New SDC2300 from Rob w/review and gold


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Some of you here will recognize me from other forums. I don't post much these days, but I am always lurking. I recently purchased an SDC2300 from Rob. Been looking for a newer unit for a little while. My usual machine is an SD2100V2. Still going strong and finding gold regularly.

I met Rob and picked the unit up in person, then proceeded to drive back home and put the new machine to work that evening. I had a particular wash in mind that I had recently discovered. Before the SDC I had only 4 targets in this wash, 2 of which where golden. Earlier that day it had rained in the area so the soil was damp down to bedrock. However not enough rain to move any overburden. So I went to work with the SDC, just figuring it out as I went. First I noticed it is still affected by the sometimes nasty emi in this particular area. Second I noticed the SDC is not impervious to the mineralization in this area. Not getting down on the SDC, as I don't think any metal detector can handle some of the mineralization I run into in my area. It is just that nasty in some spots I frequent.

I proceeded to work my way slowly up the wash, not finding any targets at first. Then just a few yards below where I had previously dug a 3.8 gram specimen, I got a repeatable whisper of a target. About 1 foot down I got a nice 1.4 gram specimen, which will be the largest for the evening at the top of attached photos.

It was now starting to get dark so I turned my headlight on red and continued my way slowly up the little golden wash. I passed the areas where I got my 1st 2 nuggets previously without any more targets. Up a few more yards and finally another repeatable signal, this time a little more pronounced. Bedrock was shallow at this target, maybe 3 inches, and as I scraped down to it I knew this would also be gold. This little specimen was wedged right down in a bedrock crack.....text book location. Had to turn the red headlight to white long enough to pinpoint the actual nugget as it all just looks like rocks under red light. This will be the .7 gram piece on the right side of the attached pics.

Onward and upward I go, continuing my way up this little golden wash. A few yards more and another repeatable target. This time it had the elongated sound of a piece of wire, however I was sure it would be gold as I have only dug 2 junk targets here and they were both bullet fragments. Down about 6 inches or so and out pops this super big flake, or extra flat nugget, however you like to call it. It must have been up on edge to give the elongated signal similar to wire. This will be the bottom nugget in the pics and also weighs in at .7 gram. About the thickness of a dime.

By now it is about 10pm and I am getting hungry, so off I go to home for the night, happy with my most recent additions to my collection. Kind of hard to beat having only 3 targets and all 3 golden.

So 6 days go by before I can return to the area. I worked very late the night before, so I just decided to pull an all nighter and go out early this morning, about 4:30 am when I left my apartment. Unfortunately I could find no more targets in this wash on this day. It was getting hot and I wanted a nugget fix for my effort, so I decided to hit another wash in the area where I had found gold before. I also wanted to see how the SDC handles the real extremely nasty hot arse bedrock in a particular section of this wash. This section of bedrock is grey in color, magnets stick to it and it actually gets hotter the longer the sun is on it through the day. I'm not kidding about this. In the am it is tolerable to detect around it with a PI, but in the afternoon in the summer that stuff gets so hot you just can't get near it even with a PI in cancel. I am no geologist and have no idea what this rock is. It's not any kind of schist or granite....might be some kind of volcanic, but not basalt. Anyway it was getting hot an I was running low on water by now so I just took a few quick cherry picking swings at some prime areas, and was able to squeeze out the 1 nugget I so desired. This piece is also .7 gram and on the left of the pics.

Oh and the SDC can't handle this grey bedrock either. I was still able to get the nugget along the edge of this bedrock along with a small piece of bird shot about 3 inches to the side of it. Although this grey stuff pretty much looks the same all over this section, some parts are hotter than others. You just can't swing a coil flat over it at all, especially in the hot part of the afternoon. You can't get a proper ground balance nor will the SDC track it out.

I do like the SDC for it's compact, waterproof, and durable design. It would be nice if Minelab would amplify the output to headphones. You shouldn't have to add an amp to any metal detector in my opinion. Not a huge problem for me as I have a couple amps previously used with my 2100. I will make comparisons in the future between my 2100 with 8'' commander and the SDC, just out of my own curiosity. I have had no problem finding small gold or specimen gold with my 2100 and don't really have any wire gold to my knowledge in the places I hunt. I will admit that at least 2 of the targets found with the SDC I had been over with the 2100 and 8'' commander. However the soil was dry at the time, so I am not convinced that the 2100 would not have found these 3 targets under the same conditions as that evening.

Ok, well there is my book report. I'm sorry it's so long folks, but it's just how I am. I'll try to attach 2 pics now. They are scanned images for clarity. The nuggets are turned over from 1-2 so you can see both sides. Enjoy, Dennis

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Nice gold. I like my SDC a lot too, so lightweight and simple to use.

It does take a bit of work to filter out EMI. Depending on where I'm at over the course of a day I may have to hit the Noise Cancel button repeatedly, sometimes over a dozen times until it finds a quiet channel.

Just keep raising your detector and point it in different directions and keep noise canceling until you find a quiet channel. You will eventually.

Also the SDC does very well on mineralized soil. Just make sure you aren't running the threshold and sensitivity too high. The "number two" spot has never failed me in Arizona for the threshold.

Then depending on the ground conditions I'll switch the sensitivity/gain between two and three. I can usually run three in a mild, sandy wash and two in mineralized red clay.

And yeah the headphone volume on the SDC is kinda crappy. Definitely helps to use an amplifier.

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Thank you Frank, Jennifer, and Mike. Boulder dash, I might not get out as much as you, but I work hard as I can when I can. By the way you and Adam have been doing well this year, as usual, keep up the good hard work guys. We'll see you guys sometime this winter I am sure.

Tortuga, I was on stock setting of 2 on threshold and sensitivity. It's just the area I am working in. It has some unique mineralization compared to other areas in Az. The EMI is another story. Not sure what the source might be. No power lines for miles and very seldom small airplane traffic. It might have something to do with the air inversion we get in the area due to monsoon season. All I know is it can be bad in summer and usually doesn't even exist during cooler months. Dennis

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  • Admin

Hey Dennis,

Congrats on the new nugget additions to your collection with the new SDC 2300. The SDC is a great and will find gold behind most PI's.

Thanks once again for your continued support and business over the years. Wishing you many more nuggets with the new detector!

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WTG Dennis! :)
Nice nuggets.

Tom H.

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I got out on the same type of rocks this weekend it sounds like!!!

Man was the 2300 crying like a baby at high noon---- sweat beads rolling off my head like cannon balls----

There were hot grey rocks, hot green serpentine, hot petrified wood agatey looking rock, conglomerated concretized hot stuff.....almost everything was making me pay for it if I kept my sensitivity up over 2.... just isn't real fun at that point.... Now if I had got a little dink in the middle of all that I would be chirping like a bird ...

Looks like you were doing just fine where you were--Keep it up!!!

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  • 1 month later...

I've got a bit of an update to this post. I've now been out 8 times with the SDC2300. I've recovered at least one piece of gold on each trip. I've been to 3 washes that I've had previous success. I have only scratched the surface at this time. One particular wash that has kept calling me back has been particularly good to me so far. I believe this to be a virgin patch, although until my last recent trip finds have been very minimal and slow coming. As I mentioned previously there has only been 2 trash targets and that is still the case. Targets have been hard to come by, however I have been fortunate enough to keep finding one each time out there. Persistence has paid off for me by not giving up, knowing we never get it all.

So it's been 8 trips with the SDC2300 for 15 nuggets, pieces, or specimens. I say pieces because a couple are kind of small to call nuggets. Maybe nugglets would be a better term, lol. Most have been specimens, Total weight so far is 14.7 grams. The best piece, pictures included, is also the largest and I must say one of my most beautiful specimens to date. The scanned high res pics really don't do it justice. It looks a lot like a piece of golden coral growing out of the rock. Weighing in at 7.5 grams combined. Unfortunately I broke it getting it out. It is very fragile and sometimes ..it happens. I will include 2 scans, of course 1 is the reverse of the other. Enjoy, Dennis

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Thanks Rob, I am sure more will follow. Fortunately there is no "season" for me. I can hunt year round. I always find a way to get out even if at night. This particular piece was actually found about midnight.

Thank you Adam. You know how I am. Looking forward to hunting with you again soon.

I am looking forward to what's next in this particular area. Might be getting close to a source, if a source still exists. This area has me excited as I believe it has been completely over looked. Not having any trash, even with limited targets, makes for some serious anticipation to what the next target, should I get another target, might be. The possibilities will keep me going back for some time I'm sure. Dennis

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