Question about our have of an F75 SE

[Steepdgaf]

Question about purchasing/price of an F75 SE

First off I'd like to apologise if this in wrong place, I'm new to the site and still learning it. So I came across an unused F75 SE that has the 7A software for $400. Is that a decent price and would you recommend sending it in for the $159 upgrade or leave as is. Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

 

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[Loco-Digger]

I've seen them go cheaper, I picked one up last year for about $350. If yours was a newer one with DST and the the FA process, $400 would be a fair price. . Yours sounds like an older model.

 

[HighVDI]

Could spend a little more for the f75+ package and get the boost process and DST ect. Comes with a new PI pinpointer and digger if you needed one. Be more cost effective than buying the used and upgrading. Plus....it would be brand new.

 

[Loco-Digger]

I like the DST upgrade since it also give you the FA process which is great for trashy areas when using a smaller coil. So if you buy the old F75 and have it upgraded you will $559 invested where as a new F75Se costs $599. As HighVDI mentioned the F75+ would be a great deal since it comes with a digging tool and a pin pointer, The pin pointer will retail for about $140.

I did notice that the older F75 on ebay was going for $400 and now the price has dropped to $350. There is a newer F75LTD with 4 coils and other accessories going for $650 which is a steal.

 

[Steepdgaf]

I want to thank you all for the advice and info. It's been very helpful and appreciated. I've decided not to go with the one I mentioned since the owner wouldn't go any lower since he bought it new for over $1,000 when the SE first came out but gave up on it after only a few hours of use because of it being to noisy for him, from what I have read he didn't take the time to learn the machine. I will continue my search since I have some time till the weather breaks. Thanks again for everything.

 

[HighVDI]

I want to thank you all for the advice and info. It's been very helpful and appreciated. I've decided not to go with the one I mentioned since the owner wouldn't go any lower since he bought it new for over $1,000 when the SE first came out but gave up on it after only a few hours of use because of it being to noisy for him, from what I have read he didn't take the time to learn the machine. I will continue my search since I have some time till the weather breaks. Thanks again for everything.

Was the unit just purchased by him recently? Or did he give up on it and shove it in a closet for years? If it was bought not long ago I'd be willing to bet it has DST.

 

[Steepdgaf]

He's had it for a while, when I had my wife go look at it I had her check the software version, it said 7A so my guess was it didn't have DST but I could be wrong.

 

[Rookster]

I got a question LD.Is the FA mode on the newer F75's sorta like BC(bottle cap) on my little older F75 LTD? Thanks.

 

[HighVDI]

I got a question LD.Is the FA mode on the newer F75's sorta like BC(bottle cap) on my little older F75 LTD? Thanks.

It's a quicker process for better separation in trashy areas. Also super chattery.....possibly even more so than JE mode.

 

[Loco-Digger]

Rook I agree with what HighVDI said. Both the FA and the JE modes are more susceptible to EMI of all the processes on the standard model. JE is the deepest and FA gives up a little depth but gives you increased target separation. They can be quieted down by changing the freq to find a quiet one and you might have to reduce the sensitivity. I have yet to hunt a site full of bottle caps. I think most were dug in the past by other MDers in the area so I have never used the bc mode. I think the most I have ever dug was 2 or 3 in a hunt. When I started with the F75LTD I ran it hot (sensitivity in the 90's) and would get a lot of falsing when hunting rutty ground so I used the PF mode which greatly reduced the falsing. Overtime I reduced my sensitivity and normally run between 65-75 in town and still get crazy depth. I mostly hunt in DE mode until I get in a trashy area, then I flip to the FA process. I use the BP mode to get a better target ID on a deeper iffy and when hunting old home sites in the fields. I have only toyed with he CL mode. I rarely find coins deeper than 10 inches deep in my area. I have hit some yards were the old coins are only 4 to 7 inches deep. Many of my permissions were hunted in the past so most of the easy older coins have been cherry picked already. The coins that the previous generations of MDers did not dig are those in the trashier areas so I mainly hunt using the nel sharpshooter coil or even the 5"DD. Like most when I was early into the hobby I had dreams of finding coins at greater depth and got me a 12x15 inch nel coil. I have yet to find a coin deeper than 10-10.5 inches. I have evolved over time to go to smaller coils due to the better target separation. Case in point. 2 years ago I hunted a curb strip on a corner lot. I used the stock coil and dug about 50 coins. A year later I went back with the 5"DD and scored 50 more coins in the same strip. A few were recent drops, but most were being masked by trash. I am not a dig it all kind of hunter, however I do dig more trash signals from old sites. One of my best finds in 2017 was dug using the nel sharpshooter. It was the Love token carved on a seated quarter. The only reason it was still in the ground was that it was among the trash. My last 3 permissions in town should have given up coins from the late 1800s to the present, but that was not the case. I only pulled one silver from all 3 and they were missed when I gridded using the stock DD, but the sharpshooter sniffed them out during the second grid.

 

[HighVDI]

Great post Loco. I'm definitely learning the hard knocks way about masked and silent masked targets.

I've found that a 5" deep silver dime may not seem like a hard target to get to but throw some mineralization along with a few pieces of iron nails above and below the target and you got a dilemma. Even with those sniper coils and a slower speed both of which decrease depth, those hidden coins only seem to whisper a VERY quick report on the screen and to the ear!

 

[Rookster]

Thanks Loco.I've been using the NEL Tornado lately on an old football field and for a 12" coil I am impressed with this coil as well as pinpointing and separation as I haven't in the past used JE mode that much I've been impressed with the results. And as you mentioned because this mode is so sensitive I've reduced sensitivity to around 60 with ground balance at the 64 range. What's kinda funny here is the fact that on one end of the field ground balances higher than the other. This is a tip some should beware of because the ground mineralization changes due to a wetter end of the field. As far as depth with the Tornado, I've hit some good quarter signals at 8 to 9 inches.Im going to look into the Sharpshooter coil. It sounds like a very good coil. Also the response time is great running JE mode. Thanks for the comeback post.

 

[Rookster]

Thanks HighVDI.I had been using DE and BP on this old football field and have over the years hit it hard mainly because it's close to the house. You know how that is. Just killing time the other day I changed to JE mode because I've found 3 gold rings on this field on the sidelines and where the old bleachers use to be. I knew it was really chatty but I was determined to get this done. I started after ground balancing at 80 sensitivity and worked my way down due to tons of foil. That being where gold is. 17-18, 19-20 etc. Didn't find a ring but hit come missed coins from other hunts. I think I'll try my little Fisher 5" in Jewelry next time. Thanks for the post.