Minelab SDC2300 information and questions

[Heatho]

Sounds like you have it covered mate, hope it sniffs out some nugs soon for you.

 

[Greglz86]

Hope so mate and thanks for the advice guys. Probably saved me from taking it back to the dealer and looking silly

 

[grubstake]

If it is happening every 2-3 seconds consistently you can bet there is an electric fence within a few hundred metres.
They work by pulsing a high voltage charge every few seconds, i couldn't get away from it at a spot i detected once, changed coils and later realised the fence was causing it.
Ask the property owner to turn it off while you detect.
If it's not a fence it's probably an underground phone line.
Reeko

there were horses in the next paddock but i took no notice of the fence. probably spot on the mark there reeks. Didn't think of that.
Now that i think of it the signal was stronger on one side of the paddock than the other.

I think it's unlikely that an electric fence would be used with horses - too easy for them to get spooked, panic and injure themselves.

 

[isolation]

This is what mine did.... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ns6CzhG9gMY

 

[rc62burke]

If it is happening every 2-3 seconds consistently you can bet there is an electric fence within a few hundred metres.
They work by pulsing a high voltage charge every few seconds, i couldn't get away from it at a spot i detected once, changed coils and later realised the fence was causing it.
Ask the property owner to turn it off while you detect.
If it's not a fence it's probably an underground phone line.
Reeko

there were horses in the next paddock but i took no notice of the fence. probably spot on the mark there reeks. Didn't think of that.
Now that i think of it the signal was stronger on one side of the paddock than the other.

I think it's unlikely that an electric fence would be used with horses - too easy for them to get spooked, panic and injure themselves.

Totally incorrect mate, they are a very useful tool for horse owners.

Lee

 

[Greglz86]

This is what mine did.... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ns6CzhG9gMY

Yep. Exactly what was happening to me.
at least it could find your shovel for ya

 

[rc62burke]

Tried to use 3 but had to go down to 2 or 1 at times. Only had to go down to 1 when a few semi trailers would go by. As for ground balancing im in the habbit of doing it every 30 seconds or so.

Hey Guys
Just want to get some feed back as to why you run at the low numbers, is this to get it really stable?????

I run mine on 4 or 5 I like to run it hot & the signals boom in even through the bit of chatter IMHO run it as hot as you can forget about stable on this beauty, learn the language it is talking.

But your area may be different to mine that is why I asked why you run it low!!!!!!!!!!!

Next time I am out I will cross check the signals with the lower numbers to learn a bit more myself.
cheers
Lee

 

[mbasko]

I know that's a demo but I've got to ask. Does/did it still happen after you did a quick ground balance (green button) & started detecting normally i.e. coil on the ground? You appear to keep the coil well off the ground, don't ground balance & move quickly?
Mine will do something similar at times when I am carrying the detector still turned on with the coil way off the ground. It is usually only noticeable when there is spherics or other external interference around & dissappears quickly on reground balancing & recommecing normal detecting. It doesn't happen when I am detecting a bank etc. either so appears that as long as its "seeing" ground & not fresh air its happy?
Other than that can't help - mine doesn't do what people describe unless being carried or otherwise not in an intended position. As far as EMI it is great under powerlines etc. & even when it does play up settles down with retuning. I've never had to stop because of it yet?
p.s I run my SDC with a booster on 4 & adjust volume with booster to suit. Down to 3 if a bit too warbly - so I don't run it "smoothed out".

 

[isolation]

I know that's a demo but I've got to ask. Does/did it still happen after you did a quick ground balance (green button) & started detecting normally i.e. coil on the ground? You appear to keep the coil well off the ground, don't ground balance & move quickly?

Usually I jog with it, because I feel I can cover more ground, and get in a workout at the same time

Sorry mbasko, I guess I still haven't grown up

That was a one off. From the moment I turned it on it started behaving like that. I did multiple noise cancel (some with the coil in the air, some with it on the ground), and ground balance attempts, at different sensitivity settings, no change. I drove to a different location a few Kms away, no more problem. I was thinking electric fence for some reason as well. Maybe because I had also experienced the interference from an approaching thunderstorm a few weeks earlier.

 

[isolation]

This is what mine did.... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ns6CzhG9gMY

Yep. Exactly what was happening to me.
at least it could find your shovel for ya

I was wondering where it went

 

[isolation]

Tried to use 3 but had to go down to 2 or 1 at times. Only had to go down to 1 when a few semi trailers would go by. As for ground balancing im in the habbit of doing it every 30 seconds or so.

Hey Guys
Just want to get some feed back as to why you run at the low numbers, is this to get it really stable?????

I run mine on 4 or 5 I like to run it hot & the signals boom in even through the bit of chatter IMHO run it as hot as you can forget about stable on this beauty, learn the language it is talking.

But your area may be different to mine that is why I asked why you run it low!!!!!!!!!!!

Next time I am out I will cross check the signals with the lower numbers to learn a bit more myself.
cheers
Lee

I started out using 2, and 1 at times, as suggested by other posts... but now I find 3 good for me. I actually feel it sounds more stable than 2...??

 

[Guest]

Well I don't own a SDC but have used one a few times' actually 3 different machines as the first was so erratic I though it might be a dodgy one but the second one was the same in two compleatly different areas the 3rd miles from town just hoping it would be a little smoother NOPE! That's just the SDC live with the warble. I choose not to' but I did find a few tiny nuggets"

 

[PhaseTech]

One thing I really wish the SDC had is a manual noise cancel.

 

[Heatho]

Tried to use 3 but had to go down to 2 or 1 at times. Only had to go down to 1 when a few semi trailers would go by. As for ground balancing im in the habbit of doing it every 30 seconds or so.

Hey Guys
Just want to get some feed back as to why you run at the low numbers, is this to get it really stable?????

I run mine on 4 or 5 I like to run it hot & the signals boom in even through the bit of chatter IMHO run it as hot as you can forget about stable on this beauty, learn the language it is talking.

But your area may be different to mine that is why I asked why you run it low!!!!!!!!!!!

Next time I am out I will cross check the signals with the lower numbers to learn a bit more myself.
cheers
Lee

Just to keep it really stable on very hot ground mainly Lee, I have run mine up on 4-5 but I just think the smallest targets may be swamped a bit by noise. Just me though I could be wrong, I'll give it a go on higher settings next time I hit the patch and see if I can get any nugs.

I think for newbies to get it perfecly stable setting 2 or 3 is a good compromise.

 

[Bacchus]

I have had something similar but not to the same extent , it occurred after the first time I rinsed it off and some water was in between the coil and skid plate , mixed with some iron dust I had mineralised mud , after a clean out it was back to normal . Seems to me that whenever an SDC gets the chits for whatever reason that type of response is typical.

Cheers

 

[Greglz86]

I know that's a demo but I've got to ask. Does/did it still happen after you did a quick ground balance (green button) & started detecting normally i.e. coil on the ground? You appear to keep the coil well off the ground, don't ground balance & move quickly?
Mine will do something similar at times when I am carrying the detector still turned on with the coil way off the ground. It is usually only noticeable when there is spherics or other external interference around & dissappears quickly on reground balancing & recommecing normal detecting. It doesn't happen when I am detecting a bank etc. either so appears that as long as its "seeing" ground & not fresh air its happy?
Other than that can't help - mine doesn't do what people describe unless being carried or otherwise not in an intended position. As far as EMI it is great under powerlines etc. & even when it does play up settles down with retuning. I've never had to stop because of it yet?
p.s I run my SDC with a booster on 4 & adjust volume with booster to suit. Down to 3 if a bit too warbly - so I don't run it "smoothed out".

This is what it was doing with me while the coil was on the ground. This was strait after a noise cancel and ground balance. I had it on 2 because it seemed to struggle with the house and busy highway.

SDC 2300 electric fence emi: http://youtu.be/QA1ojRm1afU

 

[isolation]

Did anything you did improve it? Nothing worked for me except moving out of the area.

 

[Greglz86]

Na. Moved about 50 meters away and it calmed down enough to use.

 

[Guest]

I now run with 4 sensitivity and 4 LEDs on the threshold. Learning to ignore the erratic threshold and listening for that raised tone that indicates a target. Might try 5 and 5 Next outing.

Sometime it goes stupid, so I turn it off and on again, a reboot if you like. Seems to restore the machine.

 

[mbasko]

Na. Moved about 50 meters away and it calmed down enough to use.

It has to be something there causing it & an electric fence seems like a plausible cause. I also remember someone having similar trouble, I.e. a pulsing signal, while near high voltage power lines. Not your normal powerlines, which don't seem to cause me much trouble, but 66kv line. Any of that about?
Other than that I've never come across it & I've seen, used or both around 6 different SDC's on goldfields now & would have up an hour or two on them
At worst mine will give a quick "yip" or two but not consistent with a passing plane or approaching storm. Doesn't detract from detecting & has never stopped me detecting somewhere.