New Minelab SDC 2300 Finds Some Alaska Gold Nuggets

[Steve Herschbach]

Gold has been slow coming and internet access next to nothing but I wanted to see if I could upload this picture of eleven gold nuggets my brother got day before yesterday with the new SDC 2300. This detector is perfect for Alaska rainy, brushy hunting conditions and generally smaller gold nuggets.

 

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[huntsman53]

Congrats to your brother on the nice nuggets! A few more like those and he will have paid for the SDC 2100.


Frank

 

[gollum]

All things considered, with what we know so far, would you prefer the ATX Pro or SDC2300?

 

[Campngolf]

Very nice.

 

[Steve Herschbach]

All things considered, with what we know so far, would you prefer the ATX Pro or SDC2300?

I can find gold with either. The SDC is lighter than the ATX and coil more resistant, in fact almost impervious to falsing when knocked around. So from an outright operational perspective when faced with 8 hours of detecting and both detectors readily available both my brother and I find we prefer to grab the SDC. It is as simple as that.

I am not knocking the ATX. I really like my ATX but it will get used by me more for jewelry detecting than nugget detecting. Still, I can't resist using it now and then to chase gold nuggets. I just enjoy using different detectors.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Nice gold and congratulations. You work for Minelab now don't you?

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi Terry,

No, I do not work for Minelab. I am self-employed as a prospector and writer.

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Here are some more nuggets I found myself the last couple days with the SDC 2300. Almost 1/4 oz or 4.2 pennyweight. Great detector!

 

[DDancer]

Nice gold Steve How do you rate the detectors performance to say a 2200 or 3000?

 

[meMiner]

Very nice gold. Sounds like the detector is a winner. Have you tried the SDC with mask and snorkel yet?

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Headed back to Nevada from Alaska now, hope to have the SDC in the water in the next few weeks.

The SDC easily bests the 2200 or even 3000 on small gold. Large deep stuff though it comes up short compared to the earlier models, especially when they sport larger coils. Still, my brother had the SD2200v2 and we compared to the SDC 2300 and frankly for most of the gold a person normally finds we both would rather use the SDC 2300 than the SD2200.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Steve,

It's great to see that you got that little Minelab to work for you.

Many congratulations on your fine finds!!

All the best,

Lanny

 

[DDancer]

Thanks for that input Steve. If you don't mind I'd like to also ask you how you feel about its ground balance, threshold stability and performance when other PI detectors are in the area. Any problems with emi interference from aircraft or metal structures? The SD series had a lot of difficulty in the area of emi and GB with the 2200 was never really stellar in my opinion.

 

[NeoTokyo]

Dang, that is some good looking gold.
Looks like that detector is doing a great job.

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Thanks for that input Steve. If you don't mind I'd like to also ask you how you feel about its ground balance, threshold stability and performance when other PI detectors are in the area. Any problems with emi interference from aircraft or metal structures? The SD series had a lot of difficulty in the area of emi and GB with the 2200 was never really stellar in my opinion.

The ground balance is almost a non-issue. In many areas the SDC 2300 simply ignores the ground right out of the box and there is no ground balance procedure. In more mineralized ground, holding the ground balance button causes a quick ground balance to occur. The SDC 2300 is always automatically ground tracking at a medium-slow rate to maintain the best possible balance, so it is impossible for a novice operator to mess it up. I had no issues with it tracking out targets.

I did encounter hot rocks the SDC would not balance out, the very same types my GPX 5000 would not balance out. Overall the SDC handles ground better than the GPX because it is a lower power detector and the coil "sees" less ground than the same size coil on the GPX 5000 therefore there is less ground for it to balance out.

I can get my GPX 5000 to make a threshold that is perfect with no waver. The SDC 2300 has a less stable threshold more reminiscent of other SD series detectors at higher sensitivity settings. It is pretty stable at the stock "2" sensitivity setting but still not as solid as my GPX.

The SDC 2300 is quite a bit more EMI resistant than the GPX 5000 and plays well with other detectors as long as reasonable spacing is kept. When my brother fired up the SD2200v2 I could get within about 50 feet of him unless he ran a larger coil, then I needed a bit more space.

The bottom line is the SDC 2300 is perhaps the most user friendly nugget detector you can buy. Anyone can run it. It really is normally a turn on and go detector. The only option normally to consider is the sensitivity setting, which gives a balance between a bit more depth but more threshold noise. We were in mild ground and I could run it maxed out but that did make for a less stable threshold. Once you find the sensitivity setting you like in an area you just leave it alone ground balance setting is retained when the detector is turned off. So for me operating the SDC 2300 boiled down to turning it on or turning it off. Batteries lasted a good seven hours plus. It seemed just right for most days, never quite running dead by the end if the day except for rare occasions.

If I have to complain about the unit I could complain about the armrest folding up every time I pull my arm out and the lack of volume control. The headphones I received are wired on the left and the cord runs across your chest. You either wear the headphones backwards, or in my case run the cord behind my back. I need a headphone adapter to run optional phones with volume controls. But these really are minor niggles. The waterproof, compact folding design is extremely compelling and easily offsets these minor complaints.

The SDC 2300 except for the cost is a perfect detector for many more casual nugget hunters who would never, ever learn what all the settings on a GPX 5000 do. It is far easier to operate in bad ground than a VLF. I can hand one to anybody, tell them to turn it on, keep the coil on the ground, and dig everything that goes beep. If it were not for the high price I would flat out just tell everyone to go buy one. It is practically impossible to be unhappy with the SDC 2300.

 

[meMiner]

Very positive review. It sure makes me want one. Maybe I should buy it "for my wife".

 

[Steve Herschbach]

And still more nuggets I found with the SDC. The little black rock specimen in particular is an example of the type of gold the GPX has issues with and in fact this little piece came from an area I had previously hit with the GPX. There is but little gold mixed in with the rock in the tiny specimen.

 

[Army of 1]

Nice Gold there Steve , the 2300 is finding itself a handy addition to the prospectors kit ..cheers Mick

 

[DDancer]

Thank you Steve. I've marked this up on my x-mas list. Looking forward to how it works out when your back home.