Jonathan Porter

Wow you two, imagine the fun we would have on our old haunts here in OZ. Care for a trip Downunder? JP

Hi Steve, this stonker nugget was found with the SDC yesterday at approx 14+ inches. Total weight is 65 grams. If a decent sized nugget is laying there for the taking the SDC will happily let you know about it. JP

The SDC runs extremely quiet in regards to mineralization, due to this the higher sensitivity settings sound to the ear like they have more instability (variation in threshold), however this is not quite the case as the instability is also partly due to the almost compete lack of ground signal response. I find the variation in the threshold takes about an hour to accustom your ear to on the higher sensitivity settings of the SDC, however it is still quite workable because it is consistent therefore easy to ignore. In the lower sensitivity settings the SDC still has excellent performance and is of course much quieter due to the lower Gain. JP

Wow, I think Chris has found the largest nugget with the SDC so far by a very wide margin. Just goes to show that next signal could be a beauty. Well done Chris and crew. JP

Hi Steve, interesting on your discoveries with the hot rocks, my guess would be they present to the timings differently, so in Normal it hits a sweet spot and Sharp less so, just like that half ounce nugget we got in Meekatharra that time would not respond well in Normal compared to Enhance. Have you tried Ground balancing part way on them to cut back on their signal response but not throw the localized ground balance out too far? This might help cut back on some of them. I have a creek up in NQ that drives me nuts due to all the basalt floaters, they sound just likes deeply buried nuggets and would have to be masking gold underneath them, the local ground is actually pretty homogenous so you can easily detect in fixed GB in normal timings, but the basalts ruin the fun. Steve I just came back from a 3 1/2 week trip away prospecting and did reasonably well, got a couple of virgin patches one of which I have left biting (1 1/2 ounces of small nuggets scattered over a large area has come off it so far). I had two 3 ounce days during the trip which was really exciting especially when the reason I found those patches was due to working out the local geology and targeting areas that were likely to hold gold, there's nothing more satisfying that having a hunch/plan work out. :-) JP Pic of some of the gold I found one morning off one of the patches, the big bit weighed in at 2 ounces. The material attached is a coarse type of silicious sandstone.

Hey Steve have you tried the Sharp timing on your 5K yet? It might just provide the grunt you need to punch in deep on a BIG one, especially with a large 18" + Monoloop attached. Your a stubborn bloke Steve, once you commit to something you don't budge will you? JP

Hi Steve, I enjoyed using the ATX, it's the first time a PI has come out that actually competed with a Minelab in my neck of the woods, it's a shame there was so much touch sensitivity and it was soooo heavy, otherwise it would be a fun detector to use. Our main concern here in OZ is mineralization, there are very few places that aren't mineralized so a detector has to work well in those areas especially after having Fine Gold timings on the GPX, in quieter ground the ATX and SDC have similar sensitivity (in air depth), but when you add in the bad touch sensitivity and the weight difference the price is really the only drawback for the SDC. JP The gold I found with the ATX This speci was surprisingly deep Speci missed by the ATX and found with the SDC (note the longer grass)

I'll be out of internet service this upcoming week, so will have to catch up when I get back, seems like we are both on our own adventures just at different parts of the globe. One of these days I'll have to come over and see what all the fuss is about, those mountains looks massive!!!!!' Take care Steve and Chris, looking forward to when we can all catch up again. JP PS I owe both you guys an email, will get back in touch when I have internet again. :-) Gold is coming in steady this year so far, I've got a good feeling about 2014.

The SDC will be supplied with rechargeable NiMH batteries as standard, which I've been told should last 6 - 7 hours, Alkaline C cells in the SDC last about the same amount of time as the ATX which in my case was approx 4 1/2 to 5 hours use on both. It's not very long but that's what happens when you stick a high performance PI in that type of housing, which was originally designed for the military who only spend an hour or so at a time looking for land mines (an hour would seem like weeks when you think your leg might get blown off any second, 5 hours would seem like an eternity). When thinking SDC you really need to think mineralization, anywhere a VLF creates ground noise the SDC will shine, or if the ground has depth (3+ inches). It is after all a PI and as such has to switch off and wait, it's not constantly transmitting like a VLF. Anywhere shallow that has been productive for you with the GPX has potential for the SDC. The SDC will hold pride of place alongside my GBII as a switch on and go detector, in fact in a lot of places I know around Australia I could easily make a living with it crumbling off old patches. JP

Hi Rick, a combination of both. I'm sure the 5000 with the right sized coil on could have made a response on a couple of them once you knew they were there, but the SDC just romped them in with minimal fuss. If the gold is prickly I find the sizes increase dramatically for the 5000 to generate a good response on them whereas the SDC loves that type of gold. All the gold in the picture has been missed over the past few years by the 5000 both by myself and mates who are on the patch often. JP

Thanks Steve, that means a lot coming from you. I intend to have four SDC 2300s in my household when they become available and this summer will be making it our family pastime to head out and hunt gold together. With the SDC there will be very few skunks thanks to all the fantastic locations I have up my sleeve just waiting for a detector like this. :-) JP

Got 7 small ones for 2 grams this morning, 2 grams is good money when it only takes you 30 minutes to get it. I see a lot of comments from the keyboard detectorists about Fly Poo gold, the gold I got this morning is what I call bread and butter gold, it's what I use to pay my running costs. I will never turn my nose up at any gold that is detectable no matter how small it is. JP

Hi Steve as you know I've been having a play with the SDC during its development, its been a lot of fun I can tell you. This is one of the best switch on and go detectors I have ever used which includes the GBII in the "best of all time" lists. Absolutely simple to use even for new chums, its the kind of detector you just fold up and leave behind the seat of your car and then pull out on a whim and go detecting. The top pic is of a nugget I found within a minute of turning on at a favourite crumbing spot I have here on our local goldfields, I've hammered this spot for 14 years now, its extremely variable mineralised dirt, pure magic pinging a nugget so quickly at a well know location. Second pic is of a speci I found when my son Timothy and I did a run to the local tip and decided to have a detect on the town common on the way home, I only got to use it for a few minutes before my boy commandeered it off me and scored a nugget of his own. JP

Steve comparisons will be made whether intentional or not, the difficult bit will be in the determining of the wheat from the chaff. In the case of the SDC wheat sized gold in all ground types can be considered easy-peasy. :-) JP

Remember it's a Minelab, and Minelab have a habit of making detectors that perform hence the price differential, might have a similar form factor to others out there but that's probably were the similarities will end. JP

I'm hearing you Fred, Steve is my go to guy for unbiased reporting on all things metal detecting. I'm excited by the SDC though, it's a little out of the ordinary for Minelab to announce so far out from a release but knowing them it will be well worth the wait. JP

That isn't ugly Steve, that is beautiful. I've found specimens like that up in North QLD and love the story they are telling. JP

Hey Steve, you want to hop a flight and meet me in WA I'll pack a swag for you? We'll do it rough but simple for a few weeks in July if you like. May might be OK but I can't be sure if I'll be able to get there that early this year with family etc and of course I know you have June all booked up. Fred it was great to catch up with you in the Kimberly's a few years ago, I still owe you a feed or three since you were so hospitable to me out at rich hill all those years ago. JP

BTW you two, when are we planning on round two for another assault on WA? JP

Hey guys thanks for the kind words….wow you people picked up on that video from all the way over there? The world is getting smaller every day:-) I get a kick out of introducing people to OUR world, seeing the lights going on to the possibilities of what a metal detector can do is priceless. JP

The GPX 4800 is basically the same electronic platform as the GPX 5000 just with some features removed. By using the 4800 over the 4500 you would be able to take advantage of the smoother threshold, improved Enhance timings and improved Ground Balance. These are the main differences which you may or may-not be able to justify, in the end it will come down to your personal preference and level of experience. I personally could easily justify the change over (assuming there was no GPX 5000) as the improvements mentioned would give me an advantage even though it is not huge. Enhance is just about as sensitive as Fine Gold when a small coil such as the Commander 8" Mono or Nugget Finder Sadie coil is used in shallow ground, in fact in some cases it's actually better because there can be less ground noise (along with EMI) which is quite often closely associated with the highly mineralised shallow sections of gold bearing areas. JP

Hi Steve, I've used the PRO-FIND 25 a lot in the last couple of seasons, a very handy tool when your down over two feet!! Here's a Pic of Bob using the PRO-FIND 25 and the nice 13 ounce slug he retrieved a few moments later. (pictures used with permission)

The Minelab PRO-Find 25 has been specifically designed to avoid the issue of 'ringing' when turned off so you can wear it on your belt when using the GPX 5000 and other deep punching PIs JP

Hey Steve, wouldn't you just love to have the freedom we had in WA in a place like this? I'd happily donate most of the gold I found just for the opportunity to have a crack at it without having to worry about security etc. JP

Hi Chris, I loved it and the point I assume is to put Minelab out there to a wider audience who have a totally different perspective on metal detecting than us "the converted" (they think of them as things that make all sorts of unusual sounds, so why not a symphonic noise? ). To be honest I feel a bit grubby when detecting down at the beach or in parks, an ad like this sexes it up where it is now cool to head out and find hidden treasure. JP