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On 11/14/2019 at 7:03 PM, coinhunterseth said:

What was the last actual new model from First Texas anyway? F11-44? I know those were probably the same technology, but they look different from the rest of their lineup.

I think the F11-F44 was their futile attempt to go after the all terrain market that Garrett, and now Nokta Makro and Minelab have all entered and dominated.  I have a feeling that, aside from the new coils, the F11-F44 wasn't so much of a new design as it was incorporating existing off the shelf designs from existing detectors to make a weatherproof detector.  IMO they missed the mark,  and I don't think these machines ever really took off. To be honest there just wasn't anything that stood out about this line. If you're the last one to enter a crowded market, you need to make something that stands out as different from your competition be it a far more competitive price, better features, or better performance, and I don't believe this line adhered to any of those factors. 

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1 hour ago, Cal_Cobra said:

I think the F11-F44 was their futile attempt to go after the all terrain market that Garrett, and now Nokta Makro and Minelab have all entered and dominated.  I have a feeling that, aside from the new coils, the F11-F44 wasn't so much of a new design as it was incorporating existing off the shelf designs from existing detectors to make a weatherproof detector.  IMO they missed the mark,  and I don't think these machines ever really took off. To be honest there just wasn't anything that stood out about this line. If you're the last one to enter a crowded market, you need to make something that stands out as different from your competition be it a far more competitive price, better features, or better performance, and I don't believe this line adhered to any of those factors.

Well, that's easier to say now that the Nokta-Makro Simplex is making it to market and the Minelab Vanquish will be any day now (meaning, oh, in the next few months as Minelab tries their best to keep the fish on the line).  Here's a thread where some people were pretty impressed with the price.  Back when this thread was created & filled the Minelab Equinox wasn't even being hyped by the industry's king of hype:

 

 

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Good point GB.  I follow most of the Fisher F series forums, and I have not seen a keen following on the F44 (or it's siblings) so I can only speculate that it was not a popular detector.  

 

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After owning an F44 in my opinion it was a BH Land Ranger Pro/Tek Liberator in an updated, weatherproofed housing with two newer coils (7” round and the weird elliptical concentric) that have heavy duty weatherproofed coil connections. The F22 and F11 were the same platform with less features.

Jeff

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11 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

After owning an F44 in my opinion it was a BH Land Ranger Pro/Tek Liberator in an updated, weatherproofed housing with two newer coils (7” round and the weird elliptical concentric) that have heavy duty weatherproofed coil connections. The F22 and F11 were the same platform with less features.

Interesting.  Eventually they added the First Texas popular/common format 7"x11" DD.  I think you can buy the F44 configured with either the teardrop concentric (as shown in your attached brochure) or the DD, with a modest(?) price difference.

If the upcoming repackaged (Fisher F19 --> Bounty Hunter 3300) has an anticipated low price, I wonder what FT will do with the F44, if anything.

 

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F44 may be “recycled” tech but is still a very capable machine.  My buddies girlfriend uses one and when we all hunt together it keeps up with other machines him and I use that are supposed to have much more “horsepower”.  Just reaffirms the reality of VLF tech being maxed out long ago and knowing your machine is far more important than how new it is!!

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I had a F22 and now a F44 and they are virtually the same machine performance wise with the same size coil. F44 just has Gb and a few other things. I expect they will give them new paint jobs and lower the price below Simplex on the F44. With the 7.69? frequency they are really hot on coins. I mostly hunt playgrounds and don't need a machine to pick up targets 8-12" deep.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello,

I used the F11 for 3 years and was very happy with it. It was a simple, easy to use and solid machine. I made a lot of finds with it and had less problems with iron like now with an advanced detector. After some months I upgraded it with a NEL Tornado coil and the depth performance was amazing good.

Best Regards

Jacza

 

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  • 1 month later...

I bought an F44 a couple years ago, and it has since been relegated as a backup to my XTerra 705.  I have seen HunterGT's videos on using the new Magic-13 coil from Russia (MGC Labs) using the Tek G2, and a couple more from Europe using the F11 and F22 and was considering trying one on my 44, for coins and relics.  It is a 13" round DD coil, and there is also a 9"x13" DD.  With each priced under $100, I figured it is worth a shot - anyone have experience with these?  I think they've only been on the market for just over a year or so.

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