:pulltab:Slow Down Lighten Up F70

[IBdiggin]

It all started about six months ago. A new 641/2 year old new kid in town and his new toy. Yep, a big gun for sure. It wasn't long till I'm at 60 to 70 sensitivity and 0 plus threshold digging other peoples penny pass ups and a few quarters and dimes that others had missed. And then I approached the first covered picnic shelter. Keep in mind I didn't know a false signal from a fart blossom. I thought I was going to be permanently cross eyed from all the noise I was hammered with. With the help from some of my new friends here at our little gathering place, I was able to put the situation in some sort of perspective. More, is sometimes less, and less is definitely more in the pull tab hell that exists in these public parks.The first coin, a 1919 mercury dime came a week after I started with the F70. It was hung up in tree roots and at the time my thoughts were that the roots were keeping the coin from sinking into the abyss where it would be lost forever. Not so in this case. The roots were actually presenting a trash free area which allowed me to get the signal in the first place with such high settings. Don't get me wrong, it's nice having unlimited power at your disposal when needed but there is a time and place.
Mudpuppy and I were discussing the suspicions we were having about how reducing power effected coil pattern shape and size. Still only a suspicion but I will be using this theory where conditions require until something better comes along or I get a sniper coil. But I really think we are onto something. Many others here have used the reduced power theory for a long time with great success.
The small .925 "Together for ever" charm rang in zinc 57 solid and was found 12" from a busy trash can, if you can imagine what the ground looked like there. My settings at that time were 35 sensitivity, and -3 threshold with iron notched out and discrimination of 18. The number of signals there were overwhelming at anything other than a medium speed swing of about 2" wide. This is where the recovery speed of the F70 is worth it's weight in gold. Also keep in mind I am using the concentric 10" coil. I feel now with reduced power that its golf ball sized tip 10" deep is somewhere around the size of a marble about 4" deep. The charm was 2" deep and I could see foil and tabs on top of the ground. The other 2 Mercury dimes, both 1942 were about 30 feet from each other in the same area as the 1919 merc five month earlier which seems to be an older area of the park. Luckily I bumped my sensitivity back up to a 50 after leaving the trashy area or I never would have heard that sweet silver 75. Somehow I knew it sounded different from a clad dime. Ten minutes later I just could not believe it when it happened again. They were both at about 6" deep----IB

 

[jim tn]

Dang nab dirty money. You need to throw those dimes away,,,,MY WAY! Mighty good hunting, for sure. HH jim tn

 

[Elton]

oops I didn't read Jims post..see he already took care of the "Dirty Money issues.....

Hey nice detecting..keep up the good work !!

 

[IBdiggin]

Yes I knew I was going to have to walk the walk of shame with these. Problem is guys I am so inexperienced with finding good finds that I have no idea what to use. When I found the 1919 five months ago you couldn't read a date or barely tell it was a merc. Someone told me to use table salt mixed with white vinegar and let it soak overnight which really helped get what ever was on it to come off. Then someone else said that I probably ruined it by doing that so I only lightly scrubbed the other two with dove soap and a soft toothbrush. Any ideas?-IB

 

[mudpuppy]

Outstanding!
I was running 42 and in the trash all day! It sure makes those places FUN! I didnt find anything good like you did though, just dirty clad. my targets are in the top 3" and within a 1"diameter circle right under the sweet spot of the coil, so that cone effect seems to happen with the DD too? Easy stabbing...Hopping the coil to pp the target works only on coins near the surface with this light of sens and in the trash I figured out...it works very well with a higher sens and in clean ground. Good advice about cranking up the sens when a guy leaves the trash and gets in the clear..good to remember....nice snags on those Mercs!

Should be getting cooler tomorrow for a good day out!
Mud

 

[IBdiggin]

Ya, Thanks guys. And you know Mud, the mercs were on a path that leads to one of the ball fields and I probably walked over that area I found them in maybe 6 times before this summer at 60 sens. and 0 threshold with out as much as a whisper. It was incredibly dry there this summer until a week ago and when I bumped the sensitivity back up yesterday I forgot and still had the threshold at -3 and that first coin reminded me of the whispers from the deep they referred to in Mike H's tips and tricks of the F5. I actually got a little whine at that sweet silver pitch in one direction only that stopped me in my tracks then realized I still was running -3.. That's how close I came to almost missing them again. --------HH--IB

 

[ez4sure]

good job on the silvers your doing great with that f70 hh

 

[IBdiggin]

Thanks EZ. Even on a bad day it seems like I learn something new .

 

[knarfj]

Diggen you brought up a very good point.

I will say my F5 works very similar. When I first got my F5, I ran it cranked up as far as conditions would allow no matter were I was hunting, with the exception of discrimination which I always run on the low side. Eventually I learned what you have described and have revisited many trashy sites and located keepers the F5 was blind to previously while I was running the gain and threshold at such high levels.

I still crank it up if the targets are spars and conditions allow but when I get into close nit trash I turn down the headlights!

 

[IBdiggin]

Hey Knarfj, I sort of suspected the F5 was somewhat similar. Frequencies are not that far apart, both have adjustable sensitivity and threshold, and ground adjustment capabilities. I studied the F5 in great depth before getting the F70. I was a little concerned when some people were not so fond of the 70. I learned only after buying it. I really wanted the F5, I suppose largely because they are just so damn cool looking My dream in a perfect world is to have an F5 with a 5"x8" DD coil to go with my F70 and the elliptical. They don't make a 5x8 DD for the 70 but I know they mention liking it in Tips and Tricks of the F5. I read parts of that article a few different times and found it to coincide quite well with the F70's character and was quite beneficial to my understanding the concept of the F70. I think I will hold off on getting a 6.5 elliptical till I spend more time with reduced power In the trash with the 10"------------HH

 

[mudpuppy]

Up early eh? Plotting a run? Me too...I have been thinking about all the trashy snowpile zones, parking lot edges, entrances, grass islands, etc. I have hunted at 52 sens, so I hit a few of them yesterday to see what the lower sens would do in that mess..and it did very much better! I'm thinking theres jewelry I missed and need to go back to them all...I have held off on buying a sniper coil too...the stock set up with the 11"dd is still teaching me things about operation and settings after 3 years of swinging. I might try your 15 disc...I've had mine on 1. Good Luck and again, great finds!
Mud

 

[IBdiggin]

Yup it seems with this new setting we have now reopened a whole new set of options which equals more hunting spots. Cool thing about that is we already know their potential.
I'm just thinking about that spot from the other day with the high EMI. You know, the kind so bad that the VDI looks like a slot machine that never stops spinning and audio that flashes reoccurring numbers as fast as the F70 can reset. I found $6.00 there in about 2 hours but quarters are the only signals strong enough to sneak their way into the mix of constantly rotating numbers, and you really have to be on your toes watching and listening for them

 

[mudpuppy]

Yup, I hear you there...I did a 50' section at the edge of a parking lot that was only 4' wide right next to a chain link fence, pulled 4 Q's a few D's and several copper pennys, one nickel I remember..right under a power line. Buzzing and chirping to be danged! One Q had a tid of 60, but a sweet Q sound, must have been something else in there with it...DP tones with the modulated audio really kill in this kind of stuff...
I crawled under some bleachers that are just a chattering mess too and pulled some more D's and Q's...both places I've hit before unsuccessfully...
Mud.

 

[Ed Steinhoff]

I think the potential of the f70 at lower settings hasnt been even scatched yet.
Two weeks ago I spent 15- 20 minutes making a quick scouting W across a city park where they hold a lot of festival events in the summer.
Didnt have time to hunt it right then but it was heaven there were coin signals every 4 or 5 feet! and of every denominations too!
been planning a return trip and made it this weekend. Headed into the grass with high expectations and @#$&% everthing was gone!
After I slowed down and started being more careful and figured it out. Sombody beat me to it! There were very niecly done and covered back up plugs and coin popping holes everywhere!
All I could find was trash and penny here and there! The trash was overwhelming! Then I remembered Muds post on low sens. So I changed from the 10" to my new 5" round DD coil,
lowered the sens to 34, disc 16, thres -2, tones 4, and notched out tabs. The hunter before me had cherry picked all the quarters he could find but had left everthing else, wrong move!
With the new settings a began filling my pouch with pennys and dimes and the ocastional nickel, trash was no longer a problem! and the on edge and hidden by trash quarters started coming too!
After the easy open areas had been covered I decied the if someone is so lazey they only cheery pick quarters they wont work the corners and the hard spots, so got into the flower beds, under the low
bushes, around the picnic tables etc. Hunted hard for 8.5 hours and pulled 178 clad coins, a sterling silver pendent, a 1 ounce .999 pure copper coin with Henry the eighth on it and yes I got my fair
share of quarters too! I hate cheery pickers!
HH Ed in colo.

 

[IBdiggin]

Great to hear your story Ed. Been out to your great state a few times. Starting in 1989 I elk hunted down in Gunnison area in by the Ragged mountains north of Paonia. We rode the BLM atv trail in about 3 miles to spring creek. Seems there was a state forest trail called 898 or something like that. I was pretty good with a 300 Winchester magnum and was lucky enough to get a few Elk over the years. Definitely a young mans sport.
I know what you mean about the cherry pickers. The good things about them is they are always in a hurry and discourage quickly and seem to not come back very often after they make their maiden voyage through. The seem to think they get a place hunted out and it's not worth coming back. If I am in a new area sometimes I will nail the easy quarters but only when I know I will be coming back. I was thinking of another coil too but with this reduced power theory now maybe just experiment a little more with the 10".--------HH---IB

 

[mudpuppy]

Great work Ed! Its hard NOT to high grade the Q's when you get into a place like that! Its been a year since I found a spot like that, but I sure remember the excitement of grabbing a load of coins like you did in a short time...I'm liking the lower sens settings enough to keep running them back over my formerly hunted locations and thinking gold..
Mud

 

[Ed Steinhoff]

I am about 75 miles southeast of gunnison but yes the pursuit of the Wiley elk is a challenge.
I have been having great success in the tot lots with the 10" coil at the lower settings. Don't seem to need the small coil to real close to the playground equipment with the lower settings.
I plan on doing some experimenting on depth at the lower settings , so far I don't think it has much effect as far as losing depth goes and you don't have to listen to the constant noise from junk!
HH ed in co.

 

[IBdiggin]

I have found , Ed, the depth is still largely affected by soil moisture since it is the only variable here-well except for trash content. Same soil, same detector and operator, different settings. Mineralization is also a factor while comparing experiences with others from different areas since it determines what ground balance will be. In the soil where I found the silver charm and the mercury dimes at the beginning of this post, my balance numbers are about 78 and with wet but not muddy soil I get about 3" to 4" of depth with a sensitivity of only 35 and that is with a -3 threshold and the 10" coil. Not to say you would not be able good targets if they were deeper but I would say that the 3 inches is a confident reliable depth in those conditions with the 10" elliptical coil. When I left the trash can area toward the last 2 mercury dimes I bumped the sensitivity up to 50 since the trash was much thinner after leaving the barrel area. The silver signal from 6" deep was weak and repeatable in only one direction at 50. I then remembered the threshold was still set at -3 and these coins were at a solid 6". I recognized the silky smooth sound and the solid 75 TID and immediately bumped the threshold up to 0 where the signal was not any louder than before but was then repeatable in all 4 directions. Hope these numbers help Ed. The F70 is not for everyone but truly a remarkable detector in this price range ----------HH--IB