Just another newbie

[Scottowl]

I have been out with the Racer 2 for about a week now. I guess its about 10-15 hours detecting time.

The first noticeable thing is its ergonomic design. It puts you in a position that demands proper swinging form, and allows you to keep swinging longer.

I really like the ground balancing. Very easy, and enjoyable to update.

I quickly settled in on two tone mode. All metal mode is too chattery for right now. Three tone? Where the heck is that flock of geese I am hearing??

I am glad I got the 5" coil. Pinpointing is much easier than I expected from a DD coil. I'm used to the Whites configuration, where you have to keep pinpointing until the tone stops, and start looking at the end of the coil. The stock coil will stay on the shelf for now.

For now I am running the gain at 65, and the ID filter at 5.

I am just kicking around in the same old parks and school lots. I have been finding more clad than usual. Also more steel bottle caps and can slaw.

What I want out of the R2 to do is wade into the nastiest aluminum trash looking for jewelry. That is pretty tough going. Anybody have any pointers on how to get there?

 

[Stoof-tabsallday]

Monte should be along soon.... Lol
He's got the best makro/nokta advice

 

[iqwozpoom]

I quickly settled in on two tone mode. All metal mode is too chattery for right now. Three tone? Where the heck is that flock of geese I am hearing??

I am just kicking around in the same old parks and school lots. I have been finding more clad than usual. Also more steel bottle caps and can slaw.

What I want out of the R2 to do is wade into the nastiest aluminum trash looking for jewelry. That is pretty tough going. Anybody have any pointers on how to get there?

Have you tried changing the pitch on the three tone? If you can get them set to where you are comfortable three tones excels in heavy modern trash. Using the three tones will also help to eliminate steel bottle caps and cut down on screw caps. If you are looking for jewelry you will dig foil and can slaw, but with the tree tones adjustable hz and tone breaks you can really up your chances for bling.

 

[Scottowl]

I have briefly played around with the pitch. I don't really understand what I am trying to do yet.
I understand the concept of having a line of vdi numbers, from 0-99.
The tone frequency is adjustable, although I haven't got that far yet.
So, I could set the tone to really stand out from 10 - 50, for example?
Also, are the tones directly tied in to the vdi reading, or is the audio ID independent from the numbers?

 

[iqwozpoom]

Yes, you can move the "break", where the tone changes from one tone to another and then change the pitch of the three tones independently. So you can have the tone really stand out from 10-50 or 5-80 or however you like. Also with the iron audio you can have the lowest tone at a lower volume as well. The tones are tied to the vdi. Once you figure out how to set the tone breaks and find pitches that are pleasing or at least acceptable to your ears it really is a useful feature. One more thing, if you have more then one set of headphones try them out. I used sunray's on my red racer for a year and as soon as I switched to another brand it was a whole new machine. That just my ears but to me it was a big difference. I prefer the whites ultralites and prostars personally. Good luck and HH!

 

[Scottowl]

The 3 tone is much less chattery than 2 tone. With the gain turned down this detector is docile in the garbage. Thanks for the tip.
Does 2 tone have a gain boost on it?

 

[Monte]

Well, you can look at it a couple of ways. The Di2/2-Tone mode is a bit 'hotter' or 'sparkier' than the Di3/3-Tone mode.

You could also say the 3-Tone mode is just a bit 'tamer' than the 2-Tone mode.

Then, too, you could just say the two modes work 'differently' with the way they process targets, and that also makes them different from each other.

I use the 3-Tone mode most often with a Racer 2 or my Nokta FORS CoRe or FORS Relic or Impact when any of them have their smaller-size coil mounted AND I am dense iron trash. Not just nails, but a wide range of ferrous junk, to include rusty tin. If a site is more open with minimal trash, I prefer to use the 2-Tone mode with a mid-size or standard search coil, and when I can benefit from it, I opt for the DEEP mode and work it a little more slowly and methodically.

Monte

 

[Scottowl]

I have been finding out the 3 tone is the way to go amongst the trash.
As you know, most of my experience was with the MXT, which is chatty in its own right.
I am rapidly realizing the R2 is no MXT. However, when I first used the R2, it was 2 tone, disc at 02 or 03, and gain at 90. I had a sinking feeling about things, and wondered what I had done, trading in a perfectly functional MXT for this...thing! I recognize now these were probably some of the worst settings possible for the application. I must say the R2 will find some very small bits of metal.
Even though it was too noisy to use in those circumstances, it was getting some clad I had missed before, and a good percentage of these coins were on edge. Some of the fresh drops on the surface rang out 3 times. Is the detector recovering, and giving its next signal on the same target?
Has anyone had success in the gold ring category? I suspect they will be found in the 35-45 range. I have dug at least 300 pull tabs in this range over the past week! I wonder where the small chains would fall?
One of the best features I have found so far is how easy it is to toggle over to 2 tone range to gather more info about a questionable target.

 

[Indotguy]

About any detector is going to be "chatty" if you run high enough gain/sensitivity and little or no discrimination. If you don't want to hear chatter you need to lower the gain/sensitivity and consider using some discrimination. Too much of either of these can effect the depth and also the separation abilities so beware. With the Racer 2, the Iron Audio, Tone Breaks, and Audio frequency adjustments can be very useful in helping to locate good stuff among the trash without the need for as much discrimination.

 

[Dave_E]

Love, LOVE, LOVE, these settings in trashy sites!!!

Try setting your Racer2 up in 3-tone mode.

ID filter at 0. You want to hear everything including the trash.

Set the tone breaks at 28 and 65.

Set the audio tones at 100Hz, 350Hz, and 700Hz.

Set iron audio at 2.

Let the site dictate your gain.


The differences in those 3 tones are dramatic and having the volume of the low iron tone so much quieter allows non-ferrous targets masked by iron to stand out to your ears.

You won't even need to ID #'s in trashy sites.

 

[Scottowl]

I like these settings. It kills the nickels! The sound of a quarter near the surface is SWEEET.
I have not yet found a good(gold) ring with the Racer, but I have managed a few silver ones. I've been finding more junk ones than with the MXT.
It's just a matter of time until a gold one shows up.
I'm gaining confidence in this detector.

 

[Kapok]

Love, LOVE, LOVE, these settings in trashy sites!!!

Try setting your Racer2 up in 3-tone mode.

ID filter at 0. You want to hear everything including the trash.

Set the tone breaks at 28 and 65.

Set the audio tones at 100Hz, 350Hz, and 700Hz.

Set iron audio at 2.

Let the site dictate your gain.


The differences in those 3 tones are dramatic and having the volume of the low iron tone so much quieter allows non-ferrous targets masked by iron to stand out to your ears.

You won't even need to ID #'s in trashy sites.

I agree. I set my R2 with these settings, and it's incredible how the tones separate out now. Thanks for sharing.