Minelab SD2100 tips, settings, questions

[KeeponDiggin]

Gday Guys,
I know the Hoo Haar is to own a 5000,
but does it matter what machine you have if it is finding good small gold?
My machine is now a relic and ill slap the 1st person to wave their 5000 over my SD, LMAO
it may be old but it is working, i also have a spare coil for it, an eliptical DD 8x10 i believe ( Joey )
does anyone know of possible upgrades for the SD2100, ie- Auto Balance, Auto Tune, coils, battery pack, etc???
the info would be good as the only way i upgrade is through finding Gold.
To think i started with just a Pan and shovel, Ha!
might need a new pan soon, lol
Any help would be Fantastic

 

[Nugget]

I don't know too much about the SD2100 so maybe someone else can comment on that. But I don't think you need a 5000 to find small gold, if your finding it with the SD2100 then that's all you need, unless of course you have money to burn and can justify spending $6000 on a GPX5000, some people can and others can't.

 

[ChrisM]

Only recently ive been doing some researching about an amplifier for my SD2100E.
The jury is still out as to weather it actually does something to boost the signal.
There is a guy in the NT that makes them [apparently] cost $140 plus delivery [on Fleabay]
Suppose the best way is to buy it,use it and compare it with and without the booster
by using a test nuggie.Few prospectors ive spoken to recon they work ok.Might be worh looking into as a quick upgrade
Anybody else had any experience with amp/boosters ??
Cheers

 

[KeeponDiggin]

The saying i know and work by is............. if it aint broke, dont fix it. I found these over the last two days and i guess the Omen was me posting the comment, as apparently i didnt really need too, all from a patch i stumbled on randomly

cheers for the comments and proudly found with an SD2100d

 

[ChrisM]

Very nice KD.
There's the proof in shiny gold.
Machine working a treat. Why play around with it.
Cheers
Chris

 

[KeeponDiggin]

the only change i want to make is the battery, that way i can get a harness, more for comfort than anything, oh and to be practical. the other addition ill make is getting the Joey eliptical DD coil on, i have no endeavour to change anything just yet, but if i keep finding good bits i may be in luck to upgrade to a 3500 i know might be up for sale soon

It would be nice to have a spare machine, that way i can take my MrsKD out and she can swing or if a mate wants to learn i know they would have a machine that is and has found gold , to keep to you point Chris, your right 100%, no point fixing it if it aint broke rite

 

[ChrisM]

Hi KD. My turn to pick your brain. Why go for the "Joey" eliptical DD coil. I would've thought a mono coil would give you better depth ???? Whats the advantage you feel the DD will give you.

Also, never heard of a "joey" coil....what is it ?

 

[dave14110]

hi I might add some knowledge to these questions, First joey coil is a small eliptical coil made by coiltek about 9x5 hence why they call it joey it's small. DD on the old machines were a bit quieter, that why DD.

But here a few facts the mono at depth while it may get slightly deeper is only detecting an area about the size of a coffee mug at that depth. It is also a fact the mono coil needs to move slow and its recommends 3 swings to the length of the coil so more swinging to cover the same ground although it & they can't be swung as quick. the mono also detects on the surface the entire coil size. So it detects like a cone wide on surface narrow as it gets deeper.

Lots of people with the latest GPX 5000 use mono, it runs quiet on them, and they supposedly get better depth most of the time. Whilst a dd at it's maximum depth is detecting the entire length of the coil & quieter in heavy mineral ground, they are also known to detect past a layer of mineral ground that sometimes a mono can't. The DD detect in a line up the centre which realy means if the edge of the coil is past over an item it can miss it.

It is my opinion the DD is the best coil it cover ground better and quicker. It is my opinion that as Victorian and having some of the heaviest mineralised ground in Australia, that I am best of with a DD as I own an older machine. But for some of the reasons above in most cases I would still use DD even if I owned a New GPX 5000. The only time I wouldn't use DD is in tight space in trees where it can't be swung.

 

[KeeponDiggin]

Nice piece of Info mate
i have found good gold with both coils now so im stuck with which one to use over the other,
your spot on about the tight spots.
im extremley pleased with the sensativity of the bigger coil, it is finding wire and really small bits of junk and some have been 3-6 inches deep.
the signal noise is sweet so its picking them up with no issues.
just like lead, ive found plenty of that on this hill and the sound is just a Sweet musical note
lol, you know what im saying.
the flat piece of gold i got yesterday had me. i put it down to another piece of lead. lol lol lol

 

[ChrisM]

Thanks for the info Dave.
Im running a standard 10.5" round coil the detector came with. Im assuming its a mono.
I also have a 5.5" elliptical coil attached to a 20year old Gold Striker detector.
What do you think, are they interchangable?
One being a VLF and the other a PI.

Cheers
Chris

 

[dave14110]

Vlf & PI no 2 two totally different machine. It would be like useing an AM radio to try & tune a FM channel. It won't work and could possible damage machine.

 

[KeeponDiggin]

I have to agree, it would be like putting Jesus and the devil in One room and telling them to be Mates............... just isnt gunna happen.
Mixing VLF and P.I just dont do it
i keep hearing how a P.I machine is far better than that of a VLF machine but im thinking through popularity and what machine has found good gold and
came to the conclusion that if used in the environments that they excell best in they are both both brilliant
P.I will out weigh a VLF majority ( not to say it wont ) of the time in OZ because of the mineralisation in our soils, VLF on the other hand will find you the nicer small specimens that a P.I may miss.
as far as coils go for ya machine cobber, id be talking to the guys at whites or who ever it is you know that are up to speed on suitable coils for your VLF

 

[dave14110]

Some of the Whites machines are PI not vlf & use the same coils as minelab PI machines.
The TDI whites is PI so is the Surf PI not sure on others. Minelab PI detector's are SD to GPX. The 3030 xterra series are VLF & I believe the sovereign & excal are VLF also.
The Biggest difference is the PI will detect deeper and not be affect by mineralization as much as VLF.
The VLF is better at discrimination or ID (idenifying Detector) but not as good with mineralization, but have made some large improvements in the last couple of years & are closeing the gap. But still can't detectas deep.
Vlf machines can't use PI, & in some cases must use a coil design for the machine as the htz have to be matched also.
My advice to anyone is to check with someone that knows the machine you have or you intend to get.

 

[ChrisM]

Always better to ask the question before you make an uneducated guess.
Thanks for the input guys. I'll do mone more homework on an elliptical coil for my SD2200E

 

[KeeponDiggin]

the latest additions
found a week n ahalf ago now but nice bits none the less :lol:

 

[WalnLiz]

Couple of nice bits there mate....good to see that the detector is still.. "beeping".. at you. best of luck on the next outing and may the.."beeps"..keep screaming at you...Cheers Wal.

 

[KeeponDiggin]

Cheers mate, the way work is going i might get out this week in the arvo............... its a wild speculation, haha
got a handful of jobs on the go.
but i hope it does its thing too, im toying with using earphones now, i think id have a better chance if ambiant noise is eliminated

 

[KeeponDiggin]

Gooday the only update is an 1866 victorian Penny
found in the goldfields so it shows some british involvement to the ballarat gold fields
the other proof to that was an 1837 silver six pence i located only 4 ks away from this one

thats it, gotta go n get a few lawns mowed

 

[Ben78]

Only recently ive been doing some researching about an amplifier for my SD2100E.
The jury is still out as to weather it actually does something to boost the signal.
There is a guy in the NT that makes them [apparently] cost $140 plus delivery [on Fleabay]
Suppose the best way is to buy it,use it and compare it with and without the booster
by using a test nuggie.Few prospectors ive spoken to recon they work ok.Might be worh looking into as a quick upgrade
Anybody else had any experience with amp/boosters ??
Cheers

DON'T pay $140!!!!

All a signal booster is is an audio amplifier. It lets you run less threshold but amplifies the signal so you hear more audio with less signal.

On my TDI I bought a amplified speaker from K-Mart for $20 and made up a patch cord for about $15 which is just a curly cord with 3 wires inside and you buy a 3.5mm fitting to replace one 6.35. The amplified speaker has a battery and charges via USB. I popped the speaker in my top pocket and clipped the curly cord to my backpack and then to the detector. In my use it signifiantly increased the chances of hearing a target over the background noise. But it also increases the sound of ground, emi, lightning etc.

The SD series I believe to be pre MCU detectors which means you can do things like Gain mods, Pulse Delay Mods and acess the internal frequency adjustments.

Minelab will not touch a detector that has had mods done, so say you do the mods then hook the battery up backwards Minelab won't fix it so you'll need to find someone who can (if you can't)

If I had a SD I would send it off to Ismael at Detectormods.com to soup it up...

BTW A detecting mate has a SD2000 that has been modded. It cannot hear a 0.2g nugget tapped on the 8" commander mono. The 5000 hears the 0.2g nugget with the 11" mono at a couple of inches in air. I would have a Whites TDI over a SD which comes in at around the GP3000-GP Extreme level of ML...

 

[KeeponDiggin]

Good Info ben, cheers mate.
im happy with my setup, as im locating .4 pieces 6-8inches deep so what ever the machine is doing, i plan on keeping that way
if i do anything it will be a whole machine upgrade i think, hence 3500 up wards
gotta say im impressed with the P.I detector and cant say id consider anything else
mine works for me and has and will continue to locate awesome shit so ill stay with it.
like i said tho mate, great info
Cheers