Opinions on the F75 Please

[Chris Clark MO]

This has turned in to quite a thread!

I just want to say that with all of the new technology in the metal detecting field, I think the designers have made detectors that (can be), are way more powerful than they can be operated. The old detectors you could run a lot of them wide open maybe get a few chirps. The new detectors will blow holes in the ground if you try to run them too hot. I have heard people say the sensitivity controls mostly the signal coming back from the ground and the signal going in to the ground pretty much stays the same and is as deep as the detector is capable of. I think if we turn them down a little we will all be surprised at what pops out of the ground. JMHO

HH
Chris

 

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[Tom E IL]

Yes I did have a Minelab and didnt like tones.
Well on to the F75, I have read the book cover to cover, used the F75 in yards,parks, woods and sand all over the state of IL. The F75 will sound like a bowl of Rice Krispies in your head phones. I am not the only one to say this. The problems are there with the F75, look at them and then try to find the fix, Im still looking and I am not alone.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

The F75 will sound like a bowl of Rice Krispies in your head phones. I am not the only one to say this. The problems are there with the F75, look at them and then try to find the fix, Im still looking and I am not alone.

Re-read the sheet that says "read this first" that came with the detector - or at least does now. I have been using my F-75, including a club hunt shoulder-to shoulder with dozens of makes and models, and had minimal static or background noise. Much less than my silent search Musketeer would normally give. I like a little "pip" now and then to remind me it's still working and I have the ground balance threshold on the upper side of the line (for best depth). Lower the sensitivity, change the frequency, alter the mode, use a different tone setting (2F is simple and effective and delta pitch is sweet and silver sings high even it trashy ground). The soil around here runs 65 to 75 out of a 0-100 scale for mineralization. Iron bearing glacial clay and silt under trash filled topsoil. Turn the sensitivity down until it runs quiet. I was at 28 for the hunt, but have had it up to 45 in parks. You don't have to and shouldn't floor it thinking it will increase anything (but overload feedback phantoms and shadows).

I experienced several spots at the club hunt where I got crackling, maybe 8 ft circles. I moved out of that spot, ground balanced again, and then tried it again with the same
results. Something in the soil? Don't know, but very localized. I found a marked penny in one area nonetheless so it doesn't halt the works.

I also learned a quieting trick from Andy, NM (another F-75 user). Ground balance with FASTGRAB (takes two seconds), then go into all metal and up the balance setting three digits (I.I. if it's 75, set it to 78). Makes the unit run very silently.


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http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,88520.0.html

 

[Tom E IL]

After getting the F75 back from Fisher theres a big differance in it. I dont know what they did to it, well it runs smooth. Could not even get it to ack up at all so far.I am pleased with it. Now I only been out a short time and found some battery money, some trash, everything ID good.

 

[rjw4law]

I have been struggling for 3 weeks now, maybe 4....I narrowed the choice of getting a second detector down to 3 different brands... Thanks to this forum and valuable input from Crypto Dave and Charlie P (plus all the replies), I opened my wallet and ordered the F75...this will be my 8th detector since 1980 ( a total of 4 manufacturers). My hat is off to all of you guys on this forum and the other forums....great info refreshing input...what can I say?

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Good luck with it. I'm still very pleased with mine.

I went out today at lunch to the pavilion nearest the trees at the town park. Bottlecap and pull tab city. In lots of places you can eyeball a dozen at a time as you walk by. Only found three cents, one nickel and one dime. That is 18¢ better than I ever did with my Musketeer in this spot. You can't move the coil a coil's width hardly without hitting trash. Digging the nickel proved to me the TID on the F-75 is trustworthy. I did dig three pull-tabs, but I am ever the optimist for a gold ring and they all read higher then nickel but lower than a zinc cent so I knew I was open to disappointment.

I've been playing in the All Metal mode. Shazam! A whole different detector!

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I have been struggling for 3 weeks now, maybe 4....I narrowed the choice of getting a second detector down to 3 different brands... Thanks to this forum and valuable input from Crypto Dave and Charlie P (plus all the replies), I opened my wallet and ordered the F75...this will be my 8th detector since 1980 ( a total of 4 manufacturers). My hat is off to all of you guys on this forum and the other forums....great info refreshing input...what can I say?

And a PS -

Stay out of jewelry mode for the first week. It is hyper-sensitive and will confound you if you are used to a quiet running machine.

The higher you set the discrimination the lower you'll be able to set the sensitivity before it goes buggy. Be willing to take some trash noise and you'll find more good items.

The step between 20 and 21 opens up a "third-order" circuit. In really nasty interference conditions drop to 18 or so with no notch and you can still crank the sensitivity up to 80 or more. You'll just have to ignore the trash by observing the TID.

Here's a shortcut to what coins fall where on the scale.

 

[rjw4law]

Advice most appreciated....great chart. I have heard that the designer of the whites dfx designed the F75, any truth to this?

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

The lead engineers were John Gardiner and David Johnson, along with Jorge Corral, Dimitar Gargov, and Mark Krieger on electronics and Brad Fulghum, John Griffin and Tom Walsh on mechanicals. I've heard that David Johnson has worked for several MD companies, including White's, as a engineer and/or consultant but don't know the specific models. He's also worked with Tesoro and Troy.

David E. Johnson wrote the book (White's MXT Engineering Guide, to be exact) on the MXT as an engineering consultant to White's at the time so it's a good chance it's the same guy. He also was a key designer on the GMT.

He was also the lead engineer on the Fisher CZ line, GoldBug and TekNetics T2, which the F-75 borrows it's mechanicals from.

 

[U.K. Brian]

Dave was behind the MXT, I've got a list somewhere of the machines he worked on for various companies.
His genius was shown in the Fisher Impulse where he designed the circuit to scavenge back the current from the coil allowing it to have both excellent depth and exceptional battery life from a handful of AA's.

 

[rjw4law]

Great info....still waiting on delivery of the detector...eager to get started.

 

[Hill City Rebel]

I bought a new F75 a while back, and have done a limited amount of hunting with it - after which I recorded my opinon of its abilities. If you're interested, the posts are at

http://treasurehunter.booklocker.com/

Regards,

HCR

 

[re-tek]

well i dont know about the F75 but i know about Fisher's Coustomer service or lack of it i should say.i just had a real battle with Fisher over a $7 part.if anyone would like to read the email iv been having with them just email or pm me and id be glad to share it with you.it just might make you think again on buying a Fisher!

fisher lamed on me also with my coinstrike (i hope fisher people are reading this). took 3 days to get a call back. sad to see a company with that much history get run soo poorly after a buyout.

i'd get my hands on the f75 and test it in person before shelling out the cash. the other thing.. when a company shortens their warranty periods, do they really believe in their product? keep that warranty period in mind before laying out the $1k

 

[Hill City Rebel]

well i dont know about the F75 but i know about Fisher's Coustomer service or lack of it i should say.i just had a real battle with Fisher over a $7 part.if anyone would like to read the email iv been having with them just email or pm me and id be glad to share it with you.it just might make you think again on buying a Fisher!

fisher lamed on me also with my coinstrike (i hope fisher people are reading this). took 3 days to get a call back. sad to see a company with that much history get run soo poorly after a buyout.

i'd get my hands on the f75 and test it in person before shelling out the cash. the other thing.. when a company shortens their warranty periods, do they really believe in their product? keep that warranty period in mind before laying out the $1k

I've done a bit of testing on the F75. Take a look at http://treasurehunter.booklocker.com/. The weather's too hot right now to continue, but when fall arives I'll go back at it. Hope it helps. HCR

 

[Icandigit]

Ok some people think if they own one it's the best. I own a F75 and it's the biggest hunk of junk there is. Yes, I would love to sell it so don't offer unless you are serious or you will own it. It's OK when it works but it has been back at Fisher more then it has been to the park in the 3 months I have owned it. Don't say it's me because they keep finding stuff wrong with it. The service is terrible and the product is cheap. I am going back to Whites as soon as I unload this thing. I would rather have a machine that is dependable then one that is always in for repairs. Even on it's best days I have not been impressed with depth or anything else. Every machine can find an occasional dime at 10 inches if the operator is comfortable with the unit. This thing should never have been put into production. I am not alone on this but most people are made to feel stupid if they say anything bad about this unit. So let it fly, I have been called stupid before, but I do dig a lot of silver.

 

[Hill City Rebel]

Ok some people think if they own one it's the best. I own a F75 and it's the biggest hunk of junk there is. Yes, I would love to sell it so don't offer unless you are serious or you will own it. It's OK when it works but it has been back at Fisher more then it has been to the park in the 3 months I have owned it. Don't say it's me because they keep finding stuff wrong with it. The service is terrible and the product is cheap. I am going back to Whites as soon as I unload this thing. I would rather have a machine that is dependable then one that is always in for repairs. Even on it's best days I have not been impressed with depth or anything else. Every machine can find an occasional dime at 10 inches if the operator is comfortable with the unit. This thing should never have been put into production. I am not alone on this but most people are made to feel stupid if they say anything bad about this unit. So let it fly, I have been called stupid before, but I do dig a lot of silver.

I'm afraid I agree with many of your comments, icandigit. I've tested the F75 against other machines and it's lacking in most departments. I've also used most of the other machines out there, and I keep coming back to the Troy Shadow X5. All in all, it's the best machine I've ever used. I haven't used the latest White's models, so I can't compare it to them. One thing about the F75 that I found during my comparison tests - in all-metal mode it has better range in air BY FAR than any other detector I've ever had. And that includes the Shadow X5, Fisher 1266 with 11" head, and Nautilus DMC-IIB with 15" coil. You can see the tests here... http://treasurehunter.booklocker.com/. I'm waiting on cool weather to try it on those deep artillery shells.


Regards, HCR

 

[Icandigit]

Yes it has been so disappointing to lay out that much money and get junk. Bad thing is they won't even replace the machine. The ones that work seem to work good but the bad ones, well. I have even had dealers telling me they are not happy with the product. I also have a Tesoro and it loves to go to work every time you turn it on and I have found deeper coins with it. It's sad to see a company like Fisher end up like this. I hate to even sell mine to someone as I would feel like I was cheating them.

 

[erikk]

I understand that there are a lot of problems with some of the F-75's out there and I don't have an answer but I do own one and so far it has performed beyond my expectations. I also have a couple of Minelab EX2's and, a CZ7a pro as well as having owned many machines in the 40+ years I have been detecting and again, so far my F-75 is out performing them all in most cases. It is great in iron and trash and the response is lightning fast, depth is equal to the Explorer (maybe deeper) It is a great detector when it works and I only hope that they can get the bugs in manufacturing worked out and for the people who have problems that they make them right

 

[erikk]

It is deeper than the SE in most circumstances however with the SE you have the option of other coils. The F-75 has lightning recovery and you will not have the nulling that you get with the SE in iron. It is highly susceptible to electronic interference and you cannot even have your cell phone on when using it. Also forget about the Vibra Probe. I had to go to a Detector Pro pocket Uni which has an off-on switch and a frequency shifter to be able to have a good pinpointer with the F-75. Bottom line, as i said, mine works and works very well and I grab it first on a hunt (my EX2's are in the truck too in the event I run into electrical problems) Would I buy another-yes, would I have it as my one detector-no because I have learned over the years that no one detector will do it all but the F-75 comes darned close. What I would do is look for a good used EX2 and buy the F-75 new. That way you have the 5 year warranty in the event things don't work out and you need to get it fixed. I do think that it was the first run that had the problems and as with something new there are always bugs (The SE had them too)

 

[Icandigit]

Well I got mine May 28-I have had 3 coils-all bad, bad solder joints on main board, and now bad coil again, out of this time with shipping and repair it has been gone 6 weeks. Now I have only got probably 25 hours on this machine. I have requested a replacement machine twice and have gotten nowhere. If this machine is so sensitive in operation to be bothered with cell phones, garage door openers and so on, it will also be leaking so people with pacemakers should avoid it. When mine worked it was stable,in fact I could work under power lines with no problem, you just have to adjust it down for conditions. Coil shielding on this machine is a big problem and that is why everyone complains about chattering. Is it good, yes when it works but then so where the Teknetics 9000B units and look where they are. My point with this machine is it is good, but only when it works. If you get poor service and cannot keep something running it is worthless. For everyone that complains on this unit there is always someone telling you that you are wrong to make negative remarks about First Texas so most people are like me and give up and get rid of the units out of anger. I hope whoever buys one of these machines get a good one but after 30 years of detecting and 3 new machines this year, this is the last Fisher I buy. If it don't work and they can't fix it it is junk.