New Member from U.S.A.

[~LARGO~]

Hello,

I am a new member to this forum, was introduced to it by Steve Herschbach, whose posts I have been following for many years, mostly about his adventures in Alaska relative to gold.

I have been metal detecting since the mid-sixties, bought my first Minelab in about 1994 or so, a XT17000, then moved on to an xt18000, a sd2100, gp3000, a 4000, and in the past couple of years a gpx5000, and now....an SDC 2300!

I have found a few bits of gold, nothing really earthshaking, but it has been a great past time, when I can get to it, which is spotty as of late.

I believe this new detector will be a great addition to my other gold detectors that I still do own, being a Gold Bug 2, which has been my "go to" machine when the gold getting was getting a little spotty.

From the reports thus far, this SDC 2300 seems to be catching on, I have yet to have mine out in the gold fields, but I am encouraged by the reports that I have read!

I hope to make some posts as I am so inclined, I have found this forum to be very interesting, thus far!

Thanks ahead of time for your most warm welcome...

Have a g'day!

~LARGO~

 

[Jaros]

Hi LARGO, welcome to the best forum on fossicking in Australia. I'm pretty sure "we" all agree on that one.
Have a good read re your special interests.
I'm sure you will love it.
Jack

 

[~LARGO~]

Thanks very much, Jack! You are spot on! (Practicing my jargon here...)
It is a great fossicking forum!

I have already picked up some good tips on the Minelab SDC 2300 audio!

Cheers,

Gary

 

[axeman]

G'day LARGO, welcome. The 2300 is by all reports the machine to have, heard nothing but good things about it. Heaps of info on here to go through, if you have any questions just ask. Good luck with the search.
Mick

 

[~LARGO~]

Hello Mick!

Thank you for your welcome!

My new SDC 2300 is sitting in the next room all ready to head for the hills.
I have not used it yet, and the more success stories I read, make the wait to
leave becomes a bit more difficult.

I notice you have some mackirk products. I live about a half mile from their shop/factory, they have
some very talented people there designing/manufacturing their goods. They just opened a retail store here in Boise, Idaho, I have yet to visit it, however...

Gary

 

[gadgetman45]

Hi Largo, welcome to the forum, by any chance did you read the comparison reviews between the SDC& the ATX, if so what made you choose the SDC, by the way I don't have either of them, or affiliated with either, just curious.
GM

 

[Tathradj]

Hi Mate,
Welcome to the forum and enjoy.
Gee, That would be sooo hard living that far away from one of the worlds leading manufacturers in equipment we all wish we could own.LOL
And now a store nearby. I would be in deep doo doo if I was in that envious position.
Take Care,
Doug

 

[~LARGO~]

GM: My choice was that of timing, for the most part. I did own an ATX briefly, then the SDC came available. I did not actually use the ATX in the field, but in the back of my small property.
I did like some aspects of it, but it was a little more bulky and seemed a bit heavy. I didn't care much for the extending tube locking method, I could see it might become problematic if not cleaned thoroughly after using. The control pad seems all right, and straight forward in function. Getting older doesn't help with those controls, either. My arthritic thumb joint, which would be used to make multiple changes on that pad, told me it would be less than enjoyable as a long detecting day passed by. I did like the notion of having to use rechargeable AA batteries, 8 in total, can be recharged in the field with supplied charging plug & cable.

Shifting to the SDC: I like the way it articulates, pretty simple. Good easy turn on, sounds much like a Minelab pulse detector does in the initial start up. I like the absence of many push pads, buttons of this machine. One control for the turn on, one control for the sensitivity, 3 push buttons on the handle, green button for the ground balance, as always, one for the noise control, one for setting your threshold strength, and a combination of the noise control and audio control to check your battery condition, which shows up on 9 led lights across the top of the handle/control pad.

I like the carbon fiber tubes, which comprise the rod length adjustment with a simple lock/unlock tab: flip up, adjust rod length, flip down to lock each rod section in place. Done, no turning or twisting of threaded locking parts of the rods, as with the ATX.

Don't care much for the C cell batteries and mode of recharging, especially in the field. A more extensive discussion of this issue, as well as others, has been done by Steve Herschbach as well as myself on other forums that might give more insight on the subject.

The folding armrest could be of issue, especially if you live in a colder climate, and have a jacket or some other clothing that can become tangled/trapped somewhat, in the armrest, as it can tend to refold on itself, as you attempt to remove your arm. All this can be overcome in time, as others design and fabricate a nice protective control box cover, as has been almost a standard with the larger Minelab gold detector over the years.

As for the important part of the machine, detecting, this little gem has begun to prove itself in the field, with increasing amounts of small gold, for the most part, for which it was designed, but also can detect larger nuggets as well, at some depth. There are several videos of the SDC on Youtube, which are quite interesting.

I am very anxious to use mine, which again, as with the ATX, has been only tested with small bits of gold, which hits on the audio surprisingly strong for its weight/size.

I would recommend use of a bungee, which is not included, plus extra rechargeable batteries, four of which come with the machine, plus a 110v. charger only, which limits one to charging off city electricity, or solar, with an inverter, if you have spent the money for it, to re-charge batteries in the outback.

I know this machine, which is a bit pricey for what you get, but the enjoyment of using it and actually taking home some bits of gold with soon overcome any angst about the price.

Don't take what I say about either machine as being the negative, as my intentions are not focused in that direction. I am just telling it honestly as it is, from a non-biased point of view.

Have a great day!

Gary/Largo

 

[~LARGO~]

Doug: Thanks for the welcome, I do love all the other methods of gold prospecting, have gone those various routes for many years, largely by myself doing all the work. Now, I do have several gold pans, a small sluice, a 12v. puffer Thompson drywasher, which has yet to see a shovel of dirt. 8.(

Best wishes!

Gary/Largo

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Welcome aboard Largo

 

[~LARGO~]

Ten Ounce Tone, thank you for the welcome to the forum!

 

[rc62burke]

Hey Largo
Welcome to this side of the world!!!
I have read many of your post's on Rob's & Chris's forum over a few years & found you have always put forth some great info, cheers.

I too am into all types of Prospecting, panning, Dry-blowing, sluicing, "Loaming" & detecting, I am very seriously looking at the SDC to compliment my SD2200, just not sure about the $ vs returns I need to get hold of one to run over a few old patches to make the call from in field experience.
cheers
Lee

 

[rc62burke]

Hey Largo
I would love to see a bunch of photo's of your Thomson Drywasher, if you could take some time to do that mate?
cheers
Lee

 

[gcause]

G'day LARGO, welcome to the forum.