Advice needed: Fisher F44 or MineLabs X-Terra 505 ?

stashman

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May 30, 2019
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Expert advice needed, I had a Tesoro decades ago, can't even remember the model, so had some experience, want to get back into it, live in northern Virginia, will be used on farmland and streams.
 
I have owned both of these detectors so I feel okay about giving you my opinions. I won't steer you anywhere else since you did not ask for that except to mention the Tesoro Vaquero for your northern VA area.

F44 with stock coils will get you about 9" of depth in mild soil. If you have moderate to high mineralization cut depth by a third and numerical target ID on lower conductors will be up averaged. F44 has plenty of tone options. Notching is the only form of discrimination and is somewhat limited. All Metal mode threshold is tied into the gain so can't be manually adjusted. It is weatherproof and is very much like the Bounty Hunter Land Ranger Pro with decent target recovery speed and separation. Auto and manual ground balance works fairly well.

The newer 505 is a nice detector but for a few dollars more if you shop carefully you can get the 705 which is in another league from the F44 and the 505. The only thing the F44 is better at compared to the 705 is recovery speed. Otherwise, no contest and that is not a put down of the F44 but more just how good the 705 is. You can buy a used one for less than $400 and probably get the 7.5 khz concentric and the 18.75 kHz DD. The X-Terras are well made and no reason to fear a used one if it has been well taken care of.

Jeff
 
Thanks for the opinion Jeff, I was kind of steering towards the Minelab 505, thats where I'm going to end up. I'm leery of spending more than $300 in case I lose interest after a while, if not, I'll upgrade to the 705 on your recommendation. A shame what happened to Tesoro, I saw the pictures of the facility on a real estate site. Too bad someone with the business sense and cash can't resurrect it.
 
I have had both as well. I think I would prefer the 505. If you get the 6 inch hf coil it is a killer combo for coins in trashy areas
I found more barber dimes with that combo than any other so far. The stock concentric coil is no good at all. You are going to have to get another coil to make the machine perform good. Good luck
 
Go with the 705 now. They are killers. If you should decide to sell you have a higher end detector and should be able to sell it easier and at a better price. I've kept my 705 as a backup to my Nox 600. If I were to use my 705, I know it can easily hold its own.
 
That is a good strategy Stashman. Bigtim1973 mentioned the stock concentric coil as being no good. In many medium to high mineralization situations that is correct. However, it is waterproof unlike some of the other Minelab coils for the X-Terra series, does okay in mild to low mineralization and pinpoints well due to its shape. Don't underestimate it. It has its' uses. The 6" round DD 18.75 kHz coil in heavy trash is a great coil. Some of the after market coils by Nel and Cors are good too!
Minlooker is right about the 705............

Jeff
 
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