New F 5 has an anomoly that you need to be aware of

[jimmyk]

Hi, all:

Got my much anticipated new F 5 yesterday. I did what I do with all new machines. I air tested it with a range of coins, civil war bullets and junk. I set the discrimination at the foil level. I was shocked to find that a gold wedding band I use for air testing wouldn't give a signal. I've air tested a dozen machines with the same targets and NEVER had a machine that would read nickles and NOT read this gold ring. I then went to a place I've been hunting this past week with my F 75. I had been digging nickles all over the place. I had the F 5 set to accept nickles, but eliminate iron, foil and pulltabs. I dug twenty nine coins in less than two hours, but NO nickles. I was a little perplexed. Today I decided to check out the settings very carefully. If you have seen the instructional video for the F 5 (a great job on the video, by the way), you will see as you turn up the discrimination knob each section gets lined out. As you turn the knob, the settings window on the left show incremental numbers increasing as you go. I decided to see where foil started, stopped and where nickles kicked in, by the SETTING numbers. Here's what I found for MY machine. The foil range numerically is 25-34. The nickles range is 35-59. I checked the numerical value of my gold ring. It was 26. I then checked the nickle I air tested and it read at 29. So if I was careful to set the discrim level at 25, the Foil would be lined out and STILL hit my nickle and ring. If I wasn't careful and set the foil setting at the upper range of foil, say 32 or 33, neither my nickle or my gold ring would be detected. From now on, I will not set the foil setting higher than 25. I'm wondering if ALL F 5 machines are set the same way. I'd be curious to hear from any of you other users. I don't think it's a defect. But, it definitely someting to be aware of. This machine can be readily fine tuned, so be careful of your settings. I really like the interface of the F 5. Very nice.

Thanks for looking, and keep on diggin'

jimmyk in Missouri

 

[Streak!]

the TOP of the foil range on the F5 is 25.......not 34. The nickle range is from 26 to 35. turn the F5 on......and turn the disc knob down to 0. Then.....carefully ...slowly turn the knob up till the slash appears over the foil segment. The disc should read 25 at that point. you have now reached the top of the foil range. Now..............as you slowly turn the knob up even more.........your moving through the nickle range....and a slash should appear over THAT segment at 35. NOW you have discriminated out nickles. Take another look at it to see what I mean. If YOURS isnt like that...you may have a problem....but I think maybe you just misreading it somehow.

 

[jimmyk]

I DID slowly and carefully turn the knob and recieved the numbers as listed. The detector may be off by the categories, but it is correct with it's numerical readings. I'm not going to send it in just for that. Since I know where to set it, I'll carefully do so in the future. I brought this up in case someone else unknowingly may have a similar situation. Mine may be the only unit like that and I can deal with it. I'm not going to get bent out of shape at this point. If something else goes wrong and I send it in, THEN I'll address it with the factory.

jimmyk in Missouri

 

[Low-Boy/LCPM]

I use from 0-6 disc and 4 tone at parks with trash the huge gold ring I found came in at 35 nickel...Why notch at all? Never have I notched

 

[Mr.Bill]

your new detector first before taking it hunting. It's always best to take a variety of targets you intend to search for, and test them first against your detector settings.

At least you discovered it in short time.

 

[Ed in Mo]

I find small gold rings, mostly ladies, fall in the foil range on most all my detectors. The foil range has always been great hiding place for rings.