Three (or four) choices

[foiled_again]

I'm trying to figure out what focus on for a new detector. I'm looking at the F75, T2 and F70/Patriot (I'm a Fisher/FTP guy). Considerations are:

-I'm in north central Texas (DFW area). Soil conditions are mild.

--I've been doing this (mostly as a beach hunter in California) for over 20 years...now trying to adapt to a much different environment.

--I'm looking for a machine to use in house hunting. So far I've hit 44 houses in the area with no silver found (I do have some wheaties and relics I can date to the 20s through 40s). The places I've hit have ranged in age from c. 1890 to the 1960s.

--I mostly use a CZ-7a...it doesn't lack for depth (I think) but I've never had much luck with it. I'm looking for depth and reliable VDI, based on my personal decision making process. I also have an F5 which I rarely use for house hunting, and a Land Ranger Pro which has been on detached duty in California for frequent trips out there.

--I've been told: there was a big fad in town years ago for detecting and everything's been hit...most places in town have been raised with imported fill...people back in the day didn't have any money to lose...and so on. I've only ever heard of one silver coin being found on a house lot with a detector...but that means nothing.

--Closest call/biggest thrill: five wheat pennies, newest 1944, within a 2-foot radius, all about 4 inches down, in a front yard. But no silver.

Assuming I know what I'm doing (shaky as that might be) I have to think that what I'm looking for is deeper than I'm getting. So that's my deal.

So anyway, I'd appreciate any advice. The trigger pinpointing on the T2 and 75 are a plus...the 75 is probably the priciest...the T2 has intrigued me since it first came out but without notching ability it seems more suited for front yard (sparse targets, not too much junk) than backyard (high trash, more chance for relics) or parkschool conditions...I'm a little skeptical that the 70/Patriot is as deep as the 75. Who knows. Ideas?

 

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[Terry Soloman]

How about a Makro Racer 2?

 

[Rawhide]

Well I enjoy the F75, and usually switch between it and my other two detectors. The T2 is really deep. I also run the etrac for deep old silver, none of which I have found yet. Since you already have the F75, I would hunt a little more with it and see what ya get.

 

[digger27]

I like the spread on my F70, less iron area than the T2 but more in the higher jewelry and coin areas.
Hunting in and for iron the Fishers are very capable and will do fine with that smaller range, also, and the T2 finds coins and jewelry very well.
As far as depth in good soil I easily got to the 10"+ area on coins using the 11" DD coil, past 10" using the small DD sniper and almost that far using a concentric.
I could go further but I rarely came across coins much deeper than 6-8" anywhere I have hunted in four states.
Once I hit slightly bigger target than a coin with great audio and visual ID's at a measured 15".
In bad soil I can get up to the 8-9" area using all my DD coils.

You can be skeptical if you want but the F75/F70/T2/Patriot are all built in the same core platform with the same powerful engine...programming and features are the big differences between them, not the pure penetrating power and raw depth.
The guy that designed the platform, Dave Johnson, has stated exactly that several times in these forums.
If you have seen what I have seen you would believe.

Personally I don't like the trigger but that is just me, I do love using both DD and concentric coils so that puts me over on to the Fisher/Patriot team and I love to tweak settings and even mess with the thresh in disc so I am on team F70/Patriot to further narrow it down...but there are so many flavors and options on this platform, enough for everybody.

 

[foiled_again]

Thank you folks. The takeaway seems to be that any of the four would be good for me. Terry, I found your review on the Racer 2 extremely interesting...like you I had some reservations about foreign manufacture but I'm going to look into the Racers some more (what's the diff between the Racer and Racer 2? Will try to figure that out). You see it as an upgrade over the T2 and F75? Wow.

 

[Loco-Digger]

Any of the 3 will do. I recommend you get the 5"DD sniper coil also. It gets amazing depth for it's size and has pulled many coins from trashy areas of sites I pounded in the past using the stock DD. Good Luck in whichever. I primarily hunt with my F75LTD, but have been playing around with the F70 and have owned a stock F75. I am not a huge fan of the stock concentric on the F70 though, but I had fun with the F70 when I installed the stock DD. You might can tell that I prefer DD coils.

 

[mrwilburino]

For depth with a reliable VDI on deep silver, my pick would be your CZ7a. If you haven't been having any luck with it however, then you probably do need to make a change. Any of the machines you mentioned would be a good choice. Patriot would save you a few bucks though.

 

[Minelab Matt]

How about a Makro Racer 2?

+1

 

[Javadroid]

Great questions and answers here! I can't add to this (though I love my old Fisher F2!), but I would encourage you to do some research on your surrounding area. Even if what the folks have told you about the town being hunted out and raised with fill is true, there are always places a short drive can open up for you. You are in an area that offers a lot of opportunity - good luck!

 

[foiled_again]

Very much so as far as this being an area that should have potential. I drive past the old houses around here and drool. There are hundreds just in this town. Have only done a couple of other town sites so far with no notable success, but I've only just begun; there are enough places to check that I'll never run out.

After taking a break for the summer heat the count is now 50 houses hit, still no silver, but house 47 yielded a massive 18.14 gram class ring, easily one of my top five finds ever (also three wheaties and I have open access). When I return it I should accumulate a chunk of karma (thanks to the Internet I was able to determine and locate the owner in about four hours). It's gotten to the point where I am skipping promising houses in anticipation of new equipment, so I'll have to move on this soon. I want all of the Patriot/F70, F75, T2 and Racer 2, still can't decide, so it will probably be opportunity-based when I make a move.

By the way, the CZ-7a, F5 and Land Ranger Pro all agreed on that class ring; it's a zinc penny.

 

[foiled_again]

Opportunity knocked and I got a F75SE, with DST and FA, for $325. I think I did pretty good, all things considered.

 

[digger27]

Opportunity knocked and I got a F75SE, with DST and FA, for $325. I think I did pretty good, all things considered.

Yeeesh!
Considering Fisher is asking $249 for their 15" coil, which I don't think is selling all that well, I would say you scored big time.
Have fun!

 

[vferrari]

Opportunity knocked and I got a F75SE, with DST and FA, for $325. I think I did pretty good, all things considered.

Yeah. Absolute steal. Good job. Hopefully it has the embedded serial number so you can verify it is not a Chinese knockoff.

 

[DiggerinVA]

For your mild soil conditions you have got a great machine in the F75SE....very deep machine. I have dug some deep coins and relics with mine. Only sold it because of depth loss in really nasty ground, but sometimes wish I had it back. Like the Deus it is a fairly light, very well balanced machine that you can hunt all day with. You got a great deal! Good luck with your new machine!

 

[DiggerinVA]

Also, just to add....the little 4" coil will amaze you how deep it will go for its size.

 

[Loco-Digger]

Also, just to add....the little 4" coil will amaze you how deep it will go for its size.

5" DD

 

[G.A.P.metal]

Opportunity knocked and I got a F75SE, with DST and FA, for $325. I think I did pretty good, all things considered.

Very good deal !
The only way i will ever buy a First Texas product again is used .
Followed Dave Johnson from his early days , company to company using/selling his products .
FTP is a different kind ... selling their top of the line machines for big money, then cutting the price by half,add so many models in different names....confuses the market and make their goods not have a resale value .
Gary

 

[ZR2guy]

Great choice! The F-75 for $325 was a steal for sure. I am on my second T2 SE LTD. Sold my first one but was lucky to score another one last month. Like Loco-Digger said, the small DD coil is awesome, on the T2 and F-75. I love hunting with the 5" coil. I had a NEL Sharpshooter on my last T2 and will get another one for my current T2. Congrats on the purchase

 

[George (MN)]

Personally, I've got to like the Teknetics G2+. It IDed a dime correctly in air at 10", even though it couldn't beep on it at 11". Imagine, a detector that IDs correctly to 95% of its detection depth. Just a few controls, almost nothing to learn, plus it is very light. They just reduced the price from $699 to $449. The $250 coupon can be had from any authorized dealer, I think (they each get assigned a number). It is very quiet in the disc mode. There are deeper detectors if you don't mind paying a few hundred or so more. But I don't know if they would give a correct visual ID any deeper?

I have the T2, must reduce sensitivity to 80 inside house, hears dime at 10". Fisher F75 LTD2 also beeps on dime at 10" indoors. Took the F75 LTD2 outside and it could hear my 5" deep dime with coil 4" above ground, but was still plagued with EMI from house out 15 feet or so. EMI makes all metal ID really low. IDs good briefly in disc on my 5" deep dime, but constant noise & different visual IDs every second. I had an F70, but got loud noises that IDed as coins but weren't. All my other detectors worked normally there & another F70 user said it probably picks up hot rocks at 10".

In 1880, Dallas pop was 10,359 and Ft. Worth had 6,663. Ft. Worth destroyed nearly every old park in the 1920's and replaced them with new parks several blocks away from the originals. The Tek G2+ should be good for house hunting as it separates well, plus the ID is so accurate for coin-sized objects. The F75 LTD2 gives a shorter, sharper, and usually louder beep on coins than the EMI noises, so almost always the difference is obvious, but noise still annoys me. Best wishes.

 

[George (MN)]

In 1960, Dallas pop was 679,684, and Ft. Worth had 356,268. So over 1 million people means maybe 200,000 houses. Can you really believe the person that told you only a total of 1 silver coin had been found in all those yards? I can't see any way they could watch all those yards every day for decades, and make all the detectorists empty their pockets so they could count the silver coins. Maybe it's more like 100,000 or even 1 million silver coins found and they just don't want to encourage any more people to compete for what is left. Best wishes.