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great forum and community you have here.

finding a few bits and pieces panning in NSW & VIC. I bought a panners mate after my visit to Three Creeks gold mine in Upper Bingara, northern NSW, and have had varying degrees of success.

The fever has bit hard and now looking into the detector side of things. And wowee there's some serious dollars you can drop on something half decent! The debate is do I get something with training wheels thats a bit cheaper or do I scrape out the crevices of my bank account for a better quality detector?

Look forward to sharing my experiences with you all.

Time to hit the road
 
G'day Tthtr welcome to PA your spot on its a great forum. My 10 cents worth is if you want to find gold buy the best you can afford. My choice of detector for a beginner would be a Minelab SCD 2300 if you can afford one. The 2300 is simple to use and will find shallow gold if it's there. Other than a 2300 in the same price bracket you can get a GPX 4500 with the 4500 there are heaps of options to buy which means more dollars. The SDC is waterproof to 3 metres in saying that you would need to purchase the waterproof headphones if you were to totally submerge it. Without the waterproof headphones the bottom half of the machine can still be submerged. I'm sure others will give their thoughts all the best with your venture :Y:.
 
Welcome.
Only get what you can afford. I agree with the above comments, regarding the SDC, but if that is too high in price you could consider a good VLF machine. This may act as your training wheels until you can afford a do it all, so to speak, machine. There is so much choice out there. If you get a good VLF and find gold, this would be an ideal place to return with a Pulse Induction Machine when you have time (if you upgrade that way).

Gee if I could afford it now I would buy an SDC and a Minelab 7000. The main this is getting the detector over the ground, which is something I am finding difficult at the moment due to work, family and other commitments. If you get a detector, good luck with your hunting.
 
RM Outback said:
G'day Tthtr welcome to PA your spot on its a great forum. My 10 cents worth is if you want to find gold buy the best you can afford. My choice of detector for a beginner would be a Minelab SCD 2300 if you can afford one. The 2300 is simple to use and will find shallow gold if it's there. Other than a 2300 in the same price bracket you can get a GPX 4500 with the 4500 there are heaps of options to buy which means more dollars. The SDC is waterproof to 3 metres in saying that you would need to purchase the waterproof headphones if you were to totally submerge it. Without the waterproof headphones the bottom half of the machine can still be submerged. I'm sure others will give their thoughts all the best with your venture :Y:.

Thanks RM Outback. The SDC looks the goods but it's something I'm gonna have to um and ah over for a while. Might send some vibes out to the Gumtree gods for a good used one.
 
Hi TTHTR and welcome.

Of course you don't have to buy new; I recently sold a good condition SD2200 with new battery for $1450.

If you're going to detect in the Golden Triangle of Victoria I'd suggest a PI detector. In less mineralised soil a cheaper VLF will be fine.

I suggest you don't buy anything for at least three months but rather listen to the many very knowledgeable people on this forum and ask questions, at the end of that time, I'm sure, you'll know what is best for you.
 
Hi and welcome mate i wont say which one to get leave that up to what finance you are willing to spend or afford at the time
1510810981_gm.jpg

now how did that picture get on there ]:D ]:D ]:D ]:D
 
Thanks for all the replies.

Went with a GM 1000 and using it in the Golden triangle. It's been close to 2 weeks using almost everyday for a few hours but have found no yellow stuff.

I have a few questions on the best settings for it.

I've been setting it on all metal mode at about level 6. I don't get very far and it goes off, digging a hole every couple of meters or so. Lead shot, nails, bullet heads, casings, rocks that make it go beep. Getting frustrated with it would be an understatement. Get a signal and dig a hole and the whole hole sounds like R2D2 on party drugs.

Maybe I should post this in a more relevant spot.

How do you set this machine to perform at it's best?

Cheers

Time To Hit The Road
 
does not matter where you go or what detector you use they will act different in every area you go
mate i was out with mine a few weeks ago and like you it was beep beep just about every third step
all it was is hot rocks and rubbish BUT by the end of the day i more or less had it worked out on what it would be when it went off
HOWEVER my motto and like many on here if it beeps DIG it as you never know
and for sure you will go to sleep at night thinking was that or was it not gold
Bury stuff in your back yard and get use to settings is about the only thing i can say
it works for me
 
Hi Time to hit the road,
Welcome, only new to forum and prospecting myself so I will leave it at that.
Cheers Jamie
 
Welcome to the forum mate. We are all a friendly bunch on here. Just holla if you want to know something and someone is bound to give you an answer.
 

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