Today I took the Racer 2 out for a run at the Victorian coin hotspot to get a little more familiarised with the detector. Swapped over to the MarMD Tiger 10x13"" coil to hopefully cover a fair swag of ground, and it proved to be quite a sensitive coil to the many small low conductors littering the site. It was pea soup fog right up until midday, which made made for some eerie scenery - gorilla in the mist!
I felt that 3 tone didn't quite offer the depth required on such small targets in this particular area, so I ran with 2 tone VCO for most of the day with iron volume turned off. So essentially single tone on all non-ferrous targets, and a compromise between 3 tone and deep mode on both depth and recovery speed. I didn't see the need to hear the iron, I know it's there, and felt it more productive to be able to just hear the non-ferrous targets, much as I do on the Deus.
It was always going to be a struggle to find an older coin today, I am really scraping the bottom of the barrel in that respect, so the order of the day was to target any remaining deep low conductors that were previously overlooked.
The Racer 2 tends to be more sparky than the Deus, you do get some feedback from the ground, and you also know when you are over big iron with the discrimination crackling and spitting as it goes about its business. I am mainly running default settings at present, though with the gain lowered even further, much of this feedback becomes negligable, other than some high tone iron trying to break through.
Switching between 2 tone and 3 tone on the same target, the loss of detection depth is quite obvious, though it does run a lot quieter at higher gain levels. 3 tones is more of a candidate for general park hunting, where there is more non-ferrous junk and the coins are relatively shallow.
One area I did have trouble with was regarding a nearby underground power line creating constant EMI issues, even when 20-30 metres away from the source. Running the Deus at 17kHz, it is less affected by the same EMI, though drop down to mid/low frequencies, and it would get to the same stage as the Racer, and be near on impossible to pick out any targets. So obviously the lower 14kHz frequency of the Racer makes it a bit more susceptible to EMI, depending on what the source is. I tried lowering the sensitivity way down, though it made little difference - running the larger coil may well have also contributed to the issue.
I also had to remove the rear armrest cover to enable the audio to be heard clearly, it really tends to muffle the speaker which is mounted on the underside. So headphones only if utilising the rear cover. Two seperate speakers in the sides of the rear armrest would have been a better idea, to suit both left and right handers, plus also to keep the speaker away from moisture and soil contamination. Either way, I shoud be seeing the new wireless headphones before long, so won't have to rely on the external speaker.
Aside from that, it did quite well at picking out some very faint buttons, .22 projectile/shells, and small lead targets from areas previously detected, and at good depths. A couple of interesting finds were the wafer thin shield shaped clasp, pocket watch winder, two hole flat button with material still attached, and a real nice ornately patterned button with an intact shank on the rear. The rest of the buttons were your typical mix of Excelsior, Exhibition, Our own mark, and Tennison 20 Haymarket examples.
Despite the size of the Tiger coil, I ran non stop for several hours without too much fatigue, though still not in the same class as the ultralight Deus. I do still have to remind myself on the difference between price between the two detectors, not quite an even playing field, but the Racer does represent pretty good value for what you get.
I videoed several digs today, so hopefully will see some of that later on (if it's acceptible). Comes complete with me ripping the crotch out of my jeans, and a 9volt battery nearly melting down in my pocket.
The Racer 2 in all its glory.
MarsMD Tiger
