A Review: Makro Racer 2 Pro Package

[Terry Soloman]

Hey Terry is the Makro 2's target numbers similar to the AT Pro?


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Zincoln 65-66
Copper penny 79
Clad dime 79
Nickel 30-31
Clad quarter 85-86
Gold 38-55
Silver 91-96
Aluminum 93-97
Iron, nails 0-10
Foil 14-16, 69-78
Pulltabs 25-50
Bottlecaps 52-71

 

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[Tom Slick]

To add to Terry's VDI list above. Lady's and children's small gold rings 14 - 22, Men's gold rings 29 - 44

 

[Truth]

Thank you both. Terry your review has me considering the Makro for my 2nd detector. Thank you for the great input.


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[Terry Soloman]

Smudge! I checked with Kellyco, and they say it has to go back to Turkey at this time. Bummer.

 

[Truth]

Smudge! I checked with Kellyco, and they say it has to go back to Turkey at this time. Bummer.

What's that mean?


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[Tradertom]

Put in box, add appropriate postage and send!
Then take a deep breath and say a prayer!

 

[Calabash Digger]

I wonder how long that takes?

 

[Truth]

I see that's one disadvantage


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[beep1971]

I got my Racer2 on pre order earlier this year, one of the first in the UK, i was excited to get it, watched loads of youtube vids etc and it looked fast ans deep!
Unfortunately it was a bust for myself, my ground is med/high mineralisation (3-4 bars on the racer2) and the Racer just couldn't cut it, it maxed out at 9"-10" on a big English penny, i bought the Nel Tornado and it gave a little more but better ID, the big 15" didn't fair that much better than the Nel.
I took a hit and quickly sold it on, replaced it with a Golden Mask 5, which though it would air test no where near the Racer2, it beat it in ground with ease, another very good relic machine with loads of features for small money.
The Racer2 is a good and at times deep, fast detector, but in poor ground it's way below average, and there's better out there for the money.
When i went back over the videos I'd watched, not one of them had shown the screen with the ground reading above 0-1 bar on the mineralisation graph, no wonder they were going deep!

 

[Nokta Detectors]

Hello all..I wanted to chime in regarding service - Not all units need to come back to Turkey. All we need is the serial number, description of the issue and a video and/or picture showing the issue and we can send the replacement part.

 

[Monte]

I got my Racer2 on pre order earlier this year, one of the first in the UK, i was excited to get it, watched loads of youtube vids etc and it looked fast ans deep!

I don't know what you mean by 'fast', as that could imply the Racer 2 has a very fast response and a fast recovery, which it does, or that it requires a fast sweep speed, which I find it doesn't. I have spent eleven months hunting with the Racer 2 and my other preferred detectors, and worked many challenging sites, and I use a slow, methodical sweep to what I consider to be a moderate, comfortable sweep speed and I get very satisfying depth of detection.

Unfortunately it was a bust for myself, my ground is med/high mineralisation (3-4 bars on the racer2) and the Racer just couldn't cut it, it maxed out at 9"-10" on a big English penny, i bought the Nel Tornado and it gave a little more but better ID, the big 15" didn't fair that much better than the Nel.

You didn't mention the search mode or settings used, or the coil you used, other than the after-market NEL coil. I have lived in a highly mineralized area in the USA for most of my life, and most of the places I search are quite mineralized. The MMI read-out on the Racer 2 is seldom less than 3 bars, and most of the time it is 4 or even 5. The Ground Balance read-out in most places runs between 78.20 and 86.80, and that is very challenging conditions.

I have tried a few after-market search coils but I usually don't care for them, and haven't found any that provide me any edge in performance over the very good Makro search coils. Large-size and higher-conductive coins might produce a better response from a lower operating frequency detector at times, but so far I have used the Racer 2 and found large coins to include some English Pennies, early 1900's era Canadian large cents, and USA silver half-dollars, and one big US silver dollar that can all produce responses beyond the 9"-10" depth with the right settings and search mode. Most came when using the 2-Tone or DEEP modes, and from depths in the ground from a measured 5½" to 10".

I took a hit and quickly sold it on, replaced it with a Golden Mask 5, which though it would air test no where near the Racer2, it beat it in ground with ease, another very good relic machine with loads of features for small money.

My guess is you have a bias one way or another, or you didn't use the best search mode or settings to gain the maximum in-the-field performance.

The Racer2 is a good and at times deep, fast detector, but in poor ground it's way below average, and there's better out there for the money.
When i went back over the videos I'd watched, not one of them had shown the screen with the ground reading above 0-1 bar on the mineralisation graph, no wonder they were going deep!

The Racer 2 IS an excellent detector! If it wasn't, it wouldn't be in my detector arsenal or one of my regular-carry detectors on the back seat of my pick-up. Admittedly I use the smaller or medium search coils the most because I hunt very mineralized and very iron littered sites the bulk of the time, but both of those coils still produce good hits for me on deeper targets that run to depths of 6" to 10", and maybe more that I didn't measure (I don't measure all of the targets I find) but the depths impressed me.

Monte

 

[Terry Soloman]

Hello all..I wanted to chime in regarding service - Not all units need to come back to Turkey. All we need is the serial number, description of the issue and a video and/or picture showing the issue and we can send the replacement part.

This is REALLY great news and customer service!

 

[beep1971]

Monte, the Racer is a basic enough machine, you don't need to be a rocket scientists to know how to set it up in the field to get the most from it.
I know you have a close relationship with the Racer-Makro-Nokta etc but to me it's just another tool designed to do a job, but for the job i need doing it fell short.
For myself, with stock coil, in my ground it didn't go past 10" in any mode on an English penny. It can have all the 'bells and whistles' of a machine which costs much more, BUT it can't use these features if it can't go deep enough to hit the target in the first place.
You can tell me of tales of how it's in your armoury, how much and how deep you've dug etc etc etc, but I've tried it in my ground and it failed.
Like i already stated, in good ground you could be nothing but pleased with the Racer, probably go as deep or better as any other, but show me one genuine (not sponsored) user video of the Racer2 in 4 bar soil going beyond 10" on an English penny with stock coil and I'll eat my hat!

I don't know what you mean by 'fast', as that could imply the Racer 2 has a very fast response and a fast recovery, which it does, or that it requires a fast sweep speed, which I find it doesn't. I have spent eleven months hunting with the Racer 2 and my other preferred detectors, and worked many challenging sites, and I use a slow, methodical sweep to what I consider to be a moderate, comfortable sweep speed and I get very satisfying depth of detection.


You didn't mention the search mode or settings used, or the coil you used, other than the after-market NEL coil. I have lived in a highly mineralized area in the USA for most of my life, and most of the places I search are quite mineralized. The MMI read-out on the Racer 2 is seldom less than 3 bars, and most of the time it is 4 or even 5. The Ground Balance read-out in most places runs

I don't know what you mean by 'fast', as that could imply the Racer 2 has a very fast response and a fast recovery, which it does, or that it requires a fast sweep speed, which I find it doesn't. I have spent eleven months hunting with the Racer 2 and my other preferred detectors, and worked many challenging sites, and I use a slow, methodical sweep to what I consider to be a moderate, comfortable sweep speed and I get very satisfying depth of detection.


You didn't mention the search mode or settings used, or the coil you used, other than the after-market NEL coil. I have lived in a highly mineralized area in the USA for most of my life, and most of the places I search are quite mineralized. The MMI read-out on the Racer 2 is seldom less than 3 bars, and most of the time it is 4 or even 5. The Ground Balance read-out in most places runs between 78.20 and 86.80, and that is very challenging conditions.

I have tried a few after-market search coils but I usually don't care for them, and haven't found any that provide me any edge in performance over the very good Makro search coils. Large-size and higher-conductive coins might produce a better response from a lower operating frequency detector at times, but so far I have used the Racer 2 and found large coins to include some English Pennies, early 1900's era Canadian large cents, and USA silver half-dollars, and one big US silver dollar that can all produce responses beyond the 9"-10" depth with the right settings and search mode. Most came when using the 2-Tone or DEEP modes, and from depths in the ground from a measured 5½" to 10".


My guess is you have a bias one way or another, or you didn't use the best search mode or settings to gain the maximum in-the-field performance.


The Racer 2 IS an excellent detector! If it wasn't, it wouldn't be in my detector arsenal or one of my regular-carry detectors on the back seat of my pick-up. Admittedly I use the smaller or medium search coils the most because I hunt very mineralized and very iron littered sites the bulk of the time, but both of those coils still produce good hits for me on deeper targets that run to depths of 6" to 10", and maybe more that I didn't measure (I don't measure all of the targets I find) but the depths impressed me.

Monte

 

[Terry Soloman]

Monte, the Racer is a basic enough machine, you don't need to be a rocket scientists to know how to set it up in the field to get the most from it.
I know you have a close relationship with the Racer-Makro-Nokta etc but to me it's just another tool designed to do a job, but for the job i need doing it fell short.
For myself, with stock coil, in my ground it didn't go past 10" in any mode on an English penny. It can have all the 'bells and whistles' of a machine which costs much more, BUT it can't use these features if it can't go deep enough to hit the target in the first place.
You can tell me of tales of how it's in your armoury, how much and how deep you've dug etc etc etc, but I've tried it in my ground and it failed.
Like i already stated, in good ground you could be nothing but pleased with the Racer, probably go as deep or better as any other, but show me one genuine (not sponsored) user video of the Racer2 in 4 bar soil going beyond 10" on an English penny with stock coil and I'll eat my hat!

I don't know what you mean by 'fast', as that could imply the Racer 2 has a very fast response and a fast recovery, which it does, or that it requires a fast sweep speed, which I find it doesn't. I have spent eleven months hunting with the Racer 2 and my other preferred detectors, and worked many challenging sites, and I use a slow, methodical sweep to what I consider to be a moderate, comfortable sweep speed and I get very satisfying depth of detection.


You didn't mention the search mode or settings used, or the coil you used, other than the after-market NEL coil. I have lived in a highly mineralized area in the USA for most of my life, and most of the places I search are quite mineralized. The MMI read-out on the Racer 2 is seldom less than 3 bars, and most of the time it is 4 or even 5. The Ground Balance read-out in most places runs

I'm curious as to your gain settings in such hot ground. Were you at 60-65?

 

[beep1971]

Yes Terry, i ran around 70, turning it up didn't change the depth much but helped the audio slightly. I wouldn't say my ground is red hot, 3-4 bars on the Racer2, my other detector calls it med/high, my etrac also didn't go past 10"-11"
I've now got 2 detectors that work much better for me (one of them gets the same penny @12" on minimum sensitivity!) i was probably asking to much of the Racer, though I've not gave up on Makro/Nokta, if the Impact does better than my current detector I'll probably buy one.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Yes Terry, i ran around 70, turning it up didn't change the depth much but helped the audio slightly. I wouldn't say my ground is red hot, 3-4 bars on the Racer2, my other detector calls it med/high, my etrac also didn't go past 10"-11"
I've now got 2 detectors that work much better for me (one of them gets the same penny @12" on minimum sensitivity!) i was probably asking to much of the Racer, though I've not gave up on Makro/Nokta, if the Impact does better than my current detector I'll probably buy one.

Being a gold nuggetshooter, I am experienced running detectors over really hot ground in hot rock gardens. The problem with running your gain too high in hot soils is losing depth instead of gaining it. I know it's too late now, but for other Racer 2 - and VLF machine users in general, EXPERIMENT with your gain/sensitivity in difficult soils. A common mistake is setting your gain too high. In some soils it is like turning your bright lights on in a heavy fog. Had you turned the sensitivity down to 55-60, you may have hit that big penny deeper. Just an observation.

 

[Monte]

Monte, the Racer is a basic enough machine, you don't need to be a rocket scientists to know how to set it up in the field to get the most from it.

I like the fact the Racer 2 is 'basic' enough, but has ample adjustment functions and search modes to accomplish many diverse tasks afield.

I know you have a close relationship with the Racer-Makro-Nokta etc but to me it's just another tool designed to do a job, but for the job i need doing it fell short.

I have a "close relationship" with individual detectors, of any make or model, that provides me the performance I want and need afield. For so many applications the Makro Racer 2 handles the challenges and provides needed performance. I use it Relic Hunting older sites, but it's not my primary Relic Hunting unit. I grab the Racer 2 often, but especially for a lot of the urban Coin Hunting sites I work here in the USA. I don't think you have the same types of Coin Hunting opportunities we have here in the USA, and I understand the pastureland type hunting you're most likely involved with. I do mostly Relic Hunting which includes old ghost town sites and other long-abandoned areas places of former habitation or business, as well as searching pastures, rangeland, and wooded areas.

For myself, with stock coil, in my ground it didn't go past 10" in any mode on an English penny. It can have all the 'bells and whistles' of a machine which costs much more, BUT it can't use these features if it can't go deep enough to hit the target in the first place.

Was your 10" English Penny test done in an 'air sample' or was it buried at 10"? I used a large, 1944 One Penny yesterday in some demonstrations with a friend who stopped by, but it was an 'air test' only since we currently have our own 10" ... of snow covered ground ... so I wasn't able to do any buried tests. He has a Racer 2 w/standard coil and was interested in a smaller-size coil for hunting in the trashier sites we typically search.

I demonstrated both the small 'OOR' and round 5½" DD coils to him, and on the foreign One Penny we had solid hits at 7" to 8½" in the 2-Tone and 3-Tone Discriminate modes, and that was after reducing the Gain a bit due to all the EMI in my house. The 5½X10 DD and standard 7X11 DD, indoors with EMI, both registered a solid hit with that coin and I know we were working it well over 9" from the coil's center axis, and with Gain reduced from when where I usually hunt.

You can tell me of tales of how it's in your armoury, how much and how deep you've dug etc etc etc, but I've tried it in my ground and it failed.

I understand your feelings, and we hear or read claims by people all the time that might not fit with our own findings. I wonder, however, since you said your Racer 2 was an early-release 'pre-order' if you might have had a unit with a coil issue, always possible with any brand, or just didn't work with the Racer 2 enough?

Which search modes did you use? In some very mineralized sites I search with a high MMI of 4 bars or even 5, when there isn't a lot of nearby masking targets I opt for the DEEP mode. using that mode and a slower, methodical sweep speed I will gain a noteworthy amount of depth and better target response on deeper targets.

Like i already stated, in good ground you could be nothing but pleased with the Racer, probably go as deep or better as any other, but show me one genuine (not sponsored) user video of the Racer2 in 4 bar soil going beyond 10" on an English penny with stock coil and I'll eat my hat!

I haven't done any videos, although I am planning to this year, and they won't be 'sponsored' by any manufacturer. And if you were here in my mineralized area, with a Ground Phase of ± 83 and 3, 4 or 5 bars of MMI, I would welcome some side-by-side comparisons. I compare many makes and models, and I do so as often as I can though the decades I have been detecting, to ensure myself that I have selected the best all-purpose detectors available for me and the site challenges I routinely deal with. I wouldn't want you to eat your hat, but I would still enjoy demonstrating what the Racer 2 is capable of on coin depth in bad ground.

Yes Terry, i ran around 70, turning it up didn't change the depth much but helped the audio slightly. I wouldn't say my ground is red hot, 3-4 bars on the Racer2, my other detector calls it med/high, my etrac also didn't go past 10"-11"

I'm also curious, like Terry, if you used higher Gain settings, if you had any EMI issues at that location, and which search modes you tried?

I've now got 2 detectors that work much better for me (one of them gets the same penny @12" on minimum sensitivity!) i was probably asking to much of the Racer, though I've not gave up on Makro/Nokta, if the Impact does better than my current detector I'll probably buy one.

Interesting, and maybe you just didn't ask the Racer 2 to show you more? Not sure of the makes and models you've settled on or their operating frequency as that can make a difference. My 19 kHz Nokta FORS Relic is my primary-use detector because of the features it has and how well it handles the really iron infested sites I typically hunt. It does provide me ample depth, better than any other detector I have used at ±19 kHz, but 'depth' isn't always what I want or need. Many places I work have too much debris to attain any respectful depth as deeper-located targets are therefore masked.

In most hunting of pastureland or larger, open, grassy types of sites, although my Racer 2 and Relic do provide very good workable depth, my main-use unit is my Nokta FORS CoRe with the standard 7X11 DD. I have found it to give me a little cleaner audio at slightly better depth of detection.

Like you I am eager to get an Impact in-hand, especially know the engineering effort I have seen from the Nokta/Makro Detector folks. No doubt there with be settings and modes that will help with different tasks, but I am especially eager to work it at the lowest operating frequency. As a rule, that should provide better handling of higher mineralized ground as well as improved responsiveness to higher-conductive targets.

Enjoy what ever detector(s) are working for you, but for sure don't give up on the Nokta and Makro products. I would even encourage you to meet up with a Racer 2 operator sometime and give the Racer 2 a second try. Get to know it and maybe you'll have a different experience.

Monte

 

[Monte]

Being a gold nuggetshooter, I am experienced running detectors over really hot ground in hot rock gardens. The problem with running your gain too high in hot soils is losing depth instead of gaining it. I know it's too late now, but for other Racer 2 - and VLF machine users in general, EXPERIMENT with your gain/sensitivity in difficult soils. A common mistake is setting your gain too high. In some soils it is like turning your bright lights on in a heavy fog. Had you turned the sensitivity down to 55-60, you may have hit that big penny deeper. Just an observation.

Terry, I used to do more Gold Nugget Hunting than I have in the past couple of decades, but that's due to health/mobility limitations. I do still get in some nugget-chasing sessions, but they are associated with the Relic Hunting I do at several old Gold Mining Towns or Camps. The common factor, however, is that we are usually hunting very mineralized ground. I have most of my saved programs on the Racer 2, Gold Racer, CoRe and Relic set to turn-on at as high a gain as I can usually operate at w/o a loss of stability.

Then, if conditions call for it, I will reduce the Gain as needed/if needed. I hunt with a slow, methodical sweep speed to work in and around the trash, rocks, brush and building rubble and most of the time I can still get excellent performance with the higher Gain settings. Still, there are time when a Gain reduction can help handle the hunting environment as you noted, and the Racer 2 still performs very well for me. I might lose some depth, by comparison with many competitor's makes and models, the Racer 2, CoRe, and /Relic models I rely on the most produce surprising performance with reduced Gain/Sensitivity settings into that middle adjustment range.

Monte

 

[against the wind]

Excellent review Terry.

 

[ecmo]

Thanks for the review Terry! I wrote down id settings and taped them to back ok my screen, I don't hunt at night so don't use flashlight feature, lol.
I purchased my racer 2 this past September and don't think of it as my soul mate yet, but want to. I still rely much on my Whites mx5 which I like the tones better on seeing as how my right ear is all but totally deaf and left one suffers 25% hearing loss....huh?lol, also believe I'm somewhat tone deaf.
Will say the racer is much quicker on target separation than my mx5 with its 10 in. DD coil when a couple pieces of trash lay within 2 in. of good target. Also when I first got the racer went back over sites I had covered many times with Whites and found coins and keepers I had somehow missed before, but have yet to find anything deeper than I could have with Whites.
Good write up, thanks again.

Don