thank you for posting.... This forum is for everyone interested in detecting.....a good post gets things moving sometimes...Best to you,Richard
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I just got my new F75. I think I might have got a bad one. HELP! (long)
- Thread starter JOHND84094
- Start date
If anyone stirred things up it was me.....finally getting a chance to stand on my soapbox about those fake reviews & how people make a mockery of that site. If anything, thank you for bringing that to my attention, as Charile pointed out that the 3 bad F75 "reviews" seem to come from the same person?
I rest my case....
Anyhow, after voicing my opinions, I did my best to offer you some F75 advice...hopefully that didn't get lost in there.
Like I said, you started a great post....the first thread to show everyone that Minelab is keeping very close tabs on the F75 too
HH,
Bill
I rest my case....Anyhow, after voicing my opinions, I did my best to offer you some F75 advice...hopefully that didn't get lost in there.
Like I said, you started a great post....the first thread to show everyone that Minelab is keeping very close tabs on the F75 too
HH,
Bill
Mike Hillis
Well-known member
The key thing I picked up on is that you are new to this.
Here is the test for electrical interference: Perform the steps to do a factory reset as the manual states. Then rest the coil against the ground, still, not moving it. If the display starts flashing numbers or it starts making audio noise...then you are picking up electrical interference and need to turn the sensitivity down until this stops. Again, you do this with a motionless coil.
If you only experience the flashing numbers, audio tones and non-repeating target signals while the coil is in motion, you are not experiencing electrical interference. You are experiencing the ground conditions. The ground is full of metal and minerals.
To smooth out the audio until you get more comfortable you can do several things that have been posted on this forum before. One is to raise your ground balance a number or three. Another way is to use the 2F audio mode with a low disc and employ the notches so that you can focus on coins only while you learn the machine. A third way is to use the audio mode 3, with a low disc, employ notches to focus on coins only. It is important that you hear the low tone for iron as that will help cancel some of the iron falsing. I personally prefer not to mis-adjust the ground balance and rely on the a low disc and audio mode selections.
I would suggest setting your disc at 5, 2F or 3 tone mode. Notch out low foil, high nickel, all tabs and all zinc to start. That will leave you with high foil, low nickel, and high coin conductive range targets to learn on. In your ground, the deeper nickels will fall into the high foil range so you need to keep that in. Then hunt, focusing on strong, repeatable audio responses, and target id's that lock on resonably well. You will pick it up in short order.
The key is to smooth out your audio to your tolerance level, then set it up so that you can focus on good targets, then learn how to look at how all the information presented tie in together;depth bar, confidence meter, FE graph, ID number and tone.
You picked a strong machine to learn on. But it will not take you long. You can open it up more once you get more comfortable with it.
Good luck and happy hunting!
Mike
Here is the test for electrical interference: Perform the steps to do a factory reset as the manual states. Then rest the coil against the ground, still, not moving it. If the display starts flashing numbers or it starts making audio noise...then you are picking up electrical interference and need to turn the sensitivity down until this stops. Again, you do this with a motionless coil.
If you only experience the flashing numbers, audio tones and non-repeating target signals while the coil is in motion, you are not experiencing electrical interference. You are experiencing the ground conditions. The ground is full of metal and minerals.
To smooth out the audio until you get more comfortable you can do several things that have been posted on this forum before. One is to raise your ground balance a number or three. Another way is to use the 2F audio mode with a low disc and employ the notches so that you can focus on coins only while you learn the machine. A third way is to use the audio mode 3, with a low disc, employ notches to focus on coins only. It is important that you hear the low tone for iron as that will help cancel some of the iron falsing. I personally prefer not to mis-adjust the ground balance and rely on the a low disc and audio mode selections.
I would suggest setting your disc at 5, 2F or 3 tone mode. Notch out low foil, high nickel, all tabs and all zinc to start. That will leave you with high foil, low nickel, and high coin conductive range targets to learn on. In your ground, the deeper nickels will fall into the high foil range so you need to keep that in. Then hunt, focusing on strong, repeatable audio responses, and target id's that lock on resonably well. You will pick it up in short order.
The key is to smooth out your audio to your tolerance level, then set it up so that you can focus on good targets, then learn how to look at how all the information presented tie in together;depth bar, confidence meter, FE graph, ID number and tone.
You picked a strong machine to learn on. But it will not take you long. You can open it up more once you get more comfortable with it.
Good luck and happy hunting!
Mike
Mark in NC
Member
n/t
I have looked at this from every possible angle. I am as unbiased as anyone you will hear from. I loved my Whites 6000DI PRO, but did not like the DFX. I really like my Explorer SE but did not care for the Excalibur. Now I am getting attached to the F-75.
I know exactly where you are coming from John, Bill and Charlie.
Charlie, I too am an RC Pilot. I taught myself how to fly, albeit with a trainer. I did crash and rebuild several times, but I made it. For me experience is the best teacher.
I stated, I have used Whites and Minelab in the past. I am just getting back into detecting after several years off and I bought an Explorer SE, and then started looking for a backup/second machine. I chose the F-75 based mostly on the input of a local detectorist and forum poster. Thanks Alton.
I read many reviews both good and bad. This had to be one of the most confusing experiences in my life. Some love the F-75 and some hate it. There seems to be no middle ground.
I then realized that there is one universal truth.
Although different detectors have different features, ALL VLF DETECTORS WORK IN BASICALLY THE SAME MANNER. They are combination transmitters/receivers. Any time you are generating and reading a magnetic field, or transmitting/receiving a radio signal you have to live with some basic physical principles. When you crank up the power, you open yourself up for interference. This interference can come from some unsuspected sources. For example, if you crank up the transmit power on a CB radio and start talking you can reach targets at amazing distances if the weather conditions are right. However, your neighbor might not be able to make out what you are saying because you are overloading his receiver. Also, your signal will bleed over to other channels/frequencies on nearby radios. I live close to a truck stop and back in the days before cable when, we used an aerial for reception, I have actually heard CB signals on my TV. By the same logic, when you open up a receiver, you open yourself up to increased interference (noise) levels.
Your detector is susceptible to this kind of interference. The hotter you run it, the more susceptible it is. Think of it as a radio transceiver. If you have two transmitters, one capable of 50 watts and the other capable of 100 watts, to get equal performance from them you will have to run the 50w unit wide open to get the same transmit power as the 100w unit at 50%. The same is true for detectors. The F-75 is a more powerful unit than WhizzBang 5000 (don't want to get specific). Therefore, your sensitivity setting will be lower on the F-75 to get the same relative performance as the WhizzBang running wide open. Turning up the sensitivity on the F-75 will give you more performance as long as there is no added interference.
I was not as prudent as Charlie. I bought my F75 on Friday, played with it for a couple of hours Friday night then took it to my first organized/seeded hunt on Saturday. Yes I got some chatter from nearby detectors until I switched frequencies. I ran the sensitivity up and down checking the effect on this chatter. I got frustrated for a split second then stopped to think the thing through logically. With 27 detectors within a small space I could get the F75 to behave properly by reducing the sensitivity and still pick up targets at least 6-7" deep. I pulled several coins from the middle of different kinds of trash. I know this because I did not take the time to learn to pinpoint properly with the F-75 before the hunt so I dug some relatively large diameter holes. There were also some holes with multiple dimes spaced about an inch or so apart. Three dimes, three signals from the F-75. Now, I love my Explorer SE and it is great in trash if you run ALL METAL/LONG. However the F75 gave me three distinct audio signals on close targets while running in motion discrimination. All in all I walked away with 15 silver dimes including several mercuries and an 1876 seated liberty, 3 V nickels, a war nickel, two buffalo's, two wheaties and a couple of others I don't remember off the top of my head. I think that's not a bad count for a newbie to organized hunting with a machine that I have no experience with.
Sorry for the rambling, but I thought the comparisons and info might prove helpful. Anyway, just my 2 cents worth.
I know exactly where you are coming from John, Bill and Charlie.
Charlie, I too am an RC Pilot. I taught myself how to fly, albeit with a trainer. I did crash and rebuild several times, but I made it. For me experience is the best teacher.
I stated, I have used Whites and Minelab in the past. I am just getting back into detecting after several years off and I bought an Explorer SE, and then started looking for a backup/second machine. I chose the F-75 based mostly on the input of a local detectorist and forum poster. Thanks Alton.
I read many reviews both good and bad. This had to be one of the most confusing experiences in my life. Some love the F-75 and some hate it. There seems to be no middle ground.
I then realized that there is one universal truth.
Although different detectors have different features, ALL VLF DETECTORS WORK IN BASICALLY THE SAME MANNER. They are combination transmitters/receivers. Any time you are generating and reading a magnetic field, or transmitting/receiving a radio signal you have to live with some basic physical principles. When you crank up the power, you open yourself up for interference. This interference can come from some unsuspected sources. For example, if you crank up the transmit power on a CB radio and start talking you can reach targets at amazing distances if the weather conditions are right. However, your neighbor might not be able to make out what you are saying because you are overloading his receiver. Also, your signal will bleed over to other channels/frequencies on nearby radios. I live close to a truck stop and back in the days before cable when, we used an aerial for reception, I have actually heard CB signals on my TV. By the same logic, when you open up a receiver, you open yourself up to increased interference (noise) levels.
Your detector is susceptible to this kind of interference. The hotter you run it, the more susceptible it is. Think of it as a radio transceiver. If you have two transmitters, one capable of 50 watts and the other capable of 100 watts, to get equal performance from them you will have to run the 50w unit wide open to get the same transmit power as the 100w unit at 50%. The same is true for detectors. The F-75 is a more powerful unit than WhizzBang 5000 (don't want to get specific). Therefore, your sensitivity setting will be lower on the F-75 to get the same relative performance as the WhizzBang running wide open. Turning up the sensitivity on the F-75 will give you more performance as long as there is no added interference.
I was not as prudent as Charlie. I bought my F75 on Friday, played with it for a couple of hours Friday night then took it to my first organized/seeded hunt on Saturday. Yes I got some chatter from nearby detectors until I switched frequencies. I ran the sensitivity up and down checking the effect on this chatter. I got frustrated for a split second then stopped to think the thing through logically. With 27 detectors within a small space I could get the F75 to behave properly by reducing the sensitivity and still pick up targets at least 6-7" deep. I pulled several coins from the middle of different kinds of trash. I know this because I did not take the time to learn to pinpoint properly with the F-75 before the hunt so I dug some relatively large diameter holes. There were also some holes with multiple dimes spaced about an inch or so apart. Three dimes, three signals from the F-75. Now, I love my Explorer SE and it is great in trash if you run ALL METAL/LONG. However the F75 gave me three distinct audio signals on close targets while running in motion discrimination. All in all I walked away with 15 silver dimes including several mercuries and an 1876 seated liberty, 3 V nickels, a war nickel, two buffalo's, two wheaties and a couple of others I don't remember off the top of my head. I think that's not a bad count for a newbie to organized hunting with a machine that I have no experience with.
Sorry for the rambling, but I thought the comparisons and info might prove helpful. Anyway, just my 2 cents worth.