Thoughts on Fisher F2

[deputystud_bw]

I'm giving some thought to buying a Fisher F2, comes with a small coil and pinpointed. I enjoy coin hunting and finding other things is fun. I have a Bounty Hunter Lonestar right now and I really want something with a pinpointer. Was thinking about buying the Fisher F2 anything thoughts???

 

[minnixb]

I've owned one in the past. Good machine for the money and very light; however, it's very susceptible to interference.

 

[deputystud_bw]

That's no good I noticed my cell phone would mess with the bounty hunter I had an with my line of work I have to have it with me at all times

 

[minnixb]

I have an F70 and it's a lot more stable.

 

[Lem]

Personally I prefer something with ground balance, like the f4. Yet the f5 is awesome, with its features and simplicity. Going to get one for the wife.

 

[MrBranton33]

I had an F2 and never ran into any real EMI problems. If you run it at the default sensitivity it does fine. If you try to run it wide open it will false and chatter a bit, but most machines will do the same.
I ran the 11" DD coil most of the time and would regularly get silver coins over 7 inches. I even managed to search the wet sand at Oak Island, N.C.. I found that if you discriminate iron & foil and ran at default sensitivity you can search the wet stuff. I even ventured into the water and it falsed a little, but I could still search just fine. The F2 is a very good unit for around $200. It's lighter and faster than most entry level units, plus VDI numbers and multi tones. I'd say it has a lot to offer.

 

[jimmyk]

I agree. For the money it can't b beat. Has VDI, Notch, accurate depth reading and a good pinpoint mode. I had no problem with EMI, but I don't keep my cell phone on while I detect. And it's light, which is good for us senior hunters.

keep on diggin'

jimmyk in Missouri

 

[REVIER]

I bought mine as a backup/guest/ take on vacation unit but it turned out to be so much fun and so productive that I still use it all the time.
The 2 coil deal is amazing, the three coil deal even better because that 10" will go a little deeper.
I have the sniper, the 8" and just bought the 10" and out of the 3 of them the 8" is the one that seems most susceptible to EM and chatter.
With both the icons AND the VDI numbers on the screen, the superior target separation with all coils and the great recovery time, I don't think there is a better unit in this price range and I have been recommending them for a while.

I have found enough clad, silver and gold with mine to pay for itself many times over.
Found it all pretty easily, too.

 

[Dan-Pa.]

May be the best bang for the buck in entry level units ought to cover it....

Always can move up to the F4 or perhaps the F5 which I really like for versatility and the large meter is great for us old folk with bad eyes....

 

[MarkCZ]

The F2 isn't known to be problematic with EMI in most places, and I don't remember seeing a lot of topics on the forum with F2 owners claiming problems with EMI.

Also it came out in another topic here that the ground balance on the F4 doesn't carry over to the Discrimination mode (Dave_J posted that) although he did say the ground balance would still help on depth in the pin-point.

See the second reply in this topic.
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?37,1773683

Mark

 

[cassidy390]

I have had some good finds with f2 but did notice a lot of EMI with 8 inch coil is good machine for the money and a very sensitive machine

 

[MarkCZ]

I have had some good finds with f2 but did notice a lot of EMI with 8 inch coil is good machine for the money and a very sensitive machine

A good many EMI problems (not all) comes in from users trying to run them to HOT. I don't have one detector that I can run Wide Open!
With cell phone's and electric lines, cars, POWER lines and solar radiation during the day in peak detecting season its hard to get in a place where EMI isn't going to be an issue if the detector is set sensitive enough.
In many cases with enough experience with the detector they can be ran into the noise as long as its not sensitive enough to false report.
So, the F2 is no different, or it wasn't with my time with it.

Mark

 

[Dude]

I've owned one ever since it first came out and I can tell you from first hand experience it's a real coin hog. Gold is not it's real strong suit but it will find a womens ring just below the nickel range. I live in farm country, to give you some idea as to my soil type I hunt in, and I find wheaties a good 6-7" down in moist soil. You'll find 90% of the coins will be less than 6" and the F2 can easily sniff them out. It pin points dead on, except zinc pennies on the surface, they seem to be the size of dinner plates. Then all you do is lift the coil 4"-5" and pin point. The small 4" coil is a real killer in high trash. It's so lite you can swing it for hours and not get tired.
For $200 more you can get the F4 which is a F2 with more bells and whistles. The biggest difference between the two is the F4 can be ground balanced and it does carry over to the Disc and A/M modes. A quick call to First Texas Instruments confirmed it does carry over to other modes contrary to a earlier posting. The F4 and F2 will air test the same with sens turned up and the same coil being used. Owning both I can say you get more depth in the real world with the F4 because it can be ground balanced. It locks on better giving more stable TID numbers on deeper targets I've noticed.
You won't go wrong with either machine.

 

[REVIER]

I've owned one ever since it first came out and I can tell you from first hand experience it's a real coin hog. Gold is not it's real strong suit but it will find a womens ring just below the nickel range. I live in farm country, to give you some idea as to my soil type I hunt in, and I find wheaties a good 6-7" down in moist soil. You'll find 90% of the coins will be less than 6" and the F2 can easily sniff them out. It pin points dead on, except zinc pennies on the surface, they seem to be the size of dinner plates. Then all you do is lift the coil 4"-5" and pin point. The small 4" coil is a real killer in high trash. It's so lite you can swing it for hours and not get tired.
For $200 more you can get the F4 which is a F2 with more bells and whistles. The biggest difference between the two is the F4 can be ground balanced and it does carry over to the Disc and A/M modes. A quick call to First Texas Instruments confirmed it does carry over to other modes contrary to a earlier posting. The F4 and F2 will air test the same with sens turned up and the same coil being used. Owning both I can say you get more depth in the real world with the F4 because it can be ground balanced. It locks on better giving more stable TID numbers on deeper targets I've noticed.
You won't go wrong with either machine.

I agree with all of this except the comment about gold.
These are the rings I have found with mine that range from zinc on the class ring to foil on the small 14k heart ring.
I am convinced it can find gold even smaller like studs too due to the very tiny pieces of foil I can find with a pure solid signal and the sniper coil.

 

[MarkCZ]

The biggest difference between the two is the F4 can be ground balanced and it does carry over to the Disc and A/M modes. A quick call to First Texas Instruments confirmed it does carry over to other modes contrary to a earlier posting.

When you called FT about the F4 ground balance did you talk with customer support or did you talk to one of the "Chief Desingner's" or one of the other lead engineers?
Seeing how Dave_J posted that information about the ground balance on the F4 then I would say unless you talked to someone more knowledgeable than him (up the latter) the ground balance on the F4 is fixed in discrimination mode!
The below is a copy & Paste from Dave_J profile (open for public view information) I'm going to say that's its not likely to place a call into FT and get redirected for general questions to somebody like Dave Johnson, you more than likely talked to someone down line from the engineering/designing department.

Chief Designer: Bounty Hunter, Teknetics, and Fisher brand metal detectors.
Located in El Paso, Texas.

Now that don't mean you have to believe the information in Dave's post but, short of writings on a tablet of stone from God I'm going to say that the F4 ground balance really is fixed in the discrimination mode! and that by no means is to say that the F4 isn't a great little detector.

Mark

 

[Dude]

The biggest difference between the two is the F4 can be ground balanced and it does carry over to the Disc and A/M modes. A quick call to First Texas Instruments confirmed it does carry over to other modes contrary to a earlier posting.

When you called FT about the F4 ground balance did you talk with customer support or did you talk to one of the "Chief Desingner's" or one of the other lead engineers?
Seeing how Dave_J posted that information about the ground balance on the F4 then I would say unless you talked to someone more knowledgeable than him (up the latter) the ground balance on the F4 is fixed in discrimination mode!
The below is a copy & Paste from Dave_J profile (open for public view information) I'm going to say that's its not likely to place a call into FT and get redirected for general questions to somebody like Dave Johnson, you more than likely talked to someone down line from the engineering/designing department.

Chief Designer: Bounty Hunter, Teknetics, and Fisher brand metal detectors.
Located in El Paso, Texas.

Now that don't mean you have to believe the information in Dave's post but, short of writings on a tablet of stone from God I'm going to say that the F4 ground balance really is fixed in the discrimination mode! and that by no means is to say that the F4 isn't a great little detector.

Mark

Well than I guess Fisher is really pulling the wool over peoples eyes by asking an extra $200 for the F4. The F2 and F4 are basically the same detector with nothing separating them if thats true. Unless you can think of something that would justify the extra money.

 

[MarkCZ]

Well lets see???

How About!
The F4 has 4 search modes,
The F2 only has 2,

The F4 comes with the much more expensive 11"X7.5" DD coil,
The F2 comes with a standard 8" concentric coil,

The F4 has adjustable threshold,
The F2 is FIXED,

(One of the search modes) F4 Auto Tune all metal,
F2 doesn't have it.

F4 All metal manual ground balance, that also carries over to the all metal pin-point mode,
F2 Nope!

I checked out the price difference in the coils,
The stock 11" DD coil on the F4 Retails for $149.99
The stock 8" concentric on the F2 retails for $49.99
So that's $100.00 dollars.

Then add in the extra features of the F4 and bingo! there's another 100 bucks.

Mark

 

[Dude]

Well lets see???

How About!
The F4 has 4 search modes,
The F2 only has 2,

The F4 comes with the much more expensive 11"X7.5" DD coil,
The F2 comes with a standard 8" concentric coil,

The F4 has adjustable threshold,
The F2 is FIXED,

(One of the search modes) F4 Auto Tune all metal,
F2 doesn't have it.

F4 All metal manual ground balance, that also carries over to the all metal pin-point mode,
F2 Nope!

Mark

The F4 really only has two search modes A/M and Disc which has a notch feature.
The F2 Disc with notch,

The F4 Auto Tune which is the only time threshold is available. is used for ground balancing which when your done you switch over to either Disc or A/M.

If you like you can buy the F2 with the same DD coil.

As far as the ground balance carrying over to A/M and Disc mode,I believe after much research on the net,reading the manual and calling 1st Texas, Dave J is wrong or mis spoke.

 

[flyin-lowe]

I don't think the EFI on my F2 is as big of a deal as some people claim. Either mine is a little less sensitive or something else, not sure. I carry my cell phone in my pocket with no problems. The only time I have really had interference is at my parent back yard and they have overhead lines coming into their house that are only 12 foot high or so. At my place there are power lines across the street and they don't cause any problems unless I get right under them. Most of the parks and stuff I go to might have some lines near the perimeter but if I get 5-10 foot from them then I have no problems. I bought this as my first detector and I would recommend it to anyone. Also while you are shopping call Bart or some of the other forum sponsors. They are usually limited as to what price they can advertise on their web sites. If you call and talk to them in person you will likely get a better deal.

 

[MarkCZ]

Auto Tune from the F4 Manual!

AUTO TUNE (All Metal)
Press this pad and