worth the upgrade?

[snorks]

I have a F5 and have an opportunity to upgrade to the85th anniversary standard F75. I simply can't afford the F75se or ltd. Please does anyone know if this upgrade is worthwhile? The depth of the F75is much greater obviously but as far as user experience and is it worthwhile?

Thanks

 

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[Loco-Digger]

The stock F75 you are asking about is a great detector. The LTD or SE has boost process and a cache mode. I have never used the cache mode while detecting, and rarely use the Boost Process other than to try to get a better reading on a deep iffy target. I mainly use the stock coil, but do use the small 5"DD in trashy or hard to reach areas and I have a 12" x 15" SEF coil I use for field hunting.

 

[digger27]

Got some free time?...Grab a drink and read this novel.



Hey there...
In order to confuse you deeply I am going to give you my opinion and advice in this way too long post but remember it is only one opinion but from a guy that has some experience using Fishers both low end and higher and in two completely different soil types...
Pretty mineralized red clay and iron infested SE. soil and the heavenly black dirt out west in the middle of the country...NE. Kansas and NW. Missouri specifically.


Let me state early that moving to the anniversary edition F75 would probably be an upgrade for you but maybe so would putting a big Fisher DD coil on that F5 if all you have been using is the standard elliptical concentric...a coil I also have and love but is not quite as deep as the big DD or as accurate at depth as the bigger coil in good soil in my experience, or from what I have read about higher end Fishers and the results using both coils.
The F75 is also known to have a little bit more power than the F5, more oomph, bang for the buck as it were.


I also read a lot, have for several years and devour all posts about all the Fishers on many different sites if only to learn one more little technique, setting or insight to make me a better hunter.
What I have noticed is the impression that the F75 is a little deeper than the F5 seems to be true for the most part in varying degrees depending on who you talk to and where they hunt.
Tom Dankowski, who is about as close to a pure scientist as you can get and has tested many different detectors under as close to lab conditions as possible has stated in his findings the F75 is about 1.5-2" deeper overall than the F5 using similar coils in his Florida location so there is that.
As always soil conditions can really matter, I have read some that can't seem to get really deep with the F5 at all and some that seem very impressed with it and have dug coins at 8"+...but again you must take the kind of dirt into account because I have seen huge differences using all my detectors on depth, ID's and everything else hunting in two completely different types of soil conditions...a huge difference in the depth department and I am not talking about just an inch or two but way more than that using the same tools and coils in both.
Overall I have seen more posts with F5 owners complaining about depth and very few comparatively that do when using the other upper end Fishers and actually spend time to learn how to use that extra power to their advantage.
Not a ton but there is a difference in posts from owners that talk about depth issues that I have noticed.
I am referring to the F75/F70/T2 platform which is different than the F5 platform and all share many of the same features and abilities but programmed a little differently.
At the core these three all have the same basic powerful engine so much info that you can find about how these work seem to be similar pretty much across the board using them and using similar coils when it comes to the basics.


Let's mention frequency for a moment.
Many believe this stuff really matters but in my experience not so much and for me it is a non issue.
I dug more gold with my lower frequency F2 than all my higher frequency detectors and I have dug deep high conductivity targets using a much higher frequency F70 so for me it does not matter.
I am sure when discussing the actual physics of things frequency does matter at least a little, there wouldn't be so many choices in detectors and coils if it didn't, but for me I have dug enough at all depths to ignore this for the most part and pick my tools using other criteria light weight, available settings, abilities, coil choices and other things...frequency never enters into it for me but for others it does.
The F75 is a higher frequency than that F5 so some say better for gold and not as good for silver but again for me and because of what I have seen in the real world and dug a non issue so I just ignore this but that is for you to decide.

I do not use an F5 but I am a big Fisher fan after using my 5.9 kHz F2 for about 1000 hours with great success.
Nothing super deep with that but one using only concentric coils but at the time that didn't matter because I started my career in and around Birmingham Ala. where the soil is mineralized plus we have extra helpings of iron infused into the soil because of our geography and history.
Depth is a major issue here where no detectors will reach very far and in the bad stuff 5" is usually the most common depth I have heard anyone reaching in the red clay real bad stuff, if that, maybe a couple more inches in the rarer little bit better black stuff that still has depth problems.
I usually hunted public parks and most of the time jewelry was my game, I switched to that type of hunting early on because looking for deeper older coins was just a frustrating experience around here.
It could be done but the most successful people I have seen, read about or talked to have done that in three ways...
One, looking for areas where older coins could be found but where lots of the soil has been removed due to construction or washout conditions.
I have a friend that is crazy about finding silver and he has become an expert at locating and recognizing these washed out areas on hills and in other locations.
He uses an E Trac and has for years and he is yet to get much past that 5" mark in any location he has hunted, public parks or private lawns.
Two, private lawns are the areas a few hunters I know specialize in, it is about the only place they choose to hunt for silver because it still exists there but one I know that has done hundreds still told me he rarely finds any targets much past the 5-6" mark...mostly 5" even in those virgin sites.
Three, I have talked to a few oldtimers that found a ton of silver in their time but the key to this was the words "in their time".
This was mostly back in the early days when detectors first came out, the BFO's and especially the TR's and early VLF's and there was a ton more silver still in the ground at most public places and again not super deep but those early machines could still hit that 5-6" mark and they did a great job culling that easy to find silver from most sites including public ones because there was just more there.
Those days are over now, silver coins still exist but are a much rarer find and usually heavily masked and now it is a whole new ball game around here.


I moved from the SE. to the Midwest and I was thrilled with what I could do under much better soil conditions.
Every detector I used worked better, deeper, like I died and went to heaven compared to what I was used to.
After about one and a half years mostly using that F2 there I got curious and decided to start thinking about an upgrade.
If I could do so well with that F2 what could I do with an upgraded detector with more power, settings and abilities especially in that great dirt?
The F5, F70 and F75 were all in the running, I probably would have been happy with any of them but a fire sale price on a brand new never used F70 passed my way and that was that.
That is when my learning began.
When I learn a new detector I am extremely anal about it all, tweaking and experimenting to the max is my thing not only to learn it well but also to hopefully gain even deeper insights if possible.
This type of learning process is just about as much fun for me as digging up great treasure but I am weird in that way.
For others it is way different, they want a turn on and go tool and have very little patience to explore the deeper settings, combinations and results of these experiments...turn it on and immediately start finding the good stuff is the goal and I can't fault them for that.
For me the journey and discovery is the thing.
To that end for the first 9 months with this thing I did a lot more setting adjustments than digging and my finds totals suffered but I did make up for that and more when I finally settled down with some favorite settings and just hunted.
Along the way I also did way better than I thought possible digging so much less than usual and discovered a few things.


Boost....
The F70 has it, had it first before they added it to the F75 and even though it is a different process and programming from what they call boost on the newer F75's the effect and results are the same...under some circumstances maybe a bit more depth and clearer signals.
For those that doubt the similarity between the F70 and F75 in this boost thing they just need to look to posts written by Dave Johnson on this subject....one of the principle engineers at First Texas.
He has stated that there is very little actual differences between these process when it comes to in the world data and results using either unit or process.
You can hover over the stalks in the freshly cut fields or flora in forests with a decent air gap and still get deep in the ground, which is what this process was initially designed to do, or put it right on the surface and maybe gain some depth, clarity or ID advantages under some circumstances with either.
Am I glad I have boost on mine...sure.
Have I used it to my advantage to get deep into the ground in both good and bad soil...I have and for many hours.
Is is absolutely necessary to use it and spend the hundreds of dollars extra on the flagship LTD series detectors to have it....in my opinion no.
In both good and bad soil and in all kinds of conditions at sites that were clear or heavily trash or especially iron infested I have many hours using settings with boost and settings without and have found settings that seem to duplicate results using it either way.
Different settings depending on whether I have boost on or off but as far as I can tell I can get just as deep, ID good targets in busy and crowded environments just as well.
As a matter of fact a few of my deepest most jaw dropping targets I ever dug boost was not turned on and never came into play.
One was an Indian head spill at the edge of an old park with more EMI issues than any other site I have ever been to.
This spill was found using the big DD coil and was spread out between 7-9" deep in an area about a foot square.
Very jumpy because of all that EMI but still something in the numbers I saw and the tones I heard made me dig it.
Another was not a coin or ring but still dropped my jaw because of depth.
It was the thumb ringer part from a bicycle bell and on that one using the same big DD coil I actually got great tones and even constant and pretty accurate screen VDI info on several passes from at least two directions even though the depth was extreme.
14" on my screen when I hit the pinpoint button but 15" when I actually dug it...I measured that one because I was unbelievably shocked something was actually down there that deep.
High sense on that one, medium thresh but absolutely no boost.
In that great Kansas soil I got pretty deep with the elliptical concentric too, up to the 8 to even 10" on a few targets like a few pull tabs, but overall the big DD seemed deeper.


Here in this southern devil dirt I have reached the 8" area on a few great targets is some really bad dirt, considered almost a miracle if you swung here and knew what we are up against,
I have done that using the big DD, the 10" concentric and even the small sniper DD...although I still believe the big DD coils will give me the strongest signals.
So much trash and iron at my favorite sites I usually opt for the sniper, however.
Again using both boost on and off I have found settings for both modes that seem to work just as well either way.


Due to life circumstances we needed to move back to this mineralized and problem filled devil dirt in the south so I was depressed...I remembered all the problems I dealt with in the past and after experiencing everything so positive and different in that Midwestern soil I was sure I would need a PI unit to even come close to duplicating the depth I achieved in that better soil.
What I found was, after many hours of experimentation again with my newest tool the F70 and 3 coils, was that I actually could get deeper in this soil and reach levels I always suspected held a lot of treasure that was still there because most detectors could not reach those depths.
I am only talking about the 6-9" range but for here that would be like 10-12" or more in normal soil.
I discovered that my Fisher could get deeper than 5", I eventually came to the conclusion many other detectors could also but the big problem for all of us was as you get deeper the minerals and heavy iron in the soil skews most signals and behavior into areas that make very little sense.
Nothing is obvious deep here, most everything is masked, up or down averaged, jumpy and in no way can be considered normal by any measure...absolutely a different experience hunting in good soil.
To my surprise, after hours of experimentation, I eventually unlocked the key to recognizing these deeper good targets, avoid most of the deep iron buried almost everywhere and dig some extremely great treasure from some very difficult and mostly heavily hunted sites.
It took learning a whole new language and set of behaviors to do it but I did.

I don't know if I could accomplish the same things using any other brands or even the F5 because I have no experience.
I do know I seemed to have gotten deeper and dug many treasures that most never suspected existed because I have that F70 and learned it as well as I have.
Not stopped learning either, for me that never ends.


Because if all of this and the fact that the F75 is so very close to the F70 with even more features that I would consider very useful, that plus that the anniversary edition F75 can be had at a relatively bargain $500 price from the right dealers, I think the move to the F75 might be advantageous.
In your position I would think I might do that but I am glad I am not and right now blissfully happy with my current tools.
I wish I had a ton of experience with the F5, if I did I could give you much more real world comparable data but I still hope some of this helps in your difficult decision.


Good Luck and HH.

 

[fortboy]

I have never used an F5 but I started in this great hobby with an F2. I found an incredible amount of goodies with that machine. About 6 years ago I found myself invited to an organized relic hunt and thought I should upgrade to a little better machine. I bought the F75 base model, gold shaft with the DD coil. Same tones as the F2 so there wasn't much of a learning curve there. I have never been happier on a purchase. The F75 is a deep seeking machine. Chatty, yes but you learn to hear through some of that noise. The relic hunt I mentioned was in some pretty nasty red, iron infested soil I had ever come across. Most people on that hunt told me I would have to dig everything because the mineralization of the soil would not let it read true. Well, I'll tell you, I dug a lot of targets that day. Mainly, on a civil war site, some iron objects are desirable. However, most times when my machine told me it was a good target via readout and the signal was consistent after swinging several different directions on it, it indeed was a good target!!! Most of the targets I found were in the 6-8 inch range but I did find a few things between 10-12 inches. However, the deeper the target, sometimes the display would read iron but if it was a consistent signal, it was a quality target. The deeper I dug to fetch the target, the better the display would read. I've since been on many hunts in that red dirt and have found a good many civil war relics with the F75. I recently bought a pulse machine for those hunts and I have to say, it does go deeper than the F75. Much deeper. But, they are two different animals. In good soil with the F75, I have founds items well over a foot with my deepest target found being and Indian head penny at 14 inches!!!! In my opinion, buy the F75 and use it as much as you can. You will not be disappointed. I use mine mainly in all metal with no discrimination as I'm of the belief that when you discriminate you lose a little depth. Great machine, buy one.

 

[snorks]

Thanks for the replies! Really appreciate the input. I enjoyed the book 27.
Cheers
Simon

 

[Loco-Digger]

I have never used an F5 but I started in this great hobby with an F2. I found an incredible amount of goodies with that machine. About 6 years ago I found myself invited to an organized relic hunt and thought I should upgrade to a little better machine. I bought the F75 base model, gold shaft with the DD coil. Same tones as the F2 so there wasn't much of a learning curve there. I have never been happier on a purchase. The F75 is a deep seeking machine. Chatty, yes but you learn to hear through some of that noise. The relic hunt I mentioned was in some pretty nasty red, iron infested soil I had ever come across. Most people on that hunt told me I would have to dig everything because the mineralization of the soil would not let it read true. Well, I'll tell you, I dug a lot of targets that day. Mainly, on a civil war site, some iron objects are desirable. However, most times when my machine told me it was a good target via readout and the signal was consistent after swinging several different directions on it, it indeed was a good target!!! Most of the targets I found were in the 6-8 inch range but I did find a few things between 10-12 inches. However, the deeper the target, sometimes the display would read iron but if it was a consistent signal, it was a quality target. The deeper I dug to fetch the target, the better the display would read. I've since been on many hunts in that red dirt and have found a good many civil war relics with the F75. I recently bought a pulse machine for those hunts and I have to say, it does go deeper than the F75. Much deeper. But, they are two different animals. In good soil with the F75, I have founds items well over a foot with my deepest target found being and Indian head penny at 14 inches!!!! In my opinion, buy the F75 and use it as much as you can. You will not be disappointed. I use mine mainly in all metal with no discrimination as I'm of the belief that when you discriminate you lose a little depth. Great machine, buy one.

Hey fortboy I agrre about the F75 being a great detector, to quiet the monster down have you learned how to go through the frequencies to pick the quietest one?

 

[fortboy]

Loco: Yes, I change frequencies quite a bit, especially when hunting with lots of other people. Sometimes you find a super quiet frequency, it's almost like it makes it whisper quiet!!