F5, F70, or AT Pro for relics?

[RVAdigger]

Hi. Trying to decide on a new to me machine...

I live in a very history rich area that being Richmond VA. I'm interested in finding relics primarily but coins and precious metals I wouldn't mind of course. I currently have an F2 with 8 inch coil. My interests lie in hunting land in Richmond down to the Petersburg area. I have 40 acres undeveloped property I can hunt outside my doorstep more or less plus another 10+ acres undeveloped where I have found 1800's homesites on old maps at least. My F2 has uncovered shotgun headstamps dating to 1887'ish in this area and I found a 38 short rimfire with no headstamp which is pretty old plus a very old muleshoe, lots of pottery, blown glass pieces, etc... Lots of 17-1800's activity in my immediate area. I'm finding the F2 doesn't want to find anything deeper than 4 to pushing maybe 5 inches max wherever I've searched thus far. I'm assured by a local old timer that my yard has silver coins somewhere being that it was built in the 1930's but I haven't found the first one. The sniper coil won't hit the square nails which are every foot of space on one local spot I've got which I believe to be an old structure but the 8 inch coil hears them all when iron isn't notched out. Looking for a relic machine that can go a good bit deeper than the F2. I could get the F5 from someone for $200 with standard coil or the F70 or AT pro both with stock coil for $400. I just started detecting a month ago and I really like the F2 but I think I'm missing some deeper relics and want to find them. I'm trying to keep the current F2 and I'm working with a $400 budget. My pinpointer is the Fisher... Not great. Would love to get the Garrett pro pointer. Would you go with F5 and buy a Garrett pro pointer plus a DD coil, or simply the F70 or simply the AT pro in my position and for what I want to do? Most of the used AT Pro's out there are out of warranty, the Fishers I'm looking at have lots of warranty left. If I went F5 with standard and DD coil plus a pro pointer I could put the DD coil on the F2 to use as a better than stock buddy machine which would be a bonus. There are creeks in the area but nothing more than thigh deep I'd look into so AT Pro waterproofing isn't a huge deal plus I like the light weight of the Fishers... . Ugh... Decisions... Help me decide! Thank you in advance for your advice!!!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[silverdollar]

go with the fisher f4 you will absolutely love,down is not many coils avail. for it but as you use it its great you really don't need any other coils.its fast with recovery and pinpoints preety damn good not saying you don't need a pinpointer just saying it cuts down the time in recovery.you will be happy with it and its I think right about 399.00

 

[jojobama]

fisher of any kind is NO.1 in my book . any coil bigger than a 8 even on a f2 is better than at pro except in water

 

[gleaner1]

F19 for relics.

 

[mikeraydj]

I used to have a F2 and it worked well. I bought a F5 with the clad I found with the F2. I made my decision on the F5 because of the ability to ground balance and separate gain and threshold controls. The user interface is the best in the business. I am a jewelry and coin shooter so depth is not a big issue. The F5 does go deeper, especially with the 11" DD coil. The AT Pro is comparable to the F5 but is waterproof. The F70 with the boost processing will get you deeper than both machines. Guess it all depends on how deep your wallet is. If you want to go the deepest with a mainstream machine, I have heard the F75 SE or LTD is the best.

 

[NMGold]

Tesoro Tejon.

 

[Phantasman]

You need a machine dominant in relics processes (all machines find coins). Cheapest for the buck=power, Tek Eurotek Pro, though lower freq and the PP is the AM mode. The F19 is a relic designed machine (you don't need segments for relics and the tone system needs to favor iron somewhat). Even the Garrett AT Pro has a process that changes from relics to coins effectively, utilizing a segmented iron area with numeric ID . Then there's higher end Minelabs and Whites. Tesoro has a Tejon, but Tesoro isn't a big relic powerhouse, IMO. Give me two tones and numerical ID any day over switching back and forth with two disc settings. And make sure it has an AM mode for sizing.

 

[NMGold]

"Tesoro has a Tejon, but Tesoro isn't a big relic powerhouse, IMO." Tell that to all the highly successful relic hunters using the Tejon (in the States and Europe!). But that's ok, it's best to keep the power of that machine known to a few.

 

[Phantasman]

Hmm...the Opinion Police are here.

 

[Phantasman]

Hi. Trying to decide on a new to me machine...

I live in a very history rich area that being Richmond VA. I'm interested in finding relics primarily but coins and precious metals I wouldn't mind of course. I currently have an F2 with 8 inch coil. My interests lie in hunting land in Richmond down to the Petersburg area. I have 40 acres undeveloped property I can hunt outside my doorstep more or less plus another 10+ acres undeveloped where I have found 1800's homesites on old maps at least. My F2 has uncovered shotgun headstamps dating to 1887'ish in this area and I found a 38 short rimfire with no headstamp which is pretty old plus a very old muleshoe, lots of pottery, blown glass pieces, etc... Lots of 17-1800's activity in my immediate area. I'm finding the F2 doesn't want to find anything deeper than 4 to pushing maybe 5 inches max wherever I've searched thus far. I'm assured by a local old timer that my yard has silver coins somewhere being that it was built in the 1930's but I haven't found the first one. The sniper coil won't hit the square nails which are every foot of space on one local spot I've got which I believe to be an old structure but the 8 inch coil hears them all when iron isn't notched out. Looking for a relic machine that can go a good bit deeper than the F2. I could get the F5 from someone for $200 with standard coil or the F70 or AT pro both with stock coil for $400. I just started detecting a month ago and I really like the F2 but I think I'm missing some deeper relics and want to find them. I'm trying to keep the current F2 and I'm working with a $400 budget. My pinpointer is the Fisher... Not great. Would love to get the Garrett pro pointer. Would you go with F5 and buy a Garrett pro pointer plus a DD coil, or simply the F70 or simply the AT pro in my position and for what I want to do? Most of the used AT Pro's out there are out of warranty, the Fishers I'm looking at have lots of warranty left. If I went F5 with standard and DD coil plus a pro pointer I could put the DD coil on the F2 to use as a better than stock buddy machine which would be a bonus. There are creeks in the area but nothing more than thigh deep I'd look into so AT Pro waterproofing isn't a huge deal plus I like the light weight of the Fishers... . Ugh... Decisions... Help me decide! Thank you in advance for your advice!!!

Just wanted to see if you are familiar with this site. It's full of info you may find beneficial. Welcome to Relic Hunter Magazine

 

[OWK]

I have an f70. Bought it because after considerable research, it seemed to be the best price-to-performance value available in the used detector market.

As you've suggested, they seem to go for about $400.

It is a DEEP detector. But it is a chatty detector if you run it with depth.

I've pulled wheat pennies and Indians at 8 or 10 inches (somewhat routinely) out of school fields that are hunted to death.

The price I pay for this depth, is a chatty detector. I don't think a chatty detector is for everyone. It wasn't for me either at first. It's like detecting with an 8 year old girl standing next to you saying:

whatchadoinmisterhaveyoufoundanythingyetIhopeyoudocuzIreallylikeitwhenyoufindstuffespeciallywhenitsvaulablestufforoldstuff.....

but then she says.... HERE HERE dig HERE

And she's right.. every time.. about depth, ID, and location.

There are times when I wish she would just shut-the-hell-up and only talk when she has something important to say (and in fact she will if I turn down the sensitivity and threshold).. but I'd rather put up with the chatter and have the depth.

That's what my hunt is like with the f70. If you can put up with the chatter.. nothing matches the performance in this price range.

 

[NMGold]

Hmm...the Opinion Police are here.

No sir, just an informed detectorist And my opinion is valid as well.

 

[OWK]

No sir, just an informed detectorist And my opinion is valid as well.

Everyone has a valid opinion about how their detector works for them.

 

[Phantasman]

Relic Hunter Magazine (post #10) has a lot of detectorists stories and pics through the years and is considered the worldwide relics hunters online source . Don't remember seeing any Tejon's in all the articles I've read in it. Post #7 is justified by the source I claim. So my opinion comes from what I see predominantly in black and white.

If you have a justified source to back up your "opinion", by all means place it here as I did. The more info the better, in my "opinion".

 

[NMGold]

Relic Hunter Magazine (post #10) has a lot of detectorists stories and pics through the years and is considered the worldwide relics hunters online source . Don't remember seeing any Tejon's in all the articles I've read in it. Post #7 is justified by the source I claim. So my opinion comes from what I see predominantly in black and white.

If you have a justified source to back up your "opinion", by all means place it here as I did. The more info the better, in my "opinion".

Hmmm, opinion police are out in force again?


I don't think you've been around long if you don't know that the Tejon is a great relic machine.

 

[Phantasman]

I don't think you've been around long if you don't know that the Tejon is a great relic machine.

Hmmm...........I'm 65. lol..........you youngsters humor me. (do you even remember the early Relco's and Fishers? I think not. Move away, kid. You bother me)

 

[mikeraydj]

When it comes to detecting, I will take the word of an old timer any day.

 

[Phantasman]

When it comes to detecting, I will take the word of an old timer any day.

Thanks Mike. But even old timers can be wrong periodically.

I used to get on the Tesoro forum at Tesoro and have back and forths with Jack Gifford. I remember that when the uMax line came out, the Tejon was described as taking a Vaquero and a Cibola and melding them together with a trigger. I asked on time why he didn't combine the Deleon instead of the Cibola and he said it would place the cost over $1000 and be in the F75-DFX-Safari range, and single tone depth was more important at a lower price. He filled a void.

Is the Tejon good? By all means, and deep. I have owned Tesoro's and miss my Deleon more than any other unit I have had. But I still believe the Tejon is not the "powerhouse" for relic hunters as many others are. Keeping in style, relic hunter want a better breakdown of iron objects than the 2 disc featured Tejon provides. As other digitally controlled detectors (F75-AT Pro) start achieving the depth of the analogs (Tejon-Excaliber), the MD audience will move towards the one with more control and information (digital). That's why Tesoro has a Cazador on the way.

I do believe that Tesoro makes the deepest detector for the price, and if they ever decide to go over the $1000 mark, it will be because Jack went digital (and I'm not talking about Vince Giffords Cortez).

 

[mr helton]

When it comes to detecting, I will take the word of an old timer any day.

The old timer near me thinks I should dig with a screwdriver

no thanks

 

[mikeraydj]

Actually I sometimes use a screwdriver. It is pretty effective for popping out shallow targets where digging isn't allowed. Learned that from an old timer.