F75 Is it me ?

[trying2learn]

Hi, I bought an F75 in January and am still having problems. Don't get me wrong I have made some excellent finds, including a very nice Charles the 1st silver shilling, a silver stater, lots of buttons & musket balls along with many many copper coins. But I feel as if I am doing everything by hit & miss. Some days when I use the detector nothing seems to go wrong, other times it feels as if I am just digging and digging for scrap. I have read about using discrimination, all metal etc. and at times it seems to work others not so successful. people who dig 40 coins in one day astound me. The only place that i or my friends ever do this is on a field used for public events where I can dig a coin every two few steps, however i have done this with a hawkeye too. Where I have found the biggest problem is the F75 is calibrated to the American market. I live in the UK and wondered if anyone can give me an equivalent of dimes, nickels etc into hammered coins in England. My friend has a T2 and recently has been more successful than I have been. Is it that I have paid

 

[Jeb NWR]

Well tryingtolearn, you are in a pickle arn`t you . Actually i think it IS you .
I`m a Brit and i`ve used the F75 since they were very first introduced into the UK.
I have had in the beginning a few misunderstandings with the F75 but that was my fault not the F75`s.
The problem is i find that most detectorists will ALWAY`S blame the detector when things don`t work out as they think should be happening. It could never be their fault could it ? Not that the detector is working fine but just they (the user) don`t know how to adjust the necessary adjustments when the field conditions are changing and adjustment is required ? No we always say "there`s definitely a fault with this detector , or i must be using a faulty coil" . Anything to not take the blame for what is nothing more than misunderstanding of what the detector needs having done in a change in the settings.
You cannot keep blaming the detector my friend other wise you`ll never really understand what you were doing wrong in the first place.
I nearly always use ALL METAL mode nowadays. Use TWO TONES ,and set your sensitivity to about 80 to start with , if you can use higher do so.
You will not, if you go at a steady pace ,but use a Brisk swing pace, miss much then. Dig all each way (Positive) repeatable signals and dig nothing under the digital reading of 12. You must train your ear for the GOOD signal though . I always suggest to people to carry a pure Silver coin around with them and throw it on the floor every 20 minutes for a second and go over it with your coil. THAT`S the sound you want to be listening out for .
Cut quarters can come in at the " 9 " reading and you will possibly miss them if you do not dig anything under 12 . But if your not bothered about missing cut quarters there isn`t any problem is there ?

You failed to tell us YOUR settings and how you detect . Maybe you could tell us .
If you go over ANY British coin with the F75 and have the right settings you will not miss it when you go over it .
I prefer the F75 to the T2 any day. I have used the T2 and i think its a good detector. But give me the F75 any-day !!!!

 

[trying2learn]

Thanks Jeb NWR, I think you are right . The settings that I have used are DE sens between 70 - 85 discrimination of about 18 to 22 and auto G.B between 55 and 65. I find that if I use JE It seems I find more but I also find a lot more rubbish and put up with a lot more noise. At a recent event I dropped my discrimination to 10 and my finds rate actually went up by about 400% however it was mostly buttons. Was it the site or me actually finding more. Anyway these tend to work but I get a lot of clicks and twittering in the background. Just reading a lot of comments on this site is helping me understand the detector more and thanks very much for putting the UK perspective of the F75 for me. (I don't know anyone else with one lol) If you have any more tips or any advice about all metal mode I'd love to have them. This Sunday I'm going to stick with all metal and I'll let you all know how I get on.

Thanks again for your advice and the quick reply.

Paul aka trying2learn

 

[Jeb NWR]

Thanks Jeb NWR, I think you are right . The settings that I have used are DE sens between 70 - 85 discrimination of about 18 to 22 and auto G.B between 55 and 65. I find that if I use JE It seems I find more but I also find a lot more rubbish and put up with a lot more noise. At a recent event I dropped my discrimination to 10 and my finds rate actually went up by about 400% however it was mostly buttons. Was it the site or me actually finding more. Anyway these tend to work but I get a lot of clicks and twittering in the background. Just reading a lot of comments on this site is helping me understand the detector more and thanks very much for putting the UK perspective of the F75 for me. (I don't know anyone else with one lol) If you have any more tips or any advice about all metal mode I'd love to have them. This Sunday I'm going to stick with all metal and I'll let you all know how I get on.

Thanks again for your advice and the quick reply.

Paul aka trying2learn

Hi Paul.
The funny thing is about ANY detector is that no one seems to have the perfect way to use it. Everyone seems to eventually find their own way of doing things. (not always right i may add) but lots do find their most comfortable way.
You said in your first post that you were using your F75 and you were going along with it in a fashion, but you wern`t happy with your proceedings.
Well may just say that you`ve made the correct step by asking for others opinions on the workings of the F75 and that is a very positive step. But beware that not every body's ways are right also . Its all down to user satisfaction . If you are satisfied after various different settings tried, then you again are progressing positively. If you are not, then obviously you maybe need to ask further and hopefully find out where your going wrong .

The settings you use are "usable" but not practical over in the UK.
If your going to use the DISCRIM mode, You have a small graph on the right hand side of your control box Its called the FE 3O4 Bar graph. When you initially Auto ground Balance take a peek at the reading as you ground balance. If its O.3 , 1, or above the Ground mineralization is on the up. Take care not to use excessive Sensitivity.The higher the reading the less sens you should use.
DE mode is OK to use but its what I`d class as 2 nd Gear in the UK.
PF would be a better bet . When Auto Ground Balancing if the FE graph is showing 0.1 (ish) read out on Ground balancing , use a Sensitivity of about 75 to possibly 85 (again depending on the mineralization of the field being searched) in PF setting.Use no more than 4 on the Discrim setting, but the lower the better. Yes, you will get more bleeps and gurgles the lower you go , BUT, if you train your ear to listening for the GOOD signal amongst the Bubble n squeaks you can eventually get to take no notice of the bubble n squeaks playing away in the back ground. Throw a silver coin on the deck every 20 minutes or so and get used to that sort of positive sound your listening for. A pound coin is also another coin you can listen to, they give the sort of sound your after.
JE setting is an excellent setting but only in the right conditions. Its no use using JE setting in a heavily Iron contaminated site. It will send the detector bonkers. The Gain is way to high to use it on a field full of scrap. Its great on a quiet no junk field, but if Still used,!!! caution should be used with the Sensitivity. No more than 50 ish. Again discrimination of no higher than 4.
Then There`s ALL Metal mode. I use this mostly ,as i said in my last post to you .
Here`s a little tip, In Discrim mode ,always,(Fast grab)Ground balance ,every 20 minutes on any field you search , because of varying field mineralisation patches .It only takes seconds to do, and can only be beneficial.Just push the trigger switch forward and pump the coil a few times to within a few inches of the surface.(always check first that you GB on a Clean bit of land free from iron )
Finally can i just say that you may Still find Iron Washers or large ring type things. This is because "Round things" always fool a detector into thinking its a good target. Its a bit of a trade off we have to bear I`m afraid.But extra large Iron will give the distinctive over load skreek sound . Normal Iron ,will just be heard as low grunty sounds.
As i`m sure your aware Paul,patience and many hours in the field are the best policy to master any Detector Paul.
Hope this will help you some.

PS hey ,your not doing bad if your finding a Charles the 1st silver shilling and a silver stater .

 

[trying2learn]

Hi Jeb,

Thanks again for taking the time to reply. I think you have shown me where I am going wrong and also
helped me to understand how to change the variables instead of desperately changing the settings
without really knowing why.

A) I have never taken into consideration the FEO3 reading when setting up my detector.
B) I almost certainly am trying to get too much sens out of the machine in bad ground situations.
C) The Discrimination I sometimes use is far too high and therefore masking finds.

Saying that, I have to give the F75 a big plus as it can be spot on when I get it right.
Many thanks again. Keep up the good work by helping the detectingly challenged

Cheers Paul

 

[Jeb NWR]

No problem M8 . If you feel you have any more queeries just ask , that`s what these forums are for. Every one will give their points ,its down to you to untangle them. but the more people interact the better.
The only thing i will say is that the American ways seem to differ greatly to our ways in the field settings. (apart from the All Metal way)

 

[XLT-user]

Try all your coins you desire under the coil in an air test. Make a chart of where they fell.Should cure the problem.Use the notch feature for in or out on what you want to dig.Or the discrimination setting.

 

[trying2learn]

[attachment 107388 finds.jpg]

Well was out today on a previously well detected field and thought I'd use all metal motion. Ground balanced the F75 to about 59, Fe03 meter hardly registered. So set the senstivity to 85, threshold was ok on 0. so was tone. Started swinging and was surprised how controlled the detector was. geting reguar two way zip sounds of about 10, dug the first one and as expected it was a small piece of iron. This gave me confidence that the detector was functioning properly. Next I got a big signal about 78, but when I went to pinpoint I got the overload signal... Yup it was an aluminium can.... so far so god.. next I find a small brass cross with a signal of about 70. this was about 5 inches down. next a ring about the same, then I had a few hours where I was not getting any reasonable signals above 10 so I decided to have a break. My next cycle round I found a .22 bullet two small musket balls quite deep, a lead seal and a broken crotal bell and a large heavy iron washer. All in all I was quite pleased, but normally I find a few old coins which I hadn't come across today. I spoke to one of the guys in my club and he told me that there had been a few roman coins found in the centre area of the filed so I decided to give it a try but this time I thought I'd try PF... Ground balanvced again to about 62, the feo3 meter reading was less than 01 so set the sensitivity to 85 again. dropped the discrim to 3 didn't set any notches tones 2F. within minutes I get a good signal!! it was a george v hapenny. about ten more feet and I find a small roman coin... another 20 feet and I get another good signal, this time I flip over to all metal motion and Yup I get just as good a signal so I dig. ANother roman reading about 65. S all in all still confused. did I find coins because I changed to PF and was more tuned into the signal. I must admit I like all metal but found it very tiring to keep on checking the meter to see it if it was over 10.... Found the usual lead but was able to steer clear of big metal so a lot less digging.. have included a picture of the finds.. nothing spectacular but just to give an idea of what I found on all metal motion which is on the right in about 4 hours and what I found in half an hour in descrim PF on the left.. ANy thoughts cheers Paul

 

[Jeb NWR]

I think that`s very encouraging, and I`m pleased your doing so well. Please continue to be patient, and your determination will bring dividends.Well done with taking a shot at all options.

 

[trying2learn]

Well,

Jeb's settings worked. I visited the field that I was on the week before and was getting pretty despondent. Mind you no-body else was finding. I started to work on an area that others had been working as it had produced a few roman coins the week before and guess what I found a Tribach type Silver penny of Coenwulf, King of Mercia circa ad 796 - 821. Just goes to show if it's under your coil you will find it. Settings were JE sens, 83, discrim 4, tone 2F, notch 1 or 0 left to default. This coin was about four inches deep and the meter said 5 inches. Well done Jeb at last I can trust my detector.. Going to an old cattle stopping place on Sunday, let's see what I'll find.. Just a note for all newbies. If you can't get used to all metal, use DE to start and if you can push it use PF and then JE if it is really clear. be sure to read what Jeb wrote first and you will be going in the right direction in UK soil conditions.

Cheers Trying to learn

 

[Jeb NWR]

Well I`m SO PLEASED your doing well now My friend. I`m more than pleased actually, I`m over the moon.
The F75 just needs to be taken time to learn .
Lots of People think that because they have a top of the range detector that they will immediately be successful with it `just` by waving it across the Earth. And as we all know, its really not that simple. Various setting HAVE to be right on the day,other wise you could miss that Elusive coin by a Fraction just because you hadn`t got a certain setting on the right position.
Its not even all about depth either.You could miss a coin that's only 3 or 4 inches deep because you had it in the wrong Mode .EG maybe you had it in DE mode and missed it when if you`d have had it in JE mode you would have got it.On another occasion,Maybe you should have had it in PF mode another day but you missed that Deepie coin because there was too much Mineralization affecting your Coil and you had it in JE mode being far too sensitive for that particular field .And they are just examples, but there can be other settings that could or could not be right for the field you detect at that moment. The Success of your hunting `just` might depend on YOUR Knowledge level ,of the F75 at that time.
Of course Lady Luck will inevitably play her part too sometimes but personally i wouldn't rely on her solely to give you a successful day`s detecting.
Anyway back to my successful friend. Well done Buddy, and may you go from strength to strength in the near future.