SD 2100, 2200 CH1 & CH2

I know these are older machines and there has been lots of discussions on operating these machines. There has also been discussions of changes made between the two models and also the variants namely the V2 series as well. I have just bought a secondhand SD 2200V2 and have just started to get the feel for this machine and have been doing some testing and comparisons between ch1 and ch2 with mono and DD coils. I have put a list down of the most common discussed issues raised with these machines and basically i would like to sort the wheat from the chaff.

1- The SD 2100 could be used to search in CH1 with mono coils effectively, but the SD 2200 could not be because they moved the way the channels were over lapped?

This is what i found between the two channels on the SD2200v2 in my tests. I ground balanced my machine in mineralised soil, fixed GB and waved the 11" DD coil over a 5c, 10c, 20c, 50, $2, $1 coins in a line. Ch2 was the strongest signal and it changed from High tone to Low tone between the $2 and $1 coin. Ch1 had less signal strength and it changed tone between the 10c and 20c coin.

I ground balanced both channels and laid the coil on the ground in fix GB and waved a 5c coin over the top. Ch2 air tested over 300mm (I only had a 300mm rule) ch1 220mm this was with a 11dd coil and 7.3v pocket rocket. With a 8" mono coil in ch1 it was just on 300mm.

If someone has an Sd 2100 it would be interesting your results in CH1 compared to my test above?

2- To search for large gold nuggets at depth use 18" DD coil and ch2 in Deep on the SD 2200?

Well from my tests show above this would be a risky thing as the ground balance point (hole) in ch2 is right in the heart of big nugget conductivity?? As can be seen the ch1 changes tone much early on and would be less likely to balance out big nuggets,but could easy balance out smaller nuggets.

Anyway, If someones got a small amount of time to do this test with the coins on a Sd2100 or Sd2200d it would be greatly appreciated. I know that ground type will change the ground balance points and the only way to really tell is to test both machines in the same location.

I know that there is a lot of experienced operators on this forum who have extensive experience with these machines and it would be good to here your opinions.

Roscoe'
I can't help you with test's as I sold the 2100 long ago now but' when I had it I only used CH1 and always used mono's 8",11" & 18".
I hated using CH2 or both channels combined as it was a PITA to have to keep balancing really wasn't much better with DD coils' the 18" would pick up a $2 coil at like 1foot and still hit pretty hard on 22 bullets!

Oh picked up a few boot tacks with the 8" in ch1

Hope this helps and I'm sure there's a few others that still have a 2100 or 2200 to help you out? Could be interesting I think...

Got hold of a SD 2200D today and it tested the same as the 2200v2 which was to be expected. Will have a SD 2000 by the end of the week to do same test.

Zuke, Thanks for sharing your SD2100 experiences. I was told the sd2200 had more gain added to it and the channel over laps were changed from that of the sd2100. I have no reason to doubt this but i would like to know if it was just one channel changed or both. I will know as soon as i get hold of a 2100.

Bit disappointing Roscoe as there would be thousands of prospectors out there that had and probably still use these machines but no one can shed any light on the subject? Come on guys don't you know your machines?

Dont really feel qualified enought to add too much as ive only been using the sd2000 for a few months but my sd2000 has a front end gain upgrade so obviously can decrease gain if ground is too variable or increase if its real quiet. More gain = more sensitivity to everything. Not always wanted on the mono....

I also have a normal / sensitive upgrade so can flick over to sensitive for bedrock or shallow ground where im likely to ping a little bit.

I find the monos are really chirpy and false out quite a bit... does my head in. Switching to channel 1 or balance 1 keeps the mono quiet but i reckon youd miss small surface sub gram bits easily.

Since getting the 8 inch dd from detec i run in search mode without any false signals im picking up a gram piece at 50cm for a solid signal. 10 grams overloads at the same height. Im talking air test nugget on the ground.

My simple rule is balance 1 for deep balance 2 for shallow and search for searching.

If i can get out happy to do your test mate.

My settings vary a bit over the 2100 and 2200 thought due to some upgrades

Well being relativley new to detecting and having purchased a sd2200d a year ago i used a 11inch dd for the first 6 months always on both channels
and found larger objects to a depth of 12 to 18 inches
then a bought a 14 inch dd used on both channel and channel 1, depth was about the same

havent found any gold thoe, im the unluckies prospecter ever i think lol

i have since bought a 8 inch mono which i took out today for the first time, so i had some learning to do i played around with the settings and found
using a very very small peice of gold i could get it to about 12inchs (air test) on deep and on both channels, channel 2 was almost as good, channel 1 was about 6- 9 inches
i found it worked a bit quiter on both channels too

but still didnt find any gold thats over a year now since i started, lmao, IM STILL TRYING THOE !!!!!

dont know if this helps but it was what i found, i still dont know if im doing every thing right, its a trial and error thing for me

i would be interest in your findings

ohh i must add i just got mine back from minelab, changed out the in and out terminals and tested all was good to specs, new small battery,so all leads good

yournutz said:

just got mine back from minelab, changed out the in and out terminals and tested all was good to specs

Click to expand...

Glad you decided to go that way mate. Keep looking, all of a sudden after the first they will flow.

Yournutz, the first piece is always the hardest. The trouble these days is you need Sensitivity and Depth at the same time, while keeping ground noises under control. If I was trying to get gold with a 2200 these days I'd be strapping on a Coiltek 11"DD pro coil, and a regulated power supply. Also use the best headphones you can afford as the 2200 response on faint signals is pretty quiet.

G0lddigg@ said:

Dont really feel qualified enought to add too much as ive only been using the sd2000 for a few months but my sd2000 has a front end gain upgrade so obviously can decrease gain if ground is too variable or increase if its real quiet. More gain = more sensitivity to everything. Not always wanted on the mono....

I also have a normal / sensitive upgrade so can flick over to sensitive for bedrock or shallow ground where im likely to ping a little bit.

I find the monos are really chirpy and false out quite a bit... does my head in. Switching to channel 1 or balance 1 keeps the mono quiet but i reckon youd miss small surface sub gram bits easily.

Since getting the 8 inch dd from detec i run in search mode without any false signals im picking up a gram piece at 50cm for a solid signal. 10 grams overloads at the same height. Im talking air test nugget on the ground.

My simple rule is balance 1 for deep balance 2 for shallow and search for searching.

If i can get out happy to do your test mate.

My settings vary a bit over the 2100 and 2200 thought due to some upgrades

Click to expand...

Hi G0lddigg@,

I also have an SD2000 but I'm not 100% sure how to set it up or what upgrades would make it a better detector...do you have any info on setup or mods that are available?

Hi Roscoe,

This may help, heres Doug Stone's explanation, see 4:40m into the video where he explains the channels also see 7:28 where he discusses the Level Adjust control:

[video=480,360]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLhbJBJS9PI[/video]

Heres the rest of the video:

[video=480,360]http://youtu.be/jc88pm9Cl4s[/video]

Hope it helps.

Cheers,

Grant

Dagsy said:

G0lddigg@ said:

My settings vary a bit over the 2100 and 2200 thought due to some upgrades

Click to expand...

Hi G0lddigg@,

I also have an SD2000 but I'm not 100% sure how to set it up or what upgrades would make it a better detector...do you have any info on setup or mods that are available?

Click to expand...

hey mate i bought jack langes nugget finding secrets to start with as he uses a 2100 in the first video happy to ship it to you if you want to watch it. doesn't really go into the tuning so much as what to expect from your detector like detecting ground of the right depth and such.

I made a cheat sheet for my own detector to help friends when borrowing it and sometimes for myself when my brain has turned to mush after a hot day in the sun i happy to can share this with you, however with my upgrades they are specific to this machine but other settings are still relevant.

re upgrades have a look at http://www.detectormods.com/ the gain upgrade i highly recommend it allows you to dial down or up depending on the intensity of the ground signals.

Wow! Thanks G0lddigg@,

That's fantastic, it's just what I was looking for. I'll also look into the detectermods website as well. Wrt the Jack Langs nugget finding secrets DVD, I'm not allowed to post private info so how can we do that?

Thanks again,

Dagsy.

Thanks for all of your input fellows. I did get hold of a SD 2100 and satisfied my curiosity between the two detectors.