Some Racer 2 opinions?

[mojotrout]

Hi all, Im back in the game after a several-year hiatus from the MD world. I currently have a Racer 2 and had put a few dozen hours in with it prior to my time being devoted to other pursuits. I think I like it more than the other MDs Ive spent time with -- F5, XT705, Racer, Tesoro Outlaw.

My question is should I look into the Impact, Simplex, or Legend as an upgrade in terms of hunting ferrous (trash, not soil) land in the top 8-10 inches of dirt? I havent been following the tech advances so dont really know what or if Id actually be upgrading with these machines. I hunt almost exclusively in city parks/sidewalks, ghost towns, mines, and old homes/sites. I live in S.Idaho so hit the same (types of) places Monte and Oregon Greg do (are they still around?}. It would be nice to have a waterproof unit to hit the rivers and creeks but maybe I should get a separate one for those tasks?

Any thoughts/opinions would be appreciated.

 

[UtahRich]

Racer 2 is great for the ghost towns with a small coil or even the 7" concentric. With the stock 7x11 DD it does great for sports fields and has pretty impressive depth. Gregg will see your post and jump in with thoughts of his own.

Rich

 

[OregonGregg]

In a nutshell, the Racer 2 you have is a pretty darn good machine. It also has a very good selection of coils to choose from rather from the Mfg or aftermarket. I would skip the Impact and Simplex since you already have the R2. The Legend is still yet to be seen what it can actually do. I suspect it might give the beach hunters and park hunters ( deeper targets better ID) a boost, but I honestly don't feel that in the iron/rusted tin/trashy ghost town sites that there will be a performance advantage over say the Racer 2 or Fors CoRe for that matter. But time will tell and we will not have to wait too much longer to see.

I still use my Racer 2 and really only use two coils with it, the 7" concentric and the NEL Snake coil, and those two coils give me all I need trying to tackle the areas I detect.

Rereading your question, the Simplex would offer waterproofing, but only offers a large and mid-size coil. No small coil. So it could be a second machine to use along with your R2 for those wet conditions. But I would prob just wait and let the Legend get out and see what the consensus is.

 

[mojotrout]

In a nutshell, the Racer 2 you have is a pretty darn good machine. It also has a very good selection of coils to choose from rather from the Mfg or aftermarket. I would skip the Impact and Simplex since you already have the R2. The Legend is still yet to be seen what it can actually do. I suspect it might give the beach hunters and park hunters ( deeper targets better ID) a boost, but I honestly don't feel that in the iron/rusted tin/trashy ghost town sites that there will be a performance advantage over say the Racer 2 or Fors CoRe for that matter. But time will tell and we will not have to wait too much longer to see.

I still use my Racer 2 and really only use two coils with it, the 7" concentric and the NEL Snake coil, and those two coils give me all I need trying to tackle the areas I detect.

Rereading your question, the Simplex would offer waterproofing, but only offers a large and mid-size coil. No small coil. So it could be a second machine to use along with your R2 for those wet conditions. But I would prob just wait and let the Legend get out and see what the consensus is.

Hi Gregg, thanks for your thoughts on the Racer 2, much appreciated! Im glad to hear the R2 hasnt been rendered obsolete. I had good luck using it in the limited time I had her in the field, but hadnt quite learned the language in the rusty ghost towns I had visited. Sounds like more time in the field is the ticket!

Ive been wanting a CoRe as a companion for the R2 for a while but they seem to be hard to some by.

Thanks again (you too Rich)!

 

[Monte]

If you don't mind I'll add a little supporting comments.

First, the 'other' detectors: We don't know about The Legend until it is finalized and din our hands. The impact is a very good selectable- frequency model that I favor over those models that have followed, with onw exception. That exception is the Simplex + which as a far better performer than most people might imagine. Well above its price point. For those who are looking for a 'back-up' and would like a waterproof detector that's the way to go.

Models that are 'has beens': There are some very good detectors that, for whatever reason, were discontinued by their manufacturer even though they were excellent performers. One of those is a model you had, the Fisher F5. Two terrific models with short lives were from Nokta, the FORS CoRe and FORS Relic. Both appreciated by some savvy detectorists, but both difficult to find. And another discontinued but very versatile detector is the Racer 2, and as pointed out, you already have it so all you need are search coils for the types of places you will hunt.

I would say you are best served by two search coils. one for a wide-range of day-to-day hunting, and that is the 7" Concentric. And one for hunting tight conditions or in and around a lot of trash or brush, and my personal favorite from Makro is thee 'OOR' or Out-Of-Round 4.7X5.4 that came out with the original Racer. another would be the round 5" DD from Makro. If you don't mind an after-market coil, the NEL Snake coil that OregonGregg suggested is also a good choice.

The Race5 2 withy a good coil can handle most anything you'll come up against, and easily out-perform a lot of more expensive and newer models in some tough environments.

Monte

 

[mojotrout]

If you don't mind I'll add a little supporting comments.

First, the 'other' detectors: We don't know about The Legend until it is finalized and din our hands. The impact is a very good selectable- frequency model that I favor over those models that have followed, with onw exception. That exception is the Simplex + which as a far better performer than most people might imagine. Well above its price point. For those who are looking for a 'back-up' and would like a waterproof detector that's the way to go.

Models that are 'has beens': There are some very good detectors that, for whatever reason, were discontinued by their manufacturer even though they were excellent performers. One of those is a model you had, the Fisher F5. Two terrific models with short lives were from Nokta, the FORS CoRe and FORS Relic. Both appreciated by some savvy detectorists, but both difficult to find. And another discontinued but very versatile detector is the Racer 2, and as pointed out, you already have it so all you need are search coils for the types of places you will hunt.

I would say you are best served by two search coils. one for a wide-range of day-to-day hunting, and that is the 7" Concentric. And one for hunting tight conditions or in and around a lot of trash or brush, and my personal favorite from Makro is thee 'OOR' or Out-Of-Round 4.7X5.4 that came out with the original Racer. another would be the round 5" DD from Makro. If you don't mind an after-market coil, the NEL Snake coil that OregonGregg suggested is also a good choice.

The Race5 2 withy a good coil can handle most anything you'll come up against, and easily out-perform a lot of more expensive and newer models in some tough environments.

Monte

Hello Monte! Long time, no "see" - You helped me quite a bit several years ago with both machine selection and some hunting options in and around Ogden, Utah (where both of us had lived for a time), when I was just getting started. Thank you for taking the time to offer some insight once again.

I recall the R2 being sooo much better than both the F5 and the Xterra in the trashy areas, mostly due to its ability to run with little to no discrimination and assigning a lower volume to iron signals so I could still hear it. In my humble opinion that feature was a game-changer for me. I dont think I want a detector that doesnt have that feature.

I have the DD 5 inch from Makro for the R2, but I only got a few hours with it at a stage stop in SW Idaho and a RR town in Utah (Im sure you are familiar with both places!) before my free time started to become occupied by other pursuits. I actually have two R2 machines and planned to have the small coil on one and the larger stock on the other. However, Ive decided to sell/ trade one in order to get a machine that can give me a few options that the R2 doesnt (primarily fresh water hunting). Im going to have to look into the Simplex+ as I have no knowledge of this machine other than it appears to have been a popular model for the entry-level hunter when it was released. I might also see what the experts say about the Legend once it hits the field.

Thanks again for sharing your perspective.

 

[Monte]

Hello Monte! Long time, no "see" - You helped me quite a bit several years ago with both machine selection and some hunting options in and around Ogden, Utah (where both of us had lived for a time), when I was just getting started. Thank you for taking the time to offer some insight once again.

I recall the R2 being sooo much better than both the F5 and the Xterra in the trashy areas, mostly due to its ability to run with little to no discrimination and assigning a lower volume to iron signals so I could still hear it. In my humble opinion that feature was a game-changer for me. I dont think I want a detector that doesnt have that feature.

I have the DD 5 inch from Makro for the R2, but I only got a few hours with it at a stage stop in SW Idaho and a RR town in Utah (Im sure you are familiar with both places!) before my free time started to become occupied by other pursuits. I actually have two R2 machines and planned to have the small coil on one and the larger stock on the other. However, Ive decided to sell/ trade one in order to get a machine that can give me a few options that the R2 doesnt (primarily fresh water hunting). Im going to have to look into the Simplex+ as I have no knowledge of this machine other than it appears to have been a popular model for the entry-level hunter when it was released. I might also see what the experts say about the Legend once it hits the field.

Thanks again for sharing your perspective.

Hello, again, and for the record, my house here in Texas goes on the block next week and I plan to move 'back home' to Ogden.

I really like the F5, but I do wish it had Iron Audio Volume and I might have kept mine. The Racer 2 is a versatile and handy style detector, and, again, I favor the 5" DD and 7" Concentric for day-to-day hunting.

As for getting a newer detector, it's an OK idea, if the new-to-you detector has what you are looking for in features and performance. No all do. And don't sell the Simplex + short as an "entry-level" detector because it is more than that. And don't be too quick to buy into some of the marketing fury. I have been on, and am now off of, some meds that I think slowed me down and altered my behavior a bit. I'm feeling better now that I'm done with them, and I have put in a lot of time, both day and night, watching a lot of YouTube videos ... both new and going back 5 to 10 years ... and it has been interesting. some done here in the USA and some, most, over in the UK and other parts nearby. Many he same people doing them and other different people, comparing new tro them units, and quite a few side-by-side comparisons.

Same, or same-type, of plowed fields, looking for the same targets going back to the Roman occupation. I have watched so many and thought and compared that I cancelled my Deus II order. I have a good outfit of detectors that work well, and from what I have seen, I don't think I'd benefit, at this time, by buying a 'new' detector because I have what can work. I'm not saying the new Deus II doesn't have some new features of performance enhancement over the original Deus, but for where I hunt, and the time I can put in, I don't see 'new' making things better .... for me. At least not now.
I miss a good Racer 2 and the two coils i mentioned. I might sell / trade my back-up Simplex + to find one. They are a vital component of OregonGregg's outfit, to be sure.

Monte

 

[Picketwire]

I have the Racer 2 and the Impact.

My question is should I look into the Impact, Simplex, or Legend as an upgrade in terms of hunting ferrous (trash, not soil) land in the top 8-10 inches of dirt?

I like the Impact better but I can't say it is any better for what you want. The 5Khz settings are somewhat deeper than the Racers 2 and the 20Khz separates a bit better. I also love the different all metal modes of the Impact but they are rarely mentioned by others. The DI modes are similar to the Racer 2 and the VLX ones to the Red Racer. However, I doubt it will find much more than the Racer 2. The main reason I like the Impact better is you can use 4 tones, low for iron, 2nd to just barely include a nickel, 3rd to barely include zinc or indian head pennies, and 4th for silver. The DI99 also makes it easier for me to distinguish aluminum from other objects in the same VID range. That said I don't think anything obsoletes the Racer 2 and I doubt that I could take the Impact and keep up with OregonGregg or Monte with a Racer 2. The Racer 2 and Simplex for the creeks and ponds would make an excellent duo in my opinion.

 

[mojotrout]

I have the Racer 2 and the Impact.

I like the Impact better but I can't say it is any better for what you want. The 5Khz settings are somewhat deeper than the Racers 2 and the 20Khz separates a bit better. I also love the different all metal modes of the Impact but they are rarely mentioned by others. The DI modes are similar to the Racer 2 and the VLX ones to the Red Racer. However, I doubt it will find much more than the Racer 2. The main reason I like the Impact better is you can use 4 tones, low for iron, 2nd to just barely include a nickel, 3rd to barely include zinc or indian head pennies, and 4th for silver. The DI99 also makes it easier for me to distinguish aluminum from other objects in the same VID range. That said I don't think anything obsoletes the Racer 2 and I doubt that I could take the Impact and keep up with OregonGregg or Monte with a Racer 2. The Racer 2 and Simplex for the creeks and ponds would make an excellent duo in my opinion.

Your thoughts are much appreciated Picketwire. Im leaning towards getting a Simplex and if the Legend turns out to be a good machine, maybe even pick one of those up too. I do like the four tone tone option you mentioned..

 

[semtav]

I know this is an old thread, but I don't think enough can be said about the racer 2.
It's too bad they've discontinued it.
I liked mine so much I bought another.
For the type of hunting I do, I don't think one can improve that much to make it worth getting rid of.