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I really think First Texas has some great engineers, some of the best, designing really great products. I am far less impressed by their quality control however. It is looking more and more like the new F75 and T2 upgrades really are upgrades, but that some units with bad coils or other problems are stirring up issues.

This is accentuated by the fact that I let my last F75 go because when I tried to use it around my house in Reno it was non-functional due to electrical interference. It just went batty and no amount of reduced gain or other settings could get it to behave.

Now I just got a new F75 SE through one of those things where a dealer is selling it online as "used" (whink-whink). This allows them to circumvent dealer restrictions on pricing and dump inventory they want to get rid of. So I got a price of $824 on a brand new never used "used" F75 Special Edition manufactured in April 2013. The first four digits of the serial number indicate year and month manufactured. The unit boots up as firmware version 7.0A. In 2014 a change was made in hardware that lead to a change in the firmware to 8.0 but there was no performance change.

Anyway, this thing had probably sat on the dealers shelf for a year, and with year end approaching he decided to get it out the door, especially with the new upgraded models in the pipeline. The unit obviously had never been out of the box. The catch? Since the invoice says I bought a used unit, and since until recently all Fishers from El Paso are only warranteed to the original owner, I have no warranty.

Whatever, sometimes you gotta take a bullet in the interest of science. I wanted a non-upgraded unit to compare to the upgraded model I am eventually going to get, though it seems a long time coming. Once I do comparisons I have some options. I can keep whichever one I like best, which is almost certainly going to be the upgraded model. I can then sell this one as is. Or go ahead and have it upgraded also, though that would cost a few bucks. Then compare again, and keep the one I like best. Unless the Nokta FORS Gold really whups them, in which case they both go!

Long story to get to an interesting thing I just discovered. This not latest version F75 appears to be quieter and better behaved than the last one I had! Did the last one have an issue that made it more susceptible to electrical interference? Is this one newer enough that something was improved? First Texas in particular has a policy of continual slipstream upgrades that happen without any fanfare so as to not rock the boat.

Anyway, I have one well behaved F75 in hand and hope to get a new upgraded version someday to compare to it, putting to rest once and for all at least in my own mind what this whole internet "tempest in a teapot" is all about. I have to say it is good to have a f75 again. I just mesh with the look, feel, and sounds of this detector. It really feels better on my arm than any other detector I have ever used. Great ergonomics.

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I've certainly not had the same level of interference on my T2 that you had seen on your old F75. I never had any real problem with my T2 working parks and schools around town. Perhaps we could do a little testing after Jan 1st and a couple of local parks / schools while the kids are still out on vacation. Assuming the weather cooperates.

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