Fors Core vs Racer 2

[mojotrout]

I apologize if this is not the place to post such a question, but I thought here or the Makro forum would be a good place to start.

I am primarily an old coin/ token hunter who enjoys coming across the odd relic from time to time. My hunting areas are equally distributed between old yards/ sidewalk strips in urban environments and mining/CCC camps and homesteads riddled with iron. I reside and primarily hunt in W. Idaho, as well as N. Nevada, and E. Oregon.

I think I have settled on purchasing either a Racer 2 or a ForsCore but really cant determine from the forums and reviews which would be better for my hunting preferences. I would like reliable depth to 8 inches in "cleaner" (< trash, mineralization) using a medium-sized coil, good separation in iron (realizing a smaller coil would perform better), and reliable audio to distinguish iron from silver---specifically, I am hoping one or both of these machines can minimize the "false negatives" (low tone on deep silver for instance) and "false positives" (high tone on iron items). This ability is priority as I have been disappointed to find past detectors can guide me away from potentially desirable targets by giving an iron audio response. Im not too worried about digging high tones to find a deep rusty washer -- thats always gonna happen--but walking away from an 1800's silver coin because of an "iron grunt" is unacceptable (and NOT an iron grunt due of lack of distinguishing two targets close together). I realize inaccurate (inconsistent) audio response for all of the metals/conductors in between high and low is a holy grail that no detector has accomplished with absolute accuracy, so I temper my expectations accordingly. As I noted above, however, I am most interested in the items at the high end of the conductivity spectrum.

I currently have a Tesoro Silver uMax which I love and will own forever, and an Xterra 705, which I have had fun with but has not met my expectations so am willing to part with to finance a new machine (with a budget around 900$). Both of these machines operate at lower khz than either Forc or Racer but I am not yet convinced (but still open-minded) that plays much of a role in their abilities to uncover my desired targets (at least, not a prominent one).

Sorry for the wall of text but I wanted to be as specific as possible with my needs so you smart folks out there could give sound advice. Any information or opinions on the Notka/Makro (or other) machines is greatly appreciated!

 

[dbado1]

mojotrout,

I hunt with the CoRe and the X-Terra 70 with three different coils at different frequencies. The X-Terra stays home. It just can't compete with the CoRe for recovery speed, separation, and depth.
I haven't hunted with a Racer so I can't comment on it.

When the CoRe hits on a coin it really locks on. I have found coins and other non-ferrous targets in the same hole as iron and the CoRe really separates them out well or lets you know both are there. I have not been "surprised" by the CoRe calling a deep coin iron. I get good high tones on deep coins (8-10"), although, at times, the VDI #s may not come up reliably...still not a audio signal you would pass up.

The small coil is incredible for separation in the trash.

I hope this helps some.

Dean

 

[Flbchbm]

Short answer is that you can't go wrong with either machine. I have the Fors CoRe and am amazed at how much fun it is to use. Superb balance with the standard coil and the small coil. Great battery life. Unbelievable target separation. Price vs. abilities is probably tops. Gives so much data in it's tones that you will have to use it a long time before you fully understand what it is telling you (and I mean that in a good way-not at all hard to use but you will learn something new every time you take it out). Excellent build quality. Most important for me is it is just so much fun. Downside is that if you rely heavily on the displayed id numbers, you will be frustrated at times with the large number of different targets that will hit in the 56 - 60 range and especially those that hit in the 80 - 83 range. The tones can give you some clues to separate trash from treasure in those ranges but you will dig up trash while being certain it is treasure. I consider it the price of admission....

Now, that being said, the Racer2 sure sounds like it is going to be a winner. It should have better separation in the id numbers, so maybe pull tabs won't be so hard to separate from nickles, and pennies and dimes wont be mixed in with crown caps and aluminum screw caps. We'll have to see. If I was in your situation and feeling patient about it, I would try to wait a month or two after the release of the Racer2 and see what everyone had to say. If it id's better than the CoRe, along with all the other new bells and whistles it comes with, I would get the Racer2.

HH!

 

[Jackpine Savage]

I am primarily an old coin/ token hunter who enjoys coming across the odd relic from time to time. My hunting areas are equally distributed between old yards/ sidewalk strips in urban environments and mining/CCC camps and homesteads riddled with iron.

Mojotrout you have described my type of hunting almost to a tee. I also enjoy and spend most of my time at those types of sites. One of my favorite machines has been the Tek G2 and I am adding the Racer 2 as the next step in iron hunting. I was all set to get the original Racer but when the R2 was announced I felt the added features are exactly what I needed. Last fall I had picked up a G2+ and really enjoyed the iron audio feature.. Adding iron audio made getting the R2 over the original Racer a no brainer for me. The expanded non-ferrous ID range may or not make a differnece as I dig almost all non-ferrous reading but it is there and another added plus.

Tom

 

[mojotrout]

thanks for the replies fellas. The performance that Dbado and Flbchbm mention seem to be assets that both machines have and the reason(s) I have narrowed down my choices to one of those units. Tom, I have never used the Tek G2 but have talked to/read posts of a few folks who like the Racer 1 and/or Core better for myriad reasons. I have high hopes that the iron audio on either machine performs better than the Xterra's does. Issues with alum and steel caps arent that big a deal to me as i do not do much hunting in areas infested with modern trash. I also realize these are the trash items that no detector has completely solved.

So it appears that either machine is a good choice for my style of hunting but neither machine has anything that makes it stand out over the other? That is not a bad problem to have I suppose. I can now take a look at the "bells and whistles" of each and make a decision based on those, as my main needs are being met by both. The racer 2 has some pretty cool features like being able to lower the volume of the iron audio response. That will be a sanity-saver in the old square nail/ mining camp sites.

does anyone know how the two compare in terms of :

weight/ ergonomics
battery life
coil selection

 

[Flbchbm]

Read Monte's posts on this topic. He hunts the kind of areas you do and has experience with all the Noktas and the Racers.

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Reducing the iron tones volume makes for a much easier hunt on the ears and allows you to more easily pick out the nuances of the audio on targets to make a better dig/no dig decision.

Also just heard that the new stock coil on the R2 give a lighter more balanced feel. So that;s another plus.