My opinion on the F75 Vs Minelab SE

[Big Boys Hobbies]

I have been out twice with the F75 with about 6 hours and 3 different hunting sites. Found many clad but nothing exciting. I ran Default mode, sens around 60-75 mostly 70, 4h, discrimination set at 5 and DP tones. I settled on 4H. Th DP mode didn't do the foil targets justice. I don't want to miss small rings.

In my OPINION... and we all know what opinions are like.....

It has some advantages over the single frequencies but not major advantages.

It is VERY fast and separates targets very well.

It is VERY deep. When it says 7 or 8 + inches you better be ready to dig.

It is very light and swings well. To get a good signal you have to swing it fast over your target. If you try to slow down and listen it will degrade your target.

It is noisy but that is expected in a single high sensitivity detector. Not as bad as my old MXT.

I found it get "chattery" after 30 mins of hunting. I had to factory reset it a few times and reset my settings to calm it down. Freq shift helped some but not as good as the reset. It is a chattery unit that pops and cracks because all the small targets it sees.

The SE is heavier and a slower hunting unit but alot more stable hunter. I hunt in all metal and audio long so the good coins really stand out from the trash. Its hard to miss a coin in that mode. I'm spoiled by the long audio of the SE.

I run the Sun ray 8" coil and the Sun ray probe and consider them a VERY big advantage on the SE.

Overall.. I like the F75 but it wont replace my SE unless things change. Its a really good unit. Probably the best single freq unit Ive used but not better than the SE. I really like the all metal mode of the SE and I feel I do very well with it. I have ALOT of confidence in what the SE is telling me before I dig. I don't have that feeling yet with the F75. Ill keep working on it though. I want to give it every opportunity to replace my SE because I LOVE the weight difference.

Remember this all MY opinion so don't jump on me if you don't share my opinion.

HH, Stoops

 

[Terrytorment]

Sunray stealth 8 inch coil why does it make such a big difference, I mean to say why do you prefer this coil to the 10half inch standard coil from Minelab?

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

n/t

 

[Old California]

Hi Scoops,

Every detector has it's strong points, I've used the Explorer since day one and currently have the SE. The Explorer is a remarkable machine, One of if not the best turf detector on the planet. And a very good unit for separation at older areas and excellent for beach detecting as well, Pretty much covers all bases.

However, With the newer extra sensitivity single frequency detectors coming out some do have an edge over the Explorer on separation. Such as the case with the T-2 and F-75, I have both the F-75 & T-2 and these two new single frequency detectors will pull targets out from the older areas full of old iron the Explorer will miss.... Granted, With the extra sensitivity single frequency detectors you will be digging allot more trash (rusty metals, iron, etc) but you will also be digging up old coins and relics missed by the Explorer.....

I recommend you keep both, The SE and F-75. Use each one in the areas it does best or use both trading off after you've covered an area switch to the next and go over the same area again....Depending on the type of location, Each will pull targets missed by the other.

Here's an example, An old Chinese mining town we hunted the other day with our F-75 and an SE.....One of my friends recently bought the F-75 and my F-75 arrived last week, We both took our SE Explorers and our new F-75 detectors up to this 1850's Chinese gold mining town. The ghost town which is on a hill is not noticeable to the naked eye unless you are standing directly on the location and even then all one can see are the remains of the rows of crumbled rock foundations and broken chards of china, This area has not been detected by any metal detector until last week. It's a new area I discovered and we've hit it three times the past week most recent this weekend with our F-75's and my SE, My friend took his SE Explorer as a backup but ended up using the F-75 the entire day.

Since I am familiar with these type of settlements with allot of iron, I choose to use the Explorer SE first to capture the easy targets and switch to the f-75 later for the tougher signals. The first hour and half the SE had only bagged one Chinese Cache coin, one Henry shell and some pieces of old copper from beneath a blanket of square nails and rusty metals. Then, Took a break and went down the hill to talk with the property owner and give him my recent finds "two seated dimes" from the last two trips while my friend "Steven" stayed on the hill searching with his new F-75.

Went back up the hill and by then Steven had found a seated dime with his F-75, That's all it took so I parked my SE and switched to my F-75 and it was a whole new ball game with targets starting to surface from beneath the iron. More pistol balls, several more Henry shells, 7 more Chinese cache coins, allot of old pieces of copper and then a seated dime before we tossed in the towel for the day. And of course I dug up more iron and rusty metals the Explorer would pass up but look at the extra goodies I found with the F-75 the Explorer is missing because of the iron masking.

Steven never even touched his SE and used his F-75 the entire hunt, He did well too and found stuff he most likely would have missed had he only used the SE.

Like I said above, I recommend you keep both for each are stronger in areas the other doesn't fare as well. And for those of you having the T-2, The T-2 does just as well as the F-75 at the older places with allot of iron.

HH, Paul (Ca)

 

[Tagamet]

Thanks for the comparison.
How much "Snap, crackle, and POP" was the F75 giving you in that situation and how could you pull out the sound of "good" hits? (or did you just dig everything?)
Thanks in advance,
Tagamet

 

[Old California]

Hello Tagamet,

I use the two tone mode with both the T-2 and F-75, Low tone for iron and second tone for anything above iron. I avoid the iron tone unless it's big I'll dig it hoping for a gun or other cool larger piece of iron, Other wise I'm avoiding most iron.

It's easy to separate the sound of "good" hits from bad, The Snap, crackle, and POP sounds are hardly noticeable. Some detectors hear the ground more so than others but I really don't let this brother me and these type of sounds can be taken out under most conditions, Depending on ground conditions running too low of disc may create the Snap, crackle, and POP so I operate with a 10 disc on the T-2 and with the F-75 enough to still hear the iron in the poor mineralized soil.

HH, Paul (Ca)

 

[Tagamet]

n/t

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

I tried running it at 5 and 0 discrim. 5 seemed to be abut right. Anything lower than 5 cause alot of internal noise. I might try 15 as the book suggested to discrim out all Iron. You thoughts?

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

n/t

 

[Low-Boy/LCPM]

I would not go as high as 15 I have tried 5 and it seems to work fine I think if you were in a park you may want to try a bit higher but masking is masking and you have to hear it all to pull the good stuff out. Relic hunting is very hard because a lot of repeatable tones are going to be trash, lots of it. And don't look at numbers so much.

At parks with lots of trash I would want a small coil and in relic hunting since we don't have that coil yet for the F75 we really don' know if it is going to blow the doors off the larger coil after you have gone through an area with it and come back with a small coil. Time will tell?

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

n/t

 

[Old California]

Hello Scoops,

I use the all-metal feature with the Explorer & SE and use the ferrous mode, Any serious relic hunter will do the same.

However, Even with using these settings with the Explorer, the T-2 or F-75 will get better separation between the iron even with the Explorer using a smaller coil. These are one of the areas the T-2 and F-75 will surpass the Explorer and other detectors on the market. Plus, Because the T-2 and F-75 operate extremely well in mineralized soil allows them to operate successfully in other countries including the UK which has quickly made the T-2 one of the leading choice of detectors across the pond.

When a smaller coil is released for the F-75 and then the T-2, Separation will be even better and should make our old sites give up some more finds masked by iron. Until one tries the T-2 or F-75 in areas of old iron they will never understand what us original T-2 and now new F-75 users have experienced, They are two amazing machines.

Keep using the F-75 in the older areas and eventually you'll experience the better separation it has over the explorer,
HH, Paul (Ca)

 

[Old California]

Hi Scoops,

Because of the area we searched, I didn't want to go much lower than 5 disc to avoid chatter if any due to the mineralized soil up in the Ca. gold country. Having disc at 5 still allowed me to hear most of the iron while avoiding ground chatter if it was there, The F-75 appeared to have a little more minor chirps and pops than my T-2 from past hunts in the same area but not to the degree of it being annoying. It's no brother at all, Especially when you see old finds surface you know other detectors would have missed due to iron masking.

HH, Paul (Ca)

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

I run the 8" sunray coil and all metal in ferrous. The F75 does have more of a "razor" like hot area running down the center of the coil which is very helpful. But, with all the cracks and pops it gives with a good target next to iron its hard to tell if it truly is a good target. I will continue to work with the F75 to learn the machine better and maybe I can see what your trying to convince me of. The SE as I mentioned above I can hear both targets next to each other but I have many hours with explorers and I trust the machine.

I have also noticed if you get in 10 or so feet from a house or building it get noisy. A couple of chain link fences did the same thing.

If it wasn't for coaching t-ball and my job I might be able to do all the things I wanted to. Its really hard to have a new machine to play with and not be able to go. My opinion may change after I get a lot more hours on the machine.

What are you running your descrim at and other settings if you don't mind.

HH,
Stoops

 

[Old California]

I can understand the F-75 having some chatter in some areas of town or near some buildings creating inference, That I have experienced at a particular area and so did my friend with his F-75.

But the areas I am referring too are the older areas out in the country, Areas away from inference in which one can use the T-2 or F-75 to the fullest and experience the fantastic separation they have.

I'm so used to searching areas far away from town and big cities so I don't experience the chatter some users do, Only rarely when searching some areas in town.

At the Chinese mining ghost town, I ran the F-75 with

dE mode,
5 disc,
65 to 85 sens depending on how thick the iron was,
2 tone,
and rarely do I see what the ID says when it beeps, Just dig any signal above iron.

HH, Paul

 

[Tagamet]

More cackles, pops, and whistles than a construction worker around short skirts. And it doesn't matter if I'm "in town" or way out on a mountain with no cellphone reception.
Although this machine is, without contest, the QUICKEST machine I've ever owned, I can't achieve stability (the machine, not the operator). I've already posted all the things I've tried to remedy the situation without success.
My hope is that I just got a dysfunctional machine. I also hope that the new company treats their small dealer customers as well as it does it's mega-store clients.
I'll know pretty soon and will post back here.
Tagamet

 

[Tagamet]

And it doesn't matter if I'm "in town" or way out on a mountain with no cellphone reception.
Although this machine is, without contest, the QUICKEST machine I've ever owned, I can't achieve stability (the machine, not the operator). I've already posted all the things I've tried to remedy the situation without success.
My hope is that I just got a dysfunctional machine. I also hope that the new company treats their small dealer customers as well as it does it's mega-store clients.
I'll know pretty soon and will post back here.
Tagamet

 

[alton]

I agree with much of what you said. I won't be giving up my SE anytime soon for various reasons.

However, I won't be giving up the F75 either. Right now, it gets more hunting time than my SE. That hasn't happened since my XS took over most of my hunting time 5 years ago.

I'm not saying one is better than the other, but I feel more content using the F75 now. I feel like it is easier to swing, faster, and I find that I'm using it more than the SE. Again, I'm not saying it is better, but I'm saying because of its' traits (weight, balance, depth, speed, pinpointing, performance in iron, great TID) that I'm able to swing it longer and find more things at depth in a shorter amount of time, and over a longer period of time. I agree that the chatter can be confusing at first, and after awhile down right annoying. That is when I switch back to my old stand by, which when I first got it (XS/SE) I thought its' sounds were also annoying until I got used to them.

That said, the SE provides more versatility for now with more coils and third party extras like a Sunray probe. It is still a giant of a detector in every way. I would be in mourning if I didn't have it.

But I feel the F75 in capable hands will be able to hunt all day with the SE (also in capable hands). It has been a long time since I felt another detector could stand pretty much even with the SE. Although, I had a CZ3D, I seldom used it and I don't have a strong following for Fisher products. But this is the way I'm experiencing my F75 right now. I'm not brand loyal in other words, although I've used mainly Whites and Minelab. I do own a Nautilus and now my 3rd Fisher.

I think the main point for anyone struggling with the decision of getting a F75 if they own a SE is that you don't have to stop liking the SE (or vice versa) in order to own and appreciate the F75. They are great stable mates. I guess if you have to narrow your choice down to just one detector, then you have to decide what traits each detector has and then decided what traits would be best for you. Either will be a great detector and you will find plenty of treasure with either one.

But, that is just my individual opinion.

HH Alton

 

[billbeep]

Just remember if your shoes or boots have metal in them things get
weird.

 

[helmsdeep]

I respectfully and totally disagree with you concerning iron next to targets, and the SE. Also multiple targets around the SE coil and the time it takes to determine so many things. Approach directions with the Exp and a million other things come into play. If you been hunting for years with the Minelabs, with friends, I don't see how you could say this. It will take time to learn the f75...that is going to count for alot.