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Is the F70 better than F5???

A

Ayeti65

Member
Ok folks I want a truthful answer from both sides. I have had the f5 for almost 2.5 years and it does great for me, but I want something deeper. I like the gain and threshold of the f5. I am not new to detecting. I have had a cz-5 and loved the depth it had, I can't afford the f75. Thanks mike
 
Ohhhh that's a tough one! Theres a lot of users of both models on here...some will hopefully pipe up with some technical reasoning to debate this subject...I am of little to no use, as I have the F70, but never had the chance to try the F5...I do like the AA batterys the F70 uses, I think the F5 uses 9v's right? I also really like the DP tones the F70 has...I think the F5 has 4? The F5 has adjustment knobs instead of push pads, so you can sort of tweak it easily as the ground changes...again, sort of personal preferences and nothing technical that can be debated which one is "better" that I know of...I can say I 've seen some super finds from the users of both, and every one of us is very happy with the F70 or F5...theres some depth comparison videos regarding the F70 that a poster azsh07 did back on 2/14 you might find useful..
Mud
 
Thanks I will check out the depth videos. My biggest "want" is more depth. My F5 is a really good machine it just dies out around 8 inches in most cases. I am getting geared up to hunt old coins, and continue the fresh water beaches. Yes, it does have knobs and they are very handy for the on the fly adjustments, and it uses 2 9v batteries, you am expect 40 hours of use with a fresh set. I am just testing the waters on a possible upgrade. I have Mike H. to thank for my F5 purchase in the first place. Not sure of the real depth of the F70, that is one thing I would like to know, not air tests, real life digs.
 
Ok...got it...well, again. I'm a fresh water beach sweeper, totlotter, and general all around treasure hunter that does not really focus on deeper silver..I doubt there'd be any significant depth increase than the 8" you alluded to...sure, occasionally a guy gets a deeper silver at the waters edge...you know? like a foot...but I'd bet you'd hit those on your F5 as well..I'm thinking for myself, I'll try a smaller coil to sift through the trash for silver coins...I'm running the 11"dd all the time now..and I rarely go above 70sens unless on the beach, on the dirt, I'm usually in the mid 50's, so I know the F70 has power to spare, ....just trying to be honest here, maybe somebody can chirp up and give a difinitive real world answer. Interested now to hear from the experts.
Mud
 
Thanks Mud.., that's the answers I was hoping for. I saw where Mike H had said the F70 wasn't any better really than the f5, but the other places I read on the Internet that they are getting good depth, better than me. I too search the beaches here in the north Texas southern Oklahoma area which I live, and the depth is good there.., I have an opportunity to buy an F70 with 10 and 11 dd for a very reasonable price, just trying to pick everyone brains to make my mind up to get it or not.
 
Hillis would certainly know....I remember a F70 user who tried to get out of it what you seek, tried everything, back a few years ago, name of Goss...he posts up on the Minelab forum now, that's what he went with and he is happy. I'm sure I will buy another F70 one of these days if mine ever takes a royal dump. I talked to some old boys that have been detecting here in my area since day one, and if they were half as bloodthirsty as I am, which I'm sure they were, they got most if not all of the old silver coins in this area, sure, I trip across a dozen silver coins or so per year just doing my thing, but that is 12 out of a 10,000 coin yearly take for me, so its the old blind squirrel finding a nut reference..now these guys that post here and use the 75...that's a whole different matter, they really rack up the silver, but I don't know if it is as much the machine's depth capabilities as it is the location and knowledge of settings and coils that's doing it for them. I've resigned myself to hunt what I can get, focus on gold, and try to cover as much ground as quickly as possible, which the F70 or F5 are amply capable of doing. we both know if theres a silver Q or D within the top 6-8" realm, we will find it with either machine, I just don't know about the deeper masked stuff that seems to be what is left here anyway.. Let us know what happens.
Mud
 
Sure will, I am leaning towards the change. I agree the F75 may be the right choice.., I just can't see myself giving that much money for a detector at this time lol
 
I guess we all have an opinion. I own both. I use the F70 with 11"DD coil for relic hunting.It's a very deep machine.
I don't relic hunt much; I'm a coin hunter. I like the F5 best for that. The F5 target ID is very good to 7 or 8 inches.
The F70 depth is 3 to 4 inches greater but you won't be as sure about what you are digging. I haven't used either
machine at a salt beach. Again my soil and my opinion.
 
Thanks John, so you don't get the accurate target id at the fringe of the detectors range? I get the really quiet sounds at the fringe on my F5 and when I can't run at +9 I don't get that.
 
the f75se is the same on deeper targets the numbers can jump all over ive had mine for a few months and the deepest coin target ive gotten was a wheat penny at 10 inches and i was running it in de mode not boost mode so that impressed me im also suprised how deep these machines can go at low sense settings, i owned a f70 for a little over a year and loved it got alot of coins up to around 8 inches its only weakness was the wet sand at salt beach not having manual ground balance.
 
I'm probably mixing apples and oranges here but I'm not sure to what degree. If the F70 compares well, performance wise, with the older fisher model CZ6a I personally would move from the F5 to the F70 in a heart beat, for a couple of reasons:

When I'm out detecting I often detect in muddy and wet sandy areas, the fact that the F5 control knobs are readily accessible make them a easy target for all of the mud and wet sand just mentioned. In hind site I would much rather have all touch pads if for nothing else then the ease of cleaning my machine after a day in the field.

The other reason I would be willing to try the F70 is, if, and again this may be wishful thinking, it may have the same depth capabilities as the older CZ6a. Not long ago I had a MDing buddy come by the house with his new (used) CZ6a. I was really curious to see how his CZ6a would do on two separate silver dimes I have buried at a measured 5 inches. First for the record in my area we have pretty tough ground conditions, my F5 bar graph is at 3 bars or more and GB numbers are running 77- 78.
I really struggles to get any audio indication from either dime using my F5 even with the discrimination mode at it's lowest setting. PP and all metal indicates them fine.

Now, using my buddy's CZ6a both dimes came in loud and clear and rock solid, you'd have to be deaf to miss them!!?? When I called Fisher labs the tech said the F5 should hit them just as solid as the CZ6a. To Fishers credit, over time, they exchanged with me a total of 3 different F5 detectors and they all performed the same way. I finally gave up and said the last one was working just fine. :wacko:

HH
 
Well I also have to admit the f70 is an attractive machine and I am excited about the challenge of learning a new machine, also hopeful it will produce results beyond my f5 in the places I have previously hunted.., also I will have a used f5 for sale if the deal goes through.
 
Ok I did it, ordered my new f70 today with the 11dd coil. I will need some help on the setups, and questions on the gain/threshold settings, how similar are they to the f5? Also is there a place on this forum or site to list used detectors for sale?
 
there is a classified section on this forum im sure you can sell it there if you ask a fair price for it. good luck with your new f70 i would run it with the factory settings for a while you dont need a high sense setting to get good depth there is some videos on youtube that might help hh
 
F70 in learned hands will go deeper than an F5 but expect EMI in most cases.

As far as CZ's go not many units will give their superior depth in user friendly fashion.

Guess thats why I have a CZ6A and F5 to handle most situations...
 
I miss my cz-5.. It was just to hot for my soils or something.., it could be stable one day and then unstable as can be the next.
 
Well after using both machines, it's true the F70 is deeper that the F5, it's accurate and fast. You can swing the coil at a higher rate of speed and not miss anything. The functions and controls of the two machines are quite similar when you break it all down, so the learning curve is small for me. I set my F70 to what the ground would allow, same as I would my F5. The F70 was very quiet and deep, pushing the numbers higher I find emi, that goes from reasonable to outrageous the higher the numbers go in town, I can't wait to use it out at the lake where I could often run my F5 wide open. I have no question that this was the right decision for me, don't get me wrong the F5 is a great machine and if I had to keep it and only it I would be very happy.
 
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