New Fisher F75 Owner Here!

[gleaner1]

You guys got me thinking about buying the F75 again. I was leaning toward another machine, but I really cant see any reason not to go with the Fisher. After being on the fence for about 2 years, I still cannot decide what to buy. Any certain comment at any time will push me one way or the other.

One minute I'm ready to buy the E-trac. Then I want the F75. Tomorrow I'll be ready to buy the E-trac.

But I cant forget the CZ-20. At the moment I'm leaning toward the F75 and I feel I wouldn't be disappointed.

 

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[Sky Pilot]

Ian, Great to hear from you!! Had power issues at home, been offline a few days, but sent you a P.M. this A.M. Regards, Richard. By the way, great couple of posts', as usual!!

 

[SaginawIan]

A few recent finds with the F75. That environmental cover is a must have accessory. It works very well. My detector got quite a workout on my last hunt - mud, rain, snow, ice, and still good as new under the cover. I'm considering spraying it with a thin layer of waterproofing just to give it extra protection. What do you all think?

Oh yeah, the finds. The 1854 Bank of Upper Canada One Penny token was recovered at 8" deep with a very solid repeatable 85 signal. I was operating in JE with sensitivity on 85 and disc at 9. The coin was slightly on edge. Digging this target taught me one thing: sometimes you just KNOW the target is a coin - this was one of those signals.

Also of note is the fork - that was about 5" deep at it's most shallow part and positioned completely vertical in the ground. It was a strong signal. I think this is a nice find considering it is like a coin on edge in the fact that only the leading edge of the for handle was exposed to the signal.

The other items were sniped out of nails and other garbage. To that extent they affirm what I already know, that the F75 does well in trash. Something else that I'm realizing - I wonder how that smaller 5" coil would do in the same trash? It seems that the 11" coil is large enough that it appears to sort of wrap the signal around the trash and finds items underneath. So if that's true would the smaller coil be more effective? I'm not sure. The glass head? Well, that was just laying there and something told me to pick it up and bring it home. I think it's a juicer but who knows.

Ian

 

[marky1016]

Good to see your puttin the F-75 to work under nasty conditions...Just sent mine in for upgrade..I think the covers are great items to use but what did you use to wrap the handle with because it is a great idea... And also great finds.. 5

 

[SaginawIan]

Marky - The handle is wrapped in a leather "Head" tennis racquet cover. They can be found for about $5 at a sporting goods store. It has a slight stick to it and you basically tightly wind it at an angle around and it sort of sticks on itself - if that makes any sense. Then at the top and the bottom of the wrap you very tightly wrap the included plastic tape with logo - and there you go, your done. I can tell you this it looks good but is very functional. It makes the detector 10 x's more sturdy feeling and comfortable to swing. You cannot notice the little wobble of the rod that you get when it's completely extended for taller folks. Also, I've had it in a straight up down pour about 3 times and it's completely intact. Mud - rain - slush it all just wipes off.

This F75 is a workhorse!

Ian

 

[Sky Pilot]

Great job, Ian!! Bravo on the great finds!! Cool coin!!! Regards, Richard.

 

[marky1016]

Thanks Ian for the info,I will try to do that on mine Seen alot of posts about the F75 and have learned a good deal on the machine...A couple people have sent me their advice on the machine....It is good to know that people are so willing to help you with a new machine....

 

[Sky Pilot]

Marky, Skypilot02 here! Heck, if we didn't share thoughts and opinions and work out solutions together, it would take a lifetime to learn all we need to know about our units! Great hunting and good luck, all!! Regards, Richard.

 

[SaginawIan]

On F75 - my first love was 2f tones and DE mode. I've since progressed and become comfortable enough to crank 'er up a bit! I think I've found my new method if anyone cares to try it. I combined the methods of a couple of the best relic hunters I know and tweaked it to work great in my conditions in MI - your results may vary. Others may be doing this, but it's new to me and this thing pushes that F75 to the OUTER limits - tonight I pulled 4 coins out of an area that I went over with the same F75 several times in the past. I'm not kidding if you can handle this setup - you WILL reap huge rewards.

In Disc mode, ground balance the F75 VERY VERY carefully. What I mean is use fast grab in one area to get it in the ballpark - then do it again a few feet away and again and again. Get that number rock solid. Better yet - if you have the FX-1 probe - fast grab with that switched on to get the most precise GB possible. THEN - switch over to the all metal side of the screen and down to manual ground balance. Increase the balance by exactly 3 points (for instance increase 72 up to 75). THEN swtich back over to disc mode. Run that puppy in disc this way: JE mode; Disc at 6, Sensitivity 90+, and 1 tone. I can't stress the 1 tone enough - I've been finding that it totally LOCKS on to targets like a vice grip.

With that setup - you will get better depth than you have ever imagined possible. My results are incredible at cellar holes in this setup. The slight increase in GB somehow takes the EDGE off of the high JE sensitivity settings. It increases stability a great deal. Combine that with the 1 tone and lower disc settings - this machine is locking onto tiny targets very very deep. I dug a wheat on edge that was nearly 10" deep tonight. I missed that previously with my regular settings. Later in my hunt I got lazy and bumped up the Disc to 25 - and I STILL got another deep coin that I may have missed in the past. It also appears to have great target unmasking abilities - espescially if you go slow near the foundation or nail beds.

Short of the ALL METAL mode - I don't think there is a hotter way to run this machine than that, folks. If I can find one, I'll pass it along! Here's a recent F75 find:
Ian

 

[SaginawIan]

An observation: JE mode at high sensitivity eats batteries quicker it appears . . . not fast, by any means, but faster - more testing on this forthcoming.

Ian

 

[Sky Pilot]

Great report, Ian. Where I hunt, the JE mode doesn't work quite as well as yours, but I'm still gonna try those settings. Je IS a lot more sensitive than the other modes, so, I guess it stands to reason more power would be consumed. Even if it cut battery life in half, that would still be well worth the price of batteries, as conservative as this unit is on power. Great hunting and good luck, all!! Regards, Richard

 

[SaginawIan]

Richard - How have you been? Have you been doing much hunting in yet this year? I think if you could even run JE mode with sensitivity at 60 - you'd still be getting darn good depth. How does yours act in JE? Mine goes crazy unless I'm far away from power lines - typically the wooded areas I hunt it works supurb. I don't even attempt it in the city - too noisey. If you can get away with a little noise - you gotta try it.

Take care , Ian

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

JE mode; Disc at 6, Sensitivity 90+, and 1 tone. I can't stress the 1 tone enough

.

Better yet - if you have the FX-1 probe - fast grab with that switched on to get the most precise GB possible

Great tips, Ian. It never occurred to me to use the Probe to ground balance!!! I usually check for a dead spot in All Metal before balancing with FASTGRAB.

I've been using the 1F tones and either bC or dE modes as JE is just too "sparkey" for my tastes. I have also got into the practice of toggling between the All Metal and Disc modes in trashy areas (Press the selector DIAL once to toggle to last choice after once getting to it initially by menu). I find the bottlecap mode tends to summarize what's under the coil (a tab and a cap sometimes equal a phantom coin. All Metal is less fooled with "X" sweeps over the spot. Note that in All Metal any sensitivity over 90 may cause a background hum beyond the normal threshold, and that if you can stand to keep the threshold at +4 to +6 the depth increases significantly. It drives me nuts after a short time, so I usually "seek" in +2 or thereabouts.

 

[Sky Pilot]

Hi, Ian! I am well, thank you. I have done some hunting, but due to several unforeseen circumstances, haven't been out like I usually would have this time of year. I've been watching your progress, and, I'll tell you, that '75 was made with you in mind! Yes, my unit also goes berserk around power lines, but works great in the woods. I can take the noise, being as I used the 1266 so long, you know how that is! LOL!! I am definitely going to try your settings, I'm sure they will work great for me too! Good to hear from you, Ian! I'll let you know how it turns out! Great hunting and good luck!!! Take care! Regards, Richard

 

[gmanlight]

Ian i cant wait to to this . Thanks
Richard did you get the F 75 EMI proof yet Good Luck
Mike

 

[Sky Pilot]

Mike, great to hear from you! I'm sure the '75 is EMI proof, (Probably to the A-bomb limit, as many ways as I've made the shielding redundant! LOL!!) I have seven wires to place and solder, then it's a go on the tests. Thank you for asking!, I'll make sure to let you know how it goes! Many thanks for the well wishes! Great hunting and good luck! Regards, Richard

 

[lakillian]

Hi! I currently own a Ace 250, Whites Prism V and a DFX. I mainly use the DFX but it is such a frustrating machine. Do you think I would be better off or worse off with a F75?

Thank you,

Lori

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Do you think I would be better off or worse off with a F75?

Hard to say. What don't you like about the DFX?

As far as the Fisher: stay out of JE mode initially and turn the sensitivity down until you get used to the "sparky" nature of the F-75 in some areas. You should do fine. Forget air tests indoors (of no value, anyhow) and bury a few coins in a test garden outside to practice on. The F-75 wants it's coil held to the ground or it picks up all kinds of EMI noise; especially in a city.

When I want a "close and play" simple session to just find coins - as at a picnic area - I set up with the disc at 55 and nickels notched in. This takes 20 seconds: select "Discrimination". Turn the selector to "55". Click the menu button. Select "Notch". Turn the selector to 27, "click". Turn the selector to 33, "click". Done. 1 to 55 is dicscriminated out except a notch from 27 to 33 (actually probably 25 to 35, I'm not sure) Very simple and very successful. In fact, the F-75 is so easy to set-up I usually do a total reset when I start out on a hunt.

Usually I just run with little discrimination and let the TDI indicate good from bad hits. This season I've been playing in "All Metal" and that seems to hit deeper, but is VERY active and that would drive some users knuckin futz I'm sure. I've been married 28 years so chatter doesn't phase me.

If someone stole mine I'd buy another.

 

[lakillian]

Do you think I would be better off or worse off with a F75?

Hard to say. What don't you like about the DFX?

I can't figure it out. It tells me it is a penny/dime and I dig and dig and dig and it is a nail or a piece of aluminum foil. It is just really frustrating. Grrrrr

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Confusing aluminum bits and "can slaw" for coins is excusable. That often can be determined in fast sweeps by the "squawks" and clipped tones (I'm not sure how the DFX registers these).

Foil can be various material (mylar, aluminum, etc.) and one trait of foil is that if you lift the coil gradually while sweeping - always sweep horizontally but make each swipe a couple inches +/- higher - the signal drops away suddenly and soon or breaks up ("hop around") while a coin will gradually get fainter and tends to stay constant.

Showing a coin for nails is inexcusable. Something would be badly out of tune or adjustment for that. Make sure when you pull junk out of a hole you sweep it again to see if there is more than just junk in that hole. One of the thinks I like about the F75 is that it does not show you an assumption/icon. The display reads out the conductivity relatve to the ground balance and allows YOU to determine what the item is. There are maybe eight or a dozen images on some detector displays but a gozillion possible small (or large & deep) items that read within similar ranges. The only way to learn how your detector reacts is through practice, practice and more practice.

Good hunting and stick with it. I have filled 5 gallon pails with pull-tabs and bottle caps over the years in digging EVERYTHING to learn how ther read and react. Be patient. It takes time in spite of the marketing claims.