HI ALL CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT KIND OF PERFORMANCE I CAN EXPECT OUT OF MY F5 SAY COMPARED TO A WHITES XLT OR DFX?I CAN TELL THERE'S GOING TO BE A GOOD LEARNING CURVE BUT I JUST NEED TO KNOW WHERE I SHOULD BE HEADING,SO FAR I'M NOT IMPRESSED WITH ITS DEPTH AT ALL, MY FRIENDS BOUNTY HUNTER SEEMS TO BE GOING DEEPER THAN MY F5(DON'T THINK I'M KNOCKING BOUNTY HUNTER,ITS JUST I PAID MORE MONEY I WOULD EXPECT MORE PERFORMANCE)
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HI ALL NEW TO THE FISHER FORUM JUST RECEIVED MY F5 TODAY
- Thread starter timinky
- Start date
I just got home from using my F5 and I have to say I like it. I am a long time explorer user and I like using it too. However, this F5 is surprising me with ease of use and very good depth, not to mention how light it is. I am pretty sure you might not be set up right if your not getting good depth. Just read the book over and try to understand how ground balancing, gain, and discrimination etc. works. I think you will like the F5 after you get to using it.
woodwizard
New member
I've been useing a F5 for sometime now and haven't had a problem with depth at all.hit a penny a 8" once.try running allmetal for awhile,read book and all post about F5 espechally those by Mike Hillis,also watch Bill Ladds video to help you understand the machine.I think with a little more hands on experience and education you'll really find some great treasures.don't give up-good luck
I've found the F5's depth to be very good, and I like the detector a lot. But it has it's quirks.
First of all, if you are using 3 or 4 tones, don't expect to get a solid two way high tone hit past 5 or 6 inches on a coin size object. Beyond that depth the ID will get jumpy, but I've still gotten a reasonably solid tone down to eight inches on coins. But not a high tone, sometimes a hint of high tone mixed in with a lower tone.
Secondly, if I run my unit stable with no chips or chirps when I'm not swinging it, I can't run it hot. In fact I would have to run it cold - something like a gain of 30 to 40 with a negative threshold. Obviously with that kind of set-up there wouldn't be much depth.
The key here is I can run it hot (90 gain and 0 threshold , 50 gain and +5 threshold, or somewhere in between) and in my moderate soil it will be stable WHEN I'M SWINGING THE COIL. When I stop swinging the coil, it will start chattering. This is one of the quirks of the F5, or at least my F5.
Do a search of Mike Hillis' posts for his F5 manual revisions. That will definitely help shorten your learning curve if you have the original mistake-laden manual. Ground balancing is simple as can be, but the manual (at least the original one) explained it totally wrong. Bill Ladd's video shows how to do it right.
First of all, if you are using 3 or 4 tones, don't expect to get a solid two way high tone hit past 5 or 6 inches on a coin size object. Beyond that depth the ID will get jumpy, but I've still gotten a reasonably solid tone down to eight inches on coins. But not a high tone, sometimes a hint of high tone mixed in with a lower tone.
Secondly, if I run my unit stable with no chips or chirps when I'm not swinging it, I can't run it hot. In fact I would have to run it cold - something like a gain of 30 to 40 with a negative threshold. Obviously with that kind of set-up there wouldn't be much depth.
The key here is I can run it hot (90 gain and 0 threshold , 50 gain and +5 threshold, or somewhere in between) and in my moderate soil it will be stable WHEN I'M SWINGING THE COIL. When I stop swinging the coil, it will start chattering. This is one of the quirks of the F5, or at least my F5.
Do a search of Mike Hillis' posts for his F5 manual revisions. That will definitely help shorten your learning curve if you have the original mistake-laden manual. Ground balancing is simple as can be, but the manual (at least the original one) explained it totally wrong. Bill Ladd's video shows how to do it right.
just from what I'm hearing is 8 inches about the max for finding coins with the f5?in some areas where i live i have found deeper coins 10-14 inches(with a dfx) granted they where mostly quarters in good soil,but deep none the less, i wanted the f5 because of the complete control the operator has at his finger tip,thanks all for replying really liked you input marcomo
timinky said:
I'm glad I could help.
The deepest coins I've found with it have been eight inches. My soil is moderate, it usually shows two bars.
Some people with more experience, skill, or time to detect could no doubt coax a little more depth than me, but I don't think even the most skilled dirt fisher is going to pull a 14" coin with the F5.
Sounds like you really click (or clicked) with that DFX. Do you still use it?
sold dfx last week,at one time i had all three of whites top detectors xlt ,mxt and dfx.loved the dfx but i think a good xlt can still give a dfx a run for its money coin hunting any day,my total silver coin count is well over a hundred pieces of silver about 600-700 wheat Penny's and a two gallon bucket of clad,the most impressive find i can remember anyone making is with a shadow x5 it was a 1841 seated dime ever bit of 14inches,i couldn't touch it with my dfx not even a whisper of a signal , the x5 is the deepest detector Ive personally seen but it had a veteran operator also
Terry in PA
New member
I had thought that my F5 was lacking in depth to when I first got mine. But lay those thoughts to rest. I have hit dimes and pennies at 8 inches with good tone. I use three tones . The copper and silver coins will give you a high tone the deeper the coin the softer the sound. Nothing like a hit in the 70's and 80's with a soft tone. Deep coin every time. The F5 is a different monster to tame then the Garrett detectors I've ran over the years. With the threshold you can set a trigger point for targets to responded if you run it at say -1 down to -9 you will knock out say small sounds
that make your detector unstable with high gain settings. Where settings of high gain and high threshold could make
the detector talk to much.High threshold settings let's more targets trigger the audio even those that would be weak
on low settings.I found a post by Mike Hillis about finding max settings for the F5. He set the detector
up with a setting of Gain 75 and Threshold -1 and checked targets. Then set the detector up with Gain 50 and Threshold +5
Both setting gave max target response. When I tried those settings I got a quarter at 10-11 inches and dime 8-9 inches which isn't to bad!
So if running the detector in any given area with high gain settings that make it to unstable you can run with lower Gain and higher
Threshold and get the best the detector can give you. Unreal!
that make your detector unstable with high gain settings. Where settings of high gain and high threshold could make
the detector talk to much.High threshold settings let's more targets trigger the audio even those that would be weak
on low settings.I found a post by Mike Hillis about finding max settings for the F5. He set the detector
up with a setting of Gain 75 and Threshold -1 and checked targets. Then set the detector up with Gain 50 and Threshold +5
Both setting gave max target response. When I tried those settings I got a quarter at 10-11 inches and dime 8-9 inches which isn't to bad!
So if running the detector in any given area with high gain settings that make it to unstable you can run with lower Gain and higher
Threshold and get the best the detector can give you. Unreal!
Mike Hillis
Well-known member
I'm very familar with the DFX. I fiqure if you can get that kind of depth out of a DFX, then you will be able to get that same kind of depth out of the F5 too without any help at all.
HH
Mike
HH
Mike
even after six years with the dfx i can still say*i cannot get the most out of it*but i found the best help came from people here in the forum,Ive received two really good and informed replies about the f5 and i have already seen some improvement from their advise,maybe the other 99 percent of dfx owners didn't have this forum in their toolbox to work with,in any case mike if you have any advise id be glad to here it if not the praise from terry in pa is very misplaced,i find the f5 every bit as complex as the dfx was when i first got it.....
Mike Hillis
Well-known member
You make an outragous claim about a DFX that even Dave Z. would have rolled his eyes over and in the same breath find the F5 unimpressive as compared to it. Just hit the wrong tone with me.
Mike
Mike
WHAT IS OUTRAGOUS ABOUT FINDING A COIN AT 10-14 INCHES?I DIDNT SAY ALL OF MY COINS WHERE THAT DEEP I CAN THINK OF HALF DOZEN OR SO OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD THAT I FOUND IN THAT RANGE I WOULD SAY 90+PERCENT OF MY GOOD FINDS FALL WELL INTO 4-8 INCH CATAGORY,IM NOT KNOCKING THE F5 IM JUST ASKING QUESTIONS TO GET SOME KIND OF REFRENCE OF PERFORMANCE,AND THE ONLY REAL EXPERIENCE I HAVE TO GAGE IT TO IS IN THE WHITES LINE,ALL THE TECHNICAL SPECS LOOK REALLY GOOD TO ME ON THE F5,REALLY APPRECATE THOSE THAT HAVE ADDED HELPFUL INSITE TO THE WORKINGS OF THE F5, REALLY MIKE LETS LEAVE DAVE OUT OF IT...REPECTFULLY
Timinky, if you want to learn as much as you can about the F5 some good advice would be to read Mike Hillis' archived posts. He is an F5 guru and his posts have helped a lot of us get more out of our F5's.
If Mike was a little short with you it's because he really feels strongly about the F5.
Some of us are probably a little too attached to our detectors. Some idiots even name their detectors! Mine are Silas, TT and Manny.
I wouldn't say Terry's praise is misplaced at all. He likes the F5 a lot, as do I.
One person can like a detector while another dislikes it. That doesn't mean either person is wrong.
There are a lot of variables. People have different hunting styles, different places they hunt, different ground conditions, etc.
Good luck with the F5, hopefully it will get better for you.
If Mike was a little short with you it's because he really feels strongly about the F5.
Some of us are probably a little too attached to our detectors. Some idiots even name their detectors! Mine are Silas, TT and Manny.
I wouldn't say Terry's praise is misplaced at all. He likes the F5 a lot, as do I.
One person can like a detector while another dislikes it. That doesn't mean either person is wrong.
There are a lot of variables. People have different hunting styles, different places they hunt, different ground conditions, etc.
Good luck with the F5, hopefully it will get better for you.
Terry in PA
New member
timinky said:
Take my opinion any way you want. I'm just telling you what I know about the detector with no BS. I can say I've owned a DFX and even got the book on how to get the best out of it. It never went any deeper then my Garrett detector that I own. The F5 is a impressive detector and may be one of the best in it's price range which is not even close to a DFX. If you want to compare apples to apples put the DFX up against the F75.
Terry in PA
New member
I never used a MXT but I'd say from what I've read on it that the F5 could hold it's own against it The sister to the F5 the Teknetics Omega 800 is blowing the socks off some people who use detectors that cost much more. Check them out on the Teknetics forum!
I guess we weren't able to help timinky enough because I just noticed he has his F5 up for sale on the classifieds here.
The old saying "one man's trash is another man's treasure" comes to mind.
It would be interesting if whoever buys it posts their impressions of his unit on this forum.
Hopefully they won't be expecting to find coins at 14" with it...
The old saying "one man's trash is another man's treasure" comes to mind.
It would be interesting if whoever buys it posts their impressions of his unit on this forum.
Hopefully they won't be expecting to find coins at 14" with it...