Detech Coils on SD2200D?

[Dan_Dan]

Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone here has had any experience with the Detech coils on the older minelabs, in particular a 8" DD on the SD's. How effective are they on the small stuff? I have seen some reviews on the 8" mono but not much on the DD with older machines................

would appreciate any thoughts on it.

Cheers all

 

[loamer]

Hi mate - can't speak about Detech BUT, the 2200D was made just for DDs - they are the go to coil. Any size will do you on the 2200, the smaller ones are great patch clean-up coils and great for playing on mullock. The discriminator will generally work OK with the smaller coils but will, at times, still give you a constant signal on really small ferrous junk. I have a 4500 but kept my 2200D as it is a great machine and still does the bizz - great with a big DD coil. Other options for a smaller coil is close scrubby country where even the 11" will struggle to cover under bushes etc etc.

Do some tests with some small aluminium pieces on noisy ground - you will see what I mean. (aluminium is better than lead)

 

[Roscoe]

Dan, I am only new to the SD 2200 myself. I haven't tried the 8" dd detech coil, but it should be a very sensitive coil on the 2200 i would think.

 

[Dan_Dan]

Cheers guys. And thanks for the tips I haven't had a lot of time with my machine so there is much testing to do!!

 

[loamer]

Dan. If you have only just got it, may I recommend:

Both Channels on.
Threashold just audible (use a small piece of aluminium on the ground when you start it up.) Consider an audio booster - the 2200s have a bad (deserved) reputation for soft audio.
Use tracking but once you get used to rebalancing as you go, switch to fixed - you get more depth.
Deep setting.
Discriminator is a tricky bit of advice. I have it off unless I am in really trashy ground. There are some very true stories of big gold washing out the discriminator on these 22s.
Try and get good headphones with an audio boost (volume switches) - those poxy elcheapo Koss sets are crXp. (they used to come as standard with the 4500/5000)
Do some research on how to use a DD - they are different from a mono in coverage, areas where the coil is less sensitive (the head usually). For example, you can walk straight at a tree with a mono, you need to sweep around a tree with a DD with the edge to the tree. Thats why if you are in scrubby ground a smaller DD is need to sweep side to side under close scrub, not nose in, you may miss some small gold.

When they first came out, man, did we think we were in heaven with the 22s. I

The discriminator over trashy ground will defeat the latest and greatest monos hands down any day of the week. I say they are probably one of the best training detectors there is. The next best trainer in my opinion is the 3500.

Problems they have? Audio as described. Ground noise can be an issue and you can only learn how to deal with this by practice but trust me, a lot of us still dig ground noises!!

Good luck - get the old beast humming along and you will be very pleased.

 

[Roscoe]

The next coil on my list is the coiltek 14" dd.

 

[Dan_Dan]

Thanks Loamer for the great input. A the moment I'm running a coiltek battery system a b&z booster and gray ghost nugget buster ndt...... I think I've nearly spent more on the accessories than the detector :/ I have done a fair bit of research to get all this but i won't learn a thing unless I'm out there using it thanks for the sound advice

 

[Dan_Dan]

Hi roscoe the 2200 came with one . Only used it once so far but it felt much better than the 11" stock that was on it

 

[Roscoe]

Dan, I have a detaac enhancer and coiltek battery as well. I see they are remaking the detaac enhancer. What's the nugget buster head phones like Dan? I have the koss headphones and after reading what Loamer said, i might get my self a better set of head phones.

 

[Dan_Dan]

The nugget busters I have found to be great, very comfortable and loud....... tho the booster probably has more to do with it but the fact that I don't have to worry to much about getting the lead getting caught up on branches is handy... only really happens to me when I'm on my way back to the camp site, worried more about where my feet are than what my head phones are doing I don't have much experience detecting but have had many head phones and know a thing or two about sound and can say there pretty sweet.

 

[loamer]

Thanks Loamer for the great input. A the moment I'm running a coiltek battery system a b&z booster and gray ghost nugget buster ndt...... I think I've nearly spent more on the accessories than the detector :/ I have done a fair bit of research to get all this but i won't learn a thing unless I'm out there using it thanks for the sound advice

That is a spot-on set up mate. I use nugget busters on my 4500 - great headphones, no losing them with the bright yellow cover! I run the same battery set up as well on my 2200. Yep -accessories BUT the old batteries on the 22 were a pain in weight and the stupid harness, plus the audio was pretty tres ordinaires. I used to scoot along with a 14" DD patch hunting with a smaller 10 x 5 DD Joey in my day pack. Why? Random mullock/reef workings in the scrub, old loaming sites for shallow small alluvial leading up to eluvial deposits, scrub etc etc. very handy - nice and small and nice and light.

 

[Dan_Dan]

Yep I agree I spent 1 outing with the old battery and then took them to the recyclers. I'll have to have a look at the 10x5 dd as well

 

[Dan_Dan]

Oh and Loamer when I set the threshold would I do that with the booster on or off?

 

[loamer]

Dan - on. Have the whole set-up as if ready to go. If on, that's what you will be hearing for the rest of the day. As an aside, the 2200s take a lot longer to start up than the GP or GPX series - that is usual. Don't forget to ground balance, ground balance and ground balance all day until it becomes second nature. Lift the coil over a log? Ground balance. Have a break? Ground balance - you get the idea. It is imperative with these. There is a post production mod from several techs you can get to be able to fit a GB button. If you get it done, Minelab will NOT service your machine ( at least they didn't used to). I didn't bother with mine as I wanted to be able to get the 2200 fixed up, which I did.

Aside from all that, they are a pretty tough old machine. No bells and whistles does not mean bad -quite the opposite. They were absolutely ground breaking detectors and still produce the goods. I have had some very good finds running an 18"DD on new ground that was known to have patchy but deep gold close by - that's where I would concentrate after you get used to it.

 

[rc62burke]

Hey Dan
You have had some good advice here.

But I would say "Don't right off" the mono's, it depends on where you are running them, I exclusively use MONO coils on my SD2200d, my go to coil is a 14" NF mono, my unit runs super smooth & quiet, I do dig ground noise & hot rocks but I get "Gold"

I would suggest try to borrow one & give it a good work out this is the only way to really know!! don't rely on what others tell you all the time it is better to give it a go yourself.

cheers
Lee

 

[Dan_Dan]

Thank Loamer next time I'm up at our block in Maryborough I'll put things into practice cheers for the help

 

[Dan_Dan]

Hi rc62burke thanks for the input, I can try a mono from Coiltek Maryborough they are only 5min from our property, but the ground there is pretty loud and I will have to get used to the DD before I start looking into monos..... unless I upgrade which I don't think will be any time soon

 

[loamer]

Fair enough. My testing in the hottest GT ground proved the DD was the go to coil and the majority of GT ground is hot. For sure, on a test pit with shallow gold, the monos were picking up a distinct target, at depth - useless. By running a mono, remember this... the D as in 2200D was the discriminator which was designed to run DDs to get rid of a lot of ground noise and trash, a mono will not do this.

 

[rc62burke]

Hi rc62burke thanks for the input, I can try a mono from Coiltek Maryborough they are only 5min from our property, but the ground there is pretty loud and I will have to get used to the DD before I start looking into monos..... unless I upgrade which I don't think will be any time soon

Being that close I would just borrow a 12" NF mono, make sure you ground balance & get it running smooth swing low & slow & see how it goes, it may moan a bit but when you get used to it you will pick up a signal, ask the shop if they have a test bed? you can use to test it, you get much more depth with mono's

You need an booster!!!!!!!!!

Lee

 

[Dan_Dan]

Already have the booster and am pretty much kitted up i'll have a talk to the guys at Coiltek but down the track..... for the moment I want to keep things as simple as possible. cheers Lee