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Fisher F-19


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The Fisher / Teknetics / Bounty Hunter 19 kHz models were among my very favorite detectors. There was some evolution, culminating in the F19 variants, but they were all good. Simple, powerful, great all around models. They are certainly still very viable options but I have moved on personally. I’d never pay the $499 they are asking for them now. Lots of fond memories though. :smile:

Fisher F19 Information

Difference Between Gold Bug, F19, and G2+

Fisher Gold Bug Dp Vs Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro & F19

Guide To Gold Bug Versions

 

fisher-f19-sale-flyer.jpg

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53 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I’d never pay the $499 they are asking for them now.

I checked Ebay and there is a Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro (member of the same family as the F19 but with 7"x11" DD coil) listed there (new with free shipping) for $399.  But even for that price probably not competitive with some of the new models (e.g. from Nokta and Minelab 'wars') being released now or very soon for under $300.  (Then there's the highly anticipated, soon-to-be-released Quest models which are IMO still TBD performancewise.)  I haven't looked but there could be some used ones for reasonable prices, and dealers with stock they'd like to reduce/clear who will possbibly go less than the $399 for new ones, including the Fisher F19, Teknetics G2+, etc.

One thing the bargain priced new detectors may not have is this high of an operating frequency (19 kHz) that the F19 and siblings have.  For most detecting (and this Gold Bug family is good at general detecting applications) that probably doesn't matter much, but for small native gold, maybe??  (Again, I'm talking the under $400 priced market since lots of more expensive detectors will find smaller gold than the ~20 kHz models.  And obviously Steve knows all this better than I do, but just trying for completeness.)

FWIW, my Fisher Gold Bug Pro did well for me in the parks and schoolyards, just not up with the (more expensive) multifrequency ML Equinox which eventually replaced it.

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When you look at the fully submersible Xterra Pro at $269 then even $299 would be a stretch for a new F19 variant. I honestly don’t see how Fisher or Garrett can sell hardly anything at current prices when caught in the crossfire between Nokta and Minelab. It has to be brand name loyalty or simply not knowing to lay out $759 for a new AT Max, to pick just one of many examples.

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There is a lot of good salesmen out there and with detectors with a solid history they can ignore the current detectors on the market and talk about the past. 

Fishers website has had a VERY RARE update with some wording changes to their models no longer lying about being the best detectors on the market but they've also discontinued a number of detectors, the F19 series is one of them, this will be because they were ripping people off I guess selling the F19 for an expensive price when it's also a Bounty Hunter.

http://fisherlab.com/hobby/deetectors-f-series.htm#f75Ltd

The only F19 models on their site say they're new, but also say they're no longer available.

As for the model series itself, it's one of my favourites of the older detectors I own, it has really stable Target ID and quite accurate too, it is capable of pretty small targets, not quite suitable for me to use for prospecting as it's just not sensitive enough but decent none the less for general use being able to find small stuff.  Being a detector designed for gold it's obviously going to be pretty good on gold jewellery.

I repurposed mine by buying the Detech Arrow coil for it, by having an 18x4" coil on it it's absolutely perfect for going to areas after events scanning the ground for recent drops, it's very EMI resistant which makes it perfect for this as events are largely in high EMI areas.  Combine that with it's accurate ID's and ability to turn the sensitivity right down and and cut the depth down it really does a good job at this.  It's iron disc works well and easy to adjust, it's light and easy to swing.

It pairs very well with the Detech Ultimate coil, it provides it very accurate ID's to depth and it can hold that ID until near the edge of detection of targets, it doesn't just detect with a good ID on shallow targets then go wild with deeper ones like the Simplex does.

Their business model of having one model detector and disabling minor features on it to create other models no longer washes in today's market so having 4 or 5 models of the same detector with slight feature variations and different looks just doesn't work, they need to only keep their most highest spec models to stay in the game even at the lower end of the market.

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I still have a Teknetics G2+ with 10X5 elliptical coil. It is the only single frequency VLF that I own. It will slightly outperform my Equinox 800, 900, Legend and Deus 2 on coin sized target when comparing target IDs using their selectable single frequencies around 20 kHz and the Tek G2+ using its fixed 19 kHz. The G2+ can ID 3” deep US nickels and pull tabs, etc. pretty well. Those SMFs using 20kHz struggle to correctly ID 3” deep low conductors in my dirt.  Put those SMFs in their multi settings and they will totally outperform the G2+ on coin sized object detection and identification of coin sized objects deeper than 3”.
 

The Legend and Nox in their gold modes whether using their multi setting or 40 kHz single frequency easily outperform the G2+ on sub gram gold. Deus 2 with 9” coil using its SMF gold mode and its Mono selectable single frequencies above 20 kHz performs about the same as the G2+ on sub gram gold. 

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4 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

When you look at the fully submersible Xterra Pro at $269 then even $299 would be a stretch for a new F19 variant. I honestly don’t see how Fisher or Garrett can sell hardly anything at current prices when caught in the crossfire between Nokta and Minelab. It has to be brand name loyalty or simply not knowing to lay out $759 for a new AT Max, to pick just one of many examples.

Yup, why anyone would buy an AT-anything over a modern Minelab or NoMak machine makes me shake my head.

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I still find myself often reaching for this machine from time to time.  Very stable and effective, found lots of gold over the years with my F19 / GB Pro's.  Very nice ergonomics and lite weight allow me to swing all day without my shoulder getting pissed off.  I mainly bring it (or the Monster) on  long range back pack  / prospecting trips as it   and breaks down so well  and only uses a 9v battery.

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5 hours ago, cudamark said:

Yup, why anyone would buy an AT-anything over a modern Minelab or NoMak machine makes me shake my head.

They are certainly extremely overpriced in today's market.

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