Pro as the Garret seems pretty solidly based but there is some uncertainty about it's salt water ability. The CTX- 3030 looks awesome just not sure I can go the steep price and a single freq machine I'm thinking would do as well or better in mineralized ground for my prospecting needs. XP Deus Plus Features: Selectable (4 Frequency 4, 8, 12, & 18 Khz), Very Fast Recovery speed, Ultra Light weight, breaks down easily, No wires to deal with. Has beach and goldfield modes notch Disc, Iron level, Multi-tone, motion and 4 non - motion modes, 10 pre-configured factory programs, 8 user programs that can be saved, ground tracking and grab ground balance, 5 yr Warranty, wireless digital, Rainproof, Backlight, low power consumption, lithium batteries, 20 hr life, 2 hr charge time, offset Freq. Negative Features: Coils very expensive, very small selection of coils, 1. Each component has it's own battery that needs recharge, Battery in coil is only factory replaceable. Makro Racer 2 Fast Recovery speed, handles mineralized ground well (ISAT), Has beach and deep mode. great price per feature economy, great selection of coils, notch filter, Auto or manual ground balance, remembers settings, threshhold, Iron audio, Volume control, uses common batteries (4AA), screen backlight, vibration, frequency offset Negative Features: Single Freq (14Khz), not waterproof, Good target ID's bunched together in the 80's, Whites MX Sport Pluses: Waterproof, 6 modes, Beach, prospecting, Relic, coin, all metal etc, Volume and threshold control, Ground grab, V/SAT, 20 hours on a charge,screen backlight, adjustable notch disc, Tone ID, frequency offset, Negatives: 4lbs, 8 AA batteries, 1/4 headphone via adapter, only 2 optional available coils so far, Single Frequency (13.8 Khz), New model, not fully tested by a large group, Terry

Yesterday I took my new Makro Gold Racer to an old railroad siding to do a little testing and learn the machine. I did not have a large learning curve as I already own the Red Racer so I understood the menu system. The Red Racer is the easiest VLF I have ever operated. The Gold Racer has a few more functions but it was read once through the manual, turn on, a couple easy adjustments and I was off and running. I did not find anything worth keeping during my hour of testing. I was not surprised as this place has been pounded relentlessly for 25 years at least but it is close to where I am camping. I did learn that it is true the GR loves low and mid-conductors and bangs hard on them. I found more than a few bullets, shell cases, foil, bits of copper, etc, etc.... But I did not buy this machine to go relic hunting (although I will use it for that on occasion) and I have no interest in jewelry hunting in parks. I want this machine for prospecting. So this morning it was off to a super secret location in the NV desert with my brother. This site is an old hardrock mine that has a dump with a lot of quartz in it. There is some gold to be found in the tailings. Mostly very small stuff still encased in the quartz. A lot of the signals are so faint you have to chase it around the pile with a GBII because if the pebble the gold is in turns wrong you lose the signal. Neither my brother or I am scientists. Nor are we neophytes to prospecting with metal detectors. We only do testing to answer questions we ourselves would like to know. Otherwise we are too busy having fun detecting to be bothered with detector shootouts, videos, or the like. Please let's not get into the minutiae of particular settings on the detectors, depths in centimeters, or my astrological sign. I am on vacation and don't want the negativity in my life. My brother and I compared inground, undug signals between the Makro Gold Racer and the Fisher GB II. If we inadvertently gave one detector the edge it would be the GBII as I probably could have ran the GR hotter if I was more familiar with it. In all instances we could not discern a measurable difference in the performance of these two detectors on the smallest of gold targets. The signal would vary a little due to the differences between the 3"x6" concentric and the 5" round DD but one detector never received a signal that the other could not. We were actually quite surprised by these results but in this ground on this day detecting these targets the GBII and GR ran neck and neck. This is not only my opinion but that of my brother as well and he is a big GBII fan(he owns two of them). Your results may vary and probably will. HH, Merton

Hello, I made it out yesterday afternoon for awhile with my female gold slayin partner. We went to a place that we have found ounces of gold from pockets thru the years. I wanted to try my 14" coiltek elite out on the patch. I also convinced my partner to give my Gold racer a try. I think I mentioned on my video that I never detected there before with a pi detector; but actually I have with a few other coils. But I never tried the elites there yet. My partner ended up getting a small specimen and a nice .7 dwt piece wedged in the bedrock crack. I ended up getting many many more good targets and a couple nice crystalline pieces with the 14 elite on my 5000. I ran a equivalent sized nuggetfinder there before but the elite just has amazing depth and brightens up faint targets. My partner really enjoyed running the gold racer, she said it reminded her of the good old days with the gb 2. Both the Gold racer and coiltek elite coils are nice technology to have these days. We ended up finding 2 dwt together. Today I made it out for a morning trip with Gold racer and found a couple micro pieces that was not really even worth a picture. it is amazing how tiny of gold you can find with a Gold mak. Good luck

Hello everyone. Just joined Firstly, can I just say a big thankyou to steve and all other contributors on here. Good site. REALLY GOOD SITE! Was thinking. 1- What if Makro was to build a 19khz version of the RACER 2? Call it a MAKRO RACER 2+ (PLUS). (using existing FORS GOLD+ tech and coils etc.) After all, is 19khz not the defacto, holy grail, all round gold prospecting frequency? Maybe make it waterproof too. Based on the online reviews of the 19khz FORS GOLD + (excellent machine), would this not be an even better machine in the Makro packaging??? 2- Also maybe build a waterproof, 19khz, retro/analog version too, similar to what the AU GOLD FINDER is to the GOLD RACER at 56khz At the speed MAKRO/NOKTA do things, these could be available in months! The platforms and tech is already there in the basic RACER 2 & FORS GOLD+ thanks BIG JIM

I really am not bashing the GB II but I just never could connect with the machine. Crummy discrimination and awkward ground balance system combined to make it less than one of my favorite all time detectors. I am not denying it is the best at what it does, I just never liked how it did it. Last fall a friend of mine needed a GB II worse than I did so mine went to a new home where it would find love. That left a hole in my detector line up. Yesterday I filled that hole with a Gold Racer, should be here in 3-4 days. I already have a Red Racer so I know the build quality will be good. Look forward to going head to head with Lucky and his Gold Bug in the Sierra hydraulic pits this summer. Me thinks he will be buying the beer at the end of the day. LOL p.s. A BIG shout out to Chris Porter at DetectorAid.com for the excellent service!

Hello I started my vacation today so I thought I would get out to do some more detecting with Gold Mak. I headed back out to the old channel area and decided I would just mess around at a spot that I detected a year or so ago with original Fors gold. I ran Gold Mak today in all metal with sensitivity between 71-75. and some isat to keep the threshold steady. It was amazing how many tiny targets are still there. Including lots of birdshot and some gold. Gold mak is definitely a bedrock working expert. ended up with 11 pieces for .4 dwt. Not alot of gold weight, but it was alot of fun. I did some videos aswell. I will have to add them to the post Good luck

I am just starting to get used to this website so I hope you will all pardon me If I have (and I have) started threads here that has similar achieves already at this website for all to read. Before posting this I did a check and didn't see any previous posts directed toward the upgraded Racer so I went ahead with this post. In my search for a reasonably priced detector as an addition to my GPX that can serve as an occasional beach and coin detector as well as a gold prospecting detector for use in high trash areas I am starting to get a short list. One detector on that short list is the Fors Core and in the process of learning more about it I came across the Makro Racer 2. Not a true gold detector for sure but I liked almost everything I have seen and read about the Core other than having to set up and make changes to the settings via the side panel screen. The Macro Racer 2 seemed very, very similar but runs at 14khz, weighs only 3 lbs including batteries and the Racer screen is right in front of the user. The price seems very good as well on either but the Core pro package offers 3 coils including the 15" X 13" coil and the Makro Racer 2 only offers only 2 coils for about the same price. What drew me to the Core is that by all accounts offers great depth and appears to be very useful in trashy areas to separate the iron from the good stuff. In looking the specs for both machines, it appears they took the best features of both and made the Makro Racer 2. My question here would be directed to anyone who has used either the Core or the new or original Makro Racer and their feelings about the usefulness of either for general detecting and gold detecting. Thanks in advance, Terry

http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,101755 The Makro Gold Racer is currently my favorite detector that works as well both gold prospecting in the middle of nowhere and jewelry detecting in urban areas. A unique machine, nothing quite like it really.

Hello, I headed back out to the old channel area to move up river some. atleast I think it is upriver. There is old diggings everywhere. So I started at one end and zig zagged everywhere. surprisingly I really never got a patch going. Most the pieces were not even close to each other. Everytime I found one, I stopped and searched the whole area really good. but no patch evolved. so I moved on till the next piece then repeated my technique. nothing but lonely pieces every once in awhile. I had to cross small creeks, fight my way thru thick brush and even jumped a bear. I was a little nervous at jumping the bear because I forgot my 45 pistol at home. when I jumped him it was in a box canyon with steep walls so I had him trapped between the walls and me. luckily he flew up the steep hill like it was flat ground. also saw about 20 lizards today, but so far no rattlers. it was a beautiful day in the woods but very physical. Luckily the Gold Racer sniffed out some gold and made the day not to bad. Only found 6.53 dwt for all that work. Not sure how much the area will produce. But I will try it again soon.

First time out with the Racer 2 http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,101950 The small brass next to the nail came in at 11-12 from most angles but with bounces into the iron and occasionally a high hit in the 20's. Out of the ground it reads 25. Can't say for sure but the expanded non-ferous range probably saved the day on that one. With the original Racer's 0-40 iron range I might have passed on it if there were more iron sounds coming in. Monte suggested in a post to lower the iron tone break from 10 down to 8 and seeing this I'm in agreement. Tom

So I'm new to the site but cheers to all. i've heard a lot of people asking about the high-frequency metal detectors out on the market I own both the goldbug 2 and the Makro gold racer. And my gold-mining partner usually runs with the GMT and occasionally goldmasters 2 and 3 vsat To be honest, you can't beat the goldbug2 on sensitivity to gold. 70 +kHz is brutal paired with a concentric coil(concentric coils slap on gold but suffer greatly with hot/cold rocks and ferrous trashy ground) it picks up with a 6" shooter coilgrains of gold at inches air bench test...yum. Downfalls... In highly mineralized areas and tailings she's a nasty girl very very hard to use and differentiate targets out of all the booing, chatter and uneven return from threshold.But if your like me you know your tool well like a weapon and can decipher each click and tone from the harsh ground. ? Gb2 lacks a DD coil series. What the $&@! Fisherlabs help a brother out. Advanced ergonomics, discriminations, coil types, auto tune features are non existent. I still love analogue, easy, precise, never a doubt and bulletproof. the larger concentric coil sizes seem to weaken the bug and I feel reduce the performance. Stick with the 6" shooter coil in my opinion, better on rough ground, so so sensitive and I'd take sensitivity for micro gold and a midrange depth, to "deep" depth and performance drop any day. Overall the bug is my baby ,my go to, she has pulled the ounces tried and true. Have the nugs to show Next the Makro gold racer. Just picked up the pro package of this a couple weeks ago. It has already pulled a couple grain size pieces lode gold. I am new to all digital and it's interesting features. I run it in all metal with manual ground balance audio boost on all time and drop the isat to as low of a setting to get her running smooth and boost my depth. It's a very interesting machine I love its shooter coil. Not so happy with the 10.5 I don't like it's hollow internals makes too much noise when I'm scraping the ground for really small Nuggets. Cool features haven't really made my mind up what I don't like setting wise but it has some really cool discrimination modes. The gold bug , "I find" more sensitive to super fine gold. Makro does punch the nastier ferrous soil quieter and smoother with the DD than concentric. I am liking it as a secondary to scan over ground I hit with the goldbug( it can hot rock over target hits. picked up a missed target last outing with the gr ) Overall I like the Makro for its easy use and advanced features. Runs surprisingly well on rough ground, I'm loving that DD coil compared to concentric . Is very sensitive and will hit the smaller nuggets like gb2 just a tad behind it though on air test.Has some design flaws if you asked me and I'm not liking how frail the racer is I can literally throw my goldbug down a ravine get her soaked and dusty. No problem.makros Back mount headphone jack. Dumb!!!. If you love your wired headphones you'll hate this thing ripping your phones off every set down and mauling your wire. Been through a pair already with the makro. But wireless soon I'm excited for that... im not a whites guy.... But I've seen the gmt fail time and time again. Things a joke. Don't know why. Bad model? Bunk frequency?Watched it run ground silently with no targets (No my partner is not a noob or dumb dumb detectorist he's nugget slayer) Ill come behind with the goldbug2 or Makro slapping gram and grain sized nugs two inches + in ferrous soil on low sensitivity. On multiple occasions. I convinced my faithful whites partner to retire his gmt to the closet and take out another model. He has a gold master2 and 3 vsat (he collects whites lol) and wow the old goldmasters just blows the gmt away. No comparison I was impressed He was hitting grain sized pieces at goldbug\makro depth. Surprised me very much to see the older whites smoking the gmt And right on depth with my gold bug2. He runs DD shooters on the gold masters FYI. Overall if you want something easy to use and sensitive get the Makro. You want something on goldcrack super sensitive get a goldbug2. but you better learn that thing and have some patience. And if you go whites... I'd try to locate an older whites analogue gm2, gm3( be careful though these old ones are a brick. You could loose an arm swinging those metal monsters around. They are all good detectors and have seen all pull good gold at depths, just pluses and downfalls for each. The gmt eww use it for coin shooting or a coat rack. If someone does love that machine out there, I'm sorry for you, but I'd like to know your secrets lol so chime in. Anyone else ran with these high kHz vlf badasses? give me your opinion on the matter. Remember don't be nasty, this is just my experience and opinions. Hopefully it will hive you a good field view. Ray