Disappointing first hunt with the F75 LTD....

[Hwy 395]

Hey all,

I just got back from my first relic hunt with the F75 and things did not go as smoothly as I would have liked. I brought my Explorer as a backup, just in case I couldn't get the hang of the F75 LTD.

I read the manual many times and I felt like I knew how to operate all of the menu items. I got to the site and did a depth test, purely out of curiosity. I put a 3-ring miniball at about 10" and tried out both detectors. The Explorer produced a faint, yet repeatable signal and I would have definitely dug that target. In fact, later in the day, I dug a miniball at 11-12" with the Explorer. Anyway, I tried the F75 LTD and it would produce a repeatable, strong signal in boost mode only if I swept along the length of the miniball. Swinging the other direction only produced a faint clip, and it sounded like iron. I would have dug that target only if I approached it from that one direction. Still, I'm impressed that a VLF detector was able to match the depth of the Explorer.

Here's the settings I used for the F75 LTD.
bP mode
Disc 3
Sensitivity 90
2 tones
Eventually I was able to bump it up to 0 disc, 99 sensitivity, but it only worked in a few spots.

I don't have a pinpointer yet for the F75, so I knew I was going to be hunting with the Explorer for most of the day. I took the F75 to a trashy area that leaves the Explorer dumbfounded. As I went through the field, I was getting the "iron grunts" all over the place, and I would occasionally come across a signal that sounded good if I swept from left to right, but it would sound like iron if I went right to left. I wasn't sure how to read these targets.

THEN, I came to an area relatively free of trash that I had gone over with the Explorer many times. The LTD produced a really strong signal and the display read into the 90's. COOL! I must have missed something great........ wrong. After digging a 15 inch massive hole and finding nothing, I decided to save it until I come back with the Explorer and Sunray probe. This happened two more times before I finally gave up and got out the Explorer. I went back to these three holes and, according to the Explorer, there was nothing in the holes. I tried the probe, and then the 10x12 SEF coil that gets great depth in that area.... nothing. I guess the F75 was falsing on me. Too bad, because they seemed like really great signals.

I loved the weight and speed of the thing, and I was impressed with the depth. However, I'm concerned about the falsing. This wasn't just EMI/ground chatter, these were solid signals that sounded like something really good. Nothing there, though.

Another discouraging thing is that I can't even use it in my backyard. Interference city. Forget bP or JE mode.... I have to put the thing in DE with the discrimination at about 17 and the sensitivity at 40 for it to be quiet. I'm sure it gets OK depth with these settings, but I doubt I'm going to get the deep silver. To be fair, I can't use my Explorer very well in my yard either because it nulls out too much. I did manage to find a wheatie at 5" once, though.

I'm thinking about selling the F75 LTD. I know this is being heralded as the greatest relic hunting machine out there, but I'm worried it just isn't going to work for me. Any suggestions?

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Try that same test but first set it to boost mode, then switch to all metal mode (you'll now have boost all metal mode). I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Just curious, what did the LTD GB to? And what was the FEO3 meter at?

 

[gmanlight]

Try some more testing with the three ringer.Start in bP mode disc of 6 sen of 40 and increase from there.
Some say a lower setting does better in some ground conditions Good Luck

 

[BuckeyeBrad]

to just be patient....take it slow.... and accept that there will naturally be a learning curve period that you'll have to go through. Coming from a detector that you apparently know fairly well, to starting with a new one that you don't and yet hoping or expecting to see clear and blatant advantages with the new one is just being unrealistic IMO. One of the biggest negatives about having all this instantly available info via the internet and MD forums, is the trap many allow themselves to fall into where they expect instant success because they've scoured the forum posts. Very little works that way no matter how much info you are armed with, especially info that didn't come from your own personal experience. MANY people have walked this path of looking for a good replacement detector or just one that compliments some of the weaknesses of the Explorers. Trust me, it's there with the LTD...but you'll need to log some hours before you absolutely know the how, when, and whys of the puzzle. Now if you'd rather just have a short 10 word answer......"assume nothing, test everything, learn your detector inside and out".

 

[tab-nabit]

Regarding GB, after the GB, I'll set mine 2-3 notches more. Problem is, I now forget why I do that. Something I do from the start but it has become habit that now I don't remember all the reasoning for it. Maybe something to do with ensuring a positive GB. Then again, mine if the F-75 and not the LTD. Wondering is any LTD users do the same.

 

[tvr]

The LTD produced a really strong signal and the display read into the 90's. COOL! I must have missed something great........ wrong. After digging a 15 inch massive hole and finding nothing,

When I read that my initial thought was ... I wonder about the ground balance?

My opinion is that it would be worth spending enough time to hunt and learn as it takes to go through at least a couple sets of batteries before making a keep / sell decision.
tvr

PS tab-nabit; I'll balance the LTD neutral. I use the fast grab when in range, and check every now and then; and if the ground is out of range for a fast grab (like over wet sand at the salt water beach) I set it manually for dead on neutral.

 

[Hwy 395]

That's another thing I forgot to mention... I was fast grabbing at the site and the ground balance would set in the low to mid 80's. Isn't this really high? The FeO4 meter was at 0.1, which is just "typical" according to the manual. I don't believe the mineralization is that bad in the area.

Thanks for all the comments. I hope I can figure this thing out because I really want to like it. I just don't, so far.

 

[Crosby]

I get that kind of ground balance in some spots around San Francisco.

 

[jbow]

One thing you can do in those sites where you are getting flasing like that is to keep it in BP and switch over to AM. It usually stops the falsing. The same thing was happening to me yesterday. The place is a walking trail that is being constructed about 50' from a creek. Floods have washed all sorts of trash into the area. The parts that have been more finished and graded didn't have as much trash but I was getting a multitude of falses, especially in the 90s. Unfortunately I didn't try it until we were about to leave but I had the sens on either 50 or 75, I was running both, I was ruinning mostly disc=0 but I was also playing with disc=6 and disc=15... I was in 2F mostly when running on the disc side. I was getting multiple hits every swing, none looked good but were very distracting, lots of them in the high 90s. I left everything the same and switched over to AM and it immediately calmed down, stopped falsing, and I was getting a hit every few feet, most were iron but at that rate I was able to use the machine.

Later on we went to a 19th century house that is vacant. The F75 was very hard to use, I made a few finds with it but it was fatiguing because of all the hits. I tried the E-TRAC and still wasn't making any good finds. Interestingly, the machine that worked best and found me the most coinage was the SovereignGT, it just has such a stablity and a good TID and tells me so much with the tone... it worked best. I would not have thought it would be so and that's why I used it last.

The day was done and I was hurting all over. I was getting out the V3 to try with the small coil but never got it done. I may go back there and try the V3, T2, and Tejon just to do some comparison. Maybe mark some targets using the Sovereign and then check them with the F75 LTD, V3, and T2. I'm interested to see how the Tejon works there too, sometimes in really trashy and iron infested sites, it is the champ (with the small coil).

This house site had strange soil, it was loose black dirt with lots of round river rock mixed in. It is obviously a late 1800s house, and seemed unhunted from all the different kinds of things we found but the oldest coin was a 1949 cent. A few clad quarters at 6-7 inched mostly 1980s. I am guessing that between the soft soil and lots of round rocks (egg sized mostly) and worms... the sink rate is high. Lots of masking too I think from cinders... oh well, it looked like a good place! It sets right on an area where Shermans army rested for several days and then moved over when headed to Dallas. We found absolutely nothing remotely CW era. Better luck next time huh? Oh, and the walking trail is right next to the site of a huge Confederate training camp... rarely do I strike-out as badly at such promising places.

Anyway, sorry to ramble on but try switching over to AM when you're getting all that falsing, I think you'll be pleased.

Julien

 

[jbow]

I was getting a mid 80s GB at part of the trail I was hunting. It would get high like that on the high spots then in the lower places where is was more sandy from the creek flooding it would drop as low as the low 60s. After figuring this out I would GB every 4 or 5 feet. It usually changed but it didn't affect the flasing. The only thing that stopped that was going to AM mode.

Cal is right. AM is the way to fix it.

J

 

[Shambler]

Another discouraging thing is that I can't even use it in my backyard. Interference city. Forget bP or JE mode.... I have to put the thing in DE with the discrimination at about 17 and the sensitivity at 40 for it to be quiet. I'm sure it gets OK depth with these settings, but I doubt I'm going to get the deep silver. To be fair, I can't use my Explorer very well in my yard either because it nulls out too much. I did manage to find a wheatie at 5" once, though.

I've been very critical of the F75, but one thing I can tell you to be careful of with the Explorer is that many times it's quieter but only because it AUTOMATICALLY adjusted for some EMI. Not always, but I was sometimes suprised in those areas where I felt the F75 was unusable, that I'd lost significant depth with the Explorer also. It's just I found the Explorer tones and TID to be much more pleasing in those areas.

After digging a 15 inch massive hole and finding nothing, I decided to save it until I come back with the Explorer and Sunray probe.

The two fisher machines I've owned, were and are ridiculously hot on big iron. It wouldn't suprise me if the Explorer auto-tracked over that spot to not signal a very deep, very large, piece of iron. Like other's said, it could've also been a big mess of rust. I've joked with other F75 users when out hunting that the F75 would beep 90 over rusty water That's an exaggeration of course, but it sure seems like it when you've pulled a steel plate out at 20" that had a TID of 91 and a depth read out of 8" (I've dug that deep because I can't stand not knowing what was in that hole - it might be a big paint can full of silver - it's a sickness I know!).

 

[gmanlight]

I dig very little big iron thinking it was a good target.
Not to say i don't dig big iron i do . But at old cellars hole and the like i have to
check it out ..I don't even know were i read [ This Trick ] but if the ID is iffy say a 90s # or big bounce in #s
after you get over the target raise and lower the coil. If your over iron the FeO gauge will start
to spike ..Not there could be a good target there to but usually just iron

 

[go-rebels]

I may go back there and try the V3, T2, and Tejon just to do some comparison. Maybe mark some targets using the Sovereign and then check them with the F75 LTD, V3, and T2. I'm interested to see how the Tejon works there too, sometimes in really trashy and iron infested sites, it is the champ (with the small coil).

Julien

Julien, I look forward to your comparison testing should you get the opportunity.

 

[EZrider]

Another discouraging thing is that I can't even use it in my backyard. Interference city. Forget bP or JE mode.... I have to put the thing in DE with the discrimination at about 17 and the sensitivity at 40 for it to be quiet. I'm sure it gets OK depth with these settings, but I doubt I'm going to get the deep silver. To be fair, I can't use my Explorer very well in my yard either because it nulls out too much. I did manage to find a wheatie at 5" once, though.

I've been very critical of the F75, but one thing I can tell you to be careful of with the Explorer is that many times it's quieter but only because it AUTOMATICALLY adjusted for some EMI. Not always, but I was sometimes suprised in those areas where I felt the F75 was unusable, that I'd lost significant depth with the Explorer also. It's just I found the Explorer tones and TID to be much more pleasing in those areas.

After digging a 15 inch massive hole and finding nothing, I decided to save it until I come back with the Explorer and Sunray probe.

The two fisher machines I've owned, were and are ridiculously hot on big iron. It wouldn't suprise me if the Explorer auto-tracked over that spot to not signal a very deep, very large, piece of iron. Like other's said, it could've also been a big mess of rust. I've joked with other F75 users when out hunting that the F75 would beep 90 over rusty water That's an exaggeration of course, but it sure seems like it when you've pulled a steel plate out at 20" that had a TID of 91 and a depth read out of 8" (I've dug that deep because I can't stand not knowing what was in that hole - it might be a big paint can full of silver - it's a sickness I know!).

This is a good post. Some of the deepest targets Ive found were with the F75. But on the other hand it was too mentally fatiguing to deal with. It would hit on rust stains and show a good target. Bottle caps were a nightmare for me too. I loved many things about the F75. But have found many many more finds in shorter time with the E-Track. Its the difference between a top fuel dragster and a Mercedes Benz

 

[marcomo]

Some of the deepest targets Ive found were with the F75. But on the other hand it was too mentally fatiguing to deal with. It would hit on rust stains and show a good target. Bottle caps were a nightmare for me too. I loved many things about the F75. But have found many many more finds in shorter time with the E-Track. Its the difference between a top fuel dragster and a Mercedes Benz

I love my F75 LTD, but I'm always glad to hear an educated opinion from someone who uses great equipment like a Pro-Pointer and a Raptor...

But which one's the dragster and which one's the Benz?