the f75 compair to the 705 minelab

[jmann]

without an all out war I would like pros and cons on both of these machines .any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated.thank you jeremy mann

 

[Digger]

Both are good detectors and they have many similar features. I've owned them both and prefer the 705 for the following reasons: I like the ability to operate at any of 3 different frequencies, 3 kHz, 7.kHz and 18.75 kHz. The F75 operates at 13 kHz. Both have manual or automatic ground balancing. But the 705 also offers Tracking, Beach Mode with Tracking and Tracking Ground Balance Offset. The F75 offers more TID numbers. But the 28 offered by the 705 cover all the bases for US coins, relics and jewelry. And the Prospecting mode on the 705 adds Iron Mask capability. Neither Prospecting mode or Iron Mask are offered on the F75. The 705 incorporates VFLEX technology, part of which incorporates a microprocessor in the coil that communicates with the processor in the detector. These digital processors communicate to establish parameters that maximize performance and minimize interference. The F75 does not have VFLEX. The 705 offers Noise Cancel and Auto Noise Cancel. The F75 offers manual frequency shift. The F75 offers variable discrimination with the capability of notching out fixed sets of TID numbers based on the target category. The 705 offers full notch discrimination, allowing the user to determine whether to accept or reject any or all of the 28 notch segements. The 705 is lighter weight and, in my opinion, offers a higher quality of construction. The 705 controls are all membrane pads. The F75 inlcudes a couple knobs and a trigger. The 705 has a 3-year warranty and the F75 has a 5 year warranty. Both use 4 AA batteries. The F75 is a couple hundred dollars more expensive. And add another hundred or two if you want their SE or LTD models. As far as performance in the field, I have to say that the F75 may provide just a bit more detection depth, if you can put up with the chatter. Personally, as someone who hunts by ear and listens to the tones, I prefer to not have the detector beep unless something is under the coil. JMHO HH Randy

 

[Corsairian]

Randy,
My hat is off to you Sir. It is very refreshing to come to this forum and be able to receive very well written, and very informative posts, and comparisons. Too many of the other forums end up being "mine is better than yours" arguments, without examples or explanations to back their choices, which defeats the purpose of the post. We can always rely on you to give real facts and examples to back your choices, You are a huge asset to this forum and I thank you.

Cors

 

[morelic55]

I agree with Randy on all of the above. I went thru trading Xterra 70's for both the F-75 and F-75 LTD's......I always came back to the Xterra's for their smooth operation and depth in MY ground........Mark

 

[Digger]

Thanks Cors. HH Randy

 

[David]

I heard from someone that operated a F75 in the bush that it was quiet, the chatter is from EMI near civilization. But hunting near civilization the XT-70 will run quieter.

But the F75 is a better choice in highly mineralized soil as it handles it better. If you are in low-medium mineralization the XT-70 is a better choice.

So if you hunt in the bush or away from EMI in higher mineralization the F75 is a better choice. If you hunt more near civilization with EMI in low to medium mineralization get the XT-70(5) as a better choice.

 

[DirtAngler]

Have to disagree about mineralization. In my ground which is pretty mineralized, a buddy tried using his F75 and lost a lot of depth with it to the point he decided he needed an Etrac for these conditions. My Xterra with a DD coil outperformed his F75 Ltd. in these conditions but didn't do as well with a concentric coil.

 

[Digger]

When I had my F75, the noise levels were no different in isolated rural areas, compared to more urban areas. I don't believe the chatter on my F75 was EMI or RFI. It seemed as if the discrimination circuitry was "tied" to the discrimination levels. Even without manually adjusting the gain, the higher I boosted the discrimination, the more chatter I got. Especially when I got past the "mid-point" on the variable discrimination scale. This could happen if you introduced an AGC module (automatic gain control) implemented in proportion to the level of discrimination. The greater the amount of discrimination...... the more gain automatically introduced. And this could be done in an effort to make the user unaware of any loss of detection depth as the discrimination levels were increased. Thats the best I could come up with when trying to figure out why mine chattered so much. There may have been a different reason that I never came up with. But that is what I believed was going on in mine. JMHO HH Randy