[quote jmaryt]can i ask what exactly do you like about it?..thanks!
(h.h!)
j.t.[/quote]
A couple of weeks back, a member on another forum asked me what I thought of my new F2. I got it right before Christmas. I sent the person a PM, telling him what I thought. Here is a copy of the part of the PM that dealt directly with the F2:
My F2 is the first detector that I have ever owned. And, I love it!! It is extremely light (important to me and my bad back), and rather easy to learn (important to me and my 2 functional brain cells!. It is very sensitive, has super quick target recovery, massive sized VDI numbers, its tones are modulated (light/faint tones indicating a deep, small target) and hits coins hard! I don't know if it is still this way or not, but when I bought mine, I got the stock 8" coil, the 4" coil, the extra lower rod, and extra hardware for $199 plus shipping. That's extremely hard to beat!!
Now a couple of things I don't like... It comes with a factory set ground balance that can't be adjusted. But, it was only $199! And, I've learned that I can reduce the sens. to get rid of the falsing caused by my mineralized soil. Surprisingly, this hasn't cost me much in the way of depth either.
I thought that my air tests were quite alright. But, some of the other guys weren't impressed with their air tests. I don't like that. But, most everyone (including me) has been impressed with the unit when tested on the ground. And, that's where it really counts anyway!
The coil's cable does not have a locking ring. Because of that, the cable can come loose from handling the machine and not being mindful of the cable. I've found that this can be easily fixed by unwrapping the cable one round, pulling the excess up high, and fastening the cable to the upper rod (as close to the control box as you can) with the strip of velcro that comes with the unit.
When you lay the F2 down on the stand, it will easily turn over. I don't know if it is because the stand is not wide enough or what. But, since I am aware of this, I am just extra careful when laying it down on the stand.
The "clip" to the battery door is very, very sharp! If you aren't careful, it will split a finger open! I just used one of my wife's emory boards to file the sharp edge and corners down a bit.
Though simple once you learn how to use it, notching in/out targets can be a bit frustrating. The manual should be more clear on how to do this. I learned how to do it simply by "playing" with mine. If you have any trouble, let me know and I'll explain it to you the best way I know how!!
The owner's manual is not the most in depth I've ever seen. As a matter of fact, it lacks a lot of detail. First Texas would have done well to include an instructional CD. But as I said, it is my first detector... and I have had little trouble figuring it out!
I don't mean this to sound as though I don't like the F2, because I love mine. It is just that there are a few things I would like to see done different. But, I'm sure that is true of the best or most expensive machines out there!
When I bought my F2, I was advised to buy all the detector that I could financially afford. I did that. If I had it to do all over again, and I had $100 more to spend, I'd still buy the F2!
As for the air tests that I did, here were my results. They are also posted in another thread.
After I got my F2, I did some air tests with coins as well as mine and my wife's 10K, plain wedding bands. I put the F2 in all metal mode and the ran the sen. at 100%. The tests were done with the stock 8" coil. All coins were turned with the flat side facing the coil. The rings were turned flat toward the coil (in other words with the hole in the ring facing the coil). Here are the results that I got:
Quarter: 9 1/2 to 10 inches
Dime: 8 to 8 1/2 inches
Silver dime: 9 inches
Nickel: 9 inches
Penny: 9 1/2 to 10 inches
Wheat penny: 9 inches
My wife's size 10, 10k gold wedding band: 10 1/2 inches
My size 11, 10k gold wedding band: 10 1/2 inches
I hope this information helps you out. I love my F2 and would recomment it to any newbie who was on a limited budget!!
Good luck,
Robert
