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Fisher f70 - Xterra 705?
- Thread starter Reddog777
- Start date
sgoss66
Well-known member
Haven't used the F70 on the beach, so I can't help you much there! However, I can say that in moderately-mineralized red clay soil, my experience shows its depth is comparable to the higher-end units out there (F75, Etrac) when hunting with others using these units. TID is good up to about 6", but then in this irony soil, it begins to drop off, especially for smaller coins. It's a really underrated detector -- but again, haven't used it yet in a beach hunt.
Steve
Steve
Reasons being, its light, fast, and deep..11" dd coil in Autotune mode lets you hear everything. the tid is dead on, If you get a deep signal with reduced tid, lets say a quarter usually shows up at 86, if you get an 81, then its a quarter a foot down...or a silver ring, (or a bottle cap) We have black sand at the surf line, and it chatters it up some, but I just keep swinging, and have pulled some deep rings even through that mess. One drawback is the shape of the coil, which is not hydrodynamic, so its tough to swing in shallow water, unless you go slow. But up on the dry sand, you can cover a lot of ground fast, with an 8" arc taking about a second to complete. I work hard for fresh drops, after a big weekend, and after storms dredge up older ones. even prety fine silver ankle bracelets cant hide, You get to know what the tid and sound is telling you, (bobby pins are a solid 11) All you need to carry is a pouch, scoop (with 4"handle) and a bottle of water. Heres what I found that paid the detector off, I got it in April of 2010, and found these both in July. Fresh water hunting I should mention...Good luck with your decision, I think its really a matter which machine fits you the best, the one you have confidence in, and how serious you are in really hunting hard, early, and often!
Ken in Georgia
New member
Nice finds Mudpuppy, The Xterra 705 don't you have to have different coils and don't these change the frequency ? This may not be good since once you learn one you will have to learn another.
Wishful-thinker
New member
yes i did,and not regretting it! as far as the beach goes it is better,and waterproof...most of the 705 coils are water resistant.
the F70 will balance to salt, it takes a lil longer but worth it. The 705 just didnt do it for me.
the F70 will balance to salt, it takes a lil longer but worth it. The 705 just didnt do it for me.
Wishful-thinker
New member
And i also like to see the makeup of metals..foil,iron,silver,the 705 doesnt tell you unless you memorize the numbers.
sgoss66
Well-known member
Reddog777 -- did you see my post about the depth on my F70, after setting up a test garden? All I can say is, WOW. I was shocked.
I don't know much about beach hunting, but if you ever use it on dry land, in decent soil, I can't imagine you not being pleased with the depth the F70 can get...
Steve
I don't know much about beach hunting, but if you ever use it on dry land, in decent soil, I can't imagine you not being pleased with the depth the F70 can get...
Steve
If you have any questions once you get it, let me know and I'll help where I can...I have the x-terra 70 and I have not used it since I got the f70 about a year ago. I have the 11" dd coil on my f70 and it clean up every thing the x-terra missed. out in my yard I found 2 silver dime that were both 5-6" deep that the x-terra missed. I was even using the 3khz coil on my x-terra. The x-terra is a good detector I have found alot of silver with it but it just seems it don't get very deep.
sgoss66
Well-known member
Hey maddogg --
How does the 11" DD coil on the F70 ID deeper coins, as compared to the stock 10" elliptical concentric? I don't have the 11" DD yet, but the 10" elliptical concentric sometimes has trouble IDing deeper coins (my Gold Bug DP with an 11" DD coil does MUCH better on deeper coin IDs...I don't know how much of that is the machine, and how much of it is due to the 11" DD coil -- but if it's the coil, I need to get one for the F70).
Steve
How does the 11" DD coil on the F70 ID deeper coins, as compared to the stock 10" elliptical concentric? I don't have the 11" DD yet, but the 10" elliptical concentric sometimes has trouble IDing deeper coins (my Gold Bug DP with an 11" DD coil does MUCH better on deeper coin IDs...I don't know how much of that is the machine, and how much of it is due to the 11" DD coil -- but if it's the coil, I need to get one for the F70).
Steve
sgoss, cannot compare the DD to the concentric as I've only used the 11" DD. Deepest accurate id is 8" on my F70. After that, it hits the wall. Nothing deeper than that has been id'd as a coin or correctly except iron/beverage cans/mason jar lids. I have however picked small gold cufflinks and tie tacks down to 7" deep that id'd in the right range, mid to upper 30's.
My unit just does not do better than 8" on a coin so far with the exception of one 10" wheat. The bulk of these accurate readings came from a field with about 7" of clay pigeons and shotgun wads in the mix. Heavily so. Pop out a 6" inch plug anywhere there and you will find at least 4 shotgun wads in it along with the remains of clay pigeons amking up a lot of the plug.
Meanwhile my CZ5 will id coins in the 10" range there w/o problem. Yes there is a fair amount of shot in the dirt also, but not overwhelming.
My unit just does not do better than 8" on a coin so far with the exception of one 10" wheat. The bulk of these accurate readings came from a field with about 7" of clay pigeons and shotgun wads in the mix. Heavily so. Pop out a 6" inch plug anywhere there and you will find at least 4 shotgun wads in it along with the remains of clay pigeons amking up a lot of the plug.
Meanwhile my CZ5 will id coins in the 10" range there w/o problem. Yes there is a fair amount of shot in the dirt also, but not overwhelming.
Yep. down to 8" I've found that there is a probable correlation to:
A: depth of coin
B: age of coin
C: time coin has been in the ground.
The older, deeper IH's are significant this way. If you get a 40-50 reading on your meter and it's 5 or more inches, better dig. IF it's relatively undisturbed ground and the IH will be from the 1860's to the 1880's. Fatties may ring up lower still. Other Fisher machines I've had (CZ"S) would often knock silver targets down a category or so if they were deeper. I've seen the opposite results with my F70. Some of the deeper silver I've found would go up a few digits, both quarters and dimes as they passed the 6" deep mark and were in relativley undisturbed soil.
In otherwise disturbed soil, where the dirt has been mixed, this is a killer because it mixes the silver signals witgh some of the large junk targets like beer can tops and bottoms. Most of us have been to those sites where there's old silver in the top 3" and 25 year old clad 8" deep a foot away. Drives ya crazy because the clad id's in the same range as the good silver very often in that scenario.
Lastly, digging iron readings is only good at sites that date before the days of indoor plumbing, wiring and the like from my experience since using the pinpoint sizing and AT mode do not help if there's anything other than nails nearby. If there's only nails, say a homesite from the 1860's or earlier, then you can listen for any bounce off the average iron read and go for it. With later homesites, the range of building materials makes that an insane pursuit with the only good targets being close enough to not suffer the effect of the mixed mode results from the various metal debris. That means the only good targets are the ones shallow enough to id correctly or fairly correctly and those are again in my experience less than 8" deep with the F70 and the 11" DD coil.
A: depth of coin
B: age of coin
C: time coin has been in the ground.
The older, deeper IH's are significant this way. If you get a 40-50 reading on your meter and it's 5 or more inches, better dig. IF it's relatively undisturbed ground and the IH will be from the 1860's to the 1880's. Fatties may ring up lower still. Other Fisher machines I've had (CZ"S) would often knock silver targets down a category or so if they were deeper. I've seen the opposite results with my F70. Some of the deeper silver I've found would go up a few digits, both quarters and dimes as they passed the 6" deep mark and were in relativley undisturbed soil.
In otherwise disturbed soil, where the dirt has been mixed, this is a killer because it mixes the silver signals witgh some of the large junk targets like beer can tops and bottoms. Most of us have been to those sites where there's old silver in the top 3" and 25 year old clad 8" deep a foot away. Drives ya crazy because the clad id's in the same range as the good silver very often in that scenario.
Lastly, digging iron readings is only good at sites that date before the days of indoor plumbing, wiring and the like from my experience since using the pinpoint sizing and AT mode do not help if there's anything other than nails nearby. If there's only nails, say a homesite from the 1860's or earlier, then you can listen for any bounce off the average iron read and go for it. With later homesites, the range of building materials makes that an insane pursuit with the only good targets being close enough to not suffer the effect of the mixed mode results from the various metal debris. That means the only good targets are the ones shallow enough to id correctly or fairly correctly and those are again in my experience less than 8" deep with the F70 and the 11" DD coil.
sgoss66
Well-known member
Tim --
Great stuff here. Thanks for the info on the indian heads, etc. And I agree with you about the "digging iron readings" thing -- very tough at sites (most all sites I've ever hunted) where there are a mix of metal types -- and thus a vast range of different tones. Is that 21 signal foil, or an iron nail and good coin co-located? Who knows! If the only trash at a site was 10-12 VDI nails, then I can see where a 19 or 20 reading might get your attention -- could mean possible coin/nail mix? But at most sites, there's no way to make heads or tails of it (no pun intended!)
The other issue that hurts the F70 is the lack of a depth readout except when in pinpoint. From that perspective, in an iron-littered site, the idea of "digging all iron deeper than 8" in case its a coin being mis-ID'd" is a problem, because to know the depth, you'd have to pinpoint every iron signal...not easy!
By the way -- for what it's worth, I attatched my Gold Bug 11" DD to the F70 today and ran it over the test garden. IDs 10" and deeper were not improved at all. However, 6" coins would ID fairly well, if centered right over the coin. An 8" quarter would occasionally bounce higher, but mostly just iron tones. Deeper than 8"? Nope. The F70 11" DD coil may be a better fit, with better ID, but sounds like it may not be a huge improvement over the Gold Bug 11" -- since you don't seem to get much better results with yours. The 11" Gold Bug DD was a definite improvement, and the 11" DD for the F70 may be a little better even, but still -- overall, I am becoming confident enough to feel pretty strongly that the F70 is NOT NEARLY as good at IDing coins at depth, as is the Gold Bug Pro. My Gold Bug Pro will ID a 10" quarter properly, and the 12" quarter is just beyond its usable range (in disc mode; it sees a 12" quarter find in all metals mode). However, when I do get any peep from the machine at all, in disc mode, on that 12" quarter, it is a "quarter" VDI. Very amazing/impressive. I can say it does a great job of IDing coins all the way down to its max usable depth.
Steve
Steve
Great stuff here. Thanks for the info on the indian heads, etc. And I agree with you about the "digging iron readings" thing -- very tough at sites (most all sites I've ever hunted) where there are a mix of metal types -- and thus a vast range of different tones. Is that 21 signal foil, or an iron nail and good coin co-located? Who knows! If the only trash at a site was 10-12 VDI nails, then I can see where a 19 or 20 reading might get your attention -- could mean possible coin/nail mix? But at most sites, there's no way to make heads or tails of it (no pun intended!)
The other issue that hurts the F70 is the lack of a depth readout except when in pinpoint. From that perspective, in an iron-littered site, the idea of "digging all iron deeper than 8" in case its a coin being mis-ID'd" is a problem, because to know the depth, you'd have to pinpoint every iron signal...not easy!
By the way -- for what it's worth, I attatched my Gold Bug 11" DD to the F70 today and ran it over the test garden. IDs 10" and deeper were not improved at all. However, 6" coins would ID fairly well, if centered right over the coin. An 8" quarter would occasionally bounce higher, but mostly just iron tones. Deeper than 8"? Nope. The F70 11" DD coil may be a better fit, with better ID, but sounds like it may not be a huge improvement over the Gold Bug 11" -- since you don't seem to get much better results with yours. The 11" Gold Bug DD was a definite improvement, and the 11" DD for the F70 may be a little better even, but still -- overall, I am becoming confident enough to feel pretty strongly that the F70 is NOT NEARLY as good at IDing coins at depth, as is the Gold Bug Pro. My Gold Bug Pro will ID a 10" quarter properly, and the 12" quarter is just beyond its usable range (in disc mode; it sees a 12" quarter find in all metals mode). However, when I do get any peep from the machine at all, in disc mode, on that 12" quarter, it is a "quarter" VDI. Very amazing/impressive. I can say it does a great job of IDing coins all the way down to its max usable depth.
Steve
Steve