The History of Makro?

Newfiehunter

Hero Member
Oct 20, 2007
742
342
Newfoundland
Detector(s) used
Currently own: Fisher CZ5, Eurotek Pro, Tesoro Vaquero, Tesoro Cortes, Vibraprobe 560, Vibradetector 720, Garrett ProPointer. Makro Pinpoiinter Used: Whites Liberty2, Garrett Freedom3, Garrett GTA 1
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
We all know the history from companies that produce metal detectors for years like Fisher, Garrett, Whites, Tesoro, etc...It would be interesting to know something about Makro....Never really heard of the company until a few months ago when the Makro Racer was released...The Racer seems so impressive and I want to pull the trigger on one..BUT not knowing much about the company itself bothers me somewhat...I know it is made in Turkey and that is about it. How long has this company been in existence? How stable is the company itself? What is the reputation? More about customer service...The owners and their experience and backgrounds etc..

The reason why I am interested in this is because if I make a purchase and for some reason the company is no longer in existence, it would be difficult to get repairs done when it comes to warranty and other issues....What do you know about Makro and would you buy from a new company that hasn't been around long? From the reviews of the Racer and the videos that are mostly all positive, it seems like such a good no nonsense detector. It can even work wet salt water beaches and still remain stable...How many VLF detectors can do that? Any opinions or comments?
 

Last edited:

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,465
54,911
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
We all know the history from companies that produce metal detectors for years like Fisher, Garrett, Whites, Tesoro, etc...It would be interesting to know something about Makro....Never really heard of the company until a few months ago when the Makro Racer was released...The Racer seems so impressive and I want to pull the trigger on one..BUT not knowing much about the company itself bothers me somewhat...I know it is made in Turkey and that is about it. How long has this company been in existence? How stable is the company itself? What is the reputation? More about customer service...The owners and their experience and backgrounds etc..The reason why I am interested in this is because if I make a purchase and for some reason the company is no longer in existence, it would be difficult to get repairs done when it comes to warranty and other issues....What do you know about Makro and would you buy from a new company that hasn't been around long? From the reviews of the Racer...it seems like such a good no nonsense detector. Any opinions?
Makro and Nokta were 2 companies owned by 2 brothers each owning one company. They recently merged into one company under the Nokta name, selling 2 brands, Makro and Nokta.....

Nokta has a repair center in the states for both brands, Kellyco is the Nokta repair center and Detector.com is the Makro repair center.

I personally would have no issue buying a detector from them, in fact I have seriously considered the Nokta Fors CoRe for myself. I was about to buy one when I stumbled on a Minelab 3030 deal I couldn't pass up...I'm still considering the Fors CoRe even with the 3030 I picked up.....
 

bowwinkles

Bronze Member
Nov 3, 2012
2,082
2,434
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Recent history has shown that this company is still "a work in progress" and even though they appear to try to make things right they still have a long ways to goto get it right. Maybe their next machine will make the grade but the racer does not.
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,465
54,911
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Recent history has shown that this company is still "a work in progress" and even though they appear to try to make things right they still have a long ways to goto get it right. Maybe their next machine will make the grade but the racer does not.

Know very little about the Racer, but the Nokta Fors CoRe is a fantastic detector. The company is Nokta, racer is a model that was in development by Makro before the merger.

What I have read about the Racer appears to be more expecting too much than a badly designed detector. Nokta monitors the forums and actually talks to owners on the forums about issues, that is a major plus for a manufacturer
 

Nokta Detectors

Supporting Vendor
Supporting Vendor
Jun 2, 2014
272
402
Istanbul, Turkey
Detector(s) used
NOKTA AND MAKRO
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
We all know the history from companies that produce metal detectors for years like Fisher, Garrett, Whites, Tesoro, etc...It would be interesting to know something about Makro....Never really heard of the company until a few months ago when the Makro Racer was released...The Racer seems so impressive and I want to pull the trigger on one..BUT not knowing much about the company itself bothers me somewhat...I know it is made in Turkey and that is about it. How long has this company been in existence? How stable is the company itself? What is the reputation? More about customer service...The owners and their experience and backgrounds etc..

The reason why I am interested in this is because if I make a purchase and for some reason the company is no longer in existence, it would be difficult to get repairs done when it comes to warranty and other issues....What do you know about Makro and would you buy from a new company that hasn't been around long? From the reviews of the Racer and the videos that are mostly all positive, it seems like such a good no nonsense detector. It can even work wet salt water beaches and still remain stable...How many VLF detectors can do that? Any opinions or comments?

Hello... Nokta has been manufacturing metal detectors since 2001. Nokta and Makro were 2 companies owned by two brothers in the past. As of 2014, Nokta acquired Makro. We can write about our company and products here for pages but whatever we say may sound biased to you. Therefore, we strongly suggest that you read user comments regarding our latest products FORS and Racer on different forums. The actual users of our products are our biggest advocates. When it comes to customer satisfaction and support, we can proudly say that customer is the start point to everything we do here at Nokta & Makro. We make our customers feel that we are very close to them regardless of the physical distance between us. We are a sincere and honest company, we listen to customers and try to offer them what they need instead of what we want. We may make mistakes just like any other manufacturer but we accept our mistakes openly on public arena and not close our ears to complaints. Customer satisfaction is our biggest motivation and I am sure many customers on this forum or others will acknowledge that. Should anything goes with your product, you will get the replacement part at your door within a matter of days from Turkey in case it cannot be resolved by the dealers in the USA. This is a guarantee.

Thank you so much for your interest in our company and our products and should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected]
 

Nokta Detectors

Supporting Vendor
Supporting Vendor
Jun 2, 2014
272
402
Istanbul, Turkey
Detector(s) used
NOKTA AND MAKRO
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Know very little about the Racer, but the Nokta Fors CoRe is a fantastic detector. The company is Nokta, racer is a model that was in development by Makro before the merger.

What I have read about the Racer appears to be more expecting too much than a badly designed detector. Nokta monitors the forums and actually talks to owners on the forums about issues, that is a major plus for a manufacturer



Hello...just a small correction - Racer was developed by Nokta just like FORS was. We are very happy with the performance and the feedbacks on the Racer. We have experienced coil ear and bolt breakages for the first few shipments of the product and fixed the issue right away. We, as the manufacturer, announced this on public forums and so far replaced every single coil that had an issue. You can refer to our announcement as well as user experiences on this forum and others for more details.
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,465
54,911
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hello...just a small correction - Racer was developed by Nokta just like FORS was. We are very happy with the performance and the feedbacks on the Racer. We have experienced coil ear and bolt breakages for the first few shipments of the product and fixed the issue right away. We, as the manufacturer, announced this on public forums and so far replaced every single coil that had an issue. You can refer to our announcement as well as user experiences on this forum and others for more details.
I stand corrected.. Thanks..👍
 

bowwinkles

Bronze Member
Nov 3, 2012
2,082
2,434
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
This starts off as "History of MAKRO". Nokia has already had a run at being established. Makro has stumbled very badly so far, so now when it is convenient they want to Slide the Makro name aside and bring it up as a Nokta. Even though the old company now has a new division called Makro, all early explanations was they were definitely separate and related only because a brother was now being taken in to the business. There is a lot of substance that is floating toward the buying public and it beginning to look like a lot of smoke. Yep, it is still a BIG work in progress.
 

Jack Flynn

Jr. Member
Oct 18, 2011
62
83
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
And I would ask do you own either machine? Have you ran either one? Superb machines to use, they work like nothing we've had the opportunity here to use. The machines are getting the goods that most machines we've used up until this point did not see in the ground. Now if you visit one of the other forums on the net it's the worse machine going. However only a couple have ran them and are too attached to other machines. No smoke and mirrors with the Turkish machines, get any other company to come and reply to you on an open internet forum. Not gonna happen..... The only smoke and mirrors I see except by one or two is by people who have never held or much less ran these machines.
This starts off as "History of MAKRO". Nokia has already had a run at being established. Makro has stumbled very badly so far, so now when it is convenient they want to Slide the Makro name aside and bring it up as a Nokta. Even though the old company now has a new division called Makro, all early explanations was they were definitely separate and related only because a brother was now being taken in to the business. There is a lot of substance that is floating toward the buying public and it beginning to look like a lot of smoke. Yep, it is still a BIG work in progress.
 

OP
OP
Newfiehunter

Newfiehunter

Hero Member
Oct 20, 2007
742
342
Newfoundland
Detector(s) used
Currently own: Fisher CZ5, Eurotek Pro, Tesoro Vaquero, Tesoro Cortes, Vibraprobe 560, Vibradetector 720, Garrett ProPointer. Makro Pinpoiinter Used: Whites Liberty2, Garrett Freedom3, Garrett GTA 1
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Hello... Nokta has been manufacturing metal detectors since 2001. Nokta and Makro were 2 companies owned by two brothers in the past. As of 2014, Nokta acquired Makro. We can write about our company and products here for pages but whatever we say may sound biased to you. Therefore, we strongly suggest that you read user comments regarding our latest products FORS and Racer on different forums. The actual users of our products are our biggest advocates. When it comes to customer satisfaction and support, we can proudly say that customer is the start point to everything we do here at Nokta & Makro. We make our customers feel that we are very close to them regardless of the physical distance between us. We are a sincere and honest company, we listen to customers and try to offer them what they need instead of what we want. We may make mistakes just like any other manufacturer but we accept our mistakes openly on public arena and not close our ears to complaints. Customer satisfaction is our biggest motivation and I am sure many customers on this forum or others will acknowledge that. Should anything goes with your product, you will get the replacement part at your door within a matter of days from Turkey in case it cannot be resolved by the dealers in the USA. This is a guarantee.

Thank you so much for your interest in our company and our products and should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected]

Thank you Dilek, for your response for answering my questions...It was very informative ..I have watched many videos on the Makro Racer and read much about the detector itself, and am very impressed with it...Your customer service from what I've seen thus far has been outstanding and you genuinely seem concerned about your customers. The Makro Racer has caught my eye more than any other machine and hopefully I will be one of your customers in the near future!...Thanks again..
 

Vino

Banned
Jul 7, 2013
3,801
5,045
Pa.
Detector(s) used
Ctx3030. Xp deus
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
And I would ask do you own either machine? Have you ran either one? Superb machines to use, they work like nothing we've had the opportunity here to use. The machines are getting the goods that most machines we've used up until this point did not see in the ground. Now if you visit one of the other forums on the net it's the worse machine going. However only a couple have ran them and are too attached to other machines. No smoke and mirrors with the Turkish machines, get any other company to come and reply to you on an open internet forum. Not gonna happen..... The only smoke and mirrors I see except by one or two is by people who have never held or much less ran these machines.

Hey Jack, Now I have owned alot of machines, including the RACER. That I just sold. Iam not a negative kind of guy, but All I can tell you is the Racer did not live up to the hype. Not impressed, the Atpro has more going for it then the Racer, and cheaper.
As far as the company goes, any small company trying to get business will do whatever they can to win customers. Like troll forums and comments. Lol.
The only good thing I found with the racer is the little coil will separate better than most stock coils..
All in all my take is for the money buy the Atpro.
George
 

OP
OP
Newfiehunter

Newfiehunter

Hero Member
Oct 20, 2007
742
342
Newfoundland
Detector(s) used
Currently own: Fisher CZ5, Eurotek Pro, Tesoro Vaquero, Tesoro Cortes, Vibraprobe 560, Vibradetector 720, Garrett ProPointer. Makro Pinpoiinter Used: Whites Liberty2, Garrett Freedom3, Garrett GTA 1
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Hey Jack, Now I have owned alot of machines, including the RACER. That I just sold. Iam not a negative kind of guy, but All I can tell you is the Racer did not live up to the hype. Not impressed, the Atpro has more going for it then the Racer, and cheaper.
As far as the company goes, any small company trying to get business will do whatever they can to win customers. Like troll forums and comments. Lol.
The only good thing I found with the racer is the little coil will separate better than most stock coils..
All in all my take is for the money buy the Atpro.


I have owned Garrett detectors in the past and have had negative experiences with all three products that were purchased from them. Some may say the same thing about the At Pro..This was a question regarding Makro, not a debate on which detector is best..
 

Vino

Banned
Jul 7, 2013
3,801
5,045
Pa.
Detector(s) used
Ctx3030. Xp deus
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hey Jack, Now I have owned alot of machines, including the RACER. That I just sold. Iam not a negative kind of guy, but All I can tell you is the Racer did not live up to the hype. Not impressed, the Atpro has more going for it then the Racer, and cheaper.
As far as the company goes, any small company trying to get business will do whatever they can to win customers. Like troll forums and comments. Lol.
The only good thing I found with the racer is the little coil will separate better than most stock coils..
All in all my take is for the money buy the Atpro.


I have owned Garrett detectors in the past and have had negative experiences with all three products that were purchased from them. Some may say the same thing about the At Pro..This was a question regarding Makro, not a debate on which detector is best..

All im saying is the racer in my opinion did not live up to the hype.
I purchased it when it first hit the states and did not do what it says.
After one week i had to send it back because it stopped working.
Received a new one ,a week later and ran it for about 20 hours, and did not get the performance out of it..
Maybe there next detector.
Didn't mean to rain on your parade.
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,465
54,911
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hey Jack, Now I have owned alot of machines, including the RACER. That I just sold. Iam not a negative kind of guy, but All I can tell you is the Racer did not live up to the hype. Not impressed, the Atpro has more going for it then the Racer, and cheaper.
As far as the company goes, any small company trying to get business will do whatever they can to win customers. Like troll forums and comments. Lol.
The only good thing I found with the racer is the little coil will separate better than most stock coils..
All in all my take is for the money buy the Atpro.
George
Nokta posting on forums addressing customers questions and or concerns is not trolling a forum. It is good customer service.
 

bowwinkles

Bronze Member
Nov 3, 2012
2,082
2,434
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Yes, they are working to please, that is evident. All of these faults should have been addressed prior to them being put on the market. Their proving grounds seem to be at the expense (shipping expense and loss of use) of the customer. If Makro is loosing its image due to forum reported problems then that is how it should be reported. Don't now come out and try to call a makro machine a Nokta with intent to improve the image. Sure makes made in America, three words that have very good meaning.
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,465
54,911
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Yes, they are working to please, that is evident. All of these faults should have been addressed prior to them being put on the market. Their proving grounds seem to be at the expense (shipping expense and loss of use) of the customer. If Makro is loosing its image due to forum reported problems then that is how it should be reported. Don't now come out and try to call a makro machine a Nokta with intent to improve the image. Sure makes made in America, three words that have very good meaning.

Other manufacturers have issues on initial launches just like what happened with the Racer, nothing new.

Members reporting issues on detectors they owned is allowed here, bashing just to bash a manufactor is not...
 

Last edited:

Jack Flynn

Jr. Member
Oct 18, 2011
62
83
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Yes, they are working to please, that is evident. All of these faults should have been addressed prior to them being put on the market. Their proving grounds seem to be at the expense (shipping expense and loss of use) of the customer. If Makro is loosing its image due to forum reported problems then that is how it should be reported. Don't now come out and try to call a makro machine a Nokta with intent to improve the image. Sure makes made in America, three words that have very good meaning.


:dontknow:???
 

Tom Slick

Sr. Member
Jul 21, 2012
428
337
Mesa AZ
Detector(s) used
XP Deus & Deus II, Makro Multi Kruzer, White's DFX w/18" Arrow Coil
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I'm very pleased with my Racer. Been detecting for 40 years and have used many different makes and models. Owned a detecting and prospecting shop for a number of years and pretty much only used detectors made in the U.S. and a few from down under. I did have an issue with broken coil ears or tabs on my Racer as it was one of the early releases. I notified Makro via email about my coil issue on a Friday and they sent me a new coil the following Monday by express mail. It arrived the following Friday so it only to one week to be resolved. They included a Makro Hat and Tee Shirt along with the coil. To me, that's outstanding customer service.
The Racer is different in many ways to most any other detector. To understand these nuances takes some time to figure out. It's not that it has a difficult learning curve, it's just that many things learned using other detectors don't translate to the Racer. Once someone takes the time to learn and understand how it works, it will perform in areas that other detectors can't compete. I feel the Racer performs the best in pulling good, non ferrous targets out of super trashy areas. This goes for Iron and modern trash. The Racer also performs excellent on the dry saltwater beach sand and works better than any other single Frequency VLF detector I've used on the wet saltwater beach sand. It won't replace my Sovereign for the wet sand, but it's nice to be able to drop down onto the wet and know it will still perform very well without having to hike back to the truck to change detectors. A few weeks ago I took the Racer to an area that the Miners used for camping with their families. This area was used in the 1920's - 1930's and is about 5 miles up the mountain from the actual mine site. The miners and their families would camp in the pine forest to escape the desert heat. Our local club has hunted this area to death over the past twenty years not to mention probably hundreds of other detectorists. I pulled out a 1936 Buffalo, 1923 Wheatie, and an 18k ladies gold wedding ring. I was truly amazed with the Racers performance. I was also able to pull over 100 coins from around park picnic tables using the 5" coil on the Racer. These same tables I hunted with my White's V3i with the 5.3 Eclipse coil a couple of weeks prior. The V just couldn't pull the coins with all the trash present. I won't be selling the V3i because they don't make a BigFoot coil for the Racer. For a general all around detector, The Racer wouldn't be my first choice, but neither would the AT Pro be. (Yes, I had one). I think the Racer is a great detector for specific types of detecting just like the White's GMT, or Minlab Excal, etc. I wouldn't buy one of those for general, all around detecting but I'd be an idiot to say they don't work. The Racer used by someone that knows it in the right environment, can do very well. Check out the forums and see what actual users feel about the Racers performance. I'm keeping mine!
 

TallTom

Full Member
Mar 3, 2012
177
57
So. Calif.
Detector(s) used
Nokta Impact, Makro Racer, Tesoro Vaquero, Tesoro Sand Shark.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
...The Racer is different in many ways to most any other detector. To understand these nuances takes some time to figure out. It's not that it has a difficult learning curve, it's just that many things learned using other detectors don't translate to the Racer. Once someone takes the time to learn and understand how it works, it will perform in areas that other detectors can't compete....

I think you're hitting an important point here.

Some people buy a new detector and say to themselves (or even out loud to their detecting buddies),
"I've been using detectors for years. For decades! I don't need to read any stinkin' user manual
to figure out how to use it."

So they buy a Racer, use it for a few hours or a few days, and then when its performance doesn't
match up with their expectations, they say, "This thing isn't any good. I'm getting rid of it."

That's fine. Get rid of it. Don't read the manual or experiment fully with all the settings and
capabilities. Leave all those targets in the ground. Those of us who like our Racers will come along
later and dig them up. No hard feelings.

--Tom
 

Tom Slick

Sr. Member
Jul 21, 2012
428
337
Mesa AZ
Detector(s) used
XP Deus & Deus II, Makro Multi Kruzer, White's DFX w/18" Arrow Coil
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
To be honest, I wasn't that excited about the Racer when I first started using it. It took awhile to figure it out, re-reading the manual, more experimenting, and all of a sudden it started to click. It will definitely have a place in my stable until something better comes along.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top