Go slow with the F75 & destroy the silver!

[ziphius]

I met my buddy Fumunda Dave Saturday morning at the ghetto silver park. Reluctantly, I might add. That's because I figured I've hammered this place to death and the silver joy ride was about to end. You know where this is going. Just for kicks and giggles, I decided to go straight to a small hill that I have been over no fewer than 15 times. I worked EXTREMELY SLOW this time. I must have looked like an old man moving a walker over the turf. I wasn't even finding wheaties for awhile, then I got 2 in quick succession. Fumunda went to work another hill in the park. Then I got a crappy, deep, high-tone squeak, barely repeatable. A '54 rosie between 8 and 9 inches! Not more than 10 feet away, I get another awful deep squeaker, repeatable, and it's a '47 rosie from the same depth. About 15 feet from there, I get an absolutely horrible signal and pull out a 1919 mercury dime. There is no way I would have dug that signal 6 months ago, no less heard it. Then I get a clipped, no-date merc about 30 feet from there, the worst signal of the day. Moving ultra-slow with this machine is an ear-opening experience! Found one more wheatie before calling it a day around lunch hour. 4 silver and 3 wheaties in 3.5 hrs at a park I've been killing since late December. I never would have thought....

Happy hunting everyone! - Jim

 

[lambo1]

That's a great day. I am very close to selling my M6 and getting an F75...what is your overall impression of the machine?

Lambo

 

[ziphius]

That's a great day. I am very close to selling my M6 and getting an F75...what is your overall impression of the machine?

Lambo

Lambo,

The F-75 is like a V-8 engine on a go-cart body. Very fast target recovery/separation. Very light. Deep. So many operating modes it is like having 5 different machines at once, depending on the type of hunting you do. My only qualm is the cheap build. Minelab Explorer is built like a tank by comparison. But, that's a negative for many, the weight.

 

[Elton]

I don't see it being cheap built compared to the same design detectors..Ie: The xterra series..............I like the feel of the F75...
and the ergonamics is spectacular for swinging it for hours. All in all a very well built detector. I wish Minelab would lighten the load on their big gun Detector.

I guess we all have our opinions, and thats what sells all the different brand names...I tried the Se and it was too heavy for my taste...I am glad to read you like the way the F75 works...Given a little more time on my part I may have liked the function of the SE.....

 

[ziphius]

Yes, I do think it is cheaply built. I have a mid-2008 model. I've had to tweak the battery springs because they are too weak/short. If I lay the machine down while digging a hole, the batteries will often lose contact with the springs and the machine will shut down. This is a well-documented problem. The headphone jack is also problematical. There is some play in it, so if I pull out my headphones to use the machine without them, the speaker doesn't work. Weather gasket around the display also cracked and fell off within a few months of use. I've used an Explorer briefly, and it is a wonderfully built machine. I love my F75, it's an absolute monster, but I can't see it lasting 15 years. To Fisher's credit, they have responded to these problems by upgrading the F75 in late 2008. I've always said that if Fisher would put the F-75 electronics inside of a sturdier CZ type of housing, they would have the best detector in the world. For now, they have to settle for 2nd place, behind the Explorer. I don't mean to stir the pot. I have no loyalty to any one brand and I think that keeps me honest. - Jim

 

[zaxfire69]

Finding all this silver. Tell me how you did it. What setting were you using. And when you say slow how slow were you swinging? I am curious. Haven't tried going real slow with the machine. I constantly hear these little, barely able to make out squeaks in my head phones, but I don't pay them any mind most of the time. Let me try to explain what i mean. OK. When your swinging normally you always will hear the loud signals. The ones you know are something. I wonder what those squeaks that i sometimes hear. So faint it is hard to even pick up in the headphones. Could these be targets as well or just chatter. That is what gets me with this machine. I know the obvious it is the not so obvious that have me wondering should I dig down and see whats there or not?

 

[Elton]

Thanks for the response..I have an 09 made F75 and it seems fine...I wasn't calling you on anything either...Just wondering what you thought flimsy on it...
Man they do work great don't they..............Thanks

 

[ziphius]

Thanks for the response..I have an 09 made F75 and it seems fine...I wasn't calling you on anything either...Just wondering what you thought flimsy on it...
Man they do work great don't they..............Thanks

No offense take Elton, I was being pre-emptive in my response in case some Fisher loyalists got upset. Like I said, the F75 is one monster of a machine, has its positives and negatives, like all the others out there. Glad to hear you have an '09 model. Scares me to think how Fisher will improve on the F75 someday.

 

[ziphius]

n/t

 

[jim tn]

As Jim has stated, going slow is one of the keys for deep coins. Slow, of course, is a relative term. Slow for me is just inching my way along and using a swing width of about 2.' When I get a high tone tic/squeak I work the sweat spot of the coil over the tic and frequently from different angles. Usually even a deep coin will repeat. Deep coins, those 9, 10" and more don't sound all that good, but do squeakily repeat. Many are also slanted and on edge. Vdi readings are quite bouncy, but do bounce in the high coin range. For deep coin hunting, I like settings of de, sen. of 85-90, disc. of 4 and 3h tones. 4h if I am hunting very old sites that could have IH cents and other older coin varieties. I like 3 and 4h as the high tone alerts me for carefully checking the cause of the high tone. The F 75 will go deep. I am now going back over a site that I and others have hunted hard and using the above mentioned search method and settings, I am diggging 8-11" deep silver and wheaties. I have dug 7 silver dimes 1 25 centavos (30% silver) and 18 wheats this week, plus a few clads. AS for durability of the F 75, mine has weathered almost daily hunting now for 23+ months and still is going strong. I would rather deal with a few so called "flimsy" issues, if any occur with my 75, then swing something a couple or more pounds heavier. HH jim tn

 

[ziphius]

As Jim has stated, going slow is one of the keys for deep coins. Slow, of course, is a relative term. Slow for me is just inching my way along and using a swing width of about 2.' When I get a high tone tic/squeak I work the sweat spot of the coil over the tic and frequently from different angles. Usually even a deep coin will repeat. Deep coins, those 9, 10" and more don't sound all that good, but do squeakily repeat. Many are also slanted and on edge. Vdi readings are quite bouncy, but do bounce in the high coin range. For deep coin hunting, I like settings of de, sen. of 85-90, disc. of 4 and 3h tones. 4h if I am hunting very old sites that could have IH cents and other older coin varieties. I like 3 and 4h as the high tone alerts me for carefully checking the cause of the high tone. The F 75 will go deep. I am now going back over a site that I and others have hunted hard and using the above mentioned search method and settings, I am diggging 8-11" deep silver and wheaties. I have dug 7 silver dimes 1 25 centavos (30% silver) and 18 wheats this week, plus a few clads. AS for durability of the F 75, mine has weathered almost daily hunting now for 23+ months and still is going strong. I would rather deal with a few so called "flimsy" issues, if any occur with my 75, then swing something a couple or more pounds heavier. HH jim tn

Ditto what Jim said on the sweep technique. Trashier parks require a truncated swing arc, a couple of feet, like jim tn says.

 

[jimmyk]

If you are the oriinal owner, it's still under warranty. Send it in. I sent mine in becasue the lower shaft was too tight and hard to adjust. I finally got tired of it and sent it in. They went ahead and updated the battery springs and put a new toggle swith in on their own, without me asking for it, at no cost to me. Turn around is fast.

jimmyk in Missouri

 

[RonNH]

There are a lot of people around where I live who use Explorers and I hunt with 2-3 regularly. I think depth-wise, the F-75 can keep up with the Explorer or any other machine. Of coarse, weigh-wise it has it all over 90% of the machines. I haven't even reached 50% of the machines potential and I'm digging 8-10" on a regular basis. The Explorers have their following but I bet more than one guy goes home and ices his elbow after a day in the field. I know I did!

Ron

 

[Elton]

HAAH I thought thats all you guys used up there (Explorers)..LOL..Yes Sir, I sure felt the pain in my arms after a few hours with the Explorers.
And I am a big guy 6-'3" 227 lbs and wanted to cry like a baby from the pain..LOL..Well almost anyway..sounded good !!!

I haven't taken mine (F75) past preset yet.Mostly 40 sens and hitting 7 to 9" wheats..just haven't been where Silver is yet....only been out with the new one couple times... What have you found with yours Ron.........Your in a great area.............

 

[ziphius]

If you guys are digging 7-9" wheats, the silver ain't far behind! I average about 5 wheats per silver coin (46 silver and 203 wheats this year). This is consistent with what the silver pros in the Los Angeles area are digging (like Captn SE over on TNet), though they are running a 4.5 to 1 ratio. One of your threads mentioned digging deep wheats with a sensitivity of only 40. That's impressive. I run mine at 85 in trashy parks and have experimented with lowering my sensitivity over deep targets to see where I began to lose the ability to hear the target. I find that once I get into the low 60s, my ability to hear a deep target is greatly diminished, unless I'm moving very slowly. Nice work guys.

Jim

 

[Elton]

I was doing like the manual states full fast swing for deep target hits....Nice to know it will do good at slow sweep..I much prefer that type hunting..not a crawl, but not like I have been doing either shoulder to shoulder sweeping... I have to tell you this..I too am gettting little squeek beeps and just moving on..Wow, I won't any more...In fact will go back over some ground I covered and try and find those targets...Appreciate your posts and pass on knowledge

 

[jmaryt]

jim!.. that is outrageously good!....i don't know about you,but i just ain't seein' any more for sale!..anywhere!..everybody is finally realizing just how "sweet" this detector is!..

(h.h!)
j.t.

 

[jmaryt]

excellent point!..ron!.i think what people fail to take into account when discussing the "so called" fragile build quality of the 75 is that NO detector,regardless of weight,or build quality, is engineered ,and designed to be abused in the field!..these are electronic instruments,and must be accorded a certain level of respect when in use,OR ALL will "break" and become useless!..i believe the 75 WILL hold up over time,and of course the overall weight.feel,AND balance of the detector is the "best" i personally have ever used!

(h.h!)
j.t.

 

[Jeb NWR]

There has to be a trade off. it`s either built like a tank & too heavy, or built lightweight and be a touch on the flimsy side ,but a joy to swing for hours on end. I know which i`d rather have.
I mean take the Nautilus for example besides the Explorer. Built like an Abraham's ,but hell fire your arm is dropping off after an hour or more swinging it ,and it then becomes NO FUN to detect. Weight sucks.
Carry a Auto battery for a few minutes and its heavy. Carry that same battery for 30 minutes and it feels ten times heavier , get my drift ?
Give me lightness any day. I`ll put up with the niggles & even improvise if i can.

 

[jmaryt]

excellent point!..i think you will be well served with the f-75!...i am still learnin' mine,but i can tell ya!.. this thing IS a "beast!'..best coin sniper i 've ever used!

(h.h!)
j.t.