New member with questions on first machine

[N7XW]

Hopefully this is the correct location to post this. Apologies if not.

I am new to the hobby, have only gotten into it a few days ago and have been spending every waking minute researching detectors. For no particular reason, I am leaning toward the Fisher line.

I see the main difference between the F4 and F5 is that the F5 has frequency shift and phase lock whereas the F4 has neither (assuming the same 11" DD coil). My question is: how useful are these two features? Do they make a big difference or are they just another 'nice feature to have'. I do plan to hunt the ocean beach but will also spend time in parks and other areas where soils will vary between silt, sand, clay and gravel. I have pretty much narrowed it down to these machines but would like to know of any other recommendations in a similar price range.

I also don't know how much I really want to invest as I have never used a detector before but do foresee my family and I loving the hobby.

Thanks for any help.

 

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[golden sluice]

Hello and welcome aboard!

In response to your questions, try them out at a shop if you can. Know your budget and set it aside... money should not be the decisive factor. You can get a great metal detector used for a great price. Dd coils are, in my case and experience are outstanding for ALL LEVELS of exp. I personally use a garrett a t gold. At the time I bought it, i was not aware of the stupid metal dector show on the discovery channel. Well, those guys did their homework investigating on what to buy. So did I, I guess im part of the in crowd. To me the garrett at gold is an amazing metal detector for the price. If its there it will find it.

 

[N7XW]

Thanks for the reply. Decisions, decisions...

 

[golden sluice]

Yep,

+=

 

[mchesser]

Fisher is a great detector and so is the Garrett. I use a DD coil on my Teknetics and love it. Just talk to folks and do your homework. Give a lot of consideration to the areas you will likely be hunting (Soil, beach ect)
and make your choice from there. Good luck !

 

[N7XW]

Thanks mchesser. I'm going to continue my research. Can't wait to jump into this exciting hobby.

 

[G.A.P.metal]

The frequency shift is minimal just for using around other machines with the same frequency...it may help a little with EMI also.
Gary

 

[N7XW]

The frequency shift is minimal just for using around other machines with the same frequency...it may help a little with EMI also.
Gary

That helps. Thank you Gary. I thought the freq. shift may have some added value when working in mineralized soil or at the beach but sounds like that is not the intent.

 

[Sandman]

The F-4 or F-5 is an excellent choice. But you mentioned hunting the beach too and I assume you meant saltwater beaches. Any detector can do well on the dry sand, but it's the wet sand that caused trouble for all detectors but the muliti frequency detectors and the pulse detectors. Some guys claim their single freq detectors work well at the beach, but maybe only at that beach. They fail to take into account the amount of salt concentrations and black sand can vary.

 

[G.A.P.metal]

N7XW
I think you will like the F5,i have the Omega a close relative of the F5.
They are prone to EMI so if you rely want to get used to it at first,if you can take it into the woods away from all electric lines, and just see how stable that machine can be.
In the house will just frustrate you... but i know you just got to,don`t judge it there or even in your back yard if you live in town.
In town try a lower senc. at first and if you have to be near power lines you are better off directly under the lines ,than 90 degrees from them.
The F5 has got 4 tones use them first, and then you can look at the meter if you want.
Gary

 

[N7XW]

Thanks again. There is a lot to consider. I am trying to figure out the phase lock feature of the F5. I'm wondering if the F4 accomplishes the same thing but only manually, or if phase lock is something totally different that the F4 cannot even do manually.

I'm also thinking of just getting the F2 for now until I am more experienced, then upgrade. Still haven't decided!

 

[cudamark]

Get the best you can afford. Include in your budget recovery tools, a pin pointer, pouch, probe, etc. As Sandman mentioned, neither of your choices are very good for wet ocean sand or salt water use.

 

[RotZorn]

Any of the 3 would be great (F2,4, or 5) but the F5 is a completely different machine. The outward appearance is the only thing the F5 shares in common with the other two.

The electronics, chipset, software, etc, is unique to the F5- it's related to the Teknetics Omega- but had to be tweaked by the design team to incorporate the knob controls instead of a menu type interface specifically for the F5.

The result is phenomenal! All the info the F5 "knows" is on screen the whole time its powered on, but its well laid out, and done so in a way thats not overwhelming. For lack of a better expression- its perfect.

The F5 really is a hot rod, especially with the DD coil! You can really haul butt in the coverage department with this thing. But don't let that fool you into thinking its less sensitive, it's one of the most sensitive MDs I've swung! It rivals even the mighty F75 in some aspects.

I've had mine for a year now, and I truly feel I picked a hell of a MD as my first one. I'd seriously give it a 10 out of 10 all things considered- for the money ($549), it's my honest opinion you can not purchase a finer detector. Though I have used the AT Pro a few times and liked it well enough, I still think the F5 tops it. I'm jealous that its not waterproof like the AT, but that's all I'm jealous of?!?!

Now, the F2 & F4 are nothing to turn your nose up at. I bought an F2 for the wife at the same time I got the F5 for myself, and I have to admit I've left the F5 at home a handful of times to tote the F2 to the park. I'll be honest and say it was more curiosity driven for me to do that than for any other reason- I simply wanted to check it out- my findings about the machine... I was impressed to say the least.

The major advantages of the F2 are that it's cheap- and will afford you to buy accessories like digging tools and a pinpointer, and it too- is simply the best you can get in its price range. It and the Teknetics Eurotek pro, outright burry the competition. Both offer a pin point mode, which believe it or not is still not standard on every MD out there, and very hard to come by on an MD in the $225 or less price range.

If you go with the F5 you're looking at more cash for the MD alone leaving less for accessories, and a good pinpointer is well worth it man, I can't express that, or stress that hard enough. But if you go with the F5 you'll have a premium MD for this price range.

If you choose the F4 you'll basically have and F2 ( closely related electronically) that includes ground balance- not a bad thing at all, but again at $399 you'll have less for accessories and an MD that's good for its price range but not excactly king of the hill. I'd actually recommend the F4 the least. It's not bad at all- not trying to put that in your head, it's just in the middle price wise, not quite the MD the F5 is, and will limit what you can buy to complement your MD.

The F2 really is a great MD and will leave you extra cash for a digger, rechargeable batteries, pinpointer, or anything else you want/need. You could get the two coil package F2, that also includes the Fisher Fpoint- it's a sub par PP when compared to the Garrett pro pointer or Minelab unit, but better than nothing.

You should also take a good, long, HARD, look at the Eurotek pro, basically a menu driven F2 with more up-to -date software from everything I have read at least. I think there is a multi-coil package available for it as well.

Good luck and let us all know what you decide! Welcome to the hobby!

 

[N7XW]

Wow, great information RotZorn, thank you. I was actually leaning toward the F4 last night. I may have to rethink (again ) after reading your post. The one thing that I don't like about the F5 (from what I can tell watching youtube videos) is that you don't get a depth reading unless you are in pinpoint mode. I like how the F2 and F4 give continual depth readings. Maybe there is a setting on the F5 to change this(?).

Thanks again, great info.

 

[RotZorn]

The depth thing is really subjective, because you are going to get in the habit of pin pointing before you dig practically every target- so if you decide not to dig you probably won't pinpoint it, on this basis, I found myself saying " well do I really care how deep it is if I'm not going to dig it anyway?"

The F4 is great! Don't let me run you away from it- but if you are sticking to a tight budget you won't be able to get a pin pointer- again I can't stress how bad you are going to wish you had one after you get up and running.

If you can afford to go the route of an F4 with a Garrett pro pointer that's exactly what I'd recommend. If you can fit only an MD into the budget- go F5 and just curse a lot at small targets after you got the hole open!?! Hahah just kidding! But it can be frustrating!

If you go the F2 route you can get the F2, with multiple coils, a digger, pro pointer, a nice fisher brand case and more probably- and be very well equipped- for less than the price of the F5 DD.

The F2 is awesome, it is way underrated in the entry level MD category. I'm sure the F4 is awesome too, but man I'm telling you- you are going to wish you had a good pinpointer- sorry to beat a dead horse?!?! Lol

Notice that I'm not the only one saying that though, everyone tried to tell me the same thing when I got started. I really thought I could get it done OK with the extremely crappy F-pointer (sorry fisher) but its light years behind the Garrett and Minelab units.

......if I had it to do over again, I'd just go back and pony up the cash for the F5 and the pro pointer!!!

 

[RotZorn]

Sent you a PM...

 

[crazy4coins]

Hopefully this is the correct location to post this. Apologies if not.

I am new to the hobby, have only gotten into it a few days ago and have been spending every waking minute researching detectors. For no particular reason, I am leaning toward the Fisher line.

I see the main difference between the F4 and F5 is that the F5 has frequency shift and phase lock whereas the F4 has neither (assuming the same 11" DD coil). My question is: how useful are these two features? Do they make a big difference or are they just another 'nice feature to have'. I do plan to hunt the ocean beach but will also spend time in parks and other areas where soils will vary between silt, sand, clay and gravel. I have pretty much narrowed it down to these machines but would like to know of any other recommendations in a similar price range.

I also don't know how much I really want to invest as I have never used a detector before but do foresee my family and I loving the hobby.

Thanks for any help.

The F5 also has an adjustable threshold, a feature that'll be invaluable when hunting for deeper coins If I were you I'd definitely go for the F5 and never look back.

 

[N7XW]

Hey guys, thanks for all the info. I'm now changing gears again and thinking about the Garrett AT Pro, mainly because it is waterproof. With all the rain we get here and wanting to hunt the beaches, this is a definite plus. Anybody want to chime in on the F5 compared to the AT Pro? I haven't found a lot of info on the subject.

 

[RotZorn]

I considered the ATP, Xterra 705, and the F5 in the beginning.

I've still never used the 705, but I have the other 2 as I mentioned the other day- I think on this thread?!?! Anyway, I would not talk you out of the ATP- it's a great MD! The waterproof down to 10 feet feature is nice.

It's my opinion, and just an opinion nothing more that that's where the advantage ends for the ATP when compared to the F5. Now, I'm not gonna say the F5 is leaps and bounds better in every way, but after using them both I feel the F5 is SLIGHTLY superior when both are equipped with a DD coil. It just seems more sensitive, and has pretty much limitless ways to set it up for any kind of hunting.

Submerged in water, or out in the rain, the F5 can't compete with the ATP....literally!!!!

For me, it didn't matter that much, I'm a fair weather MDer, and I don't plan on doing any water detecting in anything over knee deep. But that may not apply to you, if you KNOW right now that you're gonna get in the water a lot I say go with the ATP.

Another advantage of the ATP is ease of tips- every one has one of these things! So if you ever need any advice or tips on setting it up, or "tricks of the trade" that apply strictly to the ATP, you won't have to look far. This site is full of ATP owners. It's kind of the iPhone or Ford Mustang of metal detectors.

With the amount of press/ media coverage, and the amount of time it's been out- coupled with the recent boom in this hobby- I would be willing to bet its the best selling MD of all time, and if its not, it probably will be soon!!!

The ATP is solid man!

 

[cudamark]

Agreed, but, as with the F4 and F5, the AT Pro is not a great salt water machine.