First impression on the Racer pro

[Albert]

Recieved the pro today. Was happy to recieve it after a two week mail delay. Anyway I'll skip all the packaging and assembly details. By the way , I also purchased the 5x10 coil for it , so that gives me three coils to test with. Tested it in my back yard were I have some EMI from electrical lines overhead. Turn frequency to 2 and she quieted down nicely. Turned the I'd filter up to 20 because of the iron pieces in the ground, quited down quite a bit. All other setting stock.I have a few coins scattered around the yard and so with stock coil proceeded to find them. Found all them with no overloads and some were on top of the ground. Worked fine. Of course from what I have read, the overloads happen in cold weather. Here in southern California it doesn't get very cold. Tried all the features on the detector and was pleasantly surprised that all worked so well , especially the back light. The vibrating handle was also a first for me. Anyways i hooked up the 5x10 coil and same results . Good separation of targets with both coils etc. And no overloads. The one thing i did notices was that the tones , either 2 or 3 , sounded muffled. Not crisp like on some of the other machines I own. Too much bass.Also the volume on the detector seems low to me. Other than that, I hope to be able to take it hunting this weekend. HH . Al

 

[Monte]

Recieved the pro today. Was happy to recieve it after a two week mail delay. Anyway I'll skip all the packaging and assembly details. By the way , I also purchased the 5x10 coil for it , so that gives me three coils to test with. Tested it in my back yard were I have some EMI from electrical lines overhead. Turn frequency to 2 and she quieted down nicely. Turned the I'd filter up to 20 because of the iron pieces in the ground, quited down quite a bit. All other setting stock.I have a few coins scattered around the yard and so with stock coil proceeded to find them. Found all them with no overloads and some were on top of the ground. Worked fine.

How much distance between your coil and the coins and targets? The Overload audio is more apparent on larger-size targets, or if somewhat close to coins. The search coil, buy suggestion in the Owner's Manual, Page 6, Number 10, should be operated about 2" from the ground. If operated a reasonable distance away, like 1½" to 2" high, it will often not Overload on typical smaller-size coins. Big targets can cause it. It is a useful, functional feature.

Of course from what I have read, the overloads happen in cold weather. Here in southern California it doesn't get very cold.

I am in North Central Oregon and have hunted with my Racer in towns and ghost towns in Oregon, Utah and Idaho in temperatures from 62° to 74°. Not freezing weather but I do get the PROPER and ANTICIPATED 'Overload" audio with both my Racers.

Tried all the features on the detector and was pleasantly surprised that all worked so well , especially the back light. The vibrating handle was also a first for me. Anyways i hooked up the 5x10 coil and same results . Good separation of targets with both coils etc. And no overloads.

Check bigger-size targets or work the search coil close to coins, using the default settings, and you ought to hear the Overload audio.

The one thing i did notices was that the tones , either 2 or 3 , sounded muffled. Not crisp like on some of the other machines I own. Too much bass.

My audio responses are well defined, crisp and clear. I use White's Pro Star headphones and Killer B 'Wasp' headphones and always have the volume controls set to wide-open. I have the On/Off Volume control on the Racer turned fully clockwise to maximum Target Volume.

Was your Volume control fully turned up?

Were you using the default Gain Setting or increased a little and not decreased?

What headphones were you using?

I hear a muffled audio when I try most headphones that have 8 ohm, 16 ohm or even 32 ohm speakers. The optional wireless Bluetooth headphones are a 32 ohm speaker design and, for me, they were also a more muffled audio when I checked them out.

If you were using the supplied lightweight headphones with the Racer, those are a low-impedance design and the result is a muffled-sounding audio. Try a better quality headphone, such as those I mentioned or other type with maybe a 50 ohm, but especially a 100 ohm or 150 ohm Impedance speaker and the audio will be clean, clear, crisp and much better.

Also the volume on the detector seems low to me.

Make sure it is set to full Volume AND use a quality set of higher-impedance headphones.

Other than that, I hope to be able to take it hunting this weekend. HH . Al

Best of success this weekend. I'll be doing some detecting tomorrow, as well as Saturday afternoon when I get home from our meeting and, possibly, Sunday afternoon

Monte

 

[TallTom]

... The one thing i did notices was that the tones , either 2 or 3 , sounded muffled. Not crisp like on some of the other machines I own. Too much bass.Also the volume on the detector seems low to me...

I can't force myself to spend big bucks on expensive headphones.
In the past, I used some $30 Radio Shack headphones with my
Tesoro Silver uMax and Vaquero. I liked them and thought they
gave good sound. I've now been using them on my Racer and
I think the sound is excellent, and plenty loud and crisp. I think
it also helps that they're "over the ear" type, so they block out some
of the environmental sounds that might make it harder to hear your
detector's signals. They have individual volume controls, which I
needed on my Tesoro machines, since they do NOT have volume
controls. With my Racer, I have both ears turned up to maximum
volume, and I only turn up the Racer's volume control a little less
than a quarter turn to get plenty of sound. The headphones are
rated at 32 ohms.

Anyway, I just bought a new, spare pair (33-277) to use with my Racer.
Radio Shack still sells them, although the new ones seem to have
just slightly smaller ear cups than my older pair have. Just an option
to consider, in case you want to try other headphones but don't
want to shell out $100 or $150 for them. No guarantee that you'll
like them the way I do.

--Tom

 

[goldbrick]

Albert, may I ask where you purchased the 5 x 10 coil? My dealer claims they are unavailable? I would sure admire to have one for nugget hunting.
Thanks,
Merton

 

[Nokta Detectors]

Albert, may I ask where you purchased the 5 x 10 coil? My dealer claims they are unavailable? I would sure admire to have one for nugget hunting.
Thanks,
Merton

Hello! We do have the 10x5 coils available. I don't know why your dealer is saying that they are not.
Please contact the distributor metaldetector.com

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Recieved the pro today. Was happy to recieve it after a two week mail delay. Anyway I'll skip all the packaging and assembly details. By the way , I also purchased the 5x10 coil for it , so that gives me three coils to test with. Tested it in my back yard were I have some EMI from electrical lines overhead. Turn frequency to 2 and she quieted down nicely. Turned the I'd filter up to 20 because of the iron pieces in the ground, quited down quite a bit. All other setting stock.I have a few coins scattered around the yard and so with stock coil proceeded to find them. Found all them with no overloads and some were on top of the ground. Worked fine. Of course from what I have read, the overloads happen in cold weather. Here in southern California it doesn't get very cold. Tried all the features on the detector and was pleasantly surprised that all worked so well , especially the back light. The vibrating handle was also a first for me. Anyways i hooked up the 5x10 coil and same results . Good separation of targets with both coils etc. And no overloads. The one thing i did notices was that the tones , either 2 or 3 , sounded muffled. Not crisp like on some of the other machines I own. Too much bass.Also the volume on the detector seems low to me. Other than that, I hope to be able to take it hunting this weekend. HH . Al

To be clear, there are two overload scenarios:

(1) There is an issue with some coils whereas in cold weather the machine with be stuck in "saturation/overlaod" mode upon power on, doesn't matter if the coil is on the ground, over a target, or in the air.

(2) The overload issue that most people are complaining about is that the Racer is too sensitive to small surface targets (surface/sub-surface nails for example).

I believe issue (1) can (oddly) be mittigated by removing the coil cover.

For issue (2) there are several workarounds, such as raising the coil, or reducing the gain to 39.

I wonder if the audio issues you experienced are more a function of your headphones (if using them)? I didn't find the audio to be muffled or too much base when using my Sunray Golds. I have some custom made 600ohm headphones on the way, which should make the audio even more clear, should be nice for working around iron and trash

Good luck with your Racer, so far, I'm enjoying mine, and have lots to learn about it.

HH,
Brian