F70

[jimmy clark]

My first post on the fisher fourm.im thanking a little about getting and F70, maby tradeing my ext. 705 for one.ok ive heard some good thangs about them,but also not so good. ive heard they or hard to keep from going eratic when trying to get depth.can takes a while to learn to set up. don't thank it would take any longer to learn then my dfx.just wondering if anyone has used both ext.705 an F70, and how they compare, also in depth?thank for any advice

 

[bleeohio]

I have both, and i like certain things about both but also have some dislikes about the two. Yes, the f70 is like a hemi engine on a bicycle, it has the power but you have to know when you can get on the throttle and when to back off. Most first time f70 users (me included) think WTF have i gotten into. But once you can accept the fact that it is a powerful unit even at half throttle, you'll be ok. The 705 to me is a moody sonofagun. It seems like some days it really shines and then somedays i cant find the carkeys in my pocket with it. Dunno. But the 10" minelab dd coil is a must for it which makes it frontheavy for me. Both go deep, build quality goes to the xterra, but if i had to keep one,,,it would be the f70, just remember to pull a couple of plug wires off so you don't go insane with all the noise. Good luck on your choice.

 

[fjs440]

I agree with bleeohio up above.

I think, "A hemi engine on a bicycle" is a great description for the F70.

If necessary, just take your foot off the gas (meaning back down on the sensitivity and threshold) and find a happy spot for yourself. I personally prefer to have too much power that I can reduce rather than wishing I had more depth power.

If you get an F70, come back to this column. Read the postings. It has helped me to learn a lot about using the F70.
_________________________________
Fisher F70 w/11” DD and NEL Snake Coil
Fisher F2 w/4”, 8” and NEL Hunter Coil
Fisher 1280-X w/8” Coil

 

[jimmy clark]

-- moved topic --

 

[REVIER]

I have never swung a 705 but I have read it is a very capable and well thought of unit.
I do swing an F70 and I have also heard some of the same things you have but you need to take everything you hear with a grain of salt.
Many tried the high end Fishers, did not like them so they sold them quick and knock them forever more.
We Fisher guys love this because we get to pick up these horrible units at fire sale prices most of the time before the new car smell is gone.

These ain't your father's metal detectors and the common thinking that you must turn up the power to get deep like on other brands and models is just not true with these.
Lots of reasons for this, programming and design just to mention a few, but the fact is so many if us owners that really learned to understand this have successfully hunted at deep depths with very stable quiet settings if that is how you want to do it.
Sometimes I do and sometimes I like to turn it up but even on low sense settings of 20-40 I have been able to reach depth ranges I had to learn to wrap my head around and get comfortable with because unless you see it with your own eyes it might be hard to believe.
Here is a vid of a guy that seems to be hitting a quarter pretty good in his coin garden and he says he buried it at 8".
Out of a possible 99 on the sense his was set in this video at....1.

https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=KaJG8ohPbjE


As far as learning the thing factory settings are pretty good out of the box, a little tweaking here and there is fundamentally easy as far as I am concerned and there are some great settings to be successful at almost any site under any conditions and on this forum we love to share those settings and post the results.
I have many around here using all kinds of different set ups that others have told me they tried and it seemed to work for them, also.

Will it be a sideways move, an upgrade or worth trading the 705 for the F70 at all never having used the 705 I could not even hazard a guess.
What I can say is my F70 paid for itself quickly and it continues to do that, I have checked off many of my bucket list items using it under some extremely difficult site conditions and it continues to drop my jaw when I see what it is able to do on most hunts.
As far as what you have "heard"...check out many of the posts on this forum from many of us that got them, learned to understand them and learned to love them.

 

[shadowulf]

This is funny to me.
I was looking at getting a 705 when I got my F70.
I've been wondering if I was missing anything by using the Fisher.
I think Rev hit it right, it would probably be a lateral move. I like the notching/discrimination on the 705, and the prospecting mode.
But then I do love how light the F70 swings, especially with a "tall man's" lower rod and the "little football" coil. And how quick I can switch to a second program, depending on the conditions.
I'll always wonder if the 705 would have suited me better, but I wouldn't trade off my F70 to find out.

 

[jimmy clark]

thanks everyone.I may keep my 705, and save up for a good used F70, then decide which one I wont to put all my effert to learn.I say this because for years ive put my efferts on my D.F.X.which I love for hunting Jewelry, And coins, at schools, sports fields,etc, because it has such great ability at iding gold,that is after years of listening to the tone. an watching the vdis.but as for as depth, it struggles.

 

[basstrackerman]

I think that video is mine lol yes the coins were all buried at 8" and was blown away at how easily the f70 hit every coin and hit the 25¢ on sensitivity at 1. But I did raise the threshold.. F70/F75 awesome machines.

 

[dfmike]

This is funny to me.
I was looking at getting a 705 when I got my F70.
I've been wondering if I was missing anything by using the Fisher.
I think Rev hit it right, it would probably be a lateral move. I like the notching/discrimination on the 705, and the prospecting mode.
But then I do love how light the F70 swings, especially with a "tall man's" lower rod and the "little football" coil. And how quick I can switch to a second program, depending on the conditions.
I'll always wonder if the 705 would have suited me better, but I wouldn't trade off my F70 to find out.

By "little football coil", do you mean the stock concentric that the F70 usually comes with ? Thanks.

 

[shadowulf]

It's the 6.5"x4" concentric.

It does great in trash and is arguably better on tiny jewelry, like earings and chain links, than the 5" DD. The difference is minimal. But I managed to get the little football before I could find the 5"DD.

On the tall man's lower rod, I can get a little extra reach and larger sweep.

 

[REVIER]

It's the 6.5"x4" concentric.

It does great in trash and is arguably better on tiny jewelry, like earings and chain links, than the 5" DD. The difference is minimal. But I managed to get the little football before I could find the 5"DD.

On the tall man's lower rod, I can get a little extra reach and larger sweep.

"Arguably better on tiny jewelry..."
Arguably??!?

I wouldn't know about that since I never used one.
If you would be so kind to send me yours for trials and experimentation I would appreciate it.
Since you never got me a Christmas present last year this is the least you can do.
Also, make sure to wrap it in many $100 bills to protect it during shipping.

 

[dfmike]

REVIER or shadowulf, apart from the 6.5 x 4 and the stock 10" elliptical concentric of the F70, are there any other concentric coils available for the F70/F75 by either Fisher or anybody else ?

I'm asking this because one of these machines is in my future and I want to know what my options are regarding coils and especially the concentric type.

 

[shadowulf]

Rev, check out WV62's chart on the different F70/F75 coils. In his testing, the little football hit a little deeper than the 5". As we both know, conditions can favor or detract from a coils performance. That is why I say arguably. As far as sending you mine, flea Bay has a couple, good luck and happy bidding.

Dfmike,
Use the stock coil for the machine, be it the 10" or the 11", until you learn the machine.
I jumped into different coils immediately and it really held me back. Learn how this thing works. The 2 stock coils are probably the best 2 coils for general use in a wide variety of conditions. Once you hear what it's trying to say, evaluate your conditions. If you hunt in a lot of trash, and need a smaller coil footprint, get either the 6.5x4 or the 5" DD. If you want bigger, there are the NFL and Fisher big coils.

But learn the F70's language first. It's not always easy to understand, but once you do, it will be a blast.

 

[REVIER]

REVIER or shadowulf, apart from the 6.5 x 4 and the stock 10" elliptical concentric of the F70, are there any other concentric coils available for the F70/F75 by either Fisher or anybody else ?

I'm asking this because one of these machines is in my future and I want to know what my options are regll kinds of situationsarding coils and especially the concentric type.

Not by Fisher as far as I know.
Heck...I didn't even realize this small 6.5 was a concentric.

For me it never mattered, I have a 12"DD, a sniper round DD and the standard 10" concentric that comes on the F70 and use them all and love them all.
Hunted with all of them in two different states with completely different dirt and all kinds of situations and they all seem to work well.
The absolute deepest is the 12" F75 DD in good soil, I got pretty decent ID's on targets up to 12" and the thing can go further than that but after 12" the audio is good but the screen info might not be.
I also got to at least 10"with the concentric in the good soil easily, a bit further under the right conditions and the small DD surprisingly matched that.

In really bad dirt they all seem to get the same for me now, depth wise, and even though DD's are supposed to handle mineralization better the performance of my concentric is actually excellent.
I have full confidence hunting in mineralization of any kind and any amount of iron with any of them.

In pop top infested parks I used to hate hunting with DD's, using my Tesoros anyway, but I learned techniques and behavior using both my DD's on the F70 that quickly and efficiently identifies these things easily about 98% of the time so they are not a problem at all.
Using the Fisher concentric coil pop tops are an absolute non issue and I assume it is the same on the small one, too.

Sometimes I want to go super deep like 10-14" if not more, or I used to be able to in Kansas soil, in both states I have lived I gravitate toward some pretty trashy sites so both my coils DD coils got plenty of chances to get out.
The concentric elliptical is a great all around for almost every site and something about the sound of the signals and response I get using that one is hard to explain but I can use the term "sweet".
Mike Hillis knows what I mean...he mounted an F5 10" elliptical concentric on his higher end Fisher and it worked ok, but being a big sound guy and expert jewelry hunter he still ended up getting the factory coil that matched his unit's frequency exactly to get the full effect of that sweetness.
If you end up using both kinds like I do you can eventually tell the difference in the sound and response vs. the DD's over most types of targets.

All my coils quickly and easily paid for themselves at retail prices and then some in the clad, old coins and jewelry they found.

 

[shadowulf]

Which is why I say learn the machine.
Rev is a great example of someone who learned the language of the machine and took advantage of it.
My 10" coil is in my bag, I don't use it often because in the sticky, thorny, brushy areas I hunt the open design makes it tough to work. The 10.5 elliptical DD and the little football both are a closed design. A little heavier, but easier for me to work the edges and pathways.

Dfmike, you might do a search for REVIER's f70 posts, as well as Mike hills, zeekeyes and I digging.
Also read any F70/F75 post by Dave J.
Learn it, work it, have fun with it.

 

[dfmike]

Thanks REVIER and shadowulf: I like my F5 and I am still learning it but the F70 is tempting with the extra functions it has. I made the same mistake as you shadowulf, I started with the standard 10" concentric on the F5 and loved it. It weighs nothing for one and the ID I got from targets was mostly spot on. I don't even have to mention the extremely accurate pinpointing. I enjoyed using the detector with it. Then I bought into the DD hype and as soon as I could afford it I bought the 11 DD. I slapped it on the F5 and stored the concentric thinking I'd never use it again. Big mistake. I lost something very important with the DD: Discrimination. I started picking up bottle caps like there was no tomorrow. Not only that but a lot more rusted trash. I know there is a trick to identifying bottle caps and it works about 70% of the time for me. I end up still digging a bunch in trashy areas. Like I mentioned, while the DD has better separation, it can't discriminate properly... at least not on this detector. Recent Canadian clad end up in the iron range which of course I won't dig because of the low iron grunt it does and the VDI might give me anything between 5 and 7. The coins do contain iron I believe but the DD can't "see" the alloy shell hence I get all the pennies in the ground (copper) but no dimes or quarters. It struggles on some recent dollar coins as well.

I was hoping that the concentric coil would work just as well on the F70 as the F5 and your posts seem to confirm that. The F70 should give me a little more depth on everything and more sensitivity to smaller items namely gold jewelry which is what I'm looking for.