Anyone know of a release date

[Shenandoah Digger]

on the F11, 22, and 44, and what msrp might be?

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

I'm hoping to use it as a creek hunting machine and not pay the price of an AT.

 

[mudpuppy]

A land rig for creek hunting?. You may want to re think that..I used my 70 in the water for a few years, those 11"dd with the fins on it is a real bear to push though the water, you have to hunt downstream just to get a decent swing on it...plus if you slip or drop it, its fried, and the coil is somewhat bouyant, its really a strain to use in the water although I did, right up to the brainbox!...

Then a few years back I bit the bullet and got the right tool for this kind of work which is of course the Pro...it paid itself off in a very few months with no worries..you also need a scoop and possibly waders if its cold...

Creek hunting is a good place if you have some old water that hasnt left the old channel below train trestles or bridges where kids fished and swam, or folks camped and forded...most creeks, a guy hunts downstream, so a person drops you off at one bridge, and picks you up at the next one downstream at a designated time or when you call...going upstream against the current wears a guy out...if the creeks in your area dry up in the Summer, then have at it....nobody else has stepped up with a rig like the Pro, a shallow water rig....maybe DetectorPro would also work good, but you will need the iron audio in creeks which it does not have..the Pro is the right tool for the kind of work you are thinking about...
Mud.

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

I've got numerous creeks that run through where Civil War battles took place that have probably never been hunted. The land has been hunted to death. The F22 and 44 are supposed to be weatherproof, and supposedly have been tested underwater for 5 hours without a leak. The creeks I'm hunting are shallow and I doubt I'll ever submerge the box unless I drop it. I don't want to spend the money on an AT unless the creeks prove fruitful. I've got too much tied up in detectors already.

 

[mudpuppy]

OK..I hear you there..you are right in thinking about the creeks.....I guess wade on it with what you currently use and see if it is a feasible strategy before you commit to buy? You may be able to make due with what you already have? I did with the 70...even hunted plenty of heavy downpours without any issues on my rig or the phones....treated the thing shamefully in all weather and its still working!

I drape a dishcloth over the brainbox/screen if its raining hard and wring it out a few times as needed...and I cut the fins off the 11"dd coil with a hacksaw blade with no ill effect so far...just to be able to push it through the water easier and whatnot...Good Luck!
Mud

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

Yeah I may do just that. I've got an old Silver Umax that I can use that I'm not gonna cry if I drop it. I'll probably just attach a cord to it to try to prevent me from dunking it if it slips out of my hand.

 

[Hightone]

May 18th is the release date

The F22 is $229 and the F44 is $349. Those are MAP prices. Like the Eurotek Pro, the prices are MAP (minimum advertised price). This from Anna K at FTP.

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

May 18th is the release date

The F22 is $229 and the F44 is $349. Those are MAP prices. Like the Eurotek Pro, the prices are MAP (minimum advertised price). This from Anna K at FTP.

Good info. So my guess is they can be had for around $199 and $299. Pretty good deal for all the features. And I'm a big believer in FT products. The F19 I just got is smokin'.

 

[jim tn]

I certainly hear you on the reasons for going for a F 22 or F 44, but having hunted a few creeks myself, I would want something more in line of the A T Pro. The F 22/44 may be weather proof, but thats not quite the same as water proof. One can be knee deep to waist deep just shuffling along and step on a slippery rock or stumble over one. The A T Pro is a hardy detector and can handle a pretty good fall as well as being water proof. I love my F 75, but for certain applications my A T Pro gets the nod. Good luck! HH jim tn

 

[Hightone]

May 18th is the release date

The F22 is $229 and the F44 is $349. Those are MAP prices. Like the Eurotek Pro, the prices are MAP (minimum advertised price). This from Anna K at FTP.

Good info. So my guess is they can be had for around $199 and $299. Pretty good deal for all the features. And I'm a big believer in FT products. The F19 I just got is smokin'.

The $229 and $349 are MAP prices as I said. I'm sure the profit line is cut for this reason. A Eurotek Pro that has a MAP price of $219 is usually sold for that price. I don't even know the list price of an Ace250, but know that I have to pay $212 for a new one. I'm not saying you won't find one less in price, but usually dealers throw in an extra accessory or two to justify a "better deal". I'm not a dealer, just someone who watches trends and may be wrong. And for the less expensive detectors. FTP seems to be saying that educated consumers are seeing through that inflated MSRP. Kind of a "for $349 if you can do better, go for it." It saves that "running around" to different dealers for a $5 difference.

 

[Hightone]

I would agree. If water is your main choice in a detector, the F44 probably isn't the first choice. It is a land detector that can get wet, not a water machine that hunts land.

 

[REVIER]

From another place...
I need a decent land detector that will go into shallow water and will be ok if I am caught in the rain with no worries.
This might just be the one.

Well your right to a point its how the voltage regulator is designed to divvy up the power.

You know those cheap throw away cameras with a flash..they can be turned into a tazer because they have a capacitor and they use just one 1.5 volt watch battery so you can get a lot of juice from a small battery or amount of batteries...however the demand to perform the same as say a 9 volt is going to drain quicker I would think.

Kind of confusing since the F2,4,5 use 2 9volts which is 18 volts but Garrett uses 4 AAs 6 volts and both run the same amount if time.

I'd love to speak to a metal detector engineer and pick their brain on how this works.

And I'd love to have my brain picked.

Detectors with large battery packs typically have regulators to create a lower but stable voltage to run the circuitry. In the old days these were "linear" regulators and could only create a lower voltage.

Today we have "switching" regulators which can step-down or step-up the battery voltage to create whatever circuit voltage we'd like. Much like an AC transformer. We could run a metal detector off a single AA battery if we like, and still have the circuit running on 10 volts or whatever.

The trade-off is battery life. 2 AA batteries boosted to 6 volts runs half as long (actually a little less) as 4 AA batteries. However, it turns out that 2 AA batteries have a little more than energy (3V * 2000mAhr) than a single 9 volt battery (9V * 550mAhr). I designed the power circuitry for the White's TRX which can accept either 2-AA or 1-9V battery automagically, it will run a tad longer on 2-AA.

The F22/44 uses 2-AA boosted to a higher voltage (I don't recall what, as I didn't design it) and has a good balance between depth & battery life. We chose 2-AA to make weather proofing easier and to keep the unit as light as possible. And, yes, you can even have a backlight with 2-AA.

On the water-weather-proofing issue, these units are weather proof. They have a standard 1/4" headphone jack with a rubber plug, so if the jack is plugged it's possible you can dunk the unit and it'll be fine. But if headphones are plugged in, submerging it will cause a leak through the jack. The intent is to have a unit you can take in the pouring-down rain with no worries and no ziploc. It is not for wading shoulder-deep in the water.

- Carl

 

[Hightone]

bzbadger is not correct on the F2, F4, F5 working on 18v. If the batteries were in series, yes. They are in parallel maintaining 9v with just more amperage. Those detectors can operate on one 9v, just not as effectively to produce sound as well as the circuitry. The manual even says that sound is the first to notice dying batteries.

IC (intergrated circuits) are usually encased in hermetically sealed silicone chips. These chips work on microvoltage/micro or milliamps. Stepp[ing up and stepping down the voltage is correct. But it's the "processor" where all the action takes place. And the draw on the processor is minimal compared to the generated field and sound. It comes down to how efficient the circuit design is. 3v batteries have more energy than what an iPhone requires. And it can process much much more while transmitting signals for miles.

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

I would agree. If water is your main choice in a detector, the F44 probably isn't the first choice. It is a land detector that can get wet, not a water machine that hunts land.

Right. I don't plan on getting it wet. I'll be hunting in creeks no more than two feet deep. But if it takes an unplanned dunking it looks like it might not hurt it. If it does, no fault of FT, all mine, and I wouldn't complain.

 

[SC Dirt Fisher]

Didn't I read somewhere that it can be GB even to wet salt sand?

 

[Cal_Cobra]

I see them up for preorder at Kellyco. The stock coil on the F44 is an 11" but apparently not a DD? Kco offers an upgrade package, but all it really does is give you coupons for half off the 11" DD or backpack for $50


PS - I'm considering getting the F44 for my wife, she needs a light and easy to use machine, and it's a great excuse for me to test it out

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

I see them up for preorder at Kellyco. The stock coil on the F44 is an 11" but apparently not a DD? Kco offers an upgrade package, but all it really does is give you coupons for half off the 11" DD or backpack for $50


PS - I'm considering getting the F44 for my wife, she needs a light and easy to use machine, and it's a great excuse for me to test it out

Great idea. I gotta get my wife into detecting. It might take dozens of machines for me to test before she finds the one that works best.