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trying to decide between classic T2 and F70

dfmike

Well-known member
I'd like to try a detector that works at a different frequency. I hunt mainly for old coins but I occasionally go for jewelry and relics. I can't afford the F75 unless used and I'd prefer new so the T2 and F70 are the ones on my list. I can get a T2 for about 75$ less than an F70. The T2 comes with the 11 DD, the F70 comes with the 10 inch concentric. I believe there are no concentric coils for the T2 right ?

Some people seem to prefer one or the other but sometimes it seems unclear why. Personally I have no preference between pistol grip and regular or push button ground grab/pinpointer vs toggle switch so that doesn't sway me either way.

Which would be easier to learn and best for coins ?

Thanks.
 
F70 is the better machine by the reports I've read here on the forum, personally I've never owned either machine but my brother MarkCZ5 has the f70 and be likes it. Revier might have used both so maybe be will chime in and give his opinion, I know be loves his F 70.
 
From all the reading that I have done , if I would pick up a T2 I would be looking for a original. You can't go wrong by picking up a F70.-----------after1-----------
 
Much larger section available to control in iron on the T2, disc 0-40, 0-15 on the F70.
In relic hunting the larger range might come in handy, for me the smaller range seems about perfect.
The elliptical concentric coil on the F70 has such a great response and sound, sweet is the only way I can explain it and it is different than the DD coils.
If you hunt pop top infested sites DD's on either are not hard to deal with at all but using the concentric they are a total non issue.
I don't use mine all the time but not having a concentric coil option, and that coil specifically, would bum me out.
I found some small, deeper silver jewelry on my first hunt using this coil, a stellar gold ring on my fourth hunt in severe trash near a picnic pavilion with this coil also.
In a mineralized site infested with iron this coil found me a silver Peace dollar.
Mike Hillis is a big jewelry hunter like me and understands exactly how good the response of this coil is on jewelry and coins too.
Pretty deep, in good soil I could get to about 10", in problem mineralized soil and iron that I hunt in now it also works very well.
Add the sniper DD coil to the F70 or the T2 for that matter and the depth is surprisingly deep...it will probably match the larger concentric coil in that area, might even beat it by a little if you can believe that.
I have a friend that hunts with an original T2 in Kansas without boost which I believe is the same as the reissued Classic and rarely uses anything else but that sniper coil because it gets as deep as he ever needs to dig.
Add the large DD coil to either and in good soil bring a shovel.
I could get past that 10" mark in great soil with decent ID's with that coil, to about the 12" level at least but I even dug targets past that up to 15" with that coil.
Not all that necessary because most of my older targets hover around the 6-7" area but I have come across a few at 8" or a bit deeper and in my case it is not as much about actual depth but decent ID's at depth.
In my very bad soil I hunt in now those DD's work extremely well and even though I can't reach the depth I could in Kansas here in the SE. red clay soil I am getting deeper than most other hunters I have heard of by a few inches.
So far an 8" V nickel is the deepest good target so far in heavy mineralized and iron infested soil, using the sniper and in disc by the way, and a friend hunting with me using an E Trac couldn't believe it because he has never come close to that depth anywhere in this state.
I have found more IH's in this bad soil than I ever had before in my life using all of my coils that usually lay at the 5-6" area in sites that have been scoured by other hunters for decades and were all missed.

Now about SL speed on the F70 which the T2 SE flagship has but the classic does not.
This was a precursor to boost on the F75 and top of the line Technetic, different process but same effect.
I use it all the time here in my bad soil, not only is it great for hovering over tall stubble and grass but I can get deeper, clearer and better signals in my devil soil using SL and lower sense using all my coils which is quieter than sometimes using DE and higher sense.
SL speed is another feature I would be bummed if I didn't have available because I do have it, have a lot if experience using and now that I have used it I would totally miss it in many situations.

The Classic has the ability to not only auto ground grab but adjust GB manually which might come in handy in certain situations like salt water hunting or gold nugget hunting and the F70 has no manual adjustability in this area.
Not a big deal to me in my sites and so far not needed but I have figured out how to fool the F70 into a lower GB level using hot rocks if I ever visit a salt water beach on vacation.
Both units have settings that can turn nickel signals to high tones...a genius move by the designers and engineers in my opinion and this feature helped me pay for my F70 very quickly in the nickel area gold I was able to notice so easily.

You saw this end of the year finds post and even made a comment...
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?91,2259963,2260086#msg-2260086

That was in two different states and completely different soils.
I can't tell you how amazingly good the F70 is in iron and I assume the T2 can match it with the right settings.

I guess your decision all comes down to the kind of dirt you hunt in, the type of sites and the depth you need to reach.
The Classic has the bigger coil which can go pretty deep, you would have to spend money to get one on the F70.
You would need to spend money to get the sniper for either so that is a wash.
The Fisher has SL which can be an advantage, the option of using that sweet concentric coil on the F70 is something to consider if jewelry is your thing especially because that coil just loves to find silver and gold.
The DD's are no slouch but as I said every time I mount that concentric and listen to the tones it makes me smile.

Hard decision but you know more about your hunting situations than I do.
Both are light and ergonomic.
Me, I am grateful the F70 came into my life, I am lucky enough to have 3 different coils that I really use and I am still being amazed by what it can do on almost every hunt.
 
Dave J. said:
F70. Easy choice, not a tossup.

BTW...don't know if you know who this guy is but that is Dave Johnson who is one of the head engineers at First Texas.
His opinion carries weight so notice what he said.
There is a relationship between the settings on the F70, the sense and thresh for sure and maybe more but I am not completely up to date on all the exact technology and the ins and outs of everything about the F70 or the T2...but this guy is.
He has mentioned in the past in other posts about how good the F70 actually is and how the marketing arm of First Texas does not want anyone to know exactly how close to the flagship it is in its abilities.
We who use the F70 do know.
 
First there was the T2. Then the F75. Then the F70. Some of the changes were not necessarily "improvements", but "differences " aimed at different applications and price points. Obvious examples: T2 was aimed more at relic hunting, the F75 changed some things to make it more attractive for coinshooting. F70, lower cost mechanicals. ....... But, there was also continuous improvement along the way, including little bits of secret sauce in the software that I'm not at liberty to describe. Someone like Mr. R. would likely notice the differences without necessarily understanding what was going on under the hood.

Among the three, I also like the F70 user interface the best. If I were gold prospecting I'd kinda miss manual ground balancing, but the ground grab works well and I'd probably learn to trust it. Even without manual balancing, it's still a good machine for casual gold prospecting, although for dead serious gold prospecting of course there are better choices.
 
I love it when Dave pops in and shares some info on Fisher machines. What he says is the real deal, and he is definitely in a position to know.

Also, I would recommend getting the 11" DD coil for the F70 (it's the F75 coil but is completely compatible with the F70). It adds some detection depth and handles mineralized soil better than an elliptical coil if you have that to contend with. It's a little more expensive but well worth it in my opinion. You could ask the sponsor to include it rather than the elliptical, which is what I did when I ordered my F70.
 
Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all the info I get on these forums. I forgot to mention that I'd like to use the notching feature at times. Can the T2 do this ? I think I recall reading that it can't and one can only increase the discrimination on it.

Maybe this has been talked about here at one time but I have seen a few posts where an F70 user mentions that coins deeper than 6" would be identified as iron by the detector (11-13) range if I recall. It didn't seem to matter what coil he was using. Of course this wouldn't be a problem if one would start digging every repeatable signal but if I'm not hunting for relics, I'm not going to dig an iron signal. These posts date back a few years at least. Perhaps there was an issue with his own detector, extremely bad soil or with the early machines ? Experienced users would know for sure.

Regarding coils, thanks for all the info. I'd be using the stock concentric for some time while I learn the machine. I know that coil well for having used it a lot on my F5. I could get the small concentric "football" coil for cheap later on. Anybody like that one ? I hear more about the 5 DD. I'd get the 11 DD later on perhaps.
 
I never had coins report as iron deeper than 6"....ever.
10" deep pull tabs show up as coins for some reason, but deep coins in good soil came in close to what they were supposed to be and around iron the Fishers up average most signals so, higher.

If this was an actual "thing"...all coins past 6" reporting as iron, I would think you would read all kinds of posts about it and it would have killed the sales on this unit long ago.
 
The F70 will report coins deeper than six inches for sure. The only weird reporting issue I have ever had with mine has been in a case of extreme EMI. But I am talking about a truly horrible EMI situation.
 
dfmike said:
Regarding coils, thanks for all the info. I'd be using the stock concentric for some time while I learn the machine. I know that coil well for having used it a lot on my F5. I could get the small concentric "football" coil for cheap later on. Anybody like that one ? I hear more about the 5 DD. I'd get the 11 DD later on perhaps.

I run the 6.5" concentric (football coil) on my F75 and I love it. I get as good of depth as my 5"DD and I get better ground coverage.

Ron in WV
 
REVIER said:
I never had coins report as iron deeper than 6"....ever.
10" deep pull tabs show up as coins for some reason, but deep coins in good soil came in close to what they were supposed to be and around iron the Fishers up average most signals so, higher.

If this was an actual "thing"...all coins past 6" reporting as iron, I would think you would read all kinds of posts about it and it would have killed the sales on this unit long ago.

Thanks REVIER. The last time I saw a post about this it was a discussion between Monte and another guy (I forget his user name). He had an F70 and was discussing the issue. The thread ends with no solution found. I think it was on treasurenet and it goes back to 2011 if i recall correctly. I got to that thread because I was searching for F70 reviews. It got me thinking that maybe this detector wasn't for me. I guess it's a rare occurrence and shouldn't be a cause for concern..
 
WV62 said:
dfmike said:
Regarding coils, thanks for all the info. I'd be using the stock concentric for some time while I learn the machine. I know that coil well for having used it a lot on my F5. I could get the small concentric "football" coil for cheap later on. Anybody like that one ? I hear more about the 5 DD. I'd get the 11 DD later on perhaps.

I run the 6.5" concentric (football coil) on my F75 and I love it. I get as good of depth as my 5"DD and I get better ground coverage.

Ron in WV

Thanks Ron. I can get it for half the price of a 5 DD coil around here so I think that's the one I will get.
 
I have the 6.5 "football" , the 10" concentric and the 10x5 DD. The 6.5 is on my F70 80% of the time. In my conditions, it just works. My "iron" meter runs around 3 bars, and it is a rare thing to ground balance below 85. The small footprint helps to get around sticks, roots and shrubs. And I can work real close to fence lines and walkways compared to the larger coils.

Another nice thing is being a lighter coil, having it on a longer lower rod doesn't wear out my swinging arm as much as the larger coils can, even on a standard lower shaft.
 
Hi Dave..I read that you're an engineer for Fisher. I have a question for you. Why doesn't everyone put a receiver in the coil..Seems like a good idea , yet no one does it.As you know, the Nautilus uses it and their detectors can not be beat for dept. I'm probably missing something important, but I always wondered why that idea has never been used by the big boys..Thanks for your answer. Great to have an engineer in this forum..Please frequent often..everyone loves your comments.
 
rockyj said:
Hi Dave..I read that you're an engineer for Fisher. I have a question for you. Why doesn't everyone put a receiver in the coil..Seems like a good idea , yet no one does it.As you know, the Nautilus uses it and their detectors can not be beat for dept. I'm probably missing something important, but I always wondered why that idea has never been used by the big boys..Thanks for your answer. Great to have an engineer in this forum..Please frequent often..everyone loves your comments.


Why?
The Deus has electronic circuits in their coils then send their digital signals wirelessly.
Nice idea...and it makes their coils cost $500-$600.
I have an F70 with regular technology, my second hand but never used unit and that big DD coil cost me less than one of those electronic filled coils and in good soil with the big DD coil have dug targets in the 10-15" depth area and in really really bad soil down to 8" which is plenty deep enough for me.
 
I've had an F70 for three months when the ground wasn't frozen in Minnesota. I have learned so much from this forum and the regulars who post regarding the F70. I have mild soils here and I've been amazed at how hard the machine hits silver. I've not found a great deal of silver coinage but I've dug three coins at depths between 10-12", that's an honest depth report, I can't believe how hard it hits silver up here. Two directions every time and a solid report. A 12'' quarter and the VDI was dead nuts on as well(89-91). Maybe that doesn't surprise anyone.......... And, the machine is quiet and I run it hot. I just wish it was waterproof! I've never hunted with anyone else so I have no idea how other machines can compare. I'm happy but started digging more trash because even though the machine tells me one thing, I don't want to miss anything. That's how I will learn more about my machine I guess. Even rings that don't sound off a high tone have a certain thump to the tone that gets me all anxious to dig.
 
I've had an F70 for three months when the ground wasn't frozen in Minnesota. I have learned so much from this forum and the regulars who post regarding the F70. I have mild soils here and I've been amazed at how hard the machine hits silver. I've not found a great deal of silver coinage but I've dug three coins at depths between 10-12", that's an honest depth report, I can't believe how hard it hits silver up here. Two directions every time and a solid report. A 12'' quarter and the VDI was dead nuts on as well(89-91). Maybe that doesn't surprise anyone.......... And, the machine is quiet and I run it hot. I just wish it was waterproof! I've never hunted with anyone else so I have no idea how other machines can compare. I'm happy but started digging more trash because even though the machine tells me one thing, I don't want to miss anything. That's how I will learn more about my machine I guess. Even rings that don't sound off a high tone have a certain thump to the tone that gets me all anxious to dig. Living the lower middle class dream!
 
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