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

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No probs! Will get it off in the post tomorrow.
If you have any problems, let me know and I'll be happy to help.
Have you just got the standard coil?
 
AuMan said:
No probs! Will get it off in the post tomorrow.
If you have any problems, let me know and I'll be happy to help.
Have you just got the standard coil?

Yeah the whole unit is stock standard, will get around to modding it eventually.
 
Cool, you'll probably find a couple of extras in your package then.. ;) I'll see what I can dig up.
 
AuMan said:
Cool, you'll probably find a couple of extras in your package then.. ;) I'll see what I can dig up.

Thank you very much, I'll let you know when it arrives.
 
Just arrived, thank you for the coil and headphone connectors. They were the first two mods that I wanted to do. Now the bad news is that I'm still having the same problem, so I'm at a bit of a loss about what to do now, any ideas? Thanks
 
Hmmm, does it do it with the coil connected? If not, can you borrow a coil from a member on your side of the westgate?
Do you have a multimeter? Can you check that when the detector is on with the coil connected that the battery voltage is above 3.7v?
To do this, when you look at the battery carrier(battery side) with the plug at the top, measure from the top and bottom terminals.
Failing that, you might have to remove the back cover of your detector and check that there are no broken wires going to the power plug.
Otherwise, give me a bell. My number is on the back of the satchel. There are numerous other things internally that can make this happen.
 
Ooops, that first line should read "does it do it without the coil connected".

Also, I am happy to exchange the carrier and repair the detector instead if it is the detector.

Is it an early 4XXXX serial number?
 
F1a4 I have one and its modified by woody would like it to have been modified by some one else but in saying that it finds gold and works really well in areas with powerlines/emi I usually run a 17/11 nuggetfinder coil but also a 11/6detech mono and still have the army coil which is very good I like it but it only comes out when Ive finished a area with the sdc or if Im trying to cover some ground cheers Muk.
 
Muk said:
F1a4 I have one and its modified by woody would like it to have been modified by some one else but in saying that it finds gold and works really well in areas with powerlines/emi I usually run a 17/11 nuggetfinder coil but also a 11/6detech mono and still have the army coil which is very good I like it but it only comes out when Ive finished a area with the sdc or if Im trying to cover some ground cheers Muk.

Off topic but I have to say it.

Please tell me why, if something is green it is automatically considered to be army. Australia has a defence force and we also used these detectors in the civilian world. I can remember when Katherine flooded in 1998, the media showed all the army personnel cleaning up the town. Not saying a bad thing about the help the army provided but about 80% of the military doing the clean up were RAAF. It's just a little bug bear that pisses me off.

Rant over, back on topic.

The F1A4 could pick up a grenade size item at 600mm in dry sand. It came with a test piece that is about 150mm long with a small bronze/copper rod in it. If it couldn't pick that up it was faulty.

Cheers

Doug
 
I think the F1A4 is a brilliant detector!
In the standard form, they are ok ish, but level 3 mods(The Jack Lange definition of level 3, not that other bloke ;) ) are what make these detectors truly shine.
They are very immune to nasty ground(when set up correctly) and can perform just as well as an sdc. I have many people who own an sdc and a level 3 f1a4 and the sdc just sits in the car.

There are quite a few facebook groups about too, however, I don't indulge in facebook so can't tell you where to find said groups.

Disclaimer, I designed and implemented the mods for the f1a4.

AuMan
 
OK this is the job lot....one has a level 1 mods...$600. and the other has had level 3 mods carried out ..$1200. both are in ex condition. I think the price is pretty good .might get for cheaper price ...what do you think people. mods by jack lange...
 
I use to have a f1a4 with level three mods not Woody's other bloke and did find gold with it but to be honest in mineralised ground it's very noisy and to shut it up had to have the gain way down to the point where it had no penetration in ground was a frustrating machine and for a level 3 cost you can get a second hand 4500 sold mine got a 4500 it's so much better I did do tests before I got rid of it and the 4500 kicked its *** on noise and penetration.
 
For the price of the standard f1a4 which is $1000 to $1200you can get a GP extreme also a much better machine.
 
junkdog said:
OK this is the job lot....one has a level 1 mods...$600. and the other has had level 3 mods carried out ..$1200. both are in ex condition. I think the price is pretty good .might get for cheaper price ...what do you think people. mods by jack lange...

level 3 for 1200, bargain! Does that come with the li-ion battery as well?

If you have any doubts about the machines performance I would be happy to take a look at it as long as return postage is covered.
There have been a couple of small tweaks to the level 3 in the last couple of years.

AuMan
 
Hi everyone
Just wondering if anyone has tried the 14"coiltek elite mono coil on a F1A4. If so how did it perform and what were the settings that were used.
Help someone can advise me of this.
Thanks
Firey10_0
 
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