F5 and F75

[kai_gold]

Both the F5 and F75 in four tone mode digging the foil signals for gold at parks and ballfields, any appreciable difference between the two on small gold rings and chains? That is, enough of a difference to justify paying the higher price for a F75?

Oh, and how about the difference between the tones. Does one model have better tone distinction over the other?

Thanks in advance for your input. I am more familiar with minelabs and whites machines but am interested in giving fishers a try.

 

[sgoss66]

kai_gold --

Technically, there may be a bit of an advantage with the F75, as I believe it, at 13kHz, runs at a higher freq. than the F5 -- which may help it see small gold better (theoretically, higher frequency detectors are better for small gold). However, Mike Hillis, for one, (here on Findmall), does a great job finding plenty of gold with his F5. He might have some info on the tonal quality of the two, as I believe he has used both the Teknetics T2 (very similar to the F75), and he now uses an F5.

Steve

 

[gmanlight]

Have you looked at the new Gold Bug / G2 machines yet .
Only 2 tone HI low with tone break. Hot on gold, as small as you want.
The F75 is the deepest of all but a bit chatty.I hunt city and field with no problem .
But the GB/G2 can run max Senc most of the time
Some times i have to stick my boot under it to make sure it on. .

 

[sgoss66]

gmanlight --

The F75 "a bit chatty?" I have an F70 and I'd say "a bit chatty" is putting it mildly! Great machine, but certainly "a bit chatty!" Your GB/G2 is THAT quiet? Even at high sens? You don't have much "high-tone iron falsing?"

Steve

 

[gmanlight]

Steve yes for me and 2 years on it . I find my F75 not a problem Disc of 6 and Senc of 80 most of the time, or hotter if i can.
I hunt old spots 2 tone much of the time.
My new LTD been trying 3 or 4 tone but slowing the sweep down a little.

Yes my GB is that quiet . Now it will grunt away if in trash or iron but silent with no true
target under the coil.

 

[sgoss66]

Well, my F70 is pretty quiet too, when no target under the coil; I know how to quiet down the EMI, if present, so that it will run quiet. My biggest problem is with iron falsing. Instead of all iron grunts (which I could deal with), I get all sorts of sporadic, non-repeatable (or only repeatable in one direction) high tones, that are clearly rusted iron. Like I say, all iron grunts would be fine; it's when I start hearing all those sporadic high tones with the iron grunts that throw me for a loop (and have always been, to this point, rusty nails). At first, I thought "oh, that must be a "good" target adjacent to a piece of iron. So far, no -- those signals have ALL been rusty iron. I'm interested to know if the G2/Gold Bugs are better with this particular issue, as it is this issue which contributes to so much of the "chattiness" I am describing on my F70...

Steve

 

[gmanlight]

How hot is your soil. Mine is on the mild side and that does help.

 

[sgoss66]

Mine's not TOO bad, I don't think, gman. I find that I usually balance to an upper 50s to upper 60s (iron-rich red clay) ground phase, but my Fe3O4 meter (dirt meter on the F70) is usually zero bars to occasionally one bar, so while iron is the predominant mineral, there apparently is not an excessive amount of it.

But, whatever the case, falsing (what I ASSUME to be falsing) is bad. Gimme a really rusty, old nail and bury it 6", and I will have a barrage of iron grunts mixed with short, quick high tones mixed in, TID numbers jumping from single digits and low teens into the high 80s and high 90s, and all places in between. Sounds like, as Tom Dankowski has so aptly put it, a "hillbilly jug band!"

Steve

 

[kai_gold]

steve,
Seeing some pics of mike's small chains was surprising considering the lower frequency. I understand that it will not likely go as deep as the F75, but that is fine by me as I don't care to dig deep targets in the turf unless I am specifically looking for older coins. I suspect the F75 is still more sensitive to smaller gold, but if the id is too bouncy then it might be harder to target just the foil range tones. That's why I was wondering if one produces more consistent and distinct tones over the other.

gmanlight,

I think the GB/G2 would be great for relic hunting and I have read reports of the sensitivity to gold. I am mostly interested in the four tone setup in order to target the foil range. If the G2 had four tones, it would be perfect but since it is geared toward prospecting/relic I understand why Fisher only went with two tones.

Thanks for the replies.
James

 

[sgoss66]

James,

For what it's worth, I do NOT think the ID is bouncy in the foil range, at least not on my F70. I think some of the "bouncy" IDs you have heard about are with iron falsing, and also with deeper targets. My F70 really NAILS IDs on shallower coins ( up to about 7"), it also nails IDs on shallow foil (high teens and low 20s). In fact, my personal opinion is that it hits harder on the lower conductors, than it does on pennies, dimes, and quarters. The tone just "shouts out" at me more when I find, say, a nickel, as opposed to a dime. If you got an F70 or F75, and set disc. up at about 15, and then notch out anything from the mid 40s to the mid 50s, you would hit very little iron, most all gold rings, all nickels (and most pull tabs), not most screw caps, and then all zinc pennies and higher. In that setup, I'd think you'd be targeting all the gold pretty well. And I say start the notch at the mid 40s only so as to not lose any very large, higher TID gold rings (like my large wedding band, 14K, which hits in the mid to high 40s in an air test). If you focused SPECIFICALLY on smaller rings, earrings, and neclaces/bracelets, you could set the notch to start even lower, say mid 30s, and still catch all nickels and MOST gold. And best of all, if you are dealing with relatively shallow stuff, I think your TIDs would NOT be bouncy; it would do what you want it to do.

But, the F5 is also a great detector, too, don't get me wrong. No -- maybe not quite as deep as an F75, but I think close, and clearly Mr. Hillis SMOKES the gold! I don't think you can go wrong either way, really. If you hunt alot of trashy sites, you may still want to consider the Gold Bug/G2. If you set the disc level at just below foil, then all iron would "grunt," and anything higher would tone. Yes, you'd tone the same type of tone on a quarter as you would on foil, but the TID readout would help you there. A nice tone, with a TID in the upper teens or low 20s, and you'd probably know what you were likely dealing with (foil, lead, gold, etc.) The benefit is its ability to separate out the trash from the good stuff. Wander over to the Fisher Classics forum here on Findmall, and look at this thread. It's a video done by a Findmall guy, running his Gold Bug Pro over coins and a gold ring, with an iron nail sitting right on top of the coin/ring. It sees the coin/ring under the nail VERY well....

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?35,1407011

Steve

 

[Cheryl]

Dont forget to mention the recovery speed on the F75...................You dont need to run your sensitivity high .......Chatter is greatly reduced when lowering sensitivity ....My 2 cents......My 11 year old grandson can run a F75.................

 

[kai_gold]

Seeing as this will be my first go with the newer style of fishers, I have a F5 on the way. Will see how it performs and then maybe add a new F75 down the road. With the lighter construction of the F75, would any of you buy used or stick with new for the warranty? I haven't had problems buying used before, but am not up to speed on Fisher's track record with these newer machines.

 

[jim tn]

I hunted with an F 75 for 2 1/2 year's almost daily for an average of 4 hours per outing and it was a long way from being worn out when I traded for the LTD. They are of light weight construction, but stand up great. HH jim tn