Good or Bad, here comes my F70!

CincinnatiKid

Bronze Member
Nov 5, 2013
2,079
1,220
Cincinnati Ohio
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, Garrett ProPointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hi all. I've read many outstanding reviews on the Fisher F70. Also, many negative. It's the negative reviews that's prompted me to buy one. ;)
Noisy, untamable, inferior build, high receptivity to interference are but a few negative claims that forced me to purchase!
I bought mine Monday,(12/2/13), at 9:47am. My UPS tracking # declares it to be on schedule and that it will arrive tomorrow.
This said, my question follows; How many F-70 owners like or dislike this machine? And why? Also, what are or were your settings?
I have cleared my schedule this forthcoming Saturday for a trial run. I will post results after a few outings.
On an "off topic" note, I purchased from Bart at BigBoy's Hobbies. He is serious about customer satisfaction and quite informative. I read a recent post that Bart answers his business phone personally on Sunday!? Me being Me, I had to call. Yes, Bart answered! We had a concise conversation. He will surely give you the best deal possible. Kellyco is now in my past.
Peace
 

Msbeepbeep

Gold Member
Jun 24, 2012
15,787
24,131
MA
Detector(s) used
M-6, pro pointer, pistol probe
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Awesome your F70 is in route congrats! Just ordered my Garrett pro pointer from Bart! Can't wait! Sooo excited! HH to you!
 

xr7ator

Gold Member
Sep 2, 2011
5,205
7,207
Denver, Colorado
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, AT Gold, ATX, MH7 (oldie!) Minelab Explorer SE Pro, EQ800
Bart is awesome! Anyone that buys a machine from Kellyco just hasn't done their homework, imo.
 

Rawhide

Silver Member
Nov 17, 2010
3,590
2,185
SouthWestern USA
Detector(s) used
Nox 800, Etrac, F75, AT Pro. Last two for sale.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Going to make your other machines jealous lol.

Oh this is gonna be good.
 

dirtscratcher

Bronze Member
Mar 18, 2009
1,877
1,350
Columbia falls Montana
Detector(s) used
Minelab Sov GT Explorer XS Tesoro Vaq t2se x705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
A lot of the same things I've read about the t2 and I bought it anyway and could not be happier.
 

SusanMN

Silver Member
Jun 1, 2007
4,534
4,098
Minnesota
Detector(s) used
Tiger Shark, Xterra 705, Makro Legend
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I had one. I think it was something like the 4th or 5th detector I'd owned at the time. I thought it was the most complicated to set up properly and lived up to its reputation of being chattery. I just never loved it much so after a year I sold it.
 

fish1on

Silver Member
Aug 28, 2012
3,053
1,403
Farr West, utah
Detector(s) used
Fisher F70 with 6.5", 10" Elliptical, & 11" Search Coil. Garret pro pointer AT, Minelab excaliber II (New machine)
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Love my F70, it has been a major upgrade from my old fisher. I believe it does take time to learn like any tool and I am getting mine tuned in for the areas I like to hunt.
 

wainzoid

Bronze Member
Jan 29, 2007
1,017
1,519
morrisons cove = smell our dairy air
I've been hunting with an F70 for the past year and a half. Im guessing I have 100+ hrs on it and still learning.

I had no intention of buying one, but I came across a deal. A local fellow had bought it new in the fall, to try to find his class ring. He spent an hour or so trying to find his class ring with no luck. I was at the local shop that black friday, when he was trying to talk the owner in to buying it back. Six months later I ran into him at the local lumber yard and asked if he still had it. He wouldn't give me a price, but really wanted to sell it. I told him I wasn't really interested in it and would be embarrassed by giving him a low offer. He said go for it... so I offered him $200- cash. He told me to follow him home, where I bought it. It was in the box in a toolshed where it spent the winter. I probably got 15 to 20 hrs out of the original batteries. It was brand new. A few weeks later I did a half of days work at the local shop, and the owner gave me a sun ray probe that I put on it. I've hunted with that noisey thing for the last year and a half. So I got $200- invested in it with the mounted probe. Bargain. For the price I have to like it ! !

Its noisey but goes deep. I've tried every combination of settings under the sun. Its harder to get along with than my ex wife. I've found a good bit with it and have been sticking with it mostly because of the sunray probe. The probe is awesome. I had been hunting with an exterra 70 and a sunray is not available for it. If it was, I would probably be using it, because I have several coils for it.

More than once the chatter has frustrated me, and more than once the F70 has impressed me. Stick with it, if you can learn it, it will find stuff ! ! !
 

Rawhide

Silver Member
Nov 17, 2010
3,590
2,185
SouthWestern USA
Detector(s) used
Nox 800, Etrac, F75, AT Pro. Last two for sale.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Susan and Fish, most folks want to turn that sensitivity all the way up. You just need to barely crank it on till it gets unstable then back off a click or two. You loose some depth, but the F series is very sensitive. Im glad you found other machines. There is always a better machine out there, you just have to find what fits for you. You dont see to many for sale, there is a reason for that. I would not buy a used fisher though as the warranty does not transfer should you ever need it.
 

digger27

Bronze Member
May 18, 2011
1,506
3,225
Fit and finish...fine.
Noisy...sure, but that is the language of the F series line, especially if you decide to hunt on the higher sense settings, which I do.
The noise I hear, the falsing and jumpy numbers on the screen, I know that is part of the language and all that extra noise is not really all that extra...the jumpy numbers can convey more than what they seem because even the jumpy behavior is part of that language.
If you have the patience to learn this language that most other detector lines do not have, and take the time to understand it and to know it is more than what it seems to be at first glance you might find it is rich in information and not really all that much noise at all.

After hundreds and hundreds if not close to or over 1000 hours with my F2 I learned the Fisher language very well and found way more than most would believe possible with a detector that is considered only an entry level unit.
A too good of a deal on an F70 to pass up later, I took too it like a duck to water because the language is just about the same as the F2 but there is even more of it and even a little richer.
Add in the dizzying amount of combination of settings to suit almost any taste and you have something really special, in my opinion.

First hunt in about 3 hours I scooped up clad like a hoover in areas of a park that I hunted many times, and swinging faster than normal and walking too fast also near the end of this hunt I still picked up a very small silver pendant loud and clear and found it at 6" deep easily.

Second hunt was at a site right in my neighborhood that I visit all the time and have recovered much but now the pickings are slim and the F70 still found more targets that I missed that shocked me and in only 2 hours.

Third hunt was for 3 hours again and in an old park I find clad galore, small rings at 6-7" easily, a fake class ring...a salesman's sample that might be gold but low karat if it is, easily found as a nickel signal no matter what it is.
Fourth hunt was for 2 hours and on that one in another park that is only disguised as one because in a past life it must have been a trash pit, another nickel signal shows up loud and clear among all these signals and "noise", it is right next door to some real trash of some sort but the F70 finds it like there is a red flag sticking up out of the ground directly over it.
That signal was not a nickel but a gold ring and a very nice one at that.
At least 14 k but could be platinum and some even higher karat gold.

First hunt silver, only 10 hours in my hands and it finds gold once for sure...maybe twice.

A very natural feeling hunting with this one for me, and that is thanks to so many hours hunting with the F2.
Give it the time and patience it deserves and eventually you will be richly rewarded.

My usual settings in my limited time using it are...

Disc between 1 and 4
Speed at DE...but I change to SL to check some deeper iffy targets sometimes
Sense at least 80, higher if I can get it there without too much extra noise
Thresh at -1
Number of tones 4F is my favorite so far.

Still lots of experimenting to do but being in the teens and 20's around here as much as I want to go out and continue my adventures it will have to wait till it gets up to at least the balmy 30's.
 

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Rawhide

Silver Member
Nov 17, 2010
3,590
2,185
SouthWestern USA
Detector(s) used
Nox 800, Etrac, F75, AT Pro. Last two for sale.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Balmy 30's lol. Yes I pulled out some fake gold stuff today at the park. Well the real syuff is out there. Looking good.
 

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