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Getting my F5 on Monday

TrpnBils

New member
Finally decided to upgrade from my Ace 250 this week after dragging my feet on it for a couple of years. A friend of mine is starting to get into the hobby and I've been teaching him on the Ace, so that's been the kick I needed to take the plunge into a better detector. We actually dug a civil war era musket ball last week which was a first for me so I can certainly feel my interest level going back up. So far with the Ace (in 5 years) I've found about four wheats, no silver, and nothing older than the wheats. I don't know if it's me, the detector, or my locations but we live in one of the longest-settled areas in the country with a ton of history, so I've got high hopes for the F5 based on my research. It was a toss up between the F5 and the AT Pro but went for this because of the price difference. I got this one with only a few hours of use on it for $400 on ebay so not too bad.

Anyway....

In the meantime, while I wait for it to get here I'm trying to read up on it as much as I can. I've not had experience with ground balancing at all before, and there's obviously quite a difference in interfaces between the F5 and the Ace 250 so much of it is relatively new to me. Is there a good explanation of the controls and how to use them anywhere? I've been trying to read up on Mike's posts and there's allegedly a large review or article or something he wrote about the controls somewhere but I have been unable to find it.
 
Welcome TrpnBils,

I believe these two links will provide most of what your looking for:

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?37,1632081,1632081#msg-1632081

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?37,1866467,1866958#msg-1866958

HH:detecting:
 
That IS a sweet unit and very well liked. Have at it and good luck TB.
 
Actually it has a lot of facets including a large screen and user friendly at best. Super easy to ground balance for sure and you are going to like it as its head and shoulders above what you have been using....
Just read the manual before you hit the fields and all will fall into place....
 
I will be ecstatic if I can finally find something, after 6 years, that isn't modern change....that's what I'm gunning for at the moment.
 
Take your time and really get use to this machine, i have found 18 rings this year and 16 of them with the F5 at one large park, about 300 acres. Most people look around the benches and under the trees, but i have found all of the rings out in the open where they play ball. I cord it off and cover all the ground in squares, a little boring but not when you find rings.


I think you will like this machine coming from the Ace 250
 
You will not be disappointed with your choice. Fun machine with a easy to use interface, great tone separation. Read Sven's compilation of Mike Hillis posts here, it is a wealth of info, especially the part about hunting gold rings.
 
wow, 18 rings! that's phenomenal. i find myself very excited by the f5 but the general consensus is that it's not a very deep machine--most say no deeper than the f2, which is kind of disappointing and confusing.

i just don't know... my f2 is a beast but i'd like 2 more inches or so lol, considering it's not good for much more than 4" with the eight inch coil.

sigh.
 
Well I did get it and was out with it for about 8 hours on Tuesday. Made an interesting find in the way of (what I believe to be) a my first large cent...it's in too bad of shape to tell what kind though! I'll post pictures tomorrow after I get back from hunting (or instead of hunting if it rains)!
 
I've dug several deeper ones. The digger I use has measurements on the blade and the large cent I dug was about 6"
 
It just so happens that the F2 is a little beast, and I've pulled stuff up from the ground at 10" with it, and that's using that 8" concentric coil. My primary machine, the F5 with the 11DD coil, get's about the same depth, but has a lot more features for "tweaking", and that along can mean the difference between "dig, or not dig". The F5 is a great machine, you will LOVE IT!!!!!

If you want to send me a PM with your email address, I can send you the F5 Bible if you don't have it yet. Mike Hillis and some other gurus put it together, and it will teach you all you need to know about that F5!

HH

Pony
 
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