sidney said:
I brought a new Racer and would like some programs that you all use most in your hunting. I hunt for relics and coins, mostly in fields and in woods. Sometimes around old home sites.
I have the Racer 1 detector.
Sidney, I presume you bought the 'original' Racer. There was the Racer, the Gold Racer, then the Racer 2. There wasn't a 'name' of Racer 1, just Racer so you must have a new 'original' Racer.
You stated you hunt for relics and coins, and mostly in fields and in woods. Sometimes around old home sites. To me, that is all Relic Hunting. Traditional Coin Hunting is done in parks and school playgrounds and sports fields and private yards in cities and towns. You might be primarily looking for coins, likely older dated coins, but the locations you suggested are Relic Hunting types of conditions. That means you want to use Relic Hunting techniques to work them since you are likely to be dealing with older debris, especially nails and other iron, rather than modern trash like tabs, foil and screw caps.
Now for the problem. You also said you:
"... would like some programs that you all use most in your hunting." The problem is that ALL of us are likely to use different settings, and sometimes quite different based upon how we hunt and where we hunt. Also important is the search coil used, and you didn't mention if you got an accessory coil other than the stock 7X11 DD. You can ask away and get a lot of opinions about the settings used, and I don't mind sharing mine, however you really need to use the Racer and learn the Racer so that you can decide on what settings YOU are most comfortable with.
Well, here are my settings and choices:
I run in the 2-Tone mode if I am NOT hunting in a highly trashy site with an abundance of iron
and non-iron junk. If it is a pretty clean site, or if the primary offending trash is iron nails, then I like the 2-Tone mode. Also, when working cleaner sites like that, then I prefer the 5½X10 DD, or the standard 7X11 DD when it has very minimal targets. I usually keep my ID Filter set at '10' and Gain ± '90' and reduce the Gain if there is a lot of EMI. I do NOT use Tracking in any Discriminate mode, and very seldom in the All Metal mode. When the location is reasonably target free or metal targets are well spaced, then I use a moderate sweep speed.
I always opt for the 3-Tone mode when the trash level is very dense and closely spaced, and also when there is a mix of both ferrous and non-ferrous targets to deal with. This is when hunting urban playgrounds or some littered renovation sites, but especially when Relic Hunting any older sites with a lot of discarded junk, building rubble, close to metal structures or metal fences, etc. In the 3-Tone mode I also prefer an ID Filter setting of '10' and I keep the Gain set higher at '95' to '99' unless there is too much EMI, or challenges due to dense targets that cause instability.
I always have one of the smaller DD coils mounted, either the 4.[size=small]7[/size]X5.[size=small]
2[/size]
'OOR' DD or the newer 5½" round DD. My sweep speed is slow to almost moderate, depending upon the conditions, and methodical in the coil presentation and coverage.
In any search mode I like the Racer On/Off Target Volume Level set at the maximum/full setting. If I need to adjust the loudness, I do it with the headphone's volume control, not the detector.
There you have it, the 'simple' approach I take to success with some of the better detectors on the market today.
Monte