F2...final impressions below,......

DIGGER27

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F2 review.. Final impressions below,......

http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/video.htm



Received a new F2 today to be used as a backup and "guest detector".
Also for fun and a change of pace from time to time.

I am at work now so I can't write much, but I will go out tonight and put it through it's paces and report back on this thread.

I can tell you the fit and finish is a little cheaper than my twice as expensive Tesoro, which was to be expected.
A little wobble in the rods but I think a little shim of some sort when assembling should fix that.
Check that...gotta tighten up those collar rings DUH!
It's fine now.

Air tests were great and I threw down a bunch of different coins, rings and trash on my living room floor and the recovery time on this thing is as advertised.

Blip blip blib blib blib like a machine gun.
Had to remember to look at the visuals since I am used to my Vaquero, but I did notice it took a second to lock on to one number when I passed over an object one at a time.
Just a matter of finding the right swing speed, then I should get the hang of it.

Went outside to a patch of grass that is chock full of construction debris, but I tried a few swings there.

Same thing...blip blib blib blib.
Different tones and numbers as I passed over each object.
The recovery on this thing is fantastic and it seems every bit as good as my Tesoro, in that respect.
Impressed!

I am thinking this unit is going to be as fun as I hoped it would be, and perfect as a "decent" detector to take on vacations.

Report back later after a little run around a park tonight.

HH
 
I am having some internet issues so I only have my work 'puter to use right now and I need a little more time to complete my total review, but I have about 5 hours with this thing so far and I had to pop in here to say I think this thing is awesome!

Works very similarly to my Vaquero as far as locating targets.
Pinpointing is not quite as laser-like as my tesoro but close and I have learned to "de-tune" to narrow it down even more.
The pinpointing works pretty well but I do more xing than pinpointing, even with my Vaq.

As far as recovery time, a big reason I chose this unit over the 250, the F2 seems just as good as my Vaq in this area.

Line up 5 coins within 2 inches of each other and swing as fast as you want because it picks them all up...blip-blip-blip-blip-blip.
In the field, I experienced the same thing.
Then, I had one signal that had a high tone and numbers that showed it was probably a penny, but if I moved the coil just slightly to the left a lower tone and jumpy lower numbers.
I moved my coil back to the original spot and the same thing happened.
Solid tone and number, but jumpy if I slightly moved.
This one I dug and I discovered a penny about 4 inches down and in the same hole about 1 1/2 - 2 inches to the left was an old rusty nail.
I was using the standard 8"coil and not the sniper coil.
Impressive!
I call that some kind of target separation!


I don't believe it goes as deep as my Vaq, but it goes plenty deep enough to find some good stuff here in my soil in Alabama, so I think it will do fine wherever I take it.
I did dig a few smaller trashy signals at 7 or 8 inches, a dime at about 5-6 inches, and found big stuff even deeper than I care to dig, but then my Bounty Hunter can pick up a full size can at the center of the Earth, too.

I have to remember to look at the VDI because I still mostly listen to tones, which are very pleasant on this unit, but if it is a good signal it usually keeps hitting the same number and trashy ones seem to move around, so I am learning.
The other day I hit a patch that gave me a high tone and an 80 on the VDI and I popped it...a Quarter.
Two feet over the same tone and number repeated consistently and I popped another quarter..one foot away from that the same tone and numbers and results... and two feet away from that the same thing happened again!
4 quarters in about 30 seconds! I was a very happy guy!.

Dimes came up dimes...zinc pennies came up zinc, a part of a zinc-diecast toy car came up zinc, and the only trash that fooled it was the same type that would have fooled almost any detector out there.
As I did research to find my choice for a backup, the word "fun" kept popping up in the same posts that talked about the F2.
Let me tell you now, fun is only the start of good things with this very nice machine!

HH
 
Thanks for the info. I am starting to lean toward fisher for my next detector , though it will be a while before I can afford it. The reports of good recovery speed and target ID accuracy are starting to make me want to give fisher a try. My ace 250 has been decent but it could be a lot better and garrett has nothing that interests me as far as an upgrade.
 
Final thoughts on the F2

I went out last night to the same ball field/park I have been hitting to test the new F2.
Only had about an hour before the rain moved in, but it was a fun hour.

The parking lot was full due to all the activity with area (football teams practicing, joggers, tennis, a small tot lot with a few families), so I parked a little further out than usual.
I decided to scan a strip of grass that I have not hit before. This was located at the end of the parking lot and not located in a path that most people would walk to get to the main area of the park.
It seemed logical that most would walk in the parking lot the way it was laid out.
But who knows what has gone on in this area over the years, so what the heck.
These little hunts are about testing and learning, anyway.
Started to scan wide open, nothing notched, and again was surprised how much iron is in the ground.
I have rarely set my Vaq to all metal unless I am in tot-lots, so I never hear these signals.
05-06-07, low numbers and tones, made a note to start digging a few of these signals soon, but I had to find a coin or two first.

That is a successful hunt to me, just one penny would do it.
"One more than I had when I got there", I figure, "I'm up".

I heard a high tone and looked at the display and the numbers were at 80 but they jumped up higher, then back down, then up again.
Never saw this before.
I figured it was a Quarter, but maybe some kind of trash was next to it, or something.
I dug it and pulled up...two quarters!
Nice!
I made an effort to notice the depth meter and numbers when pinpointing.
A very handy feature on this unit is when you pinpoint, not only is the 3 bar display giving you info, but the bottom of the display will give you a number in inches to tell you the depth.
For the most part, these displays were fairly accurate.
At this point, I am thinking I can't believe this is considered a starting unit and I wished I could turn back time.
If I had this when I started instead of struggling with my first one....
When it identified, pinpointed and gave me a depth reading of 6-7 inches on a dime signal, and I dug a dime every bit of 7 inches down in my challenging Alabama soil...I fell in love!

Ended up digging a few dime signals that were screw on tops, and 2 dimes and 3 quarters.
If you notch out the lower signals and just shoot for coins, in my limited experience I would classify this unit as a "coin machine".
A mini-beast...it seems that capable.

Never used the Ace, have heard what they sound like, though.
I would like to get my hands on one , sometime, to compare.
All I can say is, I don't know what else you could want in a detector at this starting level price that the F2 won't deliver.
I was a little leery about getting another First Texas product, but it appears there is a lot of Fisher still in this thing.

Here are the pros and cons:

Cons
Batteries...2, not one

Battery clips...You push in 2 9volts and snap them down behind 2 plastic clips that stick up from the bottom of the compartment.
These are too tight and they have a tiny lip that caught and bent the metal battery jacket and I had a heck of a time getting it out without snapping the clip off.
Another owner posted about this same exact problem so I consider this a design flaw.
I can see these clips snapping easily, and the flimsy battery compartment cover is not strong enough to hold anything you would shim in there to keep the batteries in place if they do.

Coil connector...The screw-on fitting is cheap and the location of the plug on the control housing does not make it easy to screw this on with my fat fingers...but once it is on, no big deal.

When pinpointing., the sound, (VCO), is verging on the obnoxious.
Not a big thing, but is is just a litte wimpy sounding to me

No programs...Not really a con for me because I like to manually set my units.


Pros
Where to start...
Quality...A little better than expected at an entry level price. Except for the battery thing.
Good depth...check
Good accuracy on identification of target...check
Pinpointing........Good, easy and fairly accurate
Sensitivity...Not sure if it could pick up the proverbial "Needle in a haystack" like my Vaq, but I am confident it will find any small charms and jewelery I may come across.
Notching ...plenty of choices
Tones......Pleasant
Target separation and recovery time...Awsome!
Fun Quotent.....Off the scale!

So far, highly reccommended as a starter or backup unit for anyone, and the addition of the crappy, but free, pinpointer and especially the free sniper coil, makes it a great value!

HH everyone
 
Thanks for the hands-on evaluation

I hope your posts will turn up in new members searches about "Wich starter units should I get ?"

Again thank you
 
Wish I could tell you I liked my F5 as much as you like your F2, but I cant. Crappy depth. Allmost every signal reads 3". I'm begining to think something is wrong with it. For $500 you would think you could get deeper coins than that. Should not have let the guy talk me out of the F2 that I went in to buy in the first place!!
 
Have you tried the 4" coil yet? I cannot swing for a while due to an injury but when I get back into things, the F2 is the machine that I have been looking at. Just curious as to the depth with the 4" coil.

Very nice report by the way. Thank you for taking the time to post it.

Doug
 
Wish I could tell you I liked my F5 as much as you like your F2, but I cant. Crappy depth. Allmost every signal reads 3". I'm begining to think something is wrong with it.

Hey, I might have one of those odd units that just came out of the factory exactly right.
Maybe they all don't work like this, but I am glad mine does!

I would seriously think about having yours checked out.
I picked up another dime the other day at about 8 inches with this thing...yours should do at least as good.

hh
 
Have you tried the 4" coil yet?

Doug

Have not tried it yet but I can get pretty close to the playground equipment with the standard 8 inch.

I have read some people use the sniper coil and seemed to like it a lot with just a little loss of depth.

Having too much fun with the standard coil right now to change it.

I also wonder how much deeper this thing could go with a bigger coil?

HH
 
DIGGER27,

Thanks for posting your experiences with the F2. I just bought one for all the reasons you mention. Mainly it is just FUN and works really well for enjoyable hunting. I also hear you can use the 11" DD coil for those deeper relics. I agree that the 8" coil works great as an "overall" hunting coil for the detector. Keep letting us know what your experiences are.:yes:
 
I was a little leery about getting another First Texas product, but it appears there is a lot of Fisher still in this thing.

I would argue this since it seems to to be my Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 with a different color scheme which came way before it! ;)
 
I would argue this since it seems to to be my Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 with a different color scheme which came way before it! ;)

Whatever, Dude...this thing just rocks!:wincup:
It does not work at all like my BH Ex/Quicksilver...thank goodness!

I don't care if crazy little elves in a tree manufactured it, :crazy: I got a good one.
Recovery speed is so fast I am thinking about painting some flames on the sides!:coolman:
 
I would argue this since it seems to to be my Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300 with a different color scheme which came way before it! ;)
They are quite similar, the F2 has a few little touches such as locking collars on the rods & a nicer elbow cup.
 

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Wish I could tell you I liked my F5 as much as you like your F2, but I cant. Crappy depth. Allmost every signal reads 3". I'm begining to think something is wrong with it. For $500 you would think you could get deeper coins than that. Should not have let the guy talk me out of the F2 that I went in to buy in the first place!!

I dont know much about these machines but I believe the F5 has threshold and ground balance control as well as another tweak or two that the F2 does not. This is just a guess and I dont claim to know whats going on with your detector but I think many machines with these controls have to be all set correctly to get the maximum performance out of the detector. Ground balance especially. Plus , check the actual depth of the coin versus what the detector says it is , are they actually at or near 3" ? The depth meter is just a guide and is not always accurate but should be in the ball park. Will the detector not hit on anything at greater depths ? Certain other things come into play with the depth meter on most detectors , one that throws my 250 off quite a bit is really dry soil...if its really dry the detector is rarely very accurate with the depth that its showing , sometimes it cant make up its mind at all.

Heres a discussion about the F5 I found when researching it. Just some good extra info from real users on depth and depth potential when you read through all the posts.

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?37,1048387,1074525


Maybe it will help , I dont know.
 
Yep, It will be "flamed" after the air bag and cup holder installation.:D

You mean YOURS didn't come with the air bag and cup holders??? I thought that was standard equipment.:D By the way, let me know how that flame thing works out. If it makes it better, I want some!!!:yes:
 
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