strick

Had mine out in the pouring rain and mud the other day and the control box took a total bath for at least 2 hours strait. Despite the mud and rain she is still running perfect. I see guys buying water proof covers for the control box....I'm gonna keep running mine commando and see what happens... strick

My wife has an AT Gold. The iron discrimination is good and the machine handles hot ground very well. However I'll second build quality as being crap...already the external speaker has broke and the machine is only 6-7 months old. with maybe 20 hours on it. That little pin connector for the headphones is a joke and I am constantly having to re tighten the coil cable where it plugs into the unit. Trying to get your fingers in that tight area also sucks. strick

Just saw that Steve has his up for sale in the classifieds. I would have thought that one would have made it to the varsity level. Must be due to it's gold finding abilities? strick

Well I'm glad to see that I got 3 out of the six you posted....CTX, SDC and the Deus. Traded the ATX a while back for the SDC. That darn Deus is not as easy to learn as my CTX but I'm slowly starting to like it for it's detecting abilities. The light weight and look's caught my attention early on. I've found a few things already that I missed with the CTX in heavy trash. Or maybe I'm just digging more with it then the CTX. Did the XP Deus make the cut on your detector team? strick

More money.... More problems

Holy smokes that's a great night out detecting. Great work! I enjoy your videos. strick

Thanks fellas the SDC is so user friendly even a cave man can do it. I cant wait to get back out again. Keep the coil to the soil ! strick

Beautiful. Nice work! strick

I really enjoy this site. This discussion board has been very helpful with this new found hobby of mine. I played around with metal detectors briefly back in the 80's when my dad was into looking for relics around old home sites. However back then I was a lot younger and I preferred chasing critters that were able to run or swim away from me. So for the past 30 years my primary interests have been fishing and hunting and I have not picked up a metal detector since I was a kid hanging out with my dad. I have my wife to thank for giving me gold fever. I have no interest in panning or sluicing for gold. So whenever she would go out panning and sluicing, I went fishing. One day I was helping her look for tiny microscopic pieces of gold that she was recovering from a 5 gallon bucket of dirt she had trucked all the way back from Sonora. Along with the dirt she had also brought back a Garrett metal detector brochure with a picture of an ATX on the cover of it. The rugged look of the ATX got my attention right away and I decided that metal detecting for gold would be a great way for us to spend some time together. I bought her a AT gold and I got the ATX. As soon as I got the ATX in my hands I decided to try it out on my property. I turned it on and walked out to the dirt, started sweeping....and about got my ear drums blown out! The ATX was sounding off like a full symphony orchestra due to all the trash in the ground. This was when I decided that I had better read up a little more on the subject of metal detecting. I quickly learned the differences between a PI detector and a VLF detector. Being the stubborn type I carried on with the ATX for a while and started hunting the parks and a few old home sites. The day soon came when I decided that I dug enough old rusty pipes and bottle caps that were 3 feet deep. I went out and bought a ctx 3030 and life got much easier! About 6 months have went by since I bought my first detector and Lisa and I own a total of 5 detectors. The line up consists of AT Gold, SDC 2300, CTX 3030, and two XP Deus's. We have been having so much fun digging up old coins and artifacts. But we have not had much time to go searching for gold. Last weekend I had the opportunity to meet some very nice folks at Rye Patch. Gerry from "Gerry's Detectors" had a three day training session on a private claim. There were 11 of us there not counting Gerry and his helpers. I was using the SDC 2300. There was one Fisher Gold bug, two ATX's and 7 GPX 5000's I had to leave by noon on Sunday so I could get back to work in California so I dont know what happened after I left but the nugget count at my departure was SDC 2300 - 11 nuggets, Fisher Gold Bug - 1 nugget, ATX's - 0 nuggets and GPX 5000's - 0 nuggets. I am very happy with my machine. This was my first time in an actual known nugget producing area and since I know absolutly nothing about about gold or how to find it, it may be some time before I get to post nugget photos again! Once I learned the language of my machine it seemed that I was digging one nugget after another....this is VERY ADDICTIVE. Thanks to Gerry, Lunk, Ron, Spencer, Largo and a few other fellas that I cannot remember their names. strick

Thank you! strick

Ok thanks fellas. It does have caliche on it. What is CLR? What strength HCL do you recommend and how long do I let it soak. They were going to show me how to clean it up at rye patch this past weekend but I had to leave early to get back to work. I'll post some pics as soon as I get it all cleaned. Thanks for the replies! Strick

I know I can look it up on the internet but I trust you fellas more then looking up random stuff. You guys are the pros so how do I do it? strick

Nice Work Ray !! Good things happen to good people. strick

I got a good laugh at the ham slicing video with sdc 2300.....very clever. Aside from the gold finding abilities of both machines little has been said about their structural engineering. I sold my ATX and bought the SDC. The quality of engineering in the Minelab wins hands down in my opinion. Early on I was having problems with the ATX and a floppy coil. Then there was the problem with the cam locks getting even the smallest amount of dirt in them and jamming up. They are not easy to clean. The little battery holders that Garrett uses with the ATX and the AT gold are very fragile and break easily should you accidentally tilt the machine and they fall out. To change the coils on the ATX you need to be a trained contortionist in order to get your fingers into the guts of the ATX. That being said I did like the power and sensitivity of the ATX. Great machine for the money, strick

Yes I am finding that out. Rings are much easier So far I'm "zero for one" on gold prospecting trips. Unfortunately in my case what will be harder then finding gold bearing terrain will be finding the time to take off work to go looking for it. I am self employed and my boss can be a real stickler about leaving for more then a few hours. In the mean time I will get my gold fix on great web sites like this one and I'm hoping to learn as much as possible from experienced prospectors like yourself. I try to read everything I can on the subject. Thanks for the help fellas! strick

OK...Thanks Steve. I was hoping that was the answer. The machine is intense...seems to be always thinking and adjusting itself. A few more pictures.... Another view down the canyon.... and one from the bottom looking up. Wish I could say I found some gold there. Recent beach hunt strick

When ground balancing with my previous metal detectors I am used to hearing the change in pitch of the threshold as the metal detector is being raised and lowered. With my SDC it barely makes any noise at all when ground balancing. Is there something wrong with my machine or is this normal for this unit? Chuck Strickland

I am enjoying this thread immensely...it is inspiring for a newbie like me to see the gold you guys are pulling out with the sdc 2300. All I need to do now is place myself in a decent area and start hunting. Just got back from a trip to the trinity alps but did not have any success. Thanks for posting fellas... strick

Thanks so much Steve. I found my first gold ring this past weekend on the beach (only 10K) but its a start. Heading to the little town of Washington this weekend for an ATV/metal detecting adventure and then a back pack trip into the trinity alps weekend after that. Looking forward to prospecting wit this cool little metal detector. Thanks again for the welcome. strick

First post new member here. Love the graph and I'm glad to see that I finally fell into the innovator group. Looking forward to trying out my 2300 in a couple weeks up in the Trinitys. It fits nicely into my small day pack. Hoping to learn as much as I can from you guys. strick