SDC 2300 - Is It Dead?

[GoneBushForever]

Ok, so I have noticed that Steve no longer has a SDC2300 but does have a GM1000.

I would be very interested to hear not only Steve's but everyone's current thoughts on the SDC?

Has it been overtaken by newer detectors?

Steve, why did you sell yours?

[Steve Herschbach]

The SDC 2300 is not even remotely dead! In fact if you take the price out of the equation, it is the number one machine I would like to see complete newbies get as a first gold nugget detector. It is remarkably simple to run, and if any little bits of gold remain in mineralized ground to be found, the SDC will find them. It's one of those detectors that can find gold when nothing else can. The only catch is that in real mild ground a hot VLF like a Gold Monster does very well also.

In my case it's actually simple. Once I got a GPZ 7000 my SDC 2300 was going unused. I usually am in fairly moderate ground and I run the GPZ as hot as it can run. It hits gold not quite as small as the SDC, but it punches far deeper on larger bits. Now, I might miss some tiny bits, but keeping a $3000 detector around to clean up tiny bits is over the top even for me. For the ground I am on the Gold Monster serves a similar task for far less money, with the added bonus of ferrous discrimination.

I am not saying the Gold Monster is better than the SDC 2300. It is a factor of ground mineralization and money and how much the machines will get used.

Gold Monster $799  <------------------------------------>  SDC 2300 $3750

Low Mineral Ground  <--------------------------------->  High Mineral Ground

In low mineral ground the Gold Monster excels but as the mineralization increases, its performance suffers. The SDC retains far more capability under the most adverse conditions and so is the better choice in extreme ground. Somewhere in the middle there is a vague crossover point between the two. What you are really paying for in the SDC 2300 is not the ability to find small gold, but to resist extreme mineralization and hot rocks that foil the VLF detectors.

The Gold Monster makes more sense for me given my situation, and the fact it is half the weight of the SDC just seals the deal. If I was on bad ground chasing small gold more often the equation would change in favor of the SDC.

What I really want is a dry land SDC in a light weight package at a lower cost, with accessory coils! 

[GoneBushForever]

Steve,

Thank you for the detailed reply. 

I guess reading endless posts about the GM1000 and not much about the SDC I started to convince myself that maybe the SDC was past its use by date.
The SDC is my most used detector. Many years of hunting the gold fields has taught me that there is very little known gold producing land that has not been seriously and heavily detected. Therefore in theses areas I rely on the SDC to at least get me fuel money!

Attached is a picture of a location we where invited to detect last Christmas.
This is the location Syd found his 4kg lump. 

https://www.9news.com.au/good-news/2017/06/14/16/05/man-digs-up-whopping-4kg-gold-nugget-near-bendigo

In all the years this property was surrounded by extensive diggings, the previous owners never allowed a single person to detect the property. One corner of the property actually pushes out into a very famous and rich leader.

However, the property only has your normal 3 foot, 5 wire cattle fence so by the time we got there and hit every square inch with the Z and 17 inch coil, fence jumpers had made sure there was not a single nugget left to be found within the Z's detecting range.

This is usually the time to drag out the SDC and get that previously mentioned fuel money but obviously I am not the only person with an SDC so that also proved fruitless. However the excavator in the picture has found good gold at depth, biggest being Syd's lump that was actually in the wall of an excavation, regardless of what the reporters say. And it was found with a modded 4500, not a Z as claimed. My Z was the first one on the property (with owners permission anyway!)

Point is, any land that is reasonably accessible and not too remote has already been hit harder than George Foreman in Kinshasha with either a GPX with mods and big coils or a GPZ with big coil so the only real way to guarantee finding something is patience and an SDC.

As big as this country is, in my experience, the only way to get good gold is either with mechanical excavation in known producing areas or being prepared to travel to very remote locations.

Therefore the Z really only comes out when I make my way to a remote area that has never had a coil on it. THEN the gold rolls in :-)

[GoneBushForever]

What I really want is a dry land SDC in a light weight package at a lower cost, with accessory coils! 

Mate, you and everyone else. Can you imagine the SDC abilities in the Equinox form factor for a price point of $1999.00! I predict that would be the worlds best selling gold specific detector

[Steve Herschbach]

1 hour ago, GoneBushForever said:

I guess reading endless posts about the GM1000 and not much about the SDC I started to convince myself that maybe the SDC was past its use by date

The reality in detector land (or forums at least!) is that we are endlessly attracted to the latest new shiny object. There is a pattern with Minelab. New model introduction. Detractors pile on, say no way. Large debates ensue. A year later everyone owns one and the question has been more or less settled. So we move on to the next new model and start over. The buzz at the moment is the Equinox. New detector, same old story.

[GoneBushForever]

I'm guilty then. Have an Equinox 800 on order..........

[WesH]

My sdc2300 isn’t dead.  I bought mine specifically for hunting in creeks where I don’t have to worry about a $5000.00 non waterproof detector going for a swim.  In fact I’m waiting on material and will be converting the batteries over to Lithium ion.  Just have to machine the adapters.