Fisher F2
Street price $200
Number of Reviews: 12
on 2 pages.
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Also in this price range:
Whites Classic I
Tesoro Compadre
Bounty Hunter Lone Star
Aquastar II
Minelab SD 2200v2
Junk at a Walmart price
DioMan in NE,Pa -
The unit airtests well...trouble is most coins are 4" deep or more. Once you get to the 4" mark the unit ID's good targets as junk. Do yourself a favor and buy the Ace 250. The bell tones are somewhat annoying but overall a vastly superior machine. First Texas looks to have run another good company into the ground
Feb 27, 2008
5 Yes
9 No
Better than the Aces and White's Classics too
Anonymous in Anytown, AT 55555 -
I had the pleasure of testing a new Fisher F-2 a few weeks ago. I found the detector to be lightweight, very selective and with superior discriminating abilities matching the abilities and speed of retune of the Tesoro line of detectors. It had a very quick self-adjusting threshold. I read an air depth test of 8'-11" depending on which coin I tested, from pennies up through US quarters. Most detectors in the mid- priced range achieve these same results.
In the ground it got roughly the same depth as most middle-priced detectors, including the F-4. In fairly bad soil and on Oregon salt/high black sand beaches using a low level of discrimination, it matched the depth of an
MXT,
a White's 6000 di Pro,
a Minelab Sovereign Elite Pro,
and Explorer SE.
It beat the Ace 250 and 150 by 1" to 2" in depth both inland and at the beaches. It also beat my White's Classic III by bout 1/2". It did not make all the noises the Aces did in high black sand soils. Of course, as many people already know, the Garrett Aces are not recommended by Garrett to be used for beach hunting, it even says this in their own charts.
A lack of manual ground balance did not cause it to get any less depth than it's big brother the F-4
Most detectors have trouble finding coins deeper than 5 inches inland and 6 inches on our beaches, and the F-2 and the other aforementioned were no different. There were other detectors that I tested against the above and they were the Compass Goldscanner and Relic & Coin, a Whites DFX, and my Fisher cz-70. These detectors only found coins 1/2" to 1" deeper than all the others.
One thing I didn't like about the F-2 and the F-4; Niether of them would find a BB sized nugget deeper than 2" in the air and even less than that in the ground. This however, was also true of the low-end White's, the Sovereign, and the 6000 di Pro.
Finally, the F-2 and F-4 unlike the Aces, the Sovs, and the Explorers, and the 6000 di Pro, AND the cz-70, would give a signal on ALL 5 pennies I placed on the ground in a row at 3 inches apart, no matter which way I checked, left, or right. Only the F-2 and F-4 and a Tejon and a Silver and Golden Saber could achieve this great target separation. The others couldn't quite cut it, and only gave one signal each way, never five like the Tesoros and F-2 and F-4 could.
Jan 25, 2008
16 Yes
4 No
Worst $100+ detector ever
Bob Smalley in Dover, Deleware -I talked my brother into getting two of these detectors for his sons, based on reviews from the Fisher forums I had read. I had previously bought a Discovery 2200 from Radio Shack for $49, and knew, according to the forums, that the F2 would easily surpass it. What a surprise to all of us when the F2 wouldn't locate any coins at depth without identifying them as iron. The discrimination circuitry is pathetic, and the general depth on any item is poor. Like the F75, build quality is totally Bounty Hunter, meaning cheap junk. And it sucks up 9 volt batteries like they were bon bons. I've owned many Fishers and have been thrilled with all of them (1266, CZ3D, 1270). But this machine is not a Fisher you've come to know and love. This is First Texas garbage, like just about everything they've ever built. This machine would sell well in Walmart for $59 or so. If you want a good $200 or so machine, get an Ace 250 or a Tesoro Compadre or Silver Umax. They don't come with the free extra 4 inch coil, a coil that makes this machine even more shallow in its already pathetic depth. Would make a good walking stick or brush whacker though.
Jan 12, 2008
18 Yes
9 No
The F-2 Needs a LOT of Work!
MB in Michigan -I already posted a review here for the F-2 but due to a server crash it was lost.
I was asked to post my review again.
I had very high hopes for the F-2. I?ve been into this hobby since it?s earliest days and have since the 60?s been a user of Fisher detectors.
To cut to the chase, I found my F-2 to have very serious shortcomings.
1. Very poor depth ? 4 inches maximum on a wheat penny with zero discrimination and maximum sensitivity (w/8-inch coil).
2. Target ID is way off on buried coins. I got a 06 IRON reading on the wheat penny at 4 inches deep.
In air tests the machine ID's nearly perfectly so I know it's not defective.
After testing the machine I discovered it was not worth returning to the company and it was useless for my types of hunting. I traded my F-2 for another model Fisher detector.
So, maybe the F-4 or F-75 but definitely not the F-2.
Jan 12, 2008
9 Yes
5 No
Fisher F2
Skillet in USA -My hunting bud and I just bought two of the new, Fisher F2 detectors... at about $200, extra 4" coil and lower shaft included, it seemed like a heck of a deal.
(We both own several different makes/models and are both familiar with using TID machines).
Posters on the forums were giving them great reviews as well, seemed like a no-brainer!
I fully expected it to shoot my 250 right out of the saddle!
I was soon to find, however, that this wouldn't be the case..
The first alarming issue was the fact that the stock 8" coil was a dud, dead in the water. Machine wouldn't power-up at all with the big coil. Worked just fine with the 4", however, and I had a spare 8" BH coil that worked just fine on the machine as well... time to do some hunting!
Second issue: the arm rest on my machine was mounted off-level. This resulted from the mounting holes being drilled off-plane. Mostly cosmetic, I could correct for this while hunting, still it doesn't speak too well for quality control.
Third issue: I quickly found that the coin-depth readout was not accurate at all. Coins were reading 1-2" deep in pinpoint mode when they were actually much deeper.
I tried it on targets in my test plot, all items buried 3-5" deep. It would indicate a depth of 2" on the deeper targets. My other machines with depth-indications are dead-on on reading depths on the same targets.
Fourth Issue: The VDI readout is so 'twitchy' and jumpy, that it is all but useless, especially on any target deeper than about 3"
Fifth Issue: Poor depth, In a nearby park, I have a dime buried at 5.5" deep in clean ground. The F2 couldn't hit the coin at all with the 4" coil. With the 8" coil it would hit it, but the audio ID would register like iron, and the visual displays would jump all over the scale without a good 'lock-in'.
Out of 11 different machines on my rack, this machine is the only one that wouldn't give-up a diggable coin signal on this dime. My 250 will hit it solid even with a 4.5" coil.
Fisher, to their credit, has sent me a replacement 8" coil. It works no better than the BH coil did, so I know that it's not an issue with the first coil I tested.
My hunting bud's observations mirrored mine, except that he didn't get a bad first coil and his armrest wasn't crooked.
Sad to report, but this new F2 is for sale as I can't see myself getting much hunting time in with it.
I have to give it 1 star... zero stars if that's allowed.
When my bud and I posted our observations about the F2 on a Fisher forum (we were not rude, this is a machine I tried very hard to like!) the moderator quickly deleted the string... sad.
I'm not a brand-loyal 'basher'... I own Garretts, White's, Tesoros, an Explorer etc. and use the heck out of them all.
My impression of the F2, I feel compelled to report, is not favorable at all.
Jan 11, 2008
44 Yes
4 No
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