I know this machine has been out for years and many of you have been there and done that, but I wanted to share my experience so far.
A couple weeks ago I created a thread asking advice about the T2 Classic and the Makro Racer. I really appreciate the comments I received and ended up pulling the trigger on the Red Racer. I wanted to pickup a mid range machine that does well in Iron and has a fast recovery and I believe the Racer fits the bill. The machine arrived earlier this week and I was able to take it out for a few hours on Wednesday. I took it to an overgrown picnic/swimming area from the 1940's. I consider this location to be my trials ground for any new detector I purchase. It has everything: EMI, iron, aluminum, junk, sand, etc...
When I first opened the box, I looked at the stock coil ears. I have read reports on them cracking, but that was awhile ago. I believe they beefed up the ears to fix this issue. However, when I looked at my ears, they were not beefed up at all. I thought, wonder if this was a new old stock Racer from a few years back. When I looked closer, the coil serial number sticker says "Racer 2". Interesting, I did not know that they were using Racer 2 coils now, makes sense. The coil lug bolt is also the newer style with the lever and came with an extra...Ok, cool!
I assembled the detector, did a couple checks and loaded it up. On my way home from work, I stopped by the trials grounds, changed out of my work clothes carefully scanning the area to not be seen LOL...Once on the site, I was getting a low 50s GB, two pie pieces and was able to get 83 sensitivity without any chatter in 3 tone. All other settings I ran stock. Ergonomics are OK, not great, not terrible. I am 6' 200LBS and had no real issues. Plenty of room for rod adjustments for me.
I started in the back corner where we have pulled a dozen of silvers and probably 40 wheat pennies. For the first hour I was digging everything, just feeling out the machine. I kept having an issue at first that was driving me crazy. I was not able to get a VID reading on a target I would say 75% of the time. I know you are going to say, it must be deep then! Well, that is not the case. From what I can tell, at this particular site, almost everything over 6" would not give a VID. Anything less would give a solid VID from all angles. Switching to 2 tone helped, but it had me puzzled. I am not dependent on a VID, audio guides me, but almost every time I looked at the screen there was nothing there. Pinpoint would show anywhere from 5" to 15"! So, I started to dig these VIDless targets. The majority I discovered were super tiny, like .22 short cases, BB's, piece of aluminum, etc all about 5-6" down. The ones that were close to 15" I gave up on, I was elbow deep and still nothing. I will have to keep an eye on this and I am sure the more I use it, I will figure it out.
The area in the back I was detecting in is a very small strip, about 15'x30'. I can't even tell you all the machines that we have tried there, let's just say a lot. What blew me away was I managed to pull another three wheats from this small area. Two of them had large rusty nails in the hole with them and one of them had some funky looking sand in the hole. I must say, this really impressed me and I can't wait to get out and try it a lot more. I have another good test this weekend at a mid 1800s farm house if the weather holds up.
Anyways, thanks for reading!
Matt
