New f75 and a couple questions

[HighVDI]

Hello, I'm just getting back into the hobby after 20 years away. I bought myself an f2 on the cheap to see if i would stick with it this time. I'm officially hooked once again.

I just received my f75 and have a couple questions. I still haven't even been able to put the batteries in the machine yet. Been too busy. Anyways, The manual seems kinda all over the place as far as setting up the machine. Is there a standard format for what you set, and when? For instance, do you always ground balance last? Set discrimnation 1st? Does it even matter?

Now, for the display screen. If you run in all metals, is everything on the left side of screen NOT being used?

I really need to get out and just use it and start the learning curve. Thanks for any info.

*EDIT* I almost forgot. would you guys go back over the previously hunted with f2 sites with the f75 since the depth is probably double?

 

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[Dug]

Have you gone to You Tube and looked for F75 videos? A lot of them out there that will answer your questions. The manual may seem all over since you are new to it, but once you are used to the machine you will realize how well the manual was put together.

You have not mentioned what type of detecting you will be doing. The type set up you will need depends on the type of detecting you will be doing.

Example I'm in SC with good soil and relic dig in the countryside. I use about about 85 sensitivity, 13 Discrimination, 1 notch, 2F tones, DE for process unless I am in brush then I switch to Bp but have to slow my swings. I use the fast grab to ground balance which is pushing forward on the trigger and pumping the coil to the ground a few times.

It does not matter what order you make changes to on the menu. I use the left side because I discriminate hunt.

With the exception of the Frequency shifting (which you will unlikely use that much) your machine will remember your last settings after you turn it off. If you have completely bungled the settings, Reset is your friend. Follow the procedures and the machine will return to a factory preset. In my older manual it is on page 10.

 

[digger27]

Lol!

This is great, I also had an F2 and pushed it to its limit and loved it, found more than I or many other people thought possible.
Then I got an F70 and it could do things, more things in not only normal sites but some of the most difficult imaginable...easily.
Not due to only the extra power, which you need to experience, understand and learn to control, but all those settings possible.
Run the numbers, there are so many combinations but on these upper end Fishers almost every way you want to set it works...it is a very forgiving and capable tool.
The engineers knew what they were doing when they set up the factory start up defaults, many use them and find much and if you tweak them a bit for difficult conditions, on your timetable, your jaw will drop...further.


Most GB in all metal then switch to disc if they hunt that way but I do it in both and it seems to work fine.
Using all metal the tone, the modulation regarding depth, the numbers on the screen and how they act are all that matters to me, some use the confidence meter, I rarely look at it.
In disc this thing is deep, some use nothing else and some use both disc and all metal.
Going from the F2 to this is like going from a Corolla to a Lamborghini, go slow and learn at your own pace.
I started in 4 tones when I got my F70 because it was so like my F2 and that was comfortable for me, 4H actually which helped me find more nickels and ever before and nickel area gold on my fourth hunt...since then I have tried many more and settled into a few favorites many not like when I was using the F2 at all.
It just takes time, GB, use default start up settings and go from there.
Ask questions at any time.

Going over old sites...yea, I would do that.

 

[HighVDI]

Have you gone to You Tube and looked for F75 videos? A lot of them out there that will answer your questions. The manual may seem all over since you are new to it, but once you are used to the machine you will realize how well the manual was put together.

You have not mentioned what type of detecting you will be doing. The type set up you will need depends on the type of detecting you will be doing.

Example I'm in SC with good soil and relic dig in the countryside. I use about about 85 sensitivity, 13 Discrimination, 1 notch, 2F tones, DE for process unless I am in brush then I switch to Bp but have to slow my swings. I use the fast grab to ground balance which is pushing forward on the trigger and pumping the coil to the ground a few times.

It does not matter what order you make changes to on the menu. I use the left side because I discriminate hunt.

With the exception of the Frequency shifting (which you will unlikely use that much) your machine will remember your last settings after you turn it off. If you have completely bungled the settings, Reset is your friend. Follow the procedures and the machine will return to a factory preset. In my older manual it is on page 10.

I fished (no pun intended) around on you tube a little. I know they made changes to the f75, so i didn't want to watch the older vids and get even more confused since all of the upgrades, changes, and different models are confusing enough. I am primarily going to search old farm fields, old homesteads, parks, yards, and the woods.....in no particular order, and I love finding old coins! Relics are always cool too.

Lol!

This is great, I also had an F2 and pushed it to its limit and loved it, found more than I or many other people thought possible.
Then I got an F70 and it could do things, more things in not only normal sites but some of the most difficult imaginable...easily.
Not due to only the extra power, which you need to experience, understand and learn to control, but all those settings possible.
Run the numbers, there are so many combinations but on these upper end Fishers almost every way you want to set it works...it is a very forgiving and capable tool.
The engineers knew what they were doing when they set up the factory start up defaults, many use them and find much and if you tweak them a bit for difficult conditions, on your timetable, your jaw will drop...further.


Most GB in all metal then switch to disc if they hunt that way but I do it in both and it seems to work fine.
Using all metal the tone, the modulation regarding depth, the numbers on the screen and how they act are all that matters to me, some use the confidence meter, I rarely look at it.
In disc this thing is deep, some use nothing else and some use both disc and all metal.
Going from the F2 to this is like going from a Corolla to a Lamborghini, go slow and learn at your own pace.
I started in 4 tones when I got my F70 because it was so like my F2 and that was comfortable for me, 4H actually which helped me find more nickels and ever before and nickel area gold on my fourth hunt...since then I have tried many more and settled into a few favorites many not like when I was using the F2 at all.
It just takes time, GB, use default start up settings and go from there.
Ask questions at any time.

Going over old sites...yea, I would do that.

Hahaha. It really is crazy how much I have found with a $200.00 machine in a short time. Lol at the Corolla vs Lambo! I guess i'd be lying if I said I wasn't intimidated by all the features. Last time I did this was the mid 90's while a teen and not very educated on the tech part of it all. Things have come a long ways too. I just started "listening" vs screen readings and also digging solid two way signals vs only strong 4 way signals, and wow, I was for sure leaving good stuff behind!

Thanks for the info. I need all I can get.

 

[digger27]

The features are there to use as you will...or not.
Don't be intimidated because it wants to be your friend...really.
Some stay with default, some tweak a bit and just adjust the basics or play with a few tones, some like me explore every possibility and setting combination I can think of but I don't think I will live long enough to try everything possible and I don't even have as many as you do.
Like I said most everything works from default to insane...you just swing and dig.
In most normal situations most will do fine, the so many options really come into play in really difficult sites but you have plenty of time to explore those.
Eventually you will find your own favorites.

A couple of tips...
The sense, (gain), is not like some other brands in that most everything is way higher than you might think.
Some keep the gain high, some turn it down halfway some go lower and you will be surprised at the depth at all levels...even at 10 and under.
Many use sense at 40-30 or below and still get deep and in those parks in heavy trash sites if you are using the big DD coil and no sniper option turn the sense down to the 30-40 area and watch how it seems to turn that big coil into something else...it will seem like a laser-like scalpel.

Don't mess with the notches unless you fully understand how that feature works and if you do always do a reset after, reversing out of notches does not always seem to work but a reset always clears them out.

Try the different tones, there might be one you like more than the others.

It is just a tool...you can use it as a basic one or get as heavy into the settings and programs as you want when you want or if you want and still find great stuff all along the way.

 

[HighVDI]

The features are there to use as you will...or not.
Don't be intimidated because it wants to be your friend...really.
Some stay with default, some tweak a bit and just adjust the basics or play with a few tones, some like me explore every possibility and setting combination I can think of but I don't think I will live long enough to try everything possible and I don't even have as many as you do.
Like I said most everything works from default to insane...you just swing and dig.
In most normal situations most will do fine, the so many options really come into play in really difficult sites but you have plenty of time to explore those.
Eventually you will find your own favorites.

A couple of tips...
The sense, (gain), is not like some other brands in that most everything is way higher than you might think.
Some keep the gain high, some turn it down halfway some go lower and you will be surprised at the depth at all levels...even at 10 and under.
Many use sense at 40-30 or below and still get deep and in those parks in heavy trash sites if you are using the big DD coil and no sniper option turn the sense down to the 30-40 area and watch how it seems to turn that big coil into something else...it will seem like a laser-like scalpel.

Don't mess with the notches unless you fully understand how that feature works and if you do always do a reset after, reversing out of notches does not always seem to work but a reset always clears them out.

Try the different tones, there might be one you like more than the others.

It is just a tool...you can use it as a basic one or get as heavy into the settings and programs as you want when you want or if you want and still find great stuff all along the way.

Thanks for all the info! I really do appreciate it. I get what you mean. In other words, I can go with DE mode, and run lower sensitivity, and still find more, and deeper targets than my entry level machine.....which sounds amazing. My first test will be this afternoon. I will get back this evening and update.

 

[Loco-Digger]

you've been given plenty of good advice, I also recommend that you look through the Fisher Research Labs Forum and read older posts about the F75. How did you run your F2? Did you discriminate out much and did you notch some target ranges back in?

I recommend you start out is DE mode and start by discriminating out the iron 1-15. Run sensitivity between 65 & 75, select 3H or 4H tones so nickels will ring in as a high tone. Did you also get the 5"DD coil? if yes, use this on the trashier sites you've already hunted with the F2.

Make sure you have no discrimination on when you get to a site, sweep the coil until you find a quiet spot and then do your ground grab. After you are ground balanced then you can change your discrimination from zero to whatever you want.

 

[Honest Samuel]

Thanks to Loco-Digger advice, I will purchase a new Fisher F-75 in April or May when it gets warmer in Connecticut. Good hunting and good luck.

 

[HighVDI]

Loco, thank you as well. This is all the kind of info I was looking for! At first, using the f2 I was disc. happy, not realizing that totally hid targets, and robbed depth. I found 6 wheats, and a rosie dime my last hunt with it on no disc. And they were fairly deep targets. Sounds crazy I'm sure, but I don't want to set the f2 down after learning it's ways. This I'm sure will be a very temporary thing, haha. I was going to do exactly what you said set up wise, but with the 2 tones. You say this hides nickels in a way? I got the 15 inch boat anchor in the kit I got. To be honest, what I paid for the detector wouldn't have paid for all the other extras I got. After reading here, I'm going to get that 5" inch coil. Sounds like a total winner on trashy areas.

 

[Loco-Digger]

Loco, thank you as well. This is all the kind of info I was looking for! At first, using the f2 I was disc. happy, not realizing that totally hid targets, and robbed depth. I found 6 wheats, and a rosie dime my last hunt with it on no disc. And they were fairly deep targets. Sounds crazy I'm sure, but I don't want to set the f2 down after learning it's ways. This I'm sure will be a very temporary thing, haha. I was going to do exactly what you said set up wise, but with the 2 tones. You say this hides nickels in a way? I got the 15 inch boat anchor in the kit I got. To be honest, what I paid for the detector wouldn't have paid for all the other extras I got. After reading here, I'm going to get that 5" inch coil. Sounds like a total winner on trashy areas.

2 tone will not hide nickels, but I am used to 3 tones at least since I used to swing the F4. Iron low tones, foil thru zinc will be mid tones and copper/silver will ring in as a high tone. I only use 2 tone when I hunt fields. 3H & 4H will just allow the likely nickel target to ring in as a high tone. Either way you go the nickels will still ring in. What coil did your F2 have? I fell in love with the DD when I was using the F4, I am not a big concentric fan. I have a 15" Nel coil and if I plan on swinging it for the day, I used a makeshift harness, they add weight to the detector. You will feel the difference in weight going from the F2 to the F75 with the stock coil mounted.

 

[HighVDI]

2 tone will not hide nickels, but I am used to 3 tones at least since I used to swing the F4. Iron low tones, foil thru zinc will be mid tones and copper/silver will ring in as a high tone. I only use 2 tone when I hunt fields. 3H & 4H will just allow the likely nickel target to ring in as a high tone. Either way you go the nickels will still ring in. What coil did your F2 have? I fell in love with the DD when I was using the F4, I am not a big concentric fan. I have a 15" Nel coil and if I plan on swinging it for the day, I used a makeshift harness, they add weight to the detector. You will feel the difference in weight going from the F2 to the F75 with the stock coil mounted.

Yes indeed, first thing I noticed tonight was how light the f2 is. To be honest, I am amazed at that cheap machine. It will work perfect for my little boy, or the wife to use to come out and hunt. It still has the stock 8" on it. Well, I spent a couple hours with it this evening. went to the spot i was finding all the wheats the other day. Must have missed a couple clad dimes in there (I'm sure others too). So, i like the stout feel of the f75, and it swings smooth. Set up was super simple when using the DE mode, and I listened to your procedure for ground balancing. It was quiet as a mouse! I did notice this machine is BUSY. Def. picked up more deep targets than the f2. I kept getting fooled by the depth readings.....with bigger targets. Some even pinpointed like they were smaller objects. To be honest, I was hunting a neighbors business and I quit digging around 10 inches. Didn't want to have a mound of dirt there and someone come out. Had a bunch of targets like that. Then moved to the woods close to my house where there is an abandoned early 1900's home that burned down, and foundation is left. I was able to find a 37 wheat from that site. wasn't there too long before it got dark on me. Found a nice deer antler shed while in the woods, lol. I sifted that home site a couple times with the f2, and only found one other wheat there. 5 minutes there with the f75 I found the 37. All and all it seems like a very stable machine. The headphones that came with it are complete junk.

On the deep targets that pinpoint say 6-8 inches and you're digging down a foot. Must be something big?

How deep have you guys seen coins recovered?

How deep can you get a clean, crisp signal on a coin?

I was digging a lot of iffy signals just to see what they might be and try to begin learning the machine. I've never used the dd coil before, so thats a learning curve too. Really, all and all each spot wasn't really the ideal spot to learn on....but they were quick and easy to access today. I have a neighbor with a big 1920's home I got permission to hunt. I will go there tomorrow, and see what the f75 can do there. Any more info anyone has I am all ears!

 

[Loco-Digger]

The deepest coin I dug was a large silver at 10-10.5 inches, the deepest target dug was an old piece of lead pipe while field hunting at 14 inches. The target IDs should be the same or very similar to those on the F2. My F75LTD2's depth meter is always off by 2 inches. If it shows 5 inches I find the target at 3. I dig many deep iffy signals myself and have been rewarded a few times. I dig all targets with a tight TID above iron. If the ID is jumpy, unless it's a slow day, I don't dig. JE mode is the hottest and FA is the best for target rich sites or trashy sites. I think you give a little depth, but gain fast audio/faster for better target separation. I have not had the need to use bc mode since I have not hunted a bottle cap ladden site.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Deepest coin I have dug was 10". A friggin 1986 Roosevelt dime.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Note that detectors are notoriously bad at depth readings. Those are based (I believe) on a silver quarter. So dimes, cents, nickles that have different conductivity are near guesses.

I find it better to lift the coil while swinging. If you have the coil 2" over the ground and it reads 6" deep, what does it read with the coil 6" over the ground? If it is still reading it may be shallower and larger. If it stops reading it may be deeper and/or smaller.

"X" ing the target also helps. Does it read consistently aide-to-side and front-to-back? More clues.

Note that a detector that runs at 7KHz to 14KHz has a 26 to 13 mile long wavelength. And we're asking it to be accurate to inches.

 

[steve1357]

I own a lot of detectors. All of my Teknetics and Fishers are very close in depth estimation except the F75. It was horribly wrong when I got it new, and it's still horribly wrong after this last upgrade.

I think it's an F75 software issue. I mentioned it before but received some jibberish back that there was no way to fix it.

Mine runs 3-5 inches off. Targets are always shallower than display says.

 

[Dug]

I dig all targets with a tight TID above iron. If the ID is jumpy, unless it's a slow day, I don't dig. JE mode is the hottest and FA is the best for target rich sites or trashy sites. I think you give a little depth, but gain fast audio/faster for better target separation. I have not had the need to use bc mode since I have not hunted a bottle cap ladden site.

Hi Loco; I really like your observations with the F75, particularly the point of obtaining quiet ground with zero discrimination before fast grab balance! Something that I have over looked but makes complete sense to get the most efficient ground balance.

Not sure I understand "Tight TID above iron", please simplify for me as I can be thick as a brick.

As a relic digger I was always using Bp since it was explained that it gives greater depth, however the motion needs to be slowed down and I notice if it isn't I always seem to be rewarded with a false tone particularly as I'm reaching my left swing point and snapping back to the right (not a coil connection issue as this does not happen in De). So I have gone back to De mode and saving Bp for thick ground cover. You are the 3rd digger to mention using Je. How would you compare with your experiences Je with De modes?

Recently I switched from 2f tones to Dp tones per the recommendations of another digger but when I got into an area with a lot of square nails (while using De mode) it was as if my machine was having a difficult time determining which tone to give me and so it was giving me multiple but not repeatable tones. I switched back to 2f and immediately acquired a repeatable tone that was a small button that I would have likely missed if left in Dp tone. Any idea what was going on here?

 

[Loco-Digger]

The term tight target ID would be one that rings in and shows a Target ID number that only varies 1 number either way (higher or lower), example a reading of 71,72. If it's jumpy i am meaning it rings in at a range that jumps between 66 through 74 example. Since you are a relic guy I assume you dig everything above iron, I am a coin shooter and am more picky as to what I dig unless it is an old site or I an field hunting.

I mainly use BP mode in getting a better ID on a deep target. BP runs hot like the JE mode and can give more false signals. I didn not know you had boost process that is why I mentioned the JE mode. I normally quiet my detector down by switching through the 7 freq's after I ground balance and I run sensitivity between 65 & 75. I have never used DP (delta pitch) so I can't comment on it. When you are in a nail patch I'd switch to the FA process to get better target separation.

 

[HighVDI]

I own a lot of detectors. All of my Teknetics and Fishers are very close in depth estimation except the F75. It was horribly wrong when I got it new, and it's still horribly wrong after this last upgrade.

I think it's an F75 software issue. I mentioned it before but received some jibberish back that there was no way to fix it.

Mine runs 3-5 inches off. Targets are always shallower than display says.

See, that's the strange part. I'll pinpoint what seems to be a smaller target at around 5 inches. Cut a plug about that deep, and then I'm digging to china. Obviously this leads me to believe it's a bigger object than I thought. The depth reading is fooling me though. Other than that, I'm liking this thing. It's like anything else I'm guessing. Takes time. Got my headphones working. Right side wasn't working before. Now I can hear the signals so much crisper. I was in a very trashy site this morning and was able to feel out a penny in a hole with a few 22 shells, and a dime in between trash. Getting better. I'm going to do a test bed I think to get an idea on a deeper coin hit.

 

[digger27]

In a supposedly hunted out park near the edge that had more EMI problems than any site I had ever been to before or since I rolled over this coin spill that was reported to be 7-8" in depth but at least one or two of these coins were closer to 9-10".
4H, sense on 80, -1 on the thresh using the F75 DD coil I got a pretty jumpy signal because of that EMI, ( no DST on mine), but most of the numbers stayed high and I kept hearing a repeatable sweet high tone as I maneuvered the coil around the area.
The deep depth and good tone made me curious so I opened a hole and found these coins spread around about a one foot square area.
A 1915 wheat and three injuns.



In that same area on another hunts still with that huge amount of EMI and that coil I also found a very masked merc in the entrance to this 100 year old park which was filled with a huge amount of trash.
I did it by turning down the sense to about 30 as I mentioned and this thing sang out loud and clear and repeated at about 5-6" like it had a red flag over it that said dig me printed on it.

On another hunt in that same problem area I found a gold ring sitting nice and pretty between a deep piece of iron on the right an inch or two away and a smaller rusty iron nail on the left also about an inch or two away.
I got a mixed jumpy signal from high to low because my coil was over all three targets at the same time but as I swept the coil over the area from left to right and back I realized after pinpointing there were three targets here but the middle one gave me a nice tone and repeated some 51-53 numbers, they were fleeting but kept repeating so I decided to dig it despite thinking it was going to be trash.
Surprised the heck out of me when a gold ring popped up and I was lucky I hit it from this angle where the superior target separation Fishers possess alerted me.
If I hit these three from a 90 degree angle I think I would have gotten a whole different signal so never discount luck in this business.



This is important so take note...this ring out of the ground dropped a full 10 numbers to a solid 41 and this is because Fishers are programmed to do something that you can use to your advantage if you understand what us happening.
They up-average all targets around iron in infested sites or on deeper targets if you hunt in mineralized ferris oxide infested soil like the red clay I have in my neck of the woods.
I mean they can soar on gold, silver, tabs, coins...everything.
Remember this if you hunt in iron.

In a site so infested with iron in good Kansas soil where many tried but nobody made any headway, including me, and most gave up and looked for easier sites to hunt I stayed and hunted it many times looking for any way to unlock this iron puzzle and get to hidden and masked targets we all suspected were there but couldn't find.
It took hours of experimenting but finally I hit on some settings and noticed behavior that helped me figure it out and that up-averaging effect was a big reason I was able to find all this.

Here is just some of the bigger stuff I had to deal with, I don't have a picture of the million nails, nuts bolts wire and everything else that were here.




Here are the better targets ultimately came out of this very difficult site.




In my current SE. Alabama devil dirt I have been able to find several great targets from some scoured sites long ago given up on and declared hunted out but I found out they weren't...this up averaging thing helped me find these things that were severely masked from the 4-8" depth level.
They were here the whole time but it took my up-averaging Fisher to find them especially the deeper ones.
Nickels here, you know the 31-33 VDI signal will actually come in at the 50's-60's zinc area if at about 4"...I have dug buffs, older Washintons and a V nickel here from the 6-8" depth area and every one came in from the high 80's to low 90's.
Like I said around iron signals can and will soar high.


The absolute deepest target I ever dug was a thumb ringer off of an old bicycle bell.
In disc with maxed out sense, (and thresh which I can do on the F70 but you don't have that option), I got a solid signal in 1F from several directions and good tones plus pretty accurate VDI numbers which is unusual for something this deep...an actual measured 15".



At the very fringe of the detecting field you might hear a tone but the screen will usually go blank.
This is normal on super deep targets and when I got the good tone AND the screen info and a 14-15" depth reading I had to dig it just to see if anything was actually down there...and there was.
Not a great target but still shocked me that it could see it and tell me it was there.

 

[HighVDI]

Digger, those are some nice finds for sure! So have you ever had a depth reading of 4-6 inches, and it ended up being more like 10"+? Sometimes I wonder if it is picking up really large targets that are very deep.