Have been using my new f-5 for two months now. While finding lots of newer clad coin at a depth of 3-4 inches I have not found anything any deeper. I am in virgin ground looking. Yes I am sure it is untouched and old private ground. Today I decided to test it my own coin garden. Buried a silver quarter at 7 inches NOT a peep from the F-5. 85% gain. 3 threshold tried +and - threshold tried different gain setting NOTHING. No wonder I am not finding wheat or silver. Is this normal or is something wrong with my detector. The reason I bought this unit was because of the great feedback on how good it was. Right now very disappointing. This is my third detector so yes I do know what I am doing. Or thought I did. Thanks for any advise. Or maybe lead me in the direction of a detector that will go 8-10 inches deep. I have found bigger objects in that depth range but no coin.
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Fisher F5 depth issues
- Thread starter towzilla
- Start date
Woodchuck, how about your brilliant advice then????? instead of negativity.
Towzilla, the F5 is deepest in AM mode i.e. NO discrimination. Then run your detector at the highest gain and threshold as you feel it can cope with
Try a high gain and a threshold around zero.
Do some Air Tests too.
all the best
Towzilla, the F5 is deepest in AM mode i.e. NO discrimination. Then run your detector at the highest gain and threshold as you feel it can cope with
Try a high gain and a threshold around zero.
Do some Air Tests too.
all the best
Thank you for your advise Unlike wookchucks comment that helps no one. I thought I'd could acctually come here for some help not smart a-- remarks. I have tried no discrimination/am mode quiet there as well. No matter how I might have messed up this detector should do better than 6-7 inches. I have an untouched picnic grounds from 1881 to 1940's I have located in an old farmstead only known buy a few people. I want to make sure it's working right. Thank you for your response..
1) Most coins are found in 1 to 5 inches in ground, there are exceptions
2) AM mode is deeper but you hear every single thing in ground,and find it hard to hunt that way for long
3) Not every place carries wheat and silver on regular bases in ground
4)Read and reread your manual,search forums on F5 usage,Mike Hillis is a F5 guru search his threads
5) Air tests are not a reliable test of how deep your detector will go.
6) Soil conditions and EMI will affect your depth and readings.
7) Don't give up on detector because of a few settbacks, 2 months is nothing in learning a detector.
The deeper a coin is the harder it is to pick up on a coin,it all depends on detector,the user,the ground ,trash etc.
9) You hear and find objects better with moisture in ground and deeper.
10) The F5 has worked well for me in Gain 85% threshold at neg 3 to 0. On plus side to much falsing at least where am.
11) More Disc you use more loss of depth I use the the least amount needed for area and conditions.
12) Using the threshold and gain on F5 is a trade off using to much of one and to little of another can efffect results.
13) ABOVE ALL DON"T GET DISCOURAGED, OR EXPECT More out of a detector than it can do!
2) AM mode is deeper but you hear every single thing in ground,and find it hard to hunt that way for long
3) Not every place carries wheat and silver on regular bases in ground
4)Read and reread your manual,search forums on F5 usage,Mike Hillis is a F5 guru search his threads
5) Air tests are not a reliable test of how deep your detector will go.
6) Soil conditions and EMI will affect your depth and readings.
7) Don't give up on detector because of a few settbacks, 2 months is nothing in learning a detector.
The deeper a coin is the harder it is to pick up on a coin,it all depends on detector,the user,the ground ,trash etc.9) You hear and find objects better with moisture in ground and deeper.
10) The F5 has worked well for me in Gain 85% threshold at neg 3 to 0. On plus side to much falsing at least where am.
11) More Disc you use more loss of depth I use the the least amount needed for area and conditions.
12) Using the threshold and gain on F5 is a trade off using to much of one and to little of another can efffect results.
13) ABOVE ALL DON"T GET DISCOURAGED, OR EXPECT More out of a detector than it can do!
Thank you. That's what I was looking for. I started metal detecting in the early 80's with a Fisher 1220x. I have found hundreds if not thousands of coin etc. Silver dollars on down 1/2 dimes, Indians, large cents Many barber coins. And on up the progression of newer age coins. Had no trouble with it finding coins in the 10" range. Since someone needed my 1220 more than I did,stole it, I went with this new F5. I have tried everything I can find on the forums, air test, am mode, as many different setting as I can find but even in am 6 maybe7 inches is the max I can get. I have hunted many places here in Kansas That I know no one has been. Personal family grounds, swimming areas no one has been in since mid 50's. Not even when I had the 1220x was I allowed in. Now I have found only a very few old coins. On he other hand I found $22.00 in clad three weeks ago in an old city park 34 quarters many dimes ect.. All 1-4 inches. I understand what you are saying and again thank you. I will call fisher Monday and talk with them. I have one special place I want to make sure I'm on my game most people who know of it are long dead and gone. Very private area. picnic grounds 1981 to1940. For abolitionist's to have there rallies. Plus some indians camp sites in the 1870's. So thanks again.
Interesting. I wrote to Fisher about the depth expectations for the F5 and they replied that it had the same depth capabilities as the 1236X2. I have had two 1236X2's in the past and I am fairly sure that the F5 does go that deep.
A low frequency machine does go deep but does tend to find only larger items at depth - pipe hunting machines are also low frequency for that reason - and the reason that I don't mind the lack of 'superdepth' on the F5 is that it is so brilliant in locating anything up to 6 inches or so. Now 6 inches or so is about the depth that a plough blade turns over the soil so on UK farmland this is a perfect machine for me.
Then we have the standard coil, which is concentric, producing a cone detecting shape. On older round concentrics the width of the coil was about the depth that it would go - an 8 inch coil would just penetrate 8 inches and so on. As it is the new elliptical shape I have assumed that being ten inches at the longest it would penetrate 10 inches on small items but now I am not sure.
Thinking about it, I don't believe that I have found a very small item deeper than 6-7 inches or so. I am in the process of buying the 11" DD coil. It should give a little more depth and the trash separation is said to be improved. There are also the SEF coils - the 12 x 10 for the F5 has been shown to increase depth by approx 22-25%.
I accidentally found that the F5 is headphones sensitive. During the summer I wear cheap lightweight back phones but with the autumn cold have started using my expensive big headphones and the difference is startling, absolutely startling. The improvement is so much that I shall never go back to the cheap headphones again.
I have found the tiniest items with the F5 - pellets from shotgun cartridges for instance - and to know that such small items will give such a clear signal is comforting as we have some tiny ancient coins over here. But none of these tiny items were signalled at more than 4 inches. You may say that this isn't very deep but if you look at a genuine depth comparison chart you will see that a cut quarter (one fourth of our small silver hammered medieval coins) can usually only be detected up to 3 inches, even by the top-rated expensive machines, and many machines cannot get them at all.
Visit this site to check - staffs depth tests - a great site, although the F5 is not on it yet. You can see the actual capabilities of many machines, rather than the user reported exaggerations!
One capability of the F5, being low frequency, is that it will find a hoard or relic at depth - have a look at these Youtube tests
in highly mineralised ground, a hoard of coins at 17" and a small coin at depth - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiMTEVUJHh8 -
and depth readings for the SEF coil, which include the actual depths for the standard coil, compared. The smallest coin they use is detected at 19cms - 7.5 inches - with the standard 10" concentric coil which suggests that the standard coil has the same 'small item' depth capabilities as the traditional round 8 inch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrQRcX4AiMU
To go back to your initial query, I would have thought that a silver coin should be located quite clearly at 7 inches. The next time that I go out I will do the same test.
I run mine at 80 to 90 gain and thresh at plus 4 or 5, disc at 15.
Do have a look at the links - very interesting, especially the depth tests comparison.
A low frequency machine does go deep but does tend to find only larger items at depth - pipe hunting machines are also low frequency for that reason - and the reason that I don't mind the lack of 'superdepth' on the F5 is that it is so brilliant in locating anything up to 6 inches or so. Now 6 inches or so is about the depth that a plough blade turns over the soil so on UK farmland this is a perfect machine for me.
Then we have the standard coil, which is concentric, producing a cone detecting shape. On older round concentrics the width of the coil was about the depth that it would go - an 8 inch coil would just penetrate 8 inches and so on. As it is the new elliptical shape I have assumed that being ten inches at the longest it would penetrate 10 inches on small items but now I am not sure.
Thinking about it, I don't believe that I have found a very small item deeper than 6-7 inches or so. I am in the process of buying the 11" DD coil. It should give a little more depth and the trash separation is said to be improved. There are also the SEF coils - the 12 x 10 for the F5 has been shown to increase depth by approx 22-25%.
I accidentally found that the F5 is headphones sensitive. During the summer I wear cheap lightweight back phones but with the autumn cold have started using my expensive big headphones and the difference is startling, absolutely startling. The improvement is so much that I shall never go back to the cheap headphones again.
I have found the tiniest items with the F5 - pellets from shotgun cartridges for instance - and to know that such small items will give such a clear signal is comforting as we have some tiny ancient coins over here. But none of these tiny items were signalled at more than 4 inches. You may say that this isn't very deep but if you look at a genuine depth comparison chart you will see that a cut quarter (one fourth of our small silver hammered medieval coins) can usually only be detected up to 3 inches, even by the top-rated expensive machines, and many machines cannot get them at all.
Visit this site to check - staffs depth tests - a great site, although the F5 is not on it yet. You can see the actual capabilities of many machines, rather than the user reported exaggerations!
One capability of the F5, being low frequency, is that it will find a hoard or relic at depth - have a look at these Youtube tests
in highly mineralised ground, a hoard of coins at 17" and a small coin at depth - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiMTEVUJHh8 -
and depth readings for the SEF coil, which include the actual depths for the standard coil, compared. The smallest coin they use is detected at 19cms - 7.5 inches - with the standard 10" concentric coil which suggests that the standard coil has the same 'small item' depth capabilities as the traditional round 8 inch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrQRcX4AiMU
To go back to your initial query, I would have thought that a silver coin should be located quite clearly at 7 inches. The next time that I go out I will do the same test.
I run mine at 80 to 90 gain and thresh at plus 4 or 5, disc at 15.
Do have a look at the links - very interesting, especially the depth tests comparison.
BuckeyeBrad
New member
but I do know the F-5 I have is deeper than the two 1236's and one 1235 I've had FWIW. And that is comparing like coils too.
I'm still not hearing evidence that something's wrong with Towzilla's F5. What a machine will detect depends on far more than just "the machine", it depends on how the controls are set, user technique, and the ground conditions and masking conditions in the vicinity of the target.
One place to begin is with an air test. At zero disc, threshold at -1, and gain set to the edge of noise, in a location free of electrical interference, with the 10 inch elliptical searchcoil, it should hit consistently (though not loud) at 10 inches (25 cm) on fast sweeps with USA coins. If it does that, will ground balance, and seems otherwise normal both in air testing and in use, then chances that something is wrong with it are pretty slim. This is particular true if you get similar results swapping searchcoils, since mysterious symptoms in ground only are more likely to result from a drifty searchcoil than from something gone wrong in the circuit.
There are always going to be situations where machine #1 which is generally considered superior to machine #2 is going to get beat by machine #2 because its operating characteristics are different. And even with an engineer standing right there watching, there may be no explanation as to why. What makes a machine superior is if it's basically well suited to the type of sites you're searching, and is a good fit for your own personal preferences in how you like to do beeping and digging.
--Dave J.
One place to begin is with an air test. At zero disc, threshold at -1, and gain set to the edge of noise, in a location free of electrical interference, with the 10 inch elliptical searchcoil, it should hit consistently (though not loud) at 10 inches (25 cm) on fast sweeps with USA coins. If it does that, will ground balance, and seems otherwise normal both in air testing and in use, then chances that something is wrong with it are pretty slim. This is particular true if you get similar results swapping searchcoils, since mysterious symptoms in ground only are more likely to result from a drifty searchcoil than from something gone wrong in the circuit.
There are always going to be situations where machine #1 which is generally considered superior to machine #2 is going to get beat by machine #2 because its operating characteristics are different. And even with an engineer standing right there watching, there may be no explanation as to why. What makes a machine superior is if it's basically well suited to the type of sites you're searching, and is a good fit for your own personal preferences in how you like to do beeping and digging.
--Dave J.
He gave valid reasons why you might or might not find coins in your area. Please reread his comments.
Disc.does effect depth.
Depth of coins does for a fact effect if , or when some detectors can hit a target.
Trash does effect finding targets of value..Some get masked out.
Air tests is not a reliable factor of depth in ground finds. Ground balance and mineralization plays a big roll in depth. Air Tests are just that testing a detector in the air between coil and targets..
He also pointed out unreasonable expectations can lead to frustrations for many people.
Soil conditions and EMI will most certainly effect your detecting in a given area.
One big point too..is not all locations have vast amounts of Silver..or for that matter old coins.
He also pointed out experience with your brand and model detector makes a difference.. Trust me..it makes a very big difference in interpretations of detected targets.
Disc.does effect depth.
Depth of coins does for a fact effect if , or when some detectors can hit a target.
Trash does effect finding targets of value..Some get masked out.
Air tests is not a reliable factor of depth in ground finds. Ground balance and mineralization plays a big roll in depth. Air Tests are just that testing a detector in the air between coil and targets..
He also pointed out unreasonable expectations can lead to frustrations for many people.
Soil conditions and EMI will most certainly effect your detecting in a given area.
One big point too..is not all locations have vast amounts of Silver..or for that matter old coins.
He also pointed out experience with your brand and model detector makes a difference.. Trust me..it makes a very big difference in interpretations of detected targets.
BuckeyeBrad
New member
and the common reality for many is that it comes only if and with making certain types of finds. As stated soooooo many times before, the components of making "those" finds are operator skill (which is still developing if you don't have confidence and enough time with that detector yet), the site, and the available targets. All three have to be there. I'm a test-a-holic and have bought and, if I may be so bold, become very competent with (IMO) many different detectors. Some of them seemed to pull the good stuff early and seemingly easy while others took longer to do so, but the point is most can do it with a somewhat (slight) varying degree if one puts the hours in and pays attention to every conceivable detail. Just the other day I decided to take a (probably "the" most) popular top end multi-freq detector out, find and mark what it "said" were deep old coins in the 8 to 10" range and then check those in ground targets with the GB SE coupled with the 11" DD. Very much an apples to pears test on the surface, but long story short, I heard all the targets with the GB SE within a range of ID's that ran from dead on and sometimes with less of a range than the multi, to a rather wide variance, but I knew from experience that the "normal" variation for a coin target at those depths still "said" deep old coin, dig it! I guess my point is of all the informal testing I've done, while some detectors took some time for me develop that "trust it about as well as anything else" and didn't feel it was a limiting factor, tha actual outage was temporary and more about me, not the detector and coincidentally, the F-5 was one of those but it is now one of the detectors I have that I trust implicitly. Hopefully, that is what is happening here also.
Is this thread not becoming a little patronising? A chap comes on here because his F5 cannot locate a small silver coin at 7 inches and he seems to receive all sorts of info about how to detect and so on. He has had detectors in the past and did well with them but with the F5 his expectations are not being met.
Guys - let us be helpful rather than patronising. I went out today and by luck my first find was a 1927 sixpence. This coin is 50% silver and is 3/4's of an inch across. I found it at 2 or so inches. I reburied it at 5 measured inches, pressed the turf right down and the F5 could not locate it.
I went into another field, one that had been ploughed and rolled flat. I buried it there at 7 inches - located with good signal. 7.5 inches - located with small but clear signal. 8 inches - the F5 could not locate it.
Settings were Gain 85, thresh +5, disc 15. When I put it into all metal it did locate it. I ensured that the coin was lying absolutely flat, to give the best chance of a response.
I consider that to be a fair test - it did find it in the first place after all.
One of my other finds today was a George II halfpenny, dated 1752 (twenty four years before you chaps started your new country). These are 1 inch across and made of copper. It was a loud and clear signal and so deep that I measured the place it came from and this was 12.5 inches.
From this I would suggest that the F5 has the same attributes as other low frequency machines. Will find all items, including very very small items, in the first seven inches but will locate only larger coins at deeper depths.
This is with the stock 10" elliptical coil. I would rather not play the 'use it in AM' game as the discrimination is there to make detecting pleasant and efificient, so shall go for a larger coil. On another post I displayed my frustration at being unable to get the 11" DD coil from the States and I am now wondering if I should forget the 11" coil and go straight for the 12 x 10 SEF coil - excellent coils and guaranteed extra depth. HHm..
Incidentally, there is no 'disloyalty' to the F5 here, it is, after all, a machine - but when someone mentions their inability to have the machine locate small silver coins at 7 inches then we should all take notice.
I have done my tests today, on two types of ground, and they corroborate the beginning of this thread. Now, rather than patronising or emotive comments it would be more helpful if other F5 owners reading this thread performed the same test on their home soils. This way we would get feedback from many areas, don't you think?
Guys - let us be helpful rather than patronising. I went out today and by luck my first find was a 1927 sixpence. This coin is 50% silver and is 3/4's of an inch across. I found it at 2 or so inches. I reburied it at 5 measured inches, pressed the turf right down and the F5 could not locate it.
I went into another field, one that had been ploughed and rolled flat. I buried it there at 7 inches - located with good signal. 7.5 inches - located with small but clear signal. 8 inches - the F5 could not locate it.
Settings were Gain 85, thresh +5, disc 15. When I put it into all metal it did locate it. I ensured that the coin was lying absolutely flat, to give the best chance of a response.
I consider that to be a fair test - it did find it in the first place after all.
One of my other finds today was a George II halfpenny, dated 1752 (twenty four years before you chaps started your new country). These are 1 inch across and made of copper. It was a loud and clear signal and so deep that I measured the place it came from and this was 12.5 inches.
From this I would suggest that the F5 has the same attributes as other low frequency machines. Will find all items, including very very small items, in the first seven inches but will locate only larger coins at deeper depths.
This is with the stock 10" elliptical coil. I would rather not play the 'use it in AM' game as the discrimination is there to make detecting pleasant and efificient, so shall go for a larger coil. On another post I displayed my frustration at being unable to get the 11" DD coil from the States and I am now wondering if I should forget the 11" coil and go straight for the 12 x 10 SEF coil - excellent coils and guaranteed extra depth. HHm..
Incidentally, there is no 'disloyalty' to the F5 here, it is, after all, a machine - but when someone mentions their inability to have the machine locate small silver coins at 7 inches then we should all take notice.
I have done my tests today, on two types of ground, and they corroborate the beginning of this thread. Now, rather than patronising or emotive comments it would be more helpful if other F5 owners reading this thread performed the same test on their home soils. This way we would get feedback from many areas, don't you think?
BuckeyeBrad
New member
Not sure if you're including my post in your reply. If so, you can take my posts including this one however you want but I can tell you when I wrote it, it was from the heart and stated with information based on my own experience around my F-5. That's ALL I have to offer. If I thought he and/or you were a dipstick, I wouldn't have bothered taking the time to post a reply. You can agree or disagree but I think most on here WOULD agree that doing any testing with freshly buried targets, and I don't care if you compact the dirt and water it, the results won't be representative of what actual long-timed buried targets will be. So with that alone right from the get-go we're on two different pages. Actually, it's patronizing with a "z" and no, I don't say that with any condescending intent.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply.
I am English and therefore write English English, not American English, and we still spell our words the traditional English way - patronise rather than patronize, for instance.
I am quite happy with my field test but, as you seem not to be - what depth would you expect on a small silver coin with an F5? Rather than return with types of soil, detecting skill, machine settings and so on - just an expectation?
p.s. condescending intent? surely not - or should that be condezcending?
I am English and therefore write English English, not American English, and we still spell our words the traditional English way - patronise rather than patronize, for instance.
I am quite happy with my field test but, as you seem not to be - what depth would you expect on a small silver coin with an F5? Rather than return with types of soil, detecting skill, machine settings and so on - just an expectation?
p.s. condescending intent? surely not - or should that be condezcending?
Wow. Sorry I stirred this pot. Thanks everyone for their comments. Thank you Nap for the tests results you provided. The same as I had. It did not pick it up at the deeper depth. I did go out again today and tried all the different suggestions with help. Same results, located a number of coins 2-4 inches. Ah! But they two guys I was with found deeper coins and silver. I told them if they got a hit to let me run the F5 over it before they dug. I had no return at all but the both of them did. 2 coins were at the 6 inch mark one of them just a little deeper. 2 Mercury dimes and one Indian penny. The ground is a soft black dirt. One using a Mine lab the other a White. So whether I am at fault or its the detector Either way it did not detect the coins at the deeper depth. As too the comment that not all places hold silver or old coins. Common since would dictate if you are finding a large number of newer coins 2-5 inches dating to the late 60's in a 120 year old park. Then there must be older coins below that level,at least some. I did not intend on causing a big uproar only trying to get some help. Thought that was the idea of an open forum. My apology's to all and also thanks to you all for at least taking the time to answer. In no way am I knocking the F5 it does find money just not as deep as I had hoped for. I am still having fun. It keeps me busy.
BuckeyeBrad
New member
Man, I'm sorry Nap. I did a similar thing the other day where I wasn't aware and didn't stop and think the person might not be from the US and what that could mean in terms of "different realities". See, now you could accuse me of being an arrogant Yank.
I just haven't had any previous situations where this multi-national differences thing happened.
On the F-5, I've heard and recovered quite a few US (see, I can learn) silver dimes at 10". A few even deeper but there's been a few a little shallower that were ALMOST inaudible. We only have the early half dimes and dollar gold that is smaller than dimes. I've had good depth results (as compared to 7 different detectors) with the F-5 using it in HOT ferrous mineralization also. Results do vary.
I just haven't had any previous situations where this multi-national differences thing happened. On the F-5, I've heard and recovered quite a few US (see, I can learn) silver dimes at 10". A few even deeper but there's been a few a little shallower that were ALMOST inaudible. We only have the early half dimes and dollar gold that is smaller than dimes. I've had good depth results (as compared to 7 different detectors) with the F-5 using it in HOT ferrous mineralization also. Results do vary.
BuckeyeBrad
New member
Given what you saw today where two other detectors heard the 6" coins and yours didn't.......if it was me, I'd send it in for a checkup. Did you try the air tests Dave mentioned?
Air test in AM and with the detector running hot and a GB reading of 82 should give you a reasonable idea of max depth.
I think the lower the ground balance number you have to use will reduce the depth of detectable coins also.
One mans "small silver coin" is not necessarily another mans "small silver coin" that's why scientists use SI units.
But don't let me colour this board with too many of my personal opinions hahhahahahahah.
All comments IMHOO.
I think the lower the ground balance number you have to use will reduce the depth of detectable coins also.
One mans "small silver coin" is not necessarily another mans "small silver coin" that's why scientists use SI units.
But don't let me colour this board with too many of my personal opinions hahhahahahahah.
All comments IMHOO.
Been to many you think Wow," I will hit pay dirt for sure".. LOL NOT..yet go to a place you think only clad will be.. and wow you find Silver..I think maybe you should have that F5 checked out after reading the rest of your posts. It's not unheard of that the coil might be bad.. You should be getting 6" coins and maybe a little deeper.. Their known to be a pretty deep finder. Good luck hope you get it to doing what you want and expect..