How do you know when you have a good or great F75 LTD or a T2 SE detector

As some of you folks know I'm in the market for a new detector it's going to be a F75 LTD or T2 SE, after asking a ton of questions and reading countless post on various forums this is my biggest fear...spend over a grand for a detector that is not stable at 99 sensitivity and then have to run it at a lower setting because its just to hot in BP mode....
As Keith has said he has one that is an exception but apparently not the norm...that's why I'm dragging my feet on buying either machine.
You would think in this day and age that the quality control of Fisher and Teknetics high end detectors would be tested to meet the standards of people like Keith S. and Tom D. and others the know there way around the two top end Fisher and Teknetic detectors
I own a Omega and a G2 both machines work great, I can run them maxed out in my dirt and they do what they were designed to do...G2 is super quiet easy to use and setup,the Omega is a great coin magnet with little or no EMI issues.
I use 5",5x10",and 11" coils and they all do well in certain conditions....
What I'm looking for is a machine that's got depth and does everything that my other two machines do....Yes I can buy a Tom D. certified F75 LTD and I leaning in that direction,but I do like the T2 SE as well but a bit gun shy in buying a T2 SE that's not hand picked....whats the chance I'm going to get a good one..viruses a run of the mill one that runs a bit unstable and needs to be cranked back to use it normally...
Does anyone know what quality's are in a hand picked or certified F75 LTD or T2SE that makes them better then all the rest.......

Thanks..

My guess is the search-coil is one of the key components, and being hand-built is prone to some variability. The control-box electronics have next to nothing to adjust in them, just a master ground-balance. The components no doubt vary a bit from unit to unit, but how much difference that really could make is difficult to judge, even Fishers engineers might have trouble with that one.

Hummm....good point Pimento,never thought of the coils being suspect in a better or worse working machine...something to remember.

Thanks.



Pimento Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My guess is the search-coil is one of the key
> components, and being hand-built is prone to some
> variability. The control-box electronics have next
> to nothing to adjust in them, just a master
> ground-balance. The components no doubt vary a bit
> from unit to unit, but how much difference that
> really could make is difficult to judge, even
> Fishers engineers might have trouble with that
> one.

It also possible / likely that the coils have improved over the years. Just general product refinement, detail work, little things can add up. I have an early F75 (2007) and I've always wondered if my 11 x 7 coil was a good one or not. But I don't know any other detectorists local to me who have an F75, ( T2's are much more popular here in the UK.)so a coil-swap experiment has never taken place.
It's a shame that the coils don't also have a serial number / date of manufacture on them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2013 05:39PM by Pimento.

Try one before ya buy one, simple as pie

Handpicked is the ONLY way to be 100% sure

outside of that it's a crap shoot

Good luck

I like the idea try before you buy kind of thing.

Hope you have a local dlr. that will honor your request also comes to mind...

The only thing I am sure of that makes sense is the Omegas as time moved on got more quite....the latest version is more quite than the first version..

The T2 seems to have done the Tweeks to whatever made the omega less EMI prone...it seems to have seen fruitation about maybe 13-14 months ago..

Cant say you will buy a Newest one..then it be quite but It may be more the NORM now than say the chances you had a year and half ago..

You have ot remember there was a while there that you could ot get them about a year ago , so maybe they were not producing them while retooling?..so maybe your odds are better for a nicer one...

Tom may have seen the F75 become more stable in the last year if He has gotten his hands on some? maybe He will chime in..

Keith

Last I heard, NASA Tom had a system for accurately measuring performance against a $1 gold coin in a controlled environment. With his experience and recordkeeping he can tell pretty well how a unit compares against the standards of others. He also recognizes the limitations of such a measure against real world hunting conditions. Most of us are stuck with a horribly inadequate data base and lousy controls making wild guesses. This is why I have a lot of respect for his opinions and not so much for most others. Keith Southern is another who takes his testing seriously and there are several others. I believe there are mountains of superstitious beliefs in our hobby/field mostly based on the human tendency to predict from inadequate data. You can't always get the benefit of full information and so we make a best guess and learn from our mistakes, hopefully they won't be too expensive.

Past(or)Tom
Using a Legend, a Deus 2, an Equinox 800, a Tarsacci MDT 8000, & a few others...
with my beloved, fading Corgi, Sadie

Well said ...Pastor Tom, " I believe there are mountains of superstitious beliefs in our hobby/field mostly based on the human tendency to predict from inadequate data. You can't always get the benefit of full information and so we make a best guess and learn from our mistakes, hopefully they won't be too expensive."

Thanks for your input...

Keith,
Can't say much for the older Omega's...just started detecting about a year ago and bought my omega then.It's works very well in most areas with little EMI interference...guess the lads a Teknetics must have found a way to shield the newer machines and make them a bit less high strung...I'm hoping a new F75 SE or T2 SE will have same stability that my other detectors have employed....
Guess we'll see....

Thanks


Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The only thing I am sure of that makes sense is
> the Omegas as time moved on got more quite....the
> latest version is more quite than the first
> version..
>
> The T2 seems to have done the Tweeks to whatever
> made the omega less EMI prone...it seems to have
> seen fruitation about maybe 13-14 months ago..
>
> Cant say you will buy a Newest one..then it be
> quite but It may be more the NORM now than say the
> chances you had a year and half ago..
>
> You have ot remember there was a while there that
> you could ot get them about a year ago , so maybe
> they were not producing them while retooling?..so
> maybe your odds are better for a nicer one...
>
> Tom may have seen the F75 become more stable in
> the last year if He has gotten his hands on some?
> maybe He will chime in..
>
> Keith