Upgrade decisions

[neodetectorist]

I have been metal detecting (seriously) since 2016. I own a fisher F2 currently.
I have found enough clad to more than pay for my machine. The 4 gold rings alone also paid for my machine. The silver, old coins, and relics also contribute to this. (I do not hunt to sell my findings, this is just a comparison)
Last year I upgraded to the NEL 9.5" DD coil and have definately seen a difference in depth.
The question I ask myself is, WHAT AM I MISSING using the F2. I think this is a great machine and an awesome starter machine. Literally plug and play. No ground balance or frequency change options.
Now my question to Garrett users.
I know there are so many options out there. Whites, Deus, Minelab......Even top of line Fishers.
I have settled on the possibility of the Garrett AT Pro.
Using this AT pro as a selection, would it benefit me?
I mostly land hunt local schools, parks, permissions.
Basically comparing the 9.5" inch DD I currently have VS the comparable DD size with an AT Pro, Will my depth and finds increase drastically?
Is there deeper treasure that I am missing?
Can this question even be answered.
I am just looking for guidance.
Would this upgrade drastically improve my finds or just slightly.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Back in the 80's I owned and used 9 different detectors, always searching for the "best" machine.

Right now I own 6 different detectors with my main usage in the dirt being the CTX and the Tesoro Tejon. I'm hunting more slowly with the CTX than the Tejon, and I'm digging far more trash with the Tejon. I'm going to move back to the CTX soon, and I'll pay less attention to the VDI numbers and dig by sound alone, and of course I'll dig more trash then.

I don't know that you'd do better with an upgrade, in my view (though I've never used one), you've used the F2 long enough to understand what it's telling you. With the better coil you're likely getting as good of a depth with it as you would with a more expensive machine (where you'd have to learn another machine language).

You're ahead of the game, don't go chasing rainbows like I did!

My two cents......

 

[against the wind]

Yep,, you're at the crossroads. We all come to that place if you really like this hobby.
Let me first say that, like you, I don't sell my finds, especially, my silver coins. The only exception is my gold scrap, which I will sell when the price of gold goes back up.
I was a loyal "GARRETT GUY", from the 80's til around 2012. I owned the AT PRO and it is an excellent machine. It paid for itself, (in just clad alone), in 18 months. That was when I was living in NYC.
I upgraded to a Minelab Etrac and my whole outlook on metal detectors changed. My first year with the Etrac produced 81 Silver Coins. My best year, (2015), produced 158 Silver Coins. Using the Minelab FSB technology is completely different from the VLF, which Garrett and many other manufacturers use.
A complete eye opener. So much so that I invested in the Excalibur by Minelab for all of my salt water hunting. Then I purchased the Minelab CTX 3030, which gives me water tight integrity and erased the fear of getting caught in the rain while using the Etrac.
I would not invest the money if the results weren't there. The Excalibur paid for itself in gold finds alone. (Although it also produced a ton of clad and a load of silver jewelry.)
Now I have added and favor the DEUS which has multi-frequency and multi-programable capabilities. It is the lightest detector on the market.
The technology available to you is unbelievable, once you break away from the VLF machine.
Good luck on your choice and Happy Hunting.

 

[Loco-Digger]

I often take my F2 out and detect even though I also have the F75LTD. I bought a nel sharpshooter for the F2 and it does great ( I prefer DD coils over concentric). The Stock DD will get you more depth as well as a larger after market coil. Being that our soil is mild, ground balance is not really necessary at most sites. I believe with a stock DD your F2 would compete well with the AT Pro. DO you need a waterproof machine? Do you hunt creeks and beaches at lakes? Just today I hunted a 1930's house with Fuzzy from tnet. I pulled a 1901 Barber dime at 5 inches using the F75LTD and am sure my F2 would have hit on it. If you want better performance and similar target IDs you could might want to consider the F75+.

Yesterday I swung the F2 at an older house and my 1st target was a 1912 wheat at 6 to 7 inches using the nel sharpshooter.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Yes, the AT Pro is a huge step up from the F2. So is the Tesoro Outlaw 3-coil Pak; and the Whites MX Sport

 

[smokeythecat]

You have opened a big box here. You have near unlimited possibilities. I started out a few centuries ago with a White's. It dug lead just fine, but missed everything else. I didn't look for modern coins back then, just relics. I took my machine to SC to join a few people on a dig. The has Tesoros, older big box ones, and we were at a beach. They were finding minie ball after minie ball at a Civil War site the ocean had encroached on. I was so disgusted I just covered the ground behind them in between their swings. My day was saved when I found my first and only Civil War cartridge box plate, and it was and is a beauty! After I got home, I sold the White's and bought the Tesoro. That Tesoro was upgraded within a year to a Tesoro Lobo. That thing with it's high frequency found a ton of great Revolutionary War relics. I found over 100 marked Rev military buttons! Plus the goodies that go with them. In 1993 I put the detectors away and didn't pick one back up until 2010. I started off beach hunting, this time with a Tesoro Cibola, which I still have.

Found a $5k gold coin on a salt water beach the following January. (At least that's what the one dealer told me it was worth, but I have my doubts.)

A year ago last November my dealer friend finally talked me into an XP Deus. I went back over camps and other places I couldn't get a signal with my Cibola from and literally cleaned up!

At this time I mainly use the Deus. My friend has an AT Pro and he does very well head to head with me in decent soil without a big concentration of nails. His machine stalls in a nail pit, the Deus sucks stuff out of the ground there and in hot soil.

Now the Deus is not cheap. The CTX3030 is about $2500, which is REALLY not cheap. Today I bought another Tesoro Vaquero to complement the Deus and the Cibola, and because I was bored.

I'd try to find a dealer where you could see any machine you are considering in action. Too many machines, not enough days to dig.

 

[Hal2k]

Yep as Smokeythecat said you have opened a big box. I'll give you my 2 cents, I have both the AT-Pro and the AT-Max, really enjoy both machines, the Pro I have the Garrett 5 x 8 coil I have several other coil sizes I will not use anything but the 5 x 8 on the AT. Now on the Max I was using the stock coil on it, have been trying to find the Nel sharpshooter 9.5 X 5.5 finally found someone that had the coil ordered and got it this past Friday I've only hand about hour and half hunt time this weekend due to rain but what a coil it is. I took the coil to a really trash park that I have hunted with the AT-Pro and the 5 x 8 Coil and though I had hunted the park out, not so with the Nel I found coins that I missed using the Pro and the 5 x 8 coil. Agree some of this is owed to the AT-Max but I have gone over the same park with the Max and stock coil and not found anything to speak off.

Not trying to convince you to go with the Garrett just giving you what I found using the Nel coil, best advice is if you can find a dealer that has a test unit that you can try out is the best way to go.

Good Luck

 

[TerryC]

You've been detecting for awhile. If you FEEL it's time for an upgrade..... do it. Even if just psychological, the uplift will cause you to go out more, find more, and feel better about your machine. ╦╦Ç