Figured I woud introduce myself here. I have a Fisher F5 and a Garrett ATpro. both about 3 months old. No gold, and one silver charm so far (F5 found it). I am a noob just learning the hobby. The fisher took much more time to learn and I am still mastering it. Kind of wish I had saved for a F70 but no biggie. Speaking of which, how much more depth does the F70 really get? I have the 11 inch DD coil on my F5. Considering the 5x10 from FT, the 9.5x5.5 by nel or the 5inch DD from FT or NEL. any suggestions... advice? sell the F5 and buy an F70 (I don't think it's worth it)? hope this is a geat experience! was considing selling both for a F75 with 5 inch, 11 inch and 15inch DD new for $1100. thoughts? oh and my garrett propointer just broke. should have got something different.
Find's Treasure Forums
Welcome to Find's Treasure Forums, Guests!
You are viewing this forums as a guest which limits you to read only status.
Only registered members may post stories, questions, classifieds, reply to other posts, contact other members using built in messaging and use many other features found on these forums.
Why not register and join us today? It's free! (We don't share your email addresses with anyone.) We keep email addresses of our users to protect them and others from bad people posting things they shouldn't.
Click here to register!
Need Support Help?
Cannot log in?, click here to have new password emailed to you
Fisher F5 and leaning
- Thread starter 3bet
- Start date
MarkCZ
Well-known member
I wouldn't move to quick to an upgrade model because your already well above entry level models that your still learning. Moving up to an upper end ones will just put you that much farther behind the learning curve. Having two mid range detectors and new to the hobby puts you into a LARGE learning curve.
There is way more to learning a detector than just understanding the basics of the controls.
Right now you have your hands full just getting decent with both of the ones you have, three months with one model is one thing, but three months with two is a different story. I would say you've got a good ways to go before you get proficient with either, jumping to another unit will just set you back three months for another learning curve.
I feel safe in saying that either of the ones you have has much more to give you once you get more experience with them.
But, its your money.
Mark
There is way more to learning a detector than just understanding the basics of the controls.
Right now you have your hands full just getting decent with both of the ones you have, three months with one model is one thing, but three months with two is a different story. I would say you've got a good ways to go before you get proficient with either, jumping to another unit will just set you back three months for another learning curve.
I feel safe in saying that either of the ones you have has much more to give you once you get more experience with them.
But, its your money.
Mark
Hey! Welcome! You have a fine pair of rigs right now...I have an F70 (11"dd) and the atPro (stock 11")...they both complement each other's abilities, and they take the same batteries...when the Pro says its 'done' with them, I take and put those dead batteries in the 70 and get another 10+hrs hunting out of them! The F5 has quite a reputation regarding its strengths, I guess its all gonna depend on what and where you are hunting..on all those coil choices, I have no Idea, since I've only got one coil for each rig and hunt shallow clad/jewelry...that said, it takes quite a bit of time and dedication to learn any rig/coil combo...thats time in field paying attention to what each target is telling you...like 1000 hrs, before you really have it 'mastered'..
If you were sitting here, I'd advise you to forget about the pinpointer for now, and just get a screwdriver...dedicate yourself to working trashy sites where you can pull 100-200 targets in as quick a time as possible...all those tones are what you need to speed up the learning curve, sort of getting you ten yrs of target experience in one...find similar settings on each rig, so that as you switch from one to the other, your brain doesnt get all scrambled trying to reset itself...tell us a little more of where and what you are hunting...are you doing any wetwork with the Pro? Or just on the dry? The others will be along shortly to advise...
Mud
If you were sitting here, I'd advise you to forget about the pinpointer for now, and just get a screwdriver...dedicate yourself to working trashy sites where you can pull 100-200 targets in as quick a time as possible...all those tones are what you need to speed up the learning curve, sort of getting you ten yrs of target experience in one...find similar settings on each rig, so that as you switch from one to the other, your brain doesnt get all scrambled trying to reset itself...tell us a little more of where and what you are hunting...are you doing any wetwork with the Pro? Or just on the dry? The others will be along shortly to advise...
Mud
MarkCZ
Well-known member
What happened to the propointer as far as being broke?3bet said:
Where did you get it? (They are China Clones Going Around That Are Junk)
If its a Real Garrett and you just starting out in the hobby I'm thinking its still under warranty.
I've heard of some of the propointers getting broke because people sometimes tend to pry with the probes shaft, this is a bad idea.
As far as something else better, the Garrett is near the top for a handheld.
Mark
In over 6 years I have not found anything that does better than my F5. It literally commands the ground. That gain/threshold setting feature rivals any detectors features for control, IMO. Plus what other detector gives so much information about the ground (and targets) in "real time"? I don't see very many F5s being resold. But I do see the higher end units being traded or sold "like new" all the time. Including the AT Pro.
I personally don't want to dig coin hits at 2 feet. That's a helluva plug. If I run AM, my F5 gets me 12". 8" with TID. After a couple of years of trading and selling, I finally accepted that it wasn't worth the time for that elusive extra inch or so, and started spending more time detecting.
Don't get me wrong. I love the F75 and F70 detectors abilities. I may get an inch or two less, but I can thumb my knobs and keep hunting while other move through menus. I love that feature. It's like Tesoro control with all the digital info.
I personally don't want to dig coin hits at 2 feet. That's a helluva plug. If I run AM, my F5 gets me 12". 8" with TID. After a couple of years of trading and selling, I finally accepted that it wasn't worth the time for that elusive extra inch or so, and started spending more time detecting.
Don't get me wrong. I love the F75 and F70 detectors abilities. I may get an inch or two less, but I can thumb my knobs and keep hunting while other move through menus. I love that feature. It's like Tesoro control with all the digital info.
Hightones how does you F5 run? I bought one 4 years ago and it seems to be very unstable unless I have turn down the gain and threshold. I finally bought a Safari. The reason I bought the F5 was the controls but my finds we're not what I expected. I use to own a Whites 6000 DI Pro and had other detectors before that. I get 5.5" on a silver quarter in the air but get 8.5" with Safari. Just wondering if the F5 runs so unstable all the time. One of the days I will take both out and see if the F5 finds coins at a reasonable depth and then check with the Safari. Just wondering if I got a bad one....
Since you are doing well with the Safari, do you have highly mineralized soil? The Minelabs are great in that type soil (being engineered in a country of high mineralization). The F5 needs the 11" DD to operate effectively in those conditions. My soil is stable. So the F5 runs perfectly. I can increase the gain to 90 in my soil and run theshold at -5 and get hard hits on coins. I can also run around gain 70 and threshold at +3-4 and hit small BB sized metal.
You do ground balance (phase lock) it, right? What range is your FE scale in when you swing? VL? L (low)? M (medium)? H (high)?
If your scale remains VL, and you phase lock the ground correctly, you should be able to run gain at 50, and threshold at say -1 and find coins all day long at 8". You may want to try a different site to make sure your not running into EMI. (intrusive electrical signals caused by induction that confuse the CPU). Check your coil connections at both ends. Does a minor wiggle of the wire drive the unit crazy?
You do ground balance (phase lock) it, right? What range is your FE scale in when you swing? VL? L (low)? M (medium)? H (high)?
If your scale remains VL, and you phase lock the ground correctly, you should be able to run gain at 50, and threshold at say -1 and find coins all day long at 8". You may want to try a different site to make sure your not running into EMI. (intrusive electrical signals caused by induction that confuse the CPU). Check your coil connections at both ends. Does a minor wiggle of the wire drive the unit crazy?
thank you so much for the replies! I live in centra florida with very little/no mineralized soil. I like the idea to use very shallow targets and a screwdriver. The propointer was bought directly from kellyco. I live 15 miles away from them and have since learned that they leave much to be desired in the way of giving advice. they just seem to want sales. If I was going to screwdrive thing, wouldn't the 5 inch DD be the best coil to use for pinpointing? possibly running it in AM mode. the F5 is super deep in AM mode, that's for sure. I probably missed a few questions but will be back much sooner to answer them. thank you SO MUCH again. oh, I have not hunted water yet with the garrett but do plan on getting an RTG scoop and doing the beach soon. is there any cheaper alternative? also, since I and RTG are in florida I would like to avoid sales tax. I was hoping to sell the garrett (I have the 5x8 coil too) and just hit the 1 foot surf with F5. I just worry, worry, worry about water damage. maybe water getting in the rod or just the corrisive salt water air beating down on the F5 after 50+ hours out there.
Thanks Hightones for the info. I live in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and the soil here does not seem to be the problem maybe it the stock coil it's the 10" I do believe that came with the older model. I will give it another go but I'm finding so much with the Safari it might be hard to leave it home. One day I will take both out for a spin together. If you want see my post of my last few hunt in the Safari section, do not want to post them in the Fisher F section. Again thanks for the info.
I don't understand. If you want to flip surface coins, why use the deepest (AM) process? I would set the gain at 50 and drop the threshold (-5) and kill anything in the 5" range. On the Daytona beach, you will have to drop gain (and use a DD) to be productive. But Orange County sand should let you go deeper, if you want (AM), or shallow with hard hitting IDs with the concentric, even at high gain.