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Dumping SDC 2300 Detectors


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1 hour ago, Reg Wilson said:

Probably the most unimpressive detector I have ever used.

And yet they have hoovered tens of thousands of ounces of gold all over Australia, and the world for that matter !

They may be overweight and overpriced in your eyes, but they work brilliantly in the nasty ground of WA where the QED just craps itself !

Rick 

 

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Most of my gold came from the SDC, my first real gold detector.  Its my go to machine before the GPZ and still to this day it found my largest chunk!  If the Z could get an 8” coil, I might finally sell it.

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The SDC is a top end machine result wise. I personally hate the actual unit. My gold partner keeps up with my Zed. Depth withstanding. 

An sdc in a regular body with real upgrades is what is left in the market for minelab to corner.

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I guess a 'turn on and go' detector suits some that can't manage a more sophisticated machine. A poor operator will always blame the tools.

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6 hours ago, Reg Wilson said:

I guess a 'turn on and go' detector suits some that can't manage a more sophisticated machine. A poor operator will always blame the tools.

Is that why you sold your GPZ Reg? 😅

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I sold the GPZ because is was overweight and overpriced, and just a bit over hyped. The electronics were pretty good after the bugs were sorted out, but just lazy design. Instead of a light weight prospectors tool, we copped a converted military monster with not much more than a colour change. Then to add insult to injury we were informed that to operate it properly it was advised that one had to use both hands (cripple stick) like a line trimmer, and go 'low and slow' ( due to very slow target response). Not my idea of a user friendly detector.

The SDC2300 was another example of lazy design, and once more a colour change from military green to blue. Dodgy battery contacts, laughable headphone jack, ridiculous 'knuckle' coil arrangement and limited to small targets as it was originally designed to find tiny wiring in ceramic mines. Even if you could put a large coil on the thing its depth on large targets would be poor due to the fact that its internals were designed for small bits of metal.

Coiltek have a test site just out of Maryborough in Central Victoria with a number of simulated nuggets of various size and depth. The SDC could barely pick up the smallest target only, whereas the QED could pick them all up. (witnessed)

The next time you are in Victoria Jonathon bring your SDC and a pocket full of hundreds, and we'll visit the test site for a comparison. Bring your ex prison guard mate with you as well. I'd love to take his money.

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The SDC2300 was another example of lazy design, and once more a colour change from military green to blue. Dodgy battery contacts, laughable headphone jack, ridiculous 'knuckle' coil arrangement and limited to small targets as it was originally designed to find tiny wiring in ceramic mines. Even if you could put a large coil on the thing its depth on large targets would be poor due to the fact that its internals were designed for small bits of metal.

Granted the external design is a copy of the F3 Compact & some aspects aren't ideal but there are several internal differences Reg.

The main one being the F3 Compact uses MPS not MPF

F3 Compact - Pulse Induction: Bi-polar Multi Period Sensing (MPS).

SDC2300 - Pulse Induction (PI) and Multi Period Fast (MPF)

MPF is certainly designed with small gold at shallow depths in mind but it's not limited to small targets?

The "rumour" that the SDC2300 is a complete copy of the F3 Compact barring the colour is just that, a rumour. A quick read of the full specs of both will show you that. In fact the F3 Compact has a few interesting functions that the SDC doesn't i.e. fixed ground balance (but no auto tracking), audio reset.

 

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I thought that Bi-polar was an unfortunate mental condition. Why use such a dodgy design in the first place? I saw some time back where a clever bloke stripped down an SDC and made a sensible ergonomic machine with much less weight.

James Beatty and I contemplated doing a similar thing to my GPZ, but decided against it in case we did something wrong and fried an expensive detector. Sold it instead. 

What is interesting is that when I changed detectors my gold recovery did not suffer but remained static, due partly to the fact that a machine with much better ergonomics, faster signal response and way less weight made it possible to detect longer with less fatigue. No more harness, and bungy cord. Freedom.

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The current US Army PSS-14 (incorporating both conventional detector and ground penetrating radar) could have interesting civilian potential. 

Anyone over there tried one? 

 pss-14-mine-detector-001.jpg 

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Why use such a dodgy design in the first place? I saw some time back where a clever bloke stripped down an SDC and made a sensible ergonomic machine with much less weight.

Some people love the fold up design.

Not me - I'd prefer it in a more conventional format & lighter price. Killer on the right ground though. 

 

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