So here's a follow up on the 1860's house dig i did this past weekend. I think my lack of knowledge on the Racer caused me not to have the kind of day I should have had. I did find an old pocket knife, concho like button, and 1943 Mercury dime, but knowing what I know now about this machine would have helped me more for that dig. First thing you should know is that you will need a long handled Lesche or similar digging tool. The Lesche hand digger is too short for the depths you will be digging with this machine. I am saying this as someone who has found silver in a place that I had hunted out, or thought I did last year. Last fall I started hunting an old ball field and was pulling Rosies and Merc's out on a regular basis. I even found a 1916 silver Egyptian piaster there. The spot is no longer a ball field as the company who owns it is going to expand on the property so now it's all overgrown and abandoned. This evening i want back there and found a 1946 rosie and 1942 Merc, in an area that I know i went over with my AT pro, but these coins were really far down, about 9-11 inches. and since the area is overgrown, I'm forced to raise the coil higher then what I would have had to do with the AT Pro. I'm mostly listening for those soft high tones and planning to dig deep. I'm running this machine primarily in 3 tone cause I want to hear those highs for silver. I like how if you get a clean high tone, you can instantly switch over to deep mode and possibly get a VDI reading on screen. I'll also use 2 tone because it's the second deepest discriminated mode. So my settings are 3 tone in trashy sites, ID filter- 2 Iron Audio 0 or 1, and gain up as high as it can go without interference. This racer is breathing new life into frequently pounded sites.
Other things I have noticed:
This Racer doesn't hurt my elbow or hand. Maybe it's because the control pod for the batteries and the screen are spaced out on the rod, but my arm no longer tires after a few hours of swinging. My tennis elbow is gone and my hand no longer cramps up.
I love the backlight. After-work detecting is going to be the thing soon as the weather gets cooler, and daylight savings time kicks in, it will be dark as soon as i get off from work, that back light will come in handy.
I love having volume control.
I love how every option is right there on the screen with the exception of the LED flashlight and Frequency Shift.
I love how this machine is so stable and there is no falsing when you knock it on a tree or rock, and I love the quick response.
Things I don't like:
Those crappy Koss headphones that come with this machine. In both the standard and pro packages you get them. They are just awful. The wires are too short and thin and there were several times I wanted to throw them across the field. Makro should have left them out, no one will use them and some day we'll be digging them up instead of pull tabs. If you need headphones you can do better at the dollar store, or a 5 And Under store. I have already ordered a pair of 2.4 GHZ Rapoo headphones off of E-bay. Non-proprietary means that i can use them on any of my detectors, and I hear they have no lag.
I hate the pro packages on any detector, and this includes the Makro. Who needs another carry bag, finds bag or rechargeable battery set? Get that stuff on Amazon if you need it, chances are you'll never use them. If anything the pro pack could have included a cheap Bluetooth or 2.4 ghz headphone option, or maybe even the Makro 2.4 phones. I heard there was a lack of volume control on them, and I haven't heard if that issue was fixed or not. The only thing i opted for were the rain covers, but I'll most likely only use the bottom pod cover, as I've heard that using the screen cover tends to introduce condensation behind the screen, plus I've heard that it can actually scratch the screen if you're not careful. I'm planning on covering my screen with a Zagg Invisible Shield film.
So that leaves the small sniper coil. I believe you can get that for about $119.00. I'd say try the included coil first and switch to the smaller one later if you want, you'll save a bunch of money and you wont have a lot of useless junk collecting dust.
In closing, this Racer is the bomb. It will replace my AT pro, for everything but water detecting where I'll need to wade out over my knees. There are so many settings that you can adjust and stuff that I haven't really looked into. I got my Racer 2 online from a reputable dealer who will throw in a Garrett AT Pro- Pointer for free. For $749.00 that is a killer deal. Thanks Bart!
