Hey Dan, I got my F75 LTD on January 11th of this year. If my spreadsheet record keeping is correct I have hunted 91 times for a total of 189 hours, so I should have a solid opinion and report by now......should being the key word.
Do I like the LTD? YES!!! Am I 100% confident that I now know all I need to about her.................hell no!! I feel like I learn something every time I go out as I continue to hammer old local spots that I hunted for 4 years with my DFX. I have found 23 silver coins thus far this year, the oldest being an 1892 Barber dime in the woods at a depth of about 6 inches. I have found my first V nickel, my first Walker half dollar, 6 Indians and roughly 800 coins total. SO....why don't I have a chest pounding report on the LTD yet? Because I don't think I have yet seen her complete capabilities. Just last night I pulled a small metal "disc" about the diameter of a .38 caliber shell casing from a solid 8" plus, I have not ID'd this thing yet, it may be trash but, I learned something about an extremely small target at impressive depth. I learned (again) that no matter how loud or how quiet the tone, if I get a four way signal with a small VDI jump (no matter what that VDI number is), I better start diggin' cause the LTD knows there is a target under the coil.
I am still experimenting on most hunts, changing disc, sensitivity, tones, etc. I read three forums most every night to see if the gurus have written anything new that I was missing or not understanding about my machine. Tonight I was hunting a local ballfield (for probably the 50th time) and I tried the Tom Dankowski formula of disc 6 and monotone because this field had a torn down movie theater dumped in it for fill back in the 1950's or 60's. Iron is horrible here and the GB is running 65-68 with an FEO reading going two to three bars at most points on this field. I ran this for about the first half hour with the sensitivity at 60 and the iron falsing and chatter were fairly high. I dropped the sensitivity to 40 to see what it would do to the false signals and the chatter, the machine immediately ran a lot smoother and quieter.....but now I was wondering if I programmed myself for a loss of depth. That answer came quick when I hit a solid 78-80 four way signal, the depth readout said 8" but I knew from experience it would probably top out at 6, I seem to experience about a 2" variable when using the 5" DD coil (my favorite, by far). The coin was right about the 6" mark and turned out to be a 1925 wheatie. The tone was solid, the VDI was solid and the false signals were gone. Another thing I'm noticing since we have been going through this dry spell is the "up averaging" seems to be pushing the VDI higher than when the ground is moist.
Wow, this post has rambled far and wide already. SO.....to sum it up.....I have never regretted changing to the Fisher F75 LTD this year. I love the weight, the tones, the battery life, the sensitivity to small objects, the backlight..............the whole machine. BUT......the final verdict is far from in on just how GREAT this machine is. I know it has made me consider selling the DFX and getting another First Texas product as a back up.............hmmmm,,,but which will it be? A CZ or a Tek Omega?
SO, Dan what has your experience been like and what do YOU think of the LTD?
Good Luck and HH
Dave
Shooter,the only way I can get mine to quiet down is back off the sens.,or depending on the ground your hunting in,I have found going back to factory default gets me back in the game again and then I start cranking it up as i go. I forgot my headphones the other day[getting old]and i was hunting with my cousin I set my detector down to dig a target and he was next to me watching,and commented on all the noise that was comming from my ltd,all I could say was I am running it hot today!!! Like Jim said its telling you everything beneath the coil. Keep with it,its like fine tuneing an engine,listen to it close,its telling you how its running
