First hunt, F5...Review and log...

MuddyMo said:

Digger, I'm a little surprised the f5 isn't a fast machine. :-(
A buddy bought one new and he said it did not have any depth. He even sent it back to Fisher and they said there was nothing wrong with it. He lives near kcks and is very experienced and has/had many good detectors, analog and digital. We both had f70s and they were deep here as you know but he could not get any depth from the f5. How does the depth compare air test wise? Yes I know about air testing but it's the only consistent comparison. As you very well know from experience the dirt here is far better than where you are now.

Click to expand...

Well, haven't done any testing, air or othetherwise, but I do get the feeling it is a little slow, not quite as fast as my F70.
On that one scanning a line up of several coins, tabs, nails or whatever and even super close I can run the coil past them fast and it hits them all...that machine gun effect.
I will try that on this one, if not that fast it should still be close.
So far several owners on a couple of different forums have mentioned this thing prefers a slower sweep.
I don't think they mean like a snail but super fast and things could be missed.
Maybe just needs a tiny bit more time to let the processors catch up but nothing crazy slow.
I will adjust once I find the sweet spot if necessary.

As far as depth the F75/F70/Patriot/T2 platform is one of the most powerful ones out there if we are talking pure depth in good soil.
I know this is true because in Kansas dirt I saw, and sometimes dug, pinpoint numbers and targets at 10-12-13 and a few an inch or two more.
I don't expect the F5 to be in its class but from reports 8" coin targets are easily hit in the right dirt, some say they found them even deeper at 10" or a little more.
Nobody has ever bragged this thing is a depth demon.
I say that's still pretty good...if you hunt sites with coins at common depths of 10-12" I would think an F70, F75 or something else known for really being able to get down there would be a more logical choice.
Don't use a Ford Ranger to pull a big trailer when a bigger F150 with 8 cylinders is called for.
Even if the Ranger could do it it won't do it well.

Here my same F70 that could see coin and ring sized objects and other things like tabs at 10-12" in great soil out west with pretty decent stable and somewhat accurate ID's is literally cut in half.
That is in most of my soil.
I have come across patches here and there in my travels where for some reason the dirt is not so hot, dare I say normal, but that is such a rare thing.
Once I hit an 8" dime that ID'd as an 8" dime with my F2 and an 8" coil loud and clear like just soon after I bought it.
I was so happy to see that, never came close to that ever again on any other hunts.
Mostly I could clean up with that one up to 4", could maybe hit 5" or 6" on a very good day if the ground was moist but mostly anything past 4" in this dirt was a dream.
Somtimes I think the F2 did this to me just to mess with me, like "Here is just one target to show you what I am capable of but don't expect that YOU will ever experience this again".
No matter what we use, and I have talked to and hunted with friends that had Whites, E Tracs and all kinds of detectors and most will tell you the common depth we can find things and identify them for what they are is about 5"...maybe 6" on occasion.
Sometimes a bit deeper but if you ask most for an actual number of their usual deeper finds they will say 5" .
We can get deeper, I know my F70 will maybe up to the 9-10" area on coins, 8" for sure because I dug a few, AT Pros can too as can the Deus, Tesoros, Whites and others but the problem is past about 5" things get dicey, everything gets skewed and mostly unrecognizable as a good target.
I started here, left and moved out west where my eyes were opened to what my detectors could really do and then we moved back and I got depressed...I am sure you can understand why.
The cool thing is after months of experimentation and observation I finally figured out how to recognize targets past that 5" mark, all the way up to the 8-9" area on a few with the F70.
Wasn't easy, if you saw the behavior I learned to recognize them to do this you will see it is not anywhere near normal.
Friends I hunt with have watched the screen and listened to the tones while I swung over suspected deeper targets they couldn't even get a hit on their detectors or registered as total junk and they couldn't understand how I could do this with the confusing data that was hitting them and when a very deep coin actually did come up from 7 or 8" or so they were shocked.
I just learned a few good repeating tells, doesn't work 100% of the time but when I do go after a deep one I have good reasons and most of the time worth the effort.
I got the Nox because it makes doing all this a bit easier.
It can get past that 5" mark with pretty good stability, up to 6-7" so far on a few good ones...maybe 8" on one, and lots of times with really nice, tight numbers and great IDs.
Other times it reads deep stuff but it is all over the place just like my F70, but it does find me a lot of treasure and unmasks well so as I said it might actually be close to even with my F70 as far as just noticing targets but it is able to tell me in a little easier way to understand at a glance...no weird language necessary.
Most of the time.

Now this F5 here in this dirt might be better than both of them up to the 8-9" level...limited experience but I suspect.
Not sure why but my theory is lower frequency.
IowaRelic over on Findmall tells me his he finds his T2 deepest of all his detectors, he has an Omega and I think an F5 and not quite as deep but both have the sweetest tones on an 8" buried dime, (while still others say all they get just ticks on 8" dimes with the Omega/ F5), but most of all an F19 is the best for him...says it can do it all.
Not my dirt, here I am finding the lower midrange frequencies seem to be the best of all worlds, although I admit with my again, so far limited experience.
Can't say for sure but I have dug one or two things here so far that were only trash but it saw them at that 8" depth, and way less jumpy and more stable than either the Nox or the F70.
Yea the Nox is multi but it jumps from 5-10...perhaps the sweet spot for my dirt may be 6-9kHz...maybe.
This is what I was hoping but didn't think it would do it this well on targets at that 8" depth range.
Much more to dig, however, to be sure.

Because of my dirt conditions and massive masking issues there is a layer of really good targets from 4-8" that still exist here, in hunted out parks abandoned by everyone in spots that are the most logical for every hunter to hunt I have found great treasure from only that 4"-8" level...many times 4-6" only.
They were missed because others hit them but didn't recognize them as good targets while I eventually did.
No consistency in my dirt, unless its shallow everything is a crapshoot and even 2" 4" shallow targets can be masked to the hilt and not just by iron or trash but just by the dirt.

The F5 seems to be able to do well here, easily spots a couple 4-5 inch severely masked coins so far, hit a few deeper targets up to 6-8" with stable behavior and good IDs...good enough to get me to dig them, anyway, and I am the kind of guy that will go out of my way to avoid anything I think is not a good target.

As I said this is all just a theory and experimental.
The 5.9khz was more stable in this dirt and the higher machines I used from 10-12khz on up just weren't as stable on anything deep.
Still, I worked hard to get around that and have been able to use all the higher ones with success.
I found I can adapt to instability if necessary.
I am married...to a woman...so that proves it.
I would just love to find a way to make my hunting, and more importantly, my finding life easier than it has been so far, this is the exact and only reason I bought the Nox.
Will this be the one that helps me do that even better and easier?
Time will tell.

First hunt, F5...review

Hi Digger27 !

This is in reference to your post #1 and the second paragraph under CONS... that I copied and pasted below.

No depth meter, not necessary but nice to have at a glance.
I would gladly exchange that confidence meter for a depth bar meter but if wishes were horses we would all be riding ponies, so...

Attached are three pictures, one of the F5 console, to which I added a red arrow pointing to the word DEPTH, another showing a page from the manual regarding PINPOINT and how TARGET DEPTH is indicated, again red arrows were added for quick reference, and another picture showing the Rubber Stopper Ring advertised on Amazon, as mentioned by yourself Dave in post #14 along with a Link, but there was no size given for the cross-sectional thickness. So, I sent a message to the seller "Tegg" asking if they can advise the thickness and I'll report their reply on this thread asap for whatever help it might be to members.

I know I'm coming in late with this, but just thought the attached pictures might be of some help.

ToddB64

Well, thanks.
I do know there is a surprisingly accurate depth indicator on this thing but you have to hit the pinpoint button to access it which can be....problematic, for a person with gloves.
The F70 has a depth bar indicator on the screen at all times as does the F2, F75, the Nox and many others.
Much more preferred, that confidence meter area would have been the perfect place to put it as I never use that, never look at it and have very little confidence in anything it tells me.
Actually, the confidence meter might have some worth, it may give me some clues about target behavior in my challenging dirt that I haven't learned yet, but just like the target sections at the top of the screen I have never used them, never even look at them because I get all my important info from the tones and the VDI numbers and how they sound and behave.
It is right about many targets but also wrong about many others, similar VDI numbers will show the same confidence level like a quarter and some crown caps so pretty useless to me as of yet, that convenient real estate area at the bottom of the screen could have been used to a much better advantage, IMO, but as I said nobody asked me when they designed it.

The good thing is I have been out with it about 4 times now and have learned a few things like, it is great, number one.
The modulation this thing has on targets at different depths is amazing, quite different and better and much more expressive than any other detector I have used so far.
I can hear modulation on my Nox, F70 and my Tesoros but this is a new, much higher level.
I can see where this will end up to be a very handy feature for future hunts and makes not having a depth meter on the screen at all times insignificant.

It is deep and stable in my devil dirt, as hoped, and still pretty sure the midrange frequency has a lot to do with it.
The sense and thresh have a relationship just as on the F70 but even more so, turning the thresh up can find you very tiny targets, go surprisingly deep and much deeper as you head to maxed out territory.
I can regularly hunt with the gain high and the thresh at 0 or higher and it is very quiet...stays quiet too even with the thresh up to or near maxed out in some sites.
Can't do that with the F70, at 0 or higher it can get crazy at some places, I can get the thresh higher and stay quiet but I have to lower the gain way down or use some other outside the box settings to get there, on the F5 it just handles it using regular settings including pushing the gain up really high at the same time, also.
Could be the Sharpshooter has a lot to do with those unusually high and quiet settings but when I switch to another coil I will find out.

I know for some getting used to this one wasn't easy, took a bit of time to learn to tame this beast until they finally gelled but coming from the F70, for me, it has been effortless since they are slightly different and yet so similar in so many ways.
It appears to be my old, stable F2 with way more adjustments and features and with an overdose of super steroids as I dared wished it would be.
Like the F2 was a gecko lizard while the F5 is a Tyrannosaurus Rex with way more penetrating power and so many more setting possibilities.
All the good stuff plus way, way more.

On top of all that I got this thing to primarily hunt jewelry but it also appears to be a premier coin shooter, it can find them shallow, deep and severely masked so my thinking has changed completely about this.
I find myself setting it up for jewelry for half of my hunts and coins for the other half and it finds all targets in either mode like it was a religion so...bonus!

I have gotten used to the knobs moving, I take a second to check them here and there, learned to hit the pinpoint button without moving them much too but they still move too easily so I am still getting those silicone rings.
If I put the thing down in the ground and it happens to fall over those knobs move so still not happy with that and it needs to be fixed once and for all.

Otherwise, this thing rocks!
Should have got one years ago when we first moved back to the mineralized SE.
I don't regret spending so much time manipulating the F70 settings and learning new indicators and behavior patterns to somewhat conquer this place and become more successful than I thought possible but just like the Nox, for the F5, it all seems many times easier at many more normal settings.
With the full target range and noticing all the little successful tricks I learned using the F70 that seem to work so well on this one too, if not better, I ultimately have more fun standing behind it than the Nox and who knows...maybe even the F70.
Plus it is effortlessly finding stuff, nothing fantastic so far but I have culled many good targets from totally hunted out and scoured sites I missed in the past and it did it so easily this bodes well for the future...and we are just beginning our journey together.
I will take it to all of my old haunts and a few new ones and see what we can find.
No matter what great fun is in store for both of us.

As I gather some needed time I will add more observations, settings and results to this thread.

First hunt, F5...review

Hi Dave !

In your first post #1 and the paragraph under CONS...(copied & pasted below), you remarked about using gloves and moving knobs out of adjustment. In another post you admitted to being "Ham handed", so I assume your fingers are large, plus wearing gloves makes them even larger and difficult to work around the tightly arranged control knobs of the F5.

So, is it necessary for you to wear gloves ? Is it to keep your hands warm in cold weather, or do you recover targets using a trowel in one hand, aided by your fingers on the other hand, and you wear gloves for protection against sharp glass, scrap metal, edges of old style aluminum pulltabs, etc. ???

Just curious .....ToddB64

CONS...

The pinpoint button is in a good spot but right between the thresh and the gain knobs which are little too close to each other, I use gloves so every time I hit the pinpoint I moved both knobs and I had to readjust.
Not great but I just switched to using the wiggle-pull back method to pinpoint most of the time.

ToddB64 said:

Hi Dave !

In your first post #1 and the paragraph under CONS...(copied & pasted below), you remarked about using gloves and moving knobs out of adjustment. In another post you admitted to being "Ham handed", so I assume your fingers are large, plus wearing gloves makes them even larger and difficult to work around the tightly arranged control knobs of the F5.

So, is it necessary for you to wear gloves ? Is it to keep your hands warm in cold weather, or do you recover targets using a trowel in one hand, aided by your fingers on the other hand, and you wear gloves for protection against sharp glass, scrap metal, edges of old style aluminum pulltabs, etc. ???

Just curious .....ToddB64

CONS...

The pinpoint button is in a good spot but right between the thresh and the gain knobs which are little too close to each other, I use gloves so every time I hit the pinpoint I moved both knobs and I had to readjust.
Not great but I just switched to using the wiggle-pull back method to pinpoint most of the time.

Click to expand...

Yes, it is always necessary for me to wear gloves, I won't, can't hunt without them.
They do keep my hands warm in the winter but there is another reason.

I started this hobby in 2010 with a hand me down terrible Pioneer EX sent to me by my brother.
It was bought at a Wal-Mart and I think it was a second because it was all messed up, falsed on every swing, crosseyed coil, couldn't pinpoint worth a darn because all targets were always 3-4" off from where they actually laid.
The very first hole I ever dug I was going after my first signal ever, turns out it was a 2" square piece of aluminum siding .
Luckily, I did not know what I was doing, had no pinpointer so the hole I eventually made was big, maybe 10-12" across looking for this thing.
I kept sticking my bare hands in, pulling out dirt until I finally grabbed the target which was about 4" deep.
Before I got up from the ground to fill in the hole I took one more look inside and at one edge, about 2" deep, was a dark, dirty, camouflaged top of a glass bottle, cap still on sticking into the dirt but with the sharp, thick, jagged broken bottleneck glass sticking straight out into the hole about 1" .
If the hole I dug wasn't so big I definitely would have run my hand and wrist across this thing, I definitely would have cut myself, I might have even needed to go get lots of stiches because this thing was sharp and nasty.
I filled in the hole, took my detector and everything else inside, dropped it off, got in my car, went to Lowe's and bought a pair of gloves.
On the second hole I ever dug on the second target I recovered I used gloves...as I have done on each and every target since for over 10 years now.

Now it is a major thing with me, the very first hole I ever dug doing this hobby could have ended in a catastrophe, I was lucky it didnt.
It was a traumatic experience, I can still see that big jagged piece of glass in my head like it all just happened 2 minutes ago, it haunts me still.
I can't stick my bare hands in a hole or even my fingers in a deep pile of dirt to this day, hard to even watch others do it on YouTube vids for me.
I leaned my lesson well on that day.
My gloves don't have to be thick but I need something, anything covering both hands before I even consider messing around in any dirt.
No gloves, no hunting...end of story.

In life we think and act in ways governed and shaped by an accumulation of all our experiences that came before.
This one shaped my thinking forever after...it was a bad one.
But it could have been way worse.

Nice, thank you for the updates, digger! I, too, think the mid range frequency is superior for both coins and jewelry. It isn't set up to look for gold flakes, but I’m not doing that. My F5 suits me so, so well and, as you said, it seems like the F2, a hardy Pinto, with Cadillac features. How can ya go wrong? I’d have no problems hunting alongside much more expensive machines.

I also wear gloves. Always. And for the same reason. There’s no way I’m slicing myself open on god knows what. Plus, here in lovely SoCal, there are a lot of needles in parks. Sucks. Can't wait to move.

Skwerly said:

Nice, thank you for the updates, digger! I, too, think the mid range frequency is superior for both coins and jewelry. It isn't set up to look for gold flakes, but I’m not doing that. My F5 suits me so, so well and, as you said, it seems like the F2, a hardy Pinto, with Cadillac features. How can ya go wrong? I’d have no problems hunting alongside much more expensive machines.

I also wear gloves. Always. And for the same reason. There’s no way I’m slicing myself open on god knows what. Plus, here in lovely SoCal, there are a lot of needles in parks. Sucks. Can't wait to move.

Click to expand...

Yea, I think this is going to be my primary detector for awhile.
Not only because I want to learn it well but because it just seems to handle my dirt better than I hoped and it sees targets in very challenging conditions surprisingly great and deeper than I thought possible.
Love my F70, don't regret one second standing behind it and it found me so much it paid for itself many times over in the seven years I have used it.
Learning it was fun, learning it to such a deep level that I have been able to conquer every single difficult and challenging site we have visited together was even more fun.
However, something tells me if I would gotten the F5 instead of the F70 on Thanksgiving day in 2013 over all these years since I think I might have been just as happy and maybe found just about all the same treasure I found with the F70.

I am a lucky man, I own both now and can use either one, plus my Nox and two Tesoros anytime I feel like it.
I sure can't complain about that.

And yes, I found a few needles in my time but there is still tons of broken glass out there plus too much old, thick jagged aluminum and rusty, sharp tin and steel can slaw and so much other dangerous junk that likes to hide so well.
I stay up to date on my tetanus innoculations, definitely made sure of that since I got into this hobby, but I would rather not get into any situation where I found I actually needed it if at all possible.

Best Detector Frequency Range for Gold Jewelry.

Hi Digger27 ! ,

When evaluating a metal detector that has an electronic circuitry with greater bias or propensity toward locating gold jewelry from the standpoint of it's operating frequency, I would assume that a thorough evaluation would have to include other circuit components and how the designer(s) intended for them to work together with the chosen frequency, and I believe most informed detectorists would agree with that and it's a mute point.

I have listed below just for reference, some comments you made regarding the mid-range 5.9 kHz operating frequency, and allowing that you might also include some other mid-range frequencies, I know what you said in Reference Info.#1 below, but would like to ask the following question.

"If you had to choose between the Tesoro Compadre with it's 12kHz frequency , the Tesoro Bandido II µMax with it's 10kHz frequency, or the Fisher F5 with it's 5.9kHz frequency, and acknowledging that all of them work in conjunction with other circuitry components to get the full affect of their bias or propensity to locate gold jewelry, rather than just the affect of the frequency alone, which detector would you choose if you could only have one ?". Correction by ToddB64 on 10-08-20: I should have stated 7.8kHz above for the F5...sorry I goofed !

Reference Info.#1..Copied & Pasted from near the bottom of your Post #21,Thread page #3 > Detectors and Gear > All About Detectors > First hunt, F5...review.

The 5.9khz was more stable in this dirt and the higher machines I used from 10-12khz on up just weren't as stable on anything deep. Still, I worked hard to get around that and have been able to use all the higher ones with success.
Clarification by ToddB64 on 10-08-20: When I copied this paragraph from Digger27's post #21, I inadvertently assumed he was still talking about the F5, however, I now realize he was referring to the F2 which has the 5.9kHz operating frequency. My apologies

Reference Info.#2..Copied & Pasted from your Post #23,Thread page #3 > Detectors and Gear > All About Detectors > First hunt, F5...review.

(From 2nd paragraph):
The good thing is I have been out with it about 4 times now and have learned a few things like, it is great, number one.The modulation this thing has on targets at different depths is amazing, quite different and better and much more expressive than any other detector I have used so far.

(From 3rd paragraph):
It is deep and stable in my devil dirt, as hoped, and still pretty sure the midrange frequency has a lot to do with it.

Thanks much !

ToddB64

ToddB64 said:

Hi Digger27 ! ,


"If you had to choose between the Tesoro Compadre with it's 12kHz frequency , the Tesoro Bandido II µMax with it's 10kHz frequency, or the Fisher F5 with it's 5.9kHz frequency, and acknowledging that all of them work in conjunction with other circuitry components to get the full affect of their bias or propensity to locate gold jewelry, rather than just the affect of the frequency alone, which detector would you choose if you could only have one ?".

Thanks much !

ToddB64

Click to expand...

I have found over 36 gold targets so far, mostly rings, a couple of religious medallions, a chain.

I know full well how good the Compadre is at finding jewelry, and I have found at least a little gold with most of my detectors from 5.9 up to 17.5kHz.
However more than half was found with the 5.9 F2...and every one was a solid signal that said dig me in tones and number behavior.

Knowing what I know and experiencing all I have the answer to your question is out of the ones listed the F5 would be my choice...which is actually 7.8kHz.
I know higher frequency is supposed to be better at finding gold jewelry...but not for me.
By sheer numbers my midrange tool found me more gold so if I had to choose I gotta go with one in that midrange.
Also the screen can be very helpful in determining accurate target behavior vs no screen.
I can find gold with your whole list, I am sure, I think the screen units just make it a bit easier.

ToddB64: said:

Hi Digger27 ! ,

When evaluating a metal detector that has an electronic circuitry with greater bias or propensity toward locating gold jewelry from the standpoint of it's operating frequency, I would assume that a thorough evaluation would have to include other circuit components and how the designer(s) intended for them to work together with the chosen frequency, and I believe most informed detectorists would agree with that and it's a mute point.

Click to expand...

I'm not 'Digger27' but I'll share my reply. It really isn't comparing other "circuitry components", what ever you mean by that, but primarily the operating Frequency that might benefit hunting for lower-conductive gold jewelry. Yes, it is a moot point to consider other things unless you first consider the Frequency used. By design, the lower-conductive targets are typically better hunted using a higher-frequency detector.

ToddB64: said:

I have listed below just for reference, some comments you made regarding the mid-range 5.9 kHz operating frequency, and allowing that you might also include some other mid-range frequencies, I know what you said in Reference Info.#1 below, but would like to ask the following question.

Click to expand...

Just so you'll know, a 5.9 kHz Frequency would fall in the lower operating Frequency range used for most metal detectors. And the 5.9 kHz Frequency was used in the Fisher F2 model in this example.

ToddB64: said:

"If you had to choose between the Tesoro Compadre with it's 12kHz frequency , the Tesoro Bandido II µMax with it's 10kHz frequency, or the Fisher F5 with it's 5.9kHz frequency, and acknowledging that all of them work in conjunction with other circuitry components to get the full affect of their bias or propensity to locate gold jewelry, rather than just the affect of the frequency alone, which detector would you choose if you could only have one ?".

Click to expand...

Yes, the Compadre operated at 12 kHz, and the Bandido II µMAX at 10 kHz, but the Fisher F5 operates at 7.8 kHz. That was the same Frequency as the Teknetics Omega 8000 that was derived from the Fisher F5 platform. I used an F5, but preferred my Omega 8000, and they both provide very comparable in-the-field Coin & Jewelry Hunting performance.

ToddB64: said:

Reference Info.#1..Copied & Pasted from near the bottom of your Post #21,Thread page #3 > Detectors and Gear > All About Detectors > First hunt, F5...review.

The 5.9khz was more stable in this dirt and the higher machines I used from 10-12khz on up just weren't as stable on anything deep. Still, I worked hard to get around that and have been able to use all the higher ones with success.

Click to expand...

I believe 'Digger27' was referring to the Fisher F2 that operated at a 5.9 kHz Frequency. As for comparing the stability of different metal detectors, while the operating Frequency might play a part in a detector's stability, it really is more important to consider the remaining circuitry design, the transmit sensitivity and the receive gain used, and other factors. The source of the EMI can have differing effects on stability, too.

I hunted a downtown Portland, Oregon sidewalk and street renovation about a decade or so ago and used a White's XLT w/6½" Concentric coil. It was at mid-day and mid-week and I was finding Indian Head Cents, 'V' Nickels and Seated Liberty Dimes. I took a break to check my blood sugar level and thought I'd change detectors. I grabbed my modified White's IDX Pro w/6½" Concentric coil .... but it was totally unstable and inoperable. Same torn up sidewalk area I had been working with the XLT, but there was no way to counter the EMI with the IDX Pro. Same search coils, same manufacturer, and both units operated at the same 6.59 kHz. One very stable, the other totally unworkable. It was circuitry design other-than Frequency.

ToddB64: said:

Reference Info.#2..Copied & Pasted from your Post #23,Thread page #3 > Detectors and Gear > All About Detectors > First hunt, F5...review.

(From 2nd paragraph):
The good thing is I have been out with it about 4 times now and have learned a few things like, it is great, number one.The modulation this thing has on targets at different depths is amazing, quite different and better and much more expressive than any other detector I have used so far.

(From 3rd paragraph):
It is deep and stable in my devil dirt, as hoped, and still pretty sure the midrange frequency has a lot to do with it.

Click to expand...

As 'Digger27' related, the Operating Frequency of the Fisher F5, and he related in his first hunt F5 review, very well could have had something to do with the detector's stability in his dirt. The F5, which operates at 7.8 kHz. is in the lower operating frequency range, but it's a combination of not just the Frequency but other circuitry design behavior as well. Long ago, from about '77 and on to the present, I started relying more on detectors that operated in the mid-range of 10 kHz to 15 kHz. I chose them because they worked well on targets across the low-conductive to mid-conductive to high-conductive Frequency range.

Initially it was the 15 kHz Garrett Ground Hog models that worked better for me from the VLF range offerings, and in mid-'83 I switched over to the Tesoro line that mostly operated at 10 kHz to 12 kHz and one at 15 kHz. Most detectors that use this range of Frequencies can generally work well on lower-conductive gold jewelry and higher-conductive silver coins .... and everything in-between.

Just some thoughts and a little reference and correction as to Operating Frequencies.

Monte

Thank you, Monte, as always real world experience is priceless.

I don't know why my F2 seemed so stable here, my F5 just as stable and why my F70 is so much jumpier even at low gain levels.
Could be the frequency, could be the circuit design, could be the power ranges, could be something else.
Don't care, it is what it is and I consider myself very lucky to be able to afford this new one, cheap as it is, and discover how deep and stable it is in my dirt.
Without trying it I never would have known and I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see what it can do in this challenging soil.
Kinda excited, it appears to have features and abilities that matter here similar to and taken from many from my most favorite detectors while missing some issues I don't like like the compressed target range in the Nox.
Once I stop the knobs from free-spinning so easily it should be a lot closer to perfect...for me here in my sites.

It's a hobby, the object is to find cool things and have the most fun while doing it.
For that purpose I think this one should eventually fit that bill perfectly.

yeah, f2 is 5.9, f5 is 7.8.

DIGGER27: said:

Thank you, Monte, as always real world experience is priceless.

I don't know why my F2 seemed so stable here, my F5 just as stable and why my F70 is so much jumpier even at low gain levels.
Could be the frequency, could be the circuit design, could be the power ranges, could be something else.

Click to expand...

It happens often, in this great sport, that we experience some unique and unexplainable differences in performance with a different detector. I have enjoyed a number of the Teknetics T2 series models, and as good as they could provide some levels of performance, they were not the deepest-seeking nor have the best VDI lock-on to mid-depth and deeper targets.

DIGGER27: said:

Don't care, it is what it is and I consider myself very lucky to be able to afford this new one, cheap as it is, and discover how deep and stable it is in my dirt.
Without trying it I never would have known and I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see what it can do in this challenging soil.

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I liked them especially compared with makes and models I used before the start of 2015. Since that January, I have made several changes in my regular-use Detector Outfit, most of which surpassed the T2's I had in overall performance in the same bad, challenging ground make-up. So, I switched to the better units and ended up letting my T2's go.

DIGGER27: said:

Kinda excited, it appears to have features and abilities that matter here similar to and taken from many from my most favorite detectors while missing some issues I don't like like the compressed target range in the Nox.

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I know that back in March of 2010 I bought a Teknetics Omega 8000. I heard other poster's comments, but wouldn't have known for sure unless I got one myself ... so I did. I had / have a number of detectors I like, and search a wide-range of sites and conditions. I liked it so well it became my #1, most-used, urban Coin Hunting detector for over 5 years

DIGGER27: said:

Once I stop the knobs from free-spinning so easily it should be a lot closer to perfect...for me here in my sites.

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If it is that annoying, I'd put a rubber washer under each of the knobs. But if you do, don't snug the knobs down too tightly. Some folks do and the extra tightness causes them to turn the nut and washer holding the control in place. That can result in the control twisting enough inside the housing to break a wire or to cause a short.

DIGGER27: said:

It's a hobby, the object is to find cool things and have the most fun while doing it.
For that purpose I think this one should eventually fit that bill perfectly.

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You're 100% correct and ever since I got started in this sport, I enjoy using whatever make and model detectors and coils I like to use, and the end result is to find stuff and have fun.

Monte

Well, it can find silver coins!

Fifth hunt, at my hunted out local neighborhood park, an 80-81 sweet and solid!
Expected a clad quarter, chopped down 2" and see a small dirty coin so I then think upaveraged clad dime.
Pulled it out of the hole and the dirt falls off the edge and I see shiny.
Held my breath, merc, rosey...better!
Rub the front and see it is only my second Barber dime.
Tired now, I will write it up better with more info about this and other hunts tomorrow.
I think this thing is gonna work out just fine.
First real treasure with the F5 but not the last I am sure.

wooooooooooo, grats on the barber! that is a nice one.

Skwerly said:

wooooooooooo, grats on the barber! that is a nice one.

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Thanks.
Found at my local, neighborhood park in a woodsey part I guess need to spend a lot more time searching.
Been there before, never found anything like this.
This park is old but merc old, not Barber old so a great surprise.

Digger57, Congrats! Well worn but a welcome Barber is always a nice find. And never consider a park, or other site, "hunted out." Perhaps "worked thin" but they are never empty. Most of the better parks I have enjoyed saw a lot of detecting through the '70s and '80s and the commonly-worked grassy areas have been thinned a lot. But I still enjoy finding good stuff at them because I have long enjoyed working the brushy areas. Trying to find old-use pathways or even some 'blanket spot' for picnics back 80 to 130 years ago. Places most people never think about taking a detectors simply because they are overgrown.

A friend of mine just posted a couple of Barber's he found this week, in one hole, just hunting the densely overgrown hillsides. Here's a link to his tale-of-two-finds and photos. You can see the tangling undergrowth. https://www.ahrps.org/forums/read.php?9,20472,20472#msg-20472

I used to hunt some of those brush parks when I lived ovr that way with the Omega 8000, an off-shoot of the F5, and did well. I'm sure you're going to enjoy the Coin Hunting talents of the Fisher F5.

Monte

Monte said:

Digger57, Congrats! W worn but welcome Barber is always a nice find. And never consider a park, or other site, "hunted out." Perhaps "worked thin" but they are never empty. Most of the better parks I have enjoyed saw a lot of detecting through the '70s and '80s and the commonly-worked grassy areas have been thinned a lot. But I still enjoy finding good stuff at them because I have long enjoyed working the brushy areas. trying to find old-use pathways or even some 'blanket spot' for picnics back 80 to 130 years ago. Places most people never think about taking a detectors simply because they are overgrown.

A friend of mine just posted a couple of Barber's he found this week, in one hole, just hunting the densely overgrown hillsides. Here's a link to his tale-of-two-finds and photos. You can see the tangling undergrowth. https://www.ahrps.org/forums/read.php?9,20472,20472#msg-20472

I used to hunt some of those brush parks when I lived ovr that way with the Omega 8000, an off-shoot of the F5, and did well. I'm sure you're going to enjoy the Coin Hunting talents of the Fisher F5.

Monte

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Thanks, Monte.
I never consider any site totally hunted out, I have found too much at sites considered by others to be like that to think differently.
This park is 84 acres big, despite that all the local club members and everyone else around here that culled all the easy silver and other old coins from this park decades ago consider it done, only me and a few other close hunting buddies still hunt here but it is one half block away from my house so I have hunted here hundreds of times all over this park.
Boggles my mind, like even a couple hundred hunters hunting for many years could think they could have possibly gotten a coil over every square inch of this place.
The treasure is not easy to find and spread out thin but it is still here, all those other guys that gave up on this place so long ago would be shocked to see what all I have found here.
I sure won't be telling them, let them all believe what they want to believe.

This dime was found in an area with lots of trees.
Maybe 100 yards away there were a few old homes from the 1800's next to a street that were knocked down long ago.
I heard a local club member found a trime in the area where those homes stood decades ago when people still hunted here.
In the area near those old homes about 10 years ago long before I moved near this park I myself found my very first Indian head cent, later on a few older wheat cents, an old pocket watch, pieces of it, anyway, some modern clad and a ton of junk like beaver tail tabs, can slaw galore, rusted iron screws nuts and bolts and tons of shotgun headstamps and other bullets.
Recently, in an area behind those homes are some small woods that go down a hill to other areas of the park, I found a small tribe of 3 Indians on one great hunt.
I think maybe kids that lived in those old homes might have played in this woodsey part long ago.
To the right of those homes is a larger section of woods maybe 60 yards wide that go for about 100 yards.
Mostly used by frisbee players now because there are about 3 goals spaced around that area.
I have hunted there many times and found clad, tons of can slaw and crown caps and twist off caps and about a billion beaver tail tabs plus a ton more bullets and older headstamps.
I think hunters hung out here years ago and it might have been used as a camping site.
In this area I did find a silver thimble once, another time a very rare early 1900's large good-for aluminum tire retread token that a collector wanted badly and offered to trade me a Morgan and a Walker half for it and some clad and other stuff but not much else except iron, trash and junk.
That is where I found this Barber dime.
I never scientifically hunted this area, never gridded it or anything but mostly just walked around aimlessly looking for targets.
On this same hunt yesterday near that dime I also found a 1927 wheat cent and about 6-7" deep I went after a squeaky high tone with high numbers, a signal I usually avoid digging.
For some reason I got after this one, the tone was weird because I had the thresh turned way up and that will skew the tones in multi but the numbers were steady in the 90's in a small, tight range.
Turns out it was an old kerosene lamp burner and adjustment knob.
Love finding those, don't ask me why.
Evidently the F5 can easily find relics, too.
So now I am thinking there is a lot more history happening in this part of those woods than I thought.
Good to know, I can walk to this area from my house and now I have a pretty decent sized area I can concentrate on a lot more after the thorny vines and low vegetation finally die back to a manageable level in a few weeks.
If we get some needed rain from Delta hopefully that should soften things up and make for much easier digging for rest of the fall and winter hunting season.
This is great, I tend to get bored hunting the same area all the time without finding much so this energized me and gets me excited so I can spend a lot of time here in the future and have fun looking for more great stuff with great optimism.
I am lucky to have such a huge place so close to my house that nobody wants to hunt anymore that still holds plenty of hidden treasure.

Digger57, I was checking out a couple of different detectors a while ago, not that I 'need' any, but it is always fun to look. I'm getting ready to do an 'entry-level' / 'kids detector' evaluation so I was shopping for those, and also checking into some accessory search coils.

In doing so I noticed the new lower price on the Fisher F5. I haven't, and don't, need it but I am also planning to do a review of detectors with an MSRP or under $400 or under $500, too. Holiday season is soon approaching and some folks are just looking for any reason to spend a little extra $$$ and add a new or versatile or useful detector to their outfit. I might give some thought to borrowing one or buying one if I can turn around and sell it after a review.

As I stated, it is a lot like the Omega 8000 that they designed after the F5, and I prefer the Omega's Tone ID option of 2, 3 or 4 Tone ID (similar to the Fisher F5), preferring 3-Tone. But the Omega 8000 isn't a current production model so that's out of the picture. And in the price range there is quite a bit of competition today so I need to keep a watch on what's in my wallet.

Congrats, again, on your success. It's good to hear you have such a potential site close-by. I know that should I get one, I have a brand new search coil in my tote that I would prefer to use. It worked great on the Omega 8000 and F44 so I'm sure I'd like it on the F5.

Keep us posted on your successes.

Monte

Monte said:

Digger57, I was checking out a couple of different detectors a while ago, not that I 'need' any, but it is always fun to look. I'm getting ready to do an 'entry-level' / 'kids detector' evaluation so I was shopping for those, and also checking into some accessory search coils.

In doing so I noticed the new lower price on the Fisher F5. I haven't, and don't, need it but I am also planning to do a review of detectors with an MSRP or under $400 or under $500, too. Holiday season is soon approaching and some folks are just looking for any reason to spend a little extra $$$ and add a new or versatile or useful detector to their outfit. I might give some thought to borrowing one or buying one if I can turn around and sell it after a review.

As I stated, it is a lot like the Omega 8000 that they designed after the F5, and I prefer the Omega's Tone ID option of 2, 3 or 4 Tone ID, preferring 3-Tone. But the Omega 8000 isn't a current production model so that's out of the picture. And in the price range there is quite a bit of competition today so I need to keep a watch on what's in my wallet.

Congrats, again, on your success. It's good to hear you have such a potential site close-by. I know that should I get one, I have a brand new search coil in my tote that I would prefer to use. It worked great on the Omega 8000 and F44 so I'm sure I'd like it on the F5.

Keep us posted on your successes.

Monte

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Thanks again, Monte.

Yes, the $600 MSRP F5 that everyone sold for $499 for years is still being sold by several online for about $450 with one elliptical concentric coil.
However one place has it for $299 with that same coil, an added sniper coil, free shipping and a lot of extras.
Mostly useless extras but some might appreciate a few of those things.
I talked to them, they say they have a ton in stock and they are now the exclusive distributor for this one but I don't know...
I think what happened was when Fisher discontinued them this company had enough money to buy up most of their stock and enough patience to sit on them until they were all gone plus they got a good enough deal to heavily discount them and still make a decent amount of money on them when they were sold even at this discounted price.
In retail there is an old saying...It's not how you sell but how you buy that makes you the profit.
Not unlimited, eventually they will all be gone but for right now, comparing the cost to what seems like its shocking ability, to me I consider this deal one of the best sleepers on the market right now.
A higher midrange detector that thinks it's closer to a flagship being sold for an entry level pricepoint...somebody out there will be shocked when they get theirs.
Lots of somebody's, probably.

I know one guy that's getting one, a hunting buddy I did some messaging with today after I sent him a pic of that Barber.
I was telling him about this thing and he seemed to get real interested so I put the hard sell on him because he started with and loved the F2, hunted with a few Tesoros a Deus and an AT Pro, hunts in the same rotten dirt I do and he is a jewelry hunter at his core.
I told him he had to get one, he will be just as surprised as I am at its performance around here and probably find more coins but as a very, very good jewelry hunter this thing might just make him great.
He had one in his cart before we were done talking, I sent him a link to this thread and one to the page where he chould download the F5 bible and told him to start reading.
I never got a commission, a hat, a sticker or anything else from Fisher for all the extra F2s they sold because of the million words I wrote about that thing even though they knew who I was and what I did for them, maybe I can talk to this company and get a few freebies if I do the same for this one.
Wouldn't that be nice.