DIRT DOBBER
Forum Supporter
So, you fellas who don't swing an F75SE please don't take this post as one of those "my detector is much better than the thing you're swinging" type posts. But let me start out by saying, my detector is so much better than the thing you're swinging. Ok, introductions are out of the way.
Yesterday it rained all day and I spent the first half of the day looking out the window and grumbling to myself. Around noon I read a thread on some other forum that discussed air testing VLF detectors and someone metioned how by comparing the relative air tests of older detectors to their ground penetrating capabilities vs. the newer detectors and their airtest and actual depth you find a correlation and an actual test reason to airtest for depth. Myself, never being one to airtest a detector for any reason beyond tone recognition and tonal variation (based on depth and other factors) on newly purchased detectors, I decided, what the hey. Let's airtest the F75SE for depth. Now, my other current unit is a Minelab Explorer SE PRO and as Minelab peeps know airtesting a Minelab FBS detector is pointless because soil sampling to establish 'ground balance', etc. is done continuously and by definition a FBS that has it's coil in the air is out of balance. So, with one unit to test I set up an airtest on the F75SE.
Here's what I found.
Sensitivity:60 (of 99)
Boost Process
Everything else was adjusted to find the best tones per target.
In this setting I got a solid response at 15" on a clad quarter. Not much more on a .50 Silver. 13" on a dime. 13" on a penny and strangely only 13" on a .58 Minieball. Running the sensitivity up to 99 I could achieve perhaps 1" more depth 'light response' on most coins but never more than 15 1/2".
Now, I live in Middle Tennessee and my soil here is average and I regularly dig 10"-12" inch minieball sized targets relic hunting in open fields with a 3" air gap and 8" and the occasional 10" coins so I figured it would airtest pretty well. But I must say I was stunned. Now, before you'all start on about how airtesting is pointless and has very little to do with actual depth in the field, I AGREE WITH YOU. However, I believe the last detector that I airtested picked up a quarter at perhaps 7" so obviously there is a major sensitivity/performance difference between that old 7" airtested detector and this latest airtest.
If some of you are tempted to call me out for whatever reason I could probably be convinced to do a video showing the results I achieved if necessary, but, unlike the joke I made in the beginning of this post, I didn't do this airtest nor did I publish my findings here to brag or anything else. I simply did it out of boredom and was very very suprised.
F75SE/LTD owners, are you finding similar results? Other models? I have no personal data to draw from to know if this is a extremely deep airtest or average on the current deep beepers as all my other deep detectors over the last few years have been FBS.
Yesterday it rained all day and I spent the first half of the day looking out the window and grumbling to myself. Around noon I read a thread on some other forum that discussed air testing VLF detectors and someone metioned how by comparing the relative air tests of older detectors to their ground penetrating capabilities vs. the newer detectors and their airtest and actual depth you find a correlation and an actual test reason to airtest for depth. Myself, never being one to airtest a detector for any reason beyond tone recognition and tonal variation (based on depth and other factors) on newly purchased detectors, I decided, what the hey. Let's airtest the F75SE for depth. Now, my other current unit is a Minelab Explorer SE PRO and as Minelab peeps know airtesting a Minelab FBS detector is pointless because soil sampling to establish 'ground balance', etc. is done continuously and by definition a FBS that has it's coil in the air is out of balance. So, with one unit to test I set up an airtest on the F75SE.
Here's what I found.
Sensitivity:60 (of 99)
Boost Process
Everything else was adjusted to find the best tones per target.
In this setting I got a solid response at 15" on a clad quarter. Not much more on a .50 Silver. 13" on a dime. 13" on a penny and strangely only 13" on a .58 Minieball. Running the sensitivity up to 99 I could achieve perhaps 1" more depth 'light response' on most coins but never more than 15 1/2".
Now, I live in Middle Tennessee and my soil here is average and I regularly dig 10"-12" inch minieball sized targets relic hunting in open fields with a 3" air gap and 8" and the occasional 10" coins so I figured it would airtest pretty well. But I must say I was stunned. Now, before you'all start on about how airtesting is pointless and has very little to do with actual depth in the field, I AGREE WITH YOU. However, I believe the last detector that I airtested picked up a quarter at perhaps 7" so obviously there is a major sensitivity/performance difference between that old 7" airtested detector and this latest airtest.
If some of you are tempted to call me out for whatever reason I could probably be convinced to do a video showing the results I achieved if necessary, but, unlike the joke I made in the beginning of this post, I didn't do this airtest nor did I publish my findings here to brag or anything else. I simply did it out of boredom and was very very suprised.
F75SE/LTD owners, are you finding similar results? Other models? I have no personal data to draw from to know if this is a extremely deep airtest or average on the current deep beepers as all my other deep detectors over the last few years have been FBS.