Just got my F5 in the mail

[dring219]

I am setting it up now , and gonna mess with it in the yard for a while . The wind is picking up , and it isn't too nice outside it is really quite chilly . but gonna give the unit a quick break in , well as long as i can take . Know there are a bunch of spent .45 casings in the yard , will work on those , and with my 3 acres , and my wifes gandmothers property , there is almost 100 acres . will have a while to learn . Thanks everyone for posting your settings on the F5 , will help out quite a bit .

Now , lets get on with the break in period of 100 hrs approximately .

Will let you guys know if i do come across that antique ring my wife lost back in the early 90's .

Donnie

 

[BrewCity]

Awesome, good luck!

 

[Neita SC]

Hooray Go to it. HH !!!!!!

 

[dring219]

Thanks for the positive feedback . I didnt do a whole lot today , wasnt feelin myself , came back in house and passed out till just a few min ago . But on the posative side , the settings were super easy to figure out . I am gonna be quite pleased with this unit . This F5 is everything you guys said it was . I didnt find any of my .45 casings , but the GB was easy to set , and was a dream to swing at only 3# , couldnt believe it .

Thanks everyone . Bart at Big Boys Hobbies , Mike Hillis for his take on this machine and everyone who made videos posted on U-Tube about this great piece of equipment .
I will be thoroughly satisfied with this F5 for many years .

Donnie

 

[dring219]

After several hours out in the fileld "literally" , i have been having problems pinpointing properly . Like on a .45acp casing , i wind up digging about an 8 inch area normally to one side of it . anyone mind helping figure out the sweet spot for pinning the center of this eliptical concentric on this F5 ? or is it something i am gonna have to work out on my own . I also know thats why you guys say to put in 50 - 100 hrs with the unit . I already have about 3 hrs on it . hehehehe
I do have to say i really like the feel of it , the balance , ease of use , settings are simple and straight forward . I just cant pinpoint with it , i do need to gran a garret pin pointer , or equivalent , but that is beside the point , i just dont want 8 inch to 1 foot squares dug up all over the place while i am learning this . If there a trick , i have used the circling method , the 90 degree method , X-ing everything i know of . Any pointers would be greatly appreciated .

Donnie

 

[BrewCity]

Once you get the general area where the object is, eyeball it, move your coil off to the side a bit, hit the pin point and work your way back over the location. The loudest, shallowest reading that you get should be pretty close.

 

[dring219]

Thanks , will keep trying . Will be back at it tomorrow morning when i get off work , i work 2 midnights and 3 afternoons a week , so i will have time then to get it out .

I also tried laying the coil on edge to see if that might help me too , but didnt seem to . I guess it will take time too . Was just checking to see if there was a shortcut to make learning PP a little bit easier .

Donnie


(edit)
Guess i will be getting a cheap Harbor Freight pinpointer in the morning , item no. 97245 only 17 bucks guess it will work til i can afford a Garrett , my local store says they have 8 in stock . That will help quite a bit .
(end edit)

 

[patti]

Thanks , will keep trying .
...
I guess it will take time too

Donnie

I had exactly the same problem with my F5 (my first detector ever) but after a few hours I got the hang of it and after that it was plain pinpoint-dig-continue stuff. Eventually you'll get so good with pinpointing that you can push a screwdriver in the soil and hit the coin dead on with it. I know, I do it all the time in parks where big digging is a no-no and I use a screwdriver to lift those close to surface coins.

HH,

patti

 

[Neita SC]

Donnie, below is part of a post that Mike Hillis did on April 22, 2009, ref finding the sweet spot of the coil. Finding the sweet spot of the coil will allow you to properly pin-point the target. As most people have said.... search Mike Hillis posts. That is how I started learning the F5.

I see posts about jumpy target ids. The coil design will give jumpy id's for the deeper objects unless you get it pinpointed to the sweet spot of the coil. Use a golf ball to find the sweet spot on the coil by placing it in on the inner loop. Roll it a bit and then let it come to rest. That is the sweet spot on the coil. Mark it, memorize it, something. That golf ball size area is the coil's most sensitive spot. When you get jumpy targets, pinpoint, detune and pinpoint and detune again if needed to get the target centered in that spot. Then sweep it. Many times the id will stabilize enough for better decisions. Watch the confidence bar. Works well on iron falses as well.

 

[dring219]

Thanks Neita , have you tried that the golf ball yourself ? Wondering if the oval (teardrop) opening in the stock F5 coil wouldnt just send the ball to the bottom of the teardrop automatically . Once i get a decent pintointer it pinpoint with the coil may be out the window . But it is gonna be a while before i get a decent pin pointer anyway .

 

[Neita SC]

golf ball will only fit in one place which is at the larger end, but it is the exact spot for the sweet spot.

 

[Mike Hillis]

While you are learning and getting used to the elliptical coil, you may want to use the following two ways to pinpoint.

1st, for shallow targets, stay in Disc mode and use the toe of the coil to pinpoint. Just wiggle the coil back and forth over the target while you move the coil back toward you until you lose the target, then move slightly back. You

 

[Neita SC]

THX Mike!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dring219]

that's a lot of really good info , thanks Mike
Thanks for taking the time to help me out , i know some of these questions have been asked and answered many times over .
This forum and your patience has really gotten my hopes up about finding some nice items in the ground . With all the info about settings ,
this unit is pretty straight forward , even with all the user variables and controls it has . My biggest problem is that i have never picked up a detector
of any sort till i got this F5 . So my thanks to EVERYONE for helping me out .

Donnie

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

Send me some pics of any big finds! Love to start a customer finds page on my site.
HH

 

[dring219]

will do Bart , i have had a cold of some sort past week , havent been outside much . but as soon as i get over this , i will head out to start sweeping , did find some brass and a few slugs from my target area here at the house the first day i got it .

 

[diggernash]

If you're still wanting to practice pinpointing, here's a way. Not my idea, I stole if from some where that I don't remember.

Take a piece of 2" piece of hard foam insulation. Tape several targets to the back and put it face down. Now take whatever you use as a coin probe or just a screw driver. Try to pinpoint the targets and hit them with the screw driver. When you get too many holes punched, move the targets around.

 

[dring219]

i am actually using some of my wife's old avon boxes , she gets several each week . If i cut them down to just the thickness of the lid or a little more should work the same . as I said earlier , i have been sick , and havent felt like doing much , man , i hate the cold weather . but i do like to see the snow , we are to get up to 2 inches tonight according to local news . we might see 1/2 inch , i dont think we will get that much tonight .

 

[redneckjimmy1980]

hey hows that f5 workin for ya man,got the f5 for my first detector as well, and found few good things musket ball gain 55 tress +3 some old pad lock made bye safe co. some kinda round button or something need to clean it up,and not shure what the other is need to clean it as well. and of course the good ol beer cans and tops. one thing i learned so far is if u get a high pitch that jumps back and forth on the tid but u hold the coil reall close to ground and it overloads wear screen goes blank a few its right on the surface less then a inch. could be metal,pop can anything seems they all read high tone quarter at the least when thier that close.. far as pin pointin,well mikes on the nose on that one,but i have had the issue whear sometimes it seems to be onthe nose and others its wear the highest tone pitch is in the sweetspot. guess like he said depends on the depth of targets. i wass pullin my old 7mm mauser caseings outta the ground left and right usen the high pich tone in the sweeet spot,but also if ya detune it and use the nose like mike said,it works to but seems to only work on some targets im shure its me as im still leanin this beast as well but so far im really happpy with it. and thanks again for the info mike. one thing man,stop sometimes and pump youer coil up and down without presssin the phase lock button to make shure youer still ballanced as the numbers just jump around alot when huntin dont pay them no mind unless when u go to pump it and its outta wack then re ground balance. freakin awsome detector but im thinkin abot gettin the dd coil wish i would have in the first place i just got it in my head not shure if itss better or not but well see. all yea youer caseings willl probalhy ring in round zink mine did good luck man keep er swingin shes a great machine better then youres and my old lady put together hahaha if ya figure out the pinpoint better let me know as im stil workin on thta one myself diggin more then the ground hogs are

 

[Steve missouri]

jimmy1980: Sounds like you are doing better, have not smashed it against a tree yet, and are starting to realise what a incredible machine the F-5 really is, keep learning you have more nice surprises ahead. Steve