MINELAB F1A4 ex military metal detectors - tips, settings, questions

[Guest]

I understand the work that goes into the level 2 upgrade, even level 1.. but the price is high, too high for me, thats for sure..
Which is why I decided to give it a go myself.. Unfortunately my first attempt ended in me blowing up the regulator in my F1.
easy repair but had me worried for a few minutes..
Following that, the detector slipped off my bench and ripped the front panel right off LOL.. lots of re-wiring etc..
So I guess you could say I've learned by doing..

My current frequency Mod is quite simple... I removed the old crystal, tapped the ground, added a 3 position toggle to switch between the crystals.

main crystal is 4mhz, so i added a 2.4Mhz.. worked out pretty well, goes a tad deeper My test involved a 4Oz chunk of lead covered in 6 layers of 24ct gold leaf..
buried at 15" 10" and 8"

2.4Mhz picked it up at 15". 4Mhz also got it... but the signal wasn't as strong..
Which leads me to believe crystal mods sound like a good idea, but if you're talking minimal difference in signal strength, is it really worth the cost of a new machine?

I'm doing some work on my buddy Subgram's Machine, he's never short of $ (unlike me) and so doesn't worry about the cost of a replacement (wouldn't it be nice?) lol.

 

[barry]

HI-L/Trommel ,,OH yes it would be nice to have those deep pockets but pensioner here & its only a new hobby for me not done detecting before ,only 4 hours in a cold wet victoria with only bullets & casings ''NO-GOLD'' -Ha.aar..

THANKS mate if theres not much difference as you say I won't bother .
But thanks just the same ..
Best of luck with your machine ,,..

Cheers from a Cold wet SA,,,,,,,,,,,,,,BARRY..

 

[Guest]

HI-L/Trommel ,,OH yes it would be nice to have those deep pockets but pensioner here & its only a new hobby for me not done detecting before ,only 4 hours in a cold wet victoria with only bullets & casings ''NO-GOLD'' -Ha.aar..

THANKS mate if theres not much difference as you say I won't bother .
But thanks just the same ..
Best of luck with your machine ,,..

Cheers from a Cold wet SA,,,,,,,,,,,,,,BARRY..

And to you Barry..

I wouldn't say they aren't worth doing, nothing wrong with the detectors as they are, I've found gold with my machine, yes.. but its was basically running stock, just some esthetic mods, and the CO (crystal) mod.. wasn't running at the time lol..

 

[mozzie1957]

Got tired of my F1A4 toppling over every time I put it on the ground, unless I took extra care.
So I've designed a cover, with inbuilt base that's wider than the control unit, which has solved
the problem for me. Thought I'd try my luck with the idea, on FleaBay, and already sold a couple
of the covers. I suppose necessity is the mother of invention.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Minelab-...01143934500?pt=AU_Gadgets&hash=item2ed51cde24

 

[Guest]

Mozzie, I was just less than 30 seconds ago eyeing that very item!.. Excellent work! I already solved that very problem for myself with the tig welder.. Your way was far more elegant!

I expect they will sell quite well.. (as i can see you've sold 2 in 24 hours) Awesome!

 

[loamer]

Nice work mate.

 

[Sparra]

Looks great...How much do ebay sting you to sell these...I sold a bow a few weeks ago for $350.00 and they charged me $48.00...

 

[mozzie1957]

Looks great...How much do ebay sting you to sell these...I sold a bow a few weeks ago for $350.00 and they charged me $48.00...

FleaBay's charging nearly 10% of the sale price, plus another 10% of whatever postage you charge. Dunno if the latter is even legal. What's postage costs have to do with FleaBay? Then, after these costs are ripped off you, when your customer pays via PayPal they rip ya again another fee (and PayPal is owned by FleaBay). Then, when you transfer your loot, from PayPal, if it's less than $100 they rip ya yet again. Fancy owning those coupla sites? License to print money.

 

[Guest]

Damn, 10% is a bit steep.. you should bump up the price a bit..

 

[mozzie1957]

Damn, 10% is a bit steep.. you should bump up the price a bit..

Happy with what I'm getting for me effort. Don't want to join the ranks of the rip-off merchants.

 

[Guest]

Damn, 10% is a bit steep.. you should bump up the price a bit..

Happy with what I'm getting for me effort. Don't want to join the ranks of the rip-off merchants.

Very true, That was my plan for the boosters. but I can't see a market for them..

 

[loamer]

Hey Mozzie - I believe the Laanecoorie Gold bash is going to have a 'boot sale' at the do this year. Perhaps an opening for your product(s). Folks are always on the look-out for good quality handmade detector covers/stands. (I refuse to use any camo gear, so I like your colour range).

 

[mozzie1957]

Hey Mozzie - I believe the Laanecoorie Gold bash is going to have a 'boot sale' at the do this year. Perhaps an opening for your product(s). Folks are always on the look-out for good quality handmade detector covers/stands. (I refuse to use any camo gear, so I like your colour range).

Thanks for that Loamer. Really considering giving the 'boot sale' a bash. And also now considering making some of these covers to fit control boxes on the likes of the old SD2000's, and so on. Some of the other Minelab detectors would certainly benefit from having something a bit wider under them.

 

[Guest]

[video=480,360]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrWYw19honQ[/video]

 

[naildigger]

hi there lazytrommel, could you possibly tell me what frquency the f1s are in standard form, i have one with a 14inch coiltek goldstalker mono coil and i love it, very sensitive and quiet in mineralised ground, picked up the coil from robs detector sales in arizona, usa for 200 bucks (discontinued model- he still has a couple left for that price too). ive upgraded the headphone jack and using an adaptor for the coil (and thanks for the info on the ground between the adaptor sockets) anyhow, cheers and thanks for all your handy tips on this forum.

 

[Guest]

Frequency being the crystal oscillator on the board itself, Mine is 4mHz, I've seen a couple with 1.9mHz, and even one that was 3.8mhz..

This Crystal has little to no effect on the detectors performance, all it does is effect ground balance, and boot up time.. To modify the 'pulse frequency' you would need to change a capacitor or inductor.. as the frequency is computerised..

That 14" mono is a badass coil, I'm running the 14x9 myself, i find it very sensitive (though pin pointing is a *****)
The adapter is a good idea, honestly I've tested 6 different DD coils, and honestly the F1A4 doesn't seem to like them, sensitivity is decreased far more than expected..

I'm working on a mod currently, got a couple tips from a guy on geotech, to remove the 2 small resistors above the eprom, cutting tracks under them (which i did) pulling them high/low to load different timings..

Anyway enough of my rambling..

 

[naildigger]

thanks L/T, not being a gifted electronics wizz such as yourself, i dont under stand some of the jargon but thanks for the info, its very interesting. i do like the way the f1 ground balances so easily and blocks out emi. i was using my bros sd2100e before this and it can be a nightmare to balance and tune, some days when the emi was high, it was a case of pack up and go panning instead. now with the f1 i can detect near him and just push the noise cancel button and im sweet,(while hes pullin his hair out). hes been thinking of upgrading to an f1 with the coiltek coil just for the ease of use. i havent found any gold with it yet but i reckon ive found just about every other metallic object known to man, and surprisingly deeply too. anyway, thanks, and keep up the good work, ive learnt something new and thats always a good thing, cheers

 

[Guest]

thanks L/T, not being a gifted electronics wizz such as yourself, i dont under stand some of the jargon but thanks for the info, its very interesting. i do like the way the f1 ground balances so easily and blocks out emi. i was using my bros sd2100e before this and it can be a nightmare to balance and tune, some days when the emi was high, it was a case of pack up and go panning instead. now with the f1 i can detect near him and just push the noise cancel button and im sweet,(while hes pullin his hair out). hes been thinking of upgrading to an f1 with the coiltek coil just for the ease of use. i havent found any gold with it yet but i reckon ive found just about every other metallic object known to man, and surprisingly deeply too. anyway, thanks, and keep up the good work, ive learnt something new and thats always a good thing, cheers

lol, hardly, I don't know nearly enough.. certainly not 'gifted' in any way..

Yep, I still love my 2100, they can be quite the pain in the arse, you can be 50km from civilization and still they start going crazy with the EMI.

 

[mozzie1957]

[video=480,360]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrWYw19honQ[/video]

One of my covers. WooHoo

 

[naildigger]

yep, thats the trouble we have had with my bros sd2100e, sometimes you just cant tune the wee-waas out of it, other days its just brilliant. but the excitement of being out in the bush anticipating the next signal makes it all worth while. gotta love it!