SDC Cannot Detect Small Nugget

[Alex Waddell]

Aureous, I will likely just see what I can find with the SDC 2300 for now. What do you consider a state of the art machine currently?

If I decide to get more into prospecting, I don't know if I would get a better detector or maybe a dry washer. Either would be well suited for the dry conditions in Arizona.

[mn90403]

A 6000 and a 2000 will find gold and be better handling than a 2300.

[phrunt]

In bad hot rocks or very bad ground, the SDC would still give the best performance than the GPX 6000 and GM 2000.  It's a difficult one but there appears to be no best detector for everything.

[Jeff McClendon]

Alex Waddell, in the areas of Arizona that I have detected, the Goldmonster 2000 will eat the SDC 2300s breakfast, lunch and dinner on 0.1 gram and smaller nugglets and that’s from actual experience with the SDC there and from now knowing what the GM2K can really do in moderate to high mineralization. I would rather have a GPX6000 or Garrett Axiom paired with the GM2000 or Manticore or Equinox 900/800 or even the Nokta Legend.

Aureous’ post on page one mirrors my experience with the SDC’s smaller end of the target size spectrum. #6 lead shotgun pellets were the limit. Those are normally right around 0.1 grams.

Can you tell that I cant stand the SDC2300???

If you choose to get rid of the SDC 2300, I will give you a big round of applause.

[Jeff McClendon]

The title of this topic is “SDC Cannot Detect Small Nugget”. 

Alex asked a pertinent question about a specific nugget weight range and why his SDC wasn’t detecting it. His question has been honestly answered by posters from their own first hand experiences with the SDC.

Some posters sugar coated it and some like me didn’t.

My apologies for being too honest and blunt Alex.

Alex also asked for better options in the future and that question was also answered.

 

[Jeff McClendon]

58 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Saying anything mildly positive is not hype or sugar coating. It's called being nice, something truly lacking in the world today. I'm sick and tired of people in particular who cast any positive reviews as being hype, as only people who are negative and tear things down can be "honest and real", right? Is the Gold Monster 2000 now the new hype? The Legend 2? Or are people just trying to talk about things in a positive light rather than a negative light? Half this hobby is keeping a positive perspective, something some people on this forum seem to have forgotten.

I totally agree Steve, being positive is extremely important for metal detector users or at least being neutral.

I also had the impression that the SDC would easily detect sub 0.1 gram gold on a regular basis. I found out differently the hard way. That experience was not positive at all. Some of it was site specific issues and some of it is just the SDC.

Knowing the limits of a detector and trusting the equipment being used is a key part of staying positive. It takes time, trial and error OR it takes asking the right questions to another detector user or on a forum like this one where honest answers based on experience are given out everyday multiple times.

Alex asked a very important question that was detector and site specific. 

Alex got some spirited answers and now he can use his SDC with a better knowledge of its capabilities on sites in his specific location. 

Alex, again I apologize for being too blunt with some of my statements about the SDC2300. I bought it expecting something that it couldn't deliver consistently. That was my mistake but my bias against the SDC sometimes shows up on this forum. 

The SDC is one of the coolest, high wow factor detectors that I have ever owned. Its fold up ability and easy to back pack ability is amazing. It's also waterproof which is something that is rare among pulse induction gold prospecting detectors. It is easy to operate. It also is very dependable and fantastic on 0.1 gram and larger targets and is great for shallower bedrock sites like those often found in your area.

 

[phrunt]

@Gold Catcher is a person in the US that has put the SDC to good use.

I often wonder if your SDC was a dud Jeff, you seem to disproportionately dislike it.

I'm in mild soils where the SDC is weak as it's designed for hot soils but I have a lot of hot rocks and it just cruises over them like they're not existent, I don't even need to balance out most they're just not there, other detectors especially the 6000 can't balance them out at all and screams on most of them and can just be a nightmare to use, in an area like that the SDC would be my choice to keep my sanity.    

When using older model detectors though you really do need to find new ground or you're just hoping to come across something others have missed, it happens of course but the excitement over new models generally is around finding gold the previous model missed.

[Jeff McClendon]

51 minutes ago, phrunt said:

@Gold Catcher is a person in the US that has put the SDC to good use.

I often wonder if your SDC was a dud Jeff, you seem to disproportionately dislike it.

I'm in mild soils where the SDC is weak as it's designed for hot soils but I have a lot of hot rocks and it just cruises over them like they're not existent, I don't even need to balance out most they're just not there, other detectors especially the 6000 can't balance them out at all and screams on most of them and can just be a nightmare to use, in an area like that the SDC would be my choice to keep my sanity.    

When using older model detectors though you really do need to find new ground or you're just hoping to come across something others have missed, it happens of course but the excitement over new models generally is around finding gold the previous model missed.

Hi Simon, my SDC was not a dud. 

Like Alex I was surprised by the SDC’s lack of sensitivity to gold that was borderline 0.1 grams and smaller.

I made the mistake of just taking my SDC on some hunts where I travelled  hundreds of miles, got skunked repeatedly, returned to the same places with other detectors and found many gold and lead targets that were in that same borderline 0.1 gram and slightly smaller range.

So I learned to carry a second more sensitive detector when using the SDC in case the detectable gold was mostly sub 0.1 gram.

 

[Ridge Runner]

I bought the SDC when it first hit the market and I spent two weeks straight around Richhill . In those two weeks I came out with the biggest collection of trash but not one nugget. I don’t know if any of you remember but when it first came out it didn’t have a battery pack and the batteries would lose connection causing the SDC to turn off then on again. What would fix the problem was a business card slipped in next to the batteries to hold them in place.

 Oh what fun back when.

 Chuck