Makro Gold Racer Versus Racer 2

[vanursepaul]

MAKRO---

I don't see why not.... maybe the ties would be a snag point----- why not just use some rubber cement or something that can be peeled off easily---

Dilek----Are there any plans to make us a coil cover for the 15x13.5 coil???

( I admit haven't even looked to see if there is one available... because usually they are good enough to include one if they have them )

I will have to experiment with mine....

Using it at the beach last weekend I found the open spokes good for back filling my holes-- I would just pull it backwards over my sand pile and it would level it out....

(still can't figure out why my plastic bolt failed)

This coil hit so hard on a nickel I just knew I had a gold ring--- approximately 8-9 inches deep in dry to damp sand... It was like BAM!!!! ---

[Steve Herschbach]

The 15 x 13 coil comes with a fitted scuff cover. A full cover would be nice for some applications but they do collect a lot of debris.

[PhaseTech]

Steve, I read this about a week ago but wasn't logged in so couldn't thank you, so thanks for the awesome wrap up! 

Normally when someone is comparing a gold detector to a coin machine I'd say, why bother?? But in this case the two "Racers" share the same name, platform, some modes, iSat in all metal, similar coils etc etc so definitely worthy of a comparison. In oz, most people either coin hunt, or gold detect. Jewellery and Relics are a by catch, apart from the beach wading guys who love their gold rings. The 10 Iron numbers is no issue, as most coin hunters I know will set their Disc to at least knock out small foil. A range of ten is still a lot more than the X-Terras, and by having more conductive numbers, you stand a better chance of using the notch effectively. 

What i like about the R2 is the full tone adjustment in all-metal, where on the Gold Racer you just have low or high tone options. 

The DEEP mode on the R2 seems every bit as deep as All-Metal (on similar sensitivity settings) which is very impressive. The other thing worth mentioning is that the All-metal mode on the R2 is really nice (as with the Gold Racer). I haven't used an all-metal mode this smooth on a mid-freq VLF since.....well I don't think I ever have! Maybe the Minelab Eureka Ace Dual - but my memory is a bit scratchy  In recent times I have been using the GEN (all-metal) mode for beach hunting with the CoRe, and using it like a PI - slower sweeps and listen for that faint repeatable warble. But with a very slow retune, it can be quite trying unless you crank the threshold up to smooth things out. That smooth R2 all-metal mode should be the ticket. 

[Steve Herschbach]

Hello Nenad,

Thank you, as I have said just random observations. They are both great detectors, the Gold Racer and Racer 2. Here we have a lot more people relic hunt however and so we can't forget the original Red Racer. The 10 iron range may be fine for most coin hunters but I still think the original Racer with the 40 iron range has a place for the relic hunters here at least and of the two (Racer and Racer 2) may be the better nugget machine, though it is indeed a hair splitting thing. I think what it all really means is the three Racers are great units that just lean different ways. Gold Racer for gold (natural or jewelry) but still can be used for coins and I have had good luck with it recently hunting in thick nails. Red Racer for the relic hunters but still good for coins and gold. And Racer 2 for coins but still good on gold and relics. Something for everyone!

Don't get me wrong - my Racer 2 is going nowhere. I have a lot to learn about it still. It just seems that the Gold Racer and I get on especially well with each other. It is a truly unique detector.

[LukeJ]

All this Gold Racer talk the last few months and you guys convinced me to buy one. 

Took it out for the maiden voyage last weekend.  Wish I could say I found some gold...  got a handful of birdshot instead.

Just started playing with the discrimination modes.  Looking forward to getting back out there...

Thanks for the great forum Steve !!

Luke

[grizly088]

Hello, I am beginner and have Racer 2, can you recomend settings? For gold nuggets, mostly mounyains and rivers from mountain...

Only gold 

 Thanks

[Steve Herschbach]

On 9/30/2024 at 11:09 PM, grizly088 said:

Hello, I am beginner and have Racer 2, can you recommend settings? For gold nuggets, mostly mountains and rivers from mountain...

Only gold 

 Thanks

This thread is five years old, and I have not used a Racer 2 in nearly that long. I deleted your other posts asking the same question. There is no such thing as a "gold only" setting. Gold reads the same as lead or aluminum and numerous other metals, and as a result when digging gold most gold prospectors recommend digging all targets or at least all non-ferrous targets. Therefore for most gold nugget detecting I would use the All Metal Mode or Two Tone Mode - details are in the manual below if you do not have one. Frankly, the best way to learn a detector is to go use it and experiment on buried test target with different settings. Use small bits of lead if you have no gold nuggets and try different settings to get the best result. The detector can only find small gold bits at shallow depths, a few centimeters at most. And again, there is no such thing as a gold only detector.

 

[Sal.D]

On 5/14/2016 at 4:24 PM, Steve Herschbach said:

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.

Great info 👍