F-19 continued...


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Hello all, I was able to get out with the Fisher F-19 for a few more days. I am using it in the Redding area of Northern California. Local results may vary depending on your location. This is by no means a technical paper, just the differences that I see between the F-19 and the GB Pro.

The F-19 comes with a ten inch elliptical coil that is stock.

The GB Pro comes with a five inch round coil that is stock.

Both coils are very sensitive to sub-grain pieces of gold. I prefer the ten inch coil over the five inch coil because it will cover more ground in less swings. It will also fit into crevices better. I have not noticed any difference in the effect of EMI or ground noise on either coil. I did not notice any false signals from either detector. To me Pin-Pointing appears to be a quicker process with the ten inch coil. I feel that the tip of the ten inch coil is more sensitive than the rest of the coil.This applies to both units.

The control boxes on both units appear to be the same, however there are differences. If I were to use the F-19 to detect for gold I would use the same settings that I use on the GB Pro. The difference that I noticed with the F-19 is that I can turn the gain up to about the two o’clock position and maintain a steady and even threshold. With the GB Pro I could only go up to about the eleven o’clock position and maintain a steady threshold. Both of these scenarios are without headphones.

When using headphones I was able to set the Gain to the maximum setting on both detectors. I like to use both of these detectors without headphones because I can hear sub-grain pieces when both are set to the above Gain settings. I come across lots of rattlesnakes in my area so I like to hear all around.

Because I can set the gain a bit further on the F-19 it seems to be just a tad more sensitive. I say a tad because it is almost not noticeable I don’t know why this is occurring as I was told that this was not one of the improvements or additions.

The other difference is the signals are softer and I was not getting the loud audible on trash with the F-19 that I was getting with the GB Pro.

Both units have continuous ground condition readout.

Both units are 19 kHz operating frequency.

Both units show ground phase values indicating the amount of mineralization.

Both units have computerized Ground Grab. The F-19 has a manual override.

The F-19 is recommended for: Relic, Beach, Coin and Gold.

GB Pro is recommended for: Gold

The F-19 offers a Menu on the screen.

Both units weigh in at 2.5 pounds, and are considered Ultra Lightweight.

Both units have Static pinpoint with depth indicator.

The F-19 has a Backlight display.

Both units will accept headphones.

The GB Pro has a variable Break point tone discrimination system, TM

The F-19 has an enhanced Break point tone discrimination system, TM.

The F-19 has Notch Window with Adjustable Notch Width.

Both have independent control of Threshold and Gain

The F-19 will Ground balance all the way to Salt.

The F-19 has unmatched Target Separation in Iron and Trash.

The F-19 has an Adjustable Iron Audio.

The GB Pro has VCO Audio in All Metal and Discrimination modes.

The last five items that are bold and underlined are added features for the F-19. These items increase the effectiveness of this unit when used in the Relic, Beach or Coin mode. These items vary with the GB Pro.

Overall, the F-19 appears to be just a GB Pro in camo with a ten inch coil. However, the additions shown above can be favorable for the gold prospector. When detecting for gold in high trash areas or tailing piles the F-19 may be better fit for the job.

Remember the F-19 is not being touted as a gold machine. It is a Relic, Beach and Coin machine. I consider it a great crossover unit.

The F-19 comes in Green Camo and Pink Camo. I opted for the Green Camo as it was the better choice for me. I believe there would be a change in my performance and concentration if I had gone pink… Thanks, TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

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Hey Ray,

Great report on the Fisher F-19. Is the unit now available for sale? To be honest, I'm not real familiar with the unit, so all your reports have been very helpful. Sounds like it's a great multi-purpose metal detectors and does very well on gold nuggets as you have shown.

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Hi Ray,

First off... Thanks for the informational write-up. I picked up a new GBII with the small coil back in Nov. and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind adding a quick comparison against the two above. I haven't used it much, finding it hard to put down the GP3500. Thanks NvAuMiner/Doug

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