choppadude
Forum Supporter
Took both the Racer and the E Trac to a school that was built in the 20's and used up until a couple years ago. Been hit hard for years but I still manage to find some silver once in awhile. It was not to be so today.
Now firstly I am not trying to compare the Racer to the E Trac as the E Trac would win hands down. What I am trying to do is not only review the Racer but also put it in perspective. Those of use who have been around awhile heard some of the big hype put out by a few on the Racer and making statements comparing it the top machines. I think this did 2 things, first it just turned off ALOT of people. No one likes a pushy sales man, and secondly I think it made the dealers a little apprehensive of pushing the unit itself since people expectations were so high. Who wants to deal with a customer P'd off because his $650 Racer is not keeping up with his friends Dues's and E Tracs.
I want to get it right out there. I like this machine. It was fairly easy to figure out the basics and it just feels good in your hand.
The things I like:
Very stable. Even running the gain at 85-90 it was very quiet. Not whisper quiet like the F75 with DST but still nice. One thing I hate is when I set a detector down to dig a target and it just starts chattering nonstop. The Racer does not have this issue.
Coins hit hard on the audio. A good solid signal and accurate VID on shallow to medium depths. The VID tends to wander a bit on the deeper targets but that is common with many brands.
As I stated yesterday, I think the volume/tone rise change in pin point is a little hard to read BUT I found it very easy to pin point in the motion mode using the "Wiggle" method.
What I dislike about the Racer? FOIL! I dug a TON of it. Most machines will read foil in the mid 40's and maybe as high as 50 if there is a big wad BUT the Racer was reading foil anywhere between 40 - 65! and the thing that threw me off the most was that the foil signals were very steady and full and not broken up or scratchy like I found to be the case with most other machines I have used. I set the ID filter to 45 but still dug a lot of foilI am hoping with time I may be able to distinguish these foil signals from a good target.
My advice is: DO NOT sell your Dues, E Trac, F75 or AT Pro to buy a Racer, I do not think you will be upgrading. DO add the Racer to your arsenal if you can afford to. It has a couple neat things like the "headlight", Vibrating handle, and ability to have the backlight on all the time or just when a target is detected. It is known to be good at separation in iron with the 5"DD coil but I found the E trac is much better at separating against the Racer with the stock coil. I have the 5" DD on order and will take it to my "Iron" site when time permits. I also want to do a side by side with my AT Pro in the near future.
I traded my AT Pro and $75 for this new in the box Racer. I am not sure I would have put the offer out there if I hadn't had a spare AT Pro as I really like the ability to submerse the AT Pro but am happy to have this machine in addition to the AT pro.
Now the pics. 3 1/2 hours on each machine.
Racer: ground balanced at 68 Gain 85 Two Tone Mode ID Filter 45
E Trac: Mostly open screen Two Tone Ferrous Deep ON Fast OFF
Now firstly I am not trying to compare the Racer to the E Trac as the E Trac would win hands down. What I am trying to do is not only review the Racer but also put it in perspective. Those of use who have been around awhile heard some of the big hype put out by a few on the Racer and making statements comparing it the top machines. I think this did 2 things, first it just turned off ALOT of people. No one likes a pushy sales man, and secondly I think it made the dealers a little apprehensive of pushing the unit itself since people expectations were so high. Who wants to deal with a customer P'd off because his $650 Racer is not keeping up with his friends Dues's and E Tracs.
I want to get it right out there. I like this machine. It was fairly easy to figure out the basics and it just feels good in your hand.
The things I like:
Very stable. Even running the gain at 85-90 it was very quiet. Not whisper quiet like the F75 with DST but still nice. One thing I hate is when I set a detector down to dig a target and it just starts chattering nonstop. The Racer does not have this issue.
Coins hit hard on the audio. A good solid signal and accurate VID on shallow to medium depths. The VID tends to wander a bit on the deeper targets but that is common with many brands.
As I stated yesterday, I think the volume/tone rise change in pin point is a little hard to read BUT I found it very easy to pin point in the motion mode using the "Wiggle" method.
What I dislike about the Racer? FOIL! I dug a TON of it. Most machines will read foil in the mid 40's and maybe as high as 50 if there is a big wad BUT the Racer was reading foil anywhere between 40 - 65! and the thing that threw me off the most was that the foil signals were very steady and full and not broken up or scratchy like I found to be the case with most other machines I have used. I set the ID filter to 45 but still dug a lot of foilI am hoping with time I may be able to distinguish these foil signals from a good target.
My advice is: DO NOT sell your Dues, E Trac, F75 or AT Pro to buy a Racer, I do not think you will be upgrading. DO add the Racer to your arsenal if you can afford to. It has a couple neat things like the "headlight", Vibrating handle, and ability to have the backlight on all the time or just when a target is detected. It is known to be good at separation in iron with the 5"DD coil but I found the E trac is much better at separating against the Racer with the stock coil. I have the 5" DD on order and will take it to my "Iron" site when time permits. I also want to do a side by side with my AT Pro in the near future.
I traded my AT Pro and $75 for this new in the box Racer. I am not sure I would have put the offer out there if I hadn't had a spare AT Pro as I really like the ability to submerse the AT Pro but am happy to have this machine in addition to the AT pro.
Now the pics. 3 1/2 hours on each machine.
Racer: ground balanced at 68 Gain 85 Two Tone Mode ID Filter 45
E Trac: Mostly open screen Two Tone Ferrous Deep ON Fast OFF
