First time out with the F44.......

[James/Washington]

I have had an F75 since 2008 and found bunches of goodies with it. I also have the F5 and it is also a great detector. I wanted to try the F44 so I took the plunge and it came in late yesterday afternoon. I got the F44 out on it's maiden voyage this afternoon for just over two hours. Humid but not too hot. Threat of rain but the F44 is weather proof. Rain won't hurt it! Went back to a newer park that is pounded but gets a tremendous amount of traffic. What better place to test a new detector! Dug some trash but there is a bunch of trash here. First signal was the junk jewelry in the bottom right of the pic. Came in as a low signal but certainly not gold or silver. All in all the F44 is a great detector for the price. They call it a entry level detector but I would classify it as a mid level detector. It is light but I am not overly impressed with the coil. I will probably get used to it but fortunately I have a couple of coils that will work on it from the F5 which have interchangeable coils. I tried one and it works and balance is just a little better. Anyway, my first finds with the F44...............

 

[Furious T]

Not a bad start to your adventures with your new detector. Hope tou continue to enjoy it, and the different features it provides. HH

 

[zeekeys]

James thanks for the report. I am looking at the F44 for a number of reasons as my next detector. I am not a fan of the big coils. I use the 6.5" coil all the time on my F70. I notice with big coils the detectors are nose heavy. Is that what you experienced with you 11" coil on the F44? I would think a 5" - 7" coil would be ideal on the F44? Thanks for the info......Z

 

[James/Washington]

James thanks for the report. I am looking at the F44 for a number of reasons as my next detector. I am not a fan of the big coils. I use the 6.5" coil all the time on my F70. I notice with big coils the detectors are nose heavy. Is that what you experienced with you 11" coil on the F44? I would think a 5" - 7" coil would be ideal on the F44? Thanks for the info......Z

Yes, I did find the coil makes the F44 a bit heavy. The coil is the only thing I do not really like about the F44. I have the Nel Sharpshooter coil for my F5 and I read where the F5 coils will work on the F44. I put the Nel on the F44 and it seems to work. I have a bit more tinkering around to do before I go out but I really do like the feel of the Nel coil on the F5.
The F70 coils should work on the F44 as well. Maybe we can get a little chatter about coil selection for the F44. Maybe even start another thread. I would love to hear others experiences.

 

[Dave J.]

F70 coils are not electrically compatible with the F44. They may "seem to work" but performance will be degraded.

When it comes to alternatives to the stock F44 searchcoil, in my opinion the one that's going to prove the most popular is the similar but smaller one that's standard on the F22. Bigger has its place in the world, but bigger isn't always better.

 

[zeekeys]

Thanks Dave appreciated. I know the F70 is 13 Khz and the F44 is 7.8Khz not too close. But guess it could be some kind of harmonic resonance that would probably make it kind of work ?
James I was thinking of the 5" gold bug coil? Or even the 7" coil on the F11 might be much lighter than the 11" coil. I enjoyed swinging the Tesoro Compadre with the 5.75" coil, that is the weight I would like a detector to be. I am not much of a beep and dig guy though. Just some thoughts going through my mind on the F44. Thanks James......Z

 

[Hightone]

Nice hunt James.

I had the Sharpshooter on my F2. To me, it is a heavier coil and really gave me no advantage in depth or ID over the stock 8". It's advantage may have been a field with less chance of masking due to field shape.

Between my LRP and QDP I find that the 10" C and 11" DD give me the same results as the F22 and F44 (only by what I've read). I also notice the same pattern of low nickels finds compared to other earlier Fishers/Teknetics. But I can live with that.

I find that the 5" DD is the only other coil I really need as a coin/jewelry hunter. And these mid/lower end Fishers and high end BHs offer a lot for the price and seeking out after market coils doesn't really offer anything advantageous. Just my opinion.

 

[tc1967]

Some people may be looking for better balance, lighter weight but besides that I agree, there's no advantage over fisher coils

 

[junkminer]

I have a F44 and was looking at going to a DD coil. I am hearing folks are getting better results in depth. I am finding that the max on the F44 on coins is about 7 inches. At least in the air test that is what I am getting. Can not see a dime cleanly past 6 inches. I have found a couple Mercury dimes, gold diamond ring and a sterling silver ring. All in water. Land in my opinion is tough or I just need to learn the machine better. I have been told to use custom mode. Friday after Labor day was a rainy day. I got a couple recent qtrs and pennies. But the other thing was the Ground was at 80GB. Does that make it more difficult to pick up the good tones? And this area was in the 60GB a week before all the rain. So does rain play a role in the GB because soil is wet? I am just learning this hobby.

 

[Mike Hillis]

Junkminer,
The F44 with max senstivity will air test a dime out to 10" with a good solid high tone.

It will air test a quarter and a nickel out to at least 11" (closer to 11-1/2") with a good solid high tone.

if you are only air testing coins out to 7 inches with max sensitivity settings then you need to call Fisher and send your F44 in for a checkup.

it sounds to me that your depth results are lower because you sensitivity setting is lower?

HH
Mike

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

I've run the F44 for a few months now and find it to be a whole lot better than an entry level detector. I bought it to use in the water and figured if I dropped it or submerged the box, it probably would be good to go for a few seconds. Not true. That's why it says "weatherproof, not waterproof". But it is a whole lot of detector for the money. The Omega coils seem to work well on the F44. I put an 11" biaxial coil on mine and it performs as good as the Omega for me, is more stable, and has some great features that the Omega doesn't. The only slight negative on the F44 I'd say is that even at full volume, it's fairly quiet without headphones. With headphones it's fine. That probably has to do with it running at only 3 volts. The cheapest detector to run by far.

 

[Ronstar]

I have the 11" DD on my F5 and a 5" concentric as backup for the trashy areas so not a lot of experience as of yet. Question for me is the 10" round really a noticeable difference in weight vs the 11"? To me the F5 is balanced with 11" and a conductors baton with the 5". Just wondering.

 

[damiano]

The only slight negative on the F44 I'd say is that even at full volume, it's fairly quiet without headphones. With headphones it's fine. That probably has to do with it running at only 3 volts.

Speaker need many more power than headphones - that's the clue. Two batteries are great solution but it cost less volume level.
For me is also to quiet but only on windy or rainy weather that will be a problem.

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

Well with good (or cheap) headphones the F44 works fine. What I don't understand about the F44 is why there aren't more people talking about it. I own a bunch of good detectors, and this machine is no slacker. I can't think of a machine for a little over $300 that's better.

 

[BobMN]

Hello, This is my first time posting on the forum, a little nervous... I bought a F44 this August and I have to say I have not one regret. It is a amazing coin magnet. I have found several silver coins with it so far, my best being a 1942 Liberty half and a 1905 barber quarter. Both were within 30' apart, a very good day with the F44. I have found around one hundred dollars in clad so far. I believe your right when you say the depth is around 7". I have tested it in my test garden and just get a squeak or blip on a 8" silver dime. I have five detectors at the present and this machine gets used the most. Don't underestimate the F44 it has the best discrimination I have found for coin shooting, I dig very little trash. I usually just run in coin mode since that is what I mostly hunt for. I think I will start to run in jewelry mode and see how it picks up the goodies. I will attempt to download the pictures of the two coins I just wrote about.

 

[damiano]

For me default coil should be 11DD (fits from F5 or Teknetics), I think that's above price of detector with concentric coil and Fisher give us 11 CC.
I beat many times my colleague with XP Deus Lite, okay he found little thin silver coin but my F44 can see it as well. Many times I have more finds on the same fields - it isn't luck I think.
With 11 DD from Teknetics works for me brilliant, less EMI even I searched under high voltage lines.
Custom mode is great - set tone of scale as you want and then iron volume on 10.
That's is great on plowed fields.
Depth is almost the same as Deus Lite with DISC on 4 - iron tone or iron discrimination is a future !
Great to have max depth without DISC and don't hear iron, only very big parts.

 

[BobMN]

These are the two coins I found the same day with the F44 in coin mode. A 1942 walking liberty half dollar and a 1905 barber quarter. Both were about 5" to 6" down.

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

Beautiful coins. Congrats.