Garrett ATX vs Minelab SDC2300

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Steve Herschbach said:
Oh dear. I do not work for any of the manufacturers but they all send me free metal detectors. If anyone thinks that sways my opinions please never read any of my posts!

People who have worked in the industry are some of the most knowledgeable people you can find. I know a fair bit about detectors and metal detecting and I pay far more attention to people like Nenad than most. The worst for bias are the hard core single line dealers. Multiline dealers can be better trusted to steer you straight. And for bias nothing tops the guys who only owns one detector or uses one brand because it is "the best". Anyone who thinks any one manufacturer builds all the best machines or that any one detector does it all is delusional.

My advice to anyone wanting to know how two detectors compare is get them both and find out directly. If you do not want to do that, tread a bit lightly before making accusations of bias when others are doing something for you that you are unwilling to do for yourself.

Steve your advice is greatly appreciated as is the advice that people such as Johnathon Porter, WalNLiz, Warren from NQ Explorers and Nenad and many others who have:

a) actually used metal detectors for many years out in the field in a wide variety of ground and conditions; and

b) know metal detectors and detecting inside out.

The fact that yourself and these others are prepared to offer that sage advice freely to newbies such as myself on this and other forums is greatly appreciated and just as good as gold in my books. :D
 
mbasko said:
Ridge Runner said:
And Borrowed/Stolen what ever you would prefer to call it Tecnology from Eric Foster and Reg Sniff is not a thing to be proud of but without it It would be nothing but just another blue box

Just to clarify for people Minelab aren't the only ones using "Eric Fosters" technology. All pulse induction technology regardless of Minelab, Garrett, Whites would no doubt have stemmed in some way from his work & others that worked on PI technology in Europe in the 60's. Not sure what Minelab stole/borrowed from Reg Sniff though?
Bruce Candy himself would have contributed enough to the ongoing development, research, improvement of this technology; like people in similar positions at Garrett/Whites etc.; to be considered an important player in the field. The difference is Bruce Candy has been at the forefront in the development, research & improvement allowing Minelab to stay ahead of the competition.
Throwing words around like "stolen" may not be wise & further makes me believe RR that you may be a member of that "Minelab Haters" club? All detector companies would have used it to some effect I would think?

In short without Eric Foster modern day PI technology may not be a reality regardless of brand, although Eric wasn't the only one looking at it - just the most innovative one at the time. Without people like Bruce Candy (& others at Garrett, Whites etc.) that PI technology may not be as good as what it is today or would continual improvement/innovation be strived for.

Yes Others are using Eric Fosters Technology, But they Actually asked Eric For the Help along with Some of his Designs Such As Ground Tracking And Not Just claim it as there own work.

Mimelab Are GOOD, I have owned many of there machines including one of their GP Series In Two Years I spent over $20,000 on their Detectors and if it Did not have a Minelab Logo on it I would not Buy it. As A company I was Very Proud Of Minelab,

So far your Comment are more Directed about ME and Name Calling and again Not The Subject, I'm Not A MineLab Hater as you Call Me,

After I said about they don't work in EU Countries You went on to say (they buy one that is made for the EU) And if they Knew that they were not suitable why Market them there, and that's all very well, But when the Dealers Swear Black was Blue that they Are what you need and are insistent about it and you Trust these people the options get less and less, Somewhere I Have some Minelab Catalogues that had to be Re-called due to False Claims and they had to get them reprinted.

The Best Machine at the Time for coins and Relics was the Minelab Musteteer it was Deep Fast and although it ran at 5khz it found the smallest piece of metal I have found to Date, and it took me 20 mins to find it with a pinpointer, So I kept it as a Test Piece for Coils/Machines,
Then I asked the Dealers about Iron rejection and I bought the Sovereign GT Which to this Date I have yet to find a Machine that could match it's depth, Using the standard 10"Coil in DISC I found the Base of a Toy lead Soldier measuring 32mm x 9mm giving a very strong signal and when I dug it IT was 17" Down, Now I don't care If you use a PI or a 2 box locator, That's Still A Record in My Books.
The Sovereign GT is a Pain in the Backside and yet it is a fantastic machine. But It is almost useless over here except on the Beach, Why??
Because of that Damn Iron Mask that Has an On off Switch but when you Turn it Off It is Not Disabled which means that During a slow Sweep speed the Coil can Be 2 to 3 feet away from the Target Because the Recovery speed is the Worst of Any Machine, So To Give it a Helping hade I bought 3 Smaller Coils for it and that did not work, Then I bought an E-Trac and yes it had power but after going over a pegged out area after months of use I noticed right from the start that it would give up to 14 sets of Numbers when it ID'd an Item, and with common Items I wrote down the Numbers and search the pegged out area Again,
So with that I took Both Machines and the Coils to my Mates house and we did some testing, Then he said hang on and Came Back with an MXT, He put a find Gold Chain on the Ground and I put Joey Coils on The GT and The E-Trac and neither one Could see it, He turned on the MXT and Bang Every Time, So I went home and then to the Detecting Shop and Bought the MXT 300 Yep the 12" coil Version, Next day wondering what I had done and Feeling Guilty for Owning A NON Minelab Product, I swept the area, IN the First 4 foot sweep of the Coil I found 2 Gold Rings and a Gold Bar, Now By rights because of the junk every 3 to 6 inches that thing should not of worked very well, By the end of the First week I had found more Items of Value than I did in 6 years of owning my Pride and Joy Minelab Machines, The Place I tested it has been hit with every detector from the past 46 years.

Now Talking to the Head of Minelab R&D Dept EU, He Told me that when they were Designing the XTerra Range that they Got an MXT and Reversed Engineered It to see Why it was so Hot on Gold and it's Ground Tracking abilities and what made it Tick.
So don't Tell me That MineLab are the Leaders of Detecting Technology, when In Fact they use other Peoples Technology and workout A way how they Can incorporate it into Their Products and then ReName IT,

So Lets RE-Cap here,,,,We have Eric Forster's system in the PI Machines without Permission
Now for the VLF's.... Who Was the Lead Engineer on the MXT/GMT Program?? Oh That's Right, It Was Dave Johnson.

Can you see a Patten Forming Here ????

It's not about Hating Minelab I put 6 years of my Life into using Minelab Products and in the first two Years over $20,000 on Detectors plus about 3 or $4,000 on accessories.

Oh and while we are at IT, The Person who Gave Bruce Candy that award 3 or 4 years ago is a Relative of Mine,. (JP was there also)

To The Original OP, I am So Sorry For being Part of the Reason in Distroying you Thread/Topic, and I am Sure mbasko feels the Same???
 
Ridge Runner said:
So far your Comment are more Directed about ME and Name Calling and again Not The Subject, I'm Not A MineLab Hater as you Call Me,
Sorry you feel that way but I haven't called you any names. I did say you appear to be Minelab bashing & some of your comments make me believe you MAY be part of the "Minelab Haters" club. Re-reading them it is hard not to think that way.
I am not sorry for commenting on this thread as I feel I have tried to provide facts, which are relevant to the thread, in reply to some fairly strong accusations such as stealing technology, price fixing, dealers that don't know the products, reverse engineering, using other people's technology & incorporating it into their own, marketing machines that don't do the job (jeez no overseas manufacturer has ever done that in Australia :rolleyes: ) etc.
As for staying on subject my comments have been in regards to PI technology & my opinion that Minelab do indeed make the best for our Australian conditions. I felt that something needed saying to the unfair, in my opinion, remarks against one of the brands being discussed. Thats not to say I don't think that the ATX or for that matter the TDI/SPP aren't capable. In fact the TDI & SPP interest me a lot being a previous Whites user.
I am not entering into a debate on VLF's, like you keep trying to slip in (MXT), as this thread is about PI detectors (2 of in particular). Comparing VLF's to PI's for our ground conditions isn't a productive discussion. VLF's can certainly hold a place but aren't going to perform in a lot of our situations & most fair minded people know that.
As for Bruce winning an award - I didn't know that. Good on him :)
 
Hey guys...just got back from a lovely day out in the sun detecting, and in scrolling through this thread I'm thinking that maybe the original request of a comparison of the Sdc2300 and the ATX is somewhat being lost. I recon that maybe we could call the very "informative" information challenge a "Draw" and keep the topic to the original request.

By all means a new thread could be started discussing the above view points, but lets keep it friendly and in the "good spirit" of this forum we all enjoy....Just my thought... :8

Cheers Wal.
 
mbasko said:
Ridge Runner said:
So far your Comment are more Directed about ME and Name Calling and again Not The Subject, I'm Not A MineLab Hater as you Call Me,
Sorry you feel that way but I haven't called you any names. I did say you appear to be Minelab bashing & some of your comments make me believe you MAY be part of the "Minelab Haters" club. Re-reading them it is hard not to think that way.
I am not sorry for commenting on this thread as I feel I have tried to provide facts, which are relevant to the thread, in reply to some fairly strong accusations such as stealing technology, price fixing, dealers that don't know the products, reverse engineering, using other people's technology & incorporating it into their own, marketing machines that don't do the job (jeez no overseas manufacturer has ever done that in Australia :rolleyes: ) etc.
As for staying on subject my comments have been in regards to PI technology & my opinion that Minelab do indeed make the best for our Australian conditions. I felt that something needed saying to the unfair, in my opinion, remarks against one of the brands being discussed. Thats not to say I don't think that the ATX or for that matter the TDI/SPP aren't capable. In fact the TDI & SPP interest me a lot being a previous Whites user.
I am not entering into a debate on VLF's, like you keep trying to slip in (MXT), as this thread is about PI detectors (2 of in particular). Comparing VLF's to PI's for our ground conditions isn't a productive discussion. VLF's can certainly hold a place but aren't going to perform in a lot of our situations & most fair minded people know that.
As for Bruce winning an award - I didn't know that. Good on him :)

Referring to me that I MIGHT one of the MIneLab Haters is Not A Fair Comment, I would Love to Go Back to using MineLab Machines, They Look Great they Are Great But They stopped making the Machines that worked Anywhere in the World, So If you know your Ground and the Areas History Then Those features I have mentioned are an Absolute Must, Yes you can Search using an E-Trac or The GT But it is so slow it is Painfull and in many place's you can not move the coil without the Iron Mask Locking up the Machine,
As I said I would Love to Go back to using MineLab Products But Even my GP was a Little Less than useless, which I would expect due to no fault of its own because it was never made to be used in such area's.
Being an Aussie, I am very Proud of my Heritage I still Import my Cloths coats boot ETC and Diggin Tools From Oz. which is why I was so PRO Minelab, When they stopped making certain types of machines that was Like sticking Two Fingers up at the rest of the world, Although I Know they did NOT DO THAT, that's what it feels like. and seeing as more detectors are sold in the EU than Australia I would have thought it was in their best interest to keep a firm grip on that Market seeing as they have also Lost the MOD Market as well. and this has all taken place in the past 5 maybe 6 years add to that The Fake makers out there Minelab is on a hiding to Nothing.
Back 6 years ago MineLab was the ROLEX of the Detecting World, But the GPX and the SDC can not be expected to keep such a company At the top when you consider that everyone of their machines was/use to be the best of their Category,.

Anyway, It's not my problem. Maybe instead of seeing this as a Dig they Might Consider it as a Constructive evaluation of how they Once were and what they are Now and even more important What they Could Be Again,

Stick a Minelab Badge on it and People will Buy it, Me included an All I ask is that they Listen to people and Not just their Favourite Magazine Reviews, Because they are not worth the Paper they are written on,
WHY? Because if someone gave a bad review then they would never get another job from them, So those Reviews are more about Dollars than they are about Machines, and the Best Reviewer To date would be SH as his main goal is Results not Detectors.

Still we can live in hope, Aye

Take Care and Good Luck
 
WalnLiz said:
Hey guys...just got back from a lovely day out in the sun detecting, and in scrolling through this thread I'm thinking that maybe the original request of a comparison of the Sdc2300 and the ATX is somewhat being lost. I recon that maybe we could call the very "informative" information challenge a "Draw" and keep the topic to the original request.

By all means a new thread could be started discussing the above view points, but lets keep it friendly and in the "good spirit" of this forum we all enjoy....Just my thought... :8

Cheers Wal.

Yes Wal, mbasko is just passionate about his views and I respect that and he is a worthy person to listen to, Great input and a wide range of knowledge, Can't knock a bloke for that otherwise we would be losing out on so much, Aye
 
Can't agree with you more about mbasko mate, and enjoy hearing your viewpoint on the subject as well. You obviously have much experience in the detecting game and I will enjoy reading and sharing this experience within the forum threads. Great to see two guys with a wealth of information and "Passion" sharing their knowledge, and the forum will certainly benefit from this.

Thanks in advance for keeping all viewpoints "Friendly" as we are all a brotherhood on this forum.

Cheers Wal.
 
Well said steve I for own 5 detectors & they are all great at different types of detecting. Some are even designed as coin machines or discriminating machine. But in certain circumstances are better in the goldfield than a machine designed to find gold. I have under certain circumstances found a gold machine better at the beach, park & other places where you'd think a coin machine would be better.
Most detectors can be used for many purposes & excellent at a few.
 
That's great Dave....but how is this relevant to a comparison between the Sdc 2300 and the ATX...??? :/ A "Like" on Steves' post would suffice.

Cheers Wal.
 
To be perfectly fair to Trevor111, It would be good if he could elaborate i bit more on the intended use of the above mentioned machines. In his post he stated he would like to couple it up with his CTX3030 for coins in parks and asked if we own one of these machines. What was our main use/purpose for it? It could well be possible that both of these machines would not suit his purpose. Trevor, if your still reading these posts could you fill us in a bit more on your intended use and how you narrowed it down to these two machines for your intended use, thanks. :)
 
Nenad I thought that was a great post. I think I'll be buying the sdc2300 due to its simplicity and use on mineralized ground. Ill keep the xterra70 for the beach. Just to add, the amount I have learnt from this forum and the members who are out getting the good stuff has been brilliant. Thanks guys once the bug gets you that's it. From what I have seen the Gpx5000, ATX and SDC all have different advantages, I wish I could own all three but aiming to get a 5000 eventually as well. On another note bit of topic I saw this morning new gold rush season starts in October and Parker's going bigger. Until then Maybe Wal might post some more awesome video's ;) I saw the ones posted recently...well done on the finds
 
I have a private property in NSW with lots of old test pits and shafts. There are old mullock heaps and old races all over the place this was a high producing gold area near the ACT. Would the SDC be good detecting in the walls of the shallower test pits? They are 1x2m wide and vary from 6ft to 50ft in depth. Will holding a SDC2300 detector vertical or horizontal give false signals in vertical banks, shafts etc?
 
m@ttACT said:
I have a private property in NSW with lots of old test pits and shafts. There are old mullock heaps and old races all over the place this was a high producing gold area near the ACT. Would the SDC be good detecting in the walls of the shallower test pits? They are 1x2m wide and vary from 6ft to 50ft in depth. Will holding a SDC2300 detector vertical or horizontal give false signals in vertical banks, shafts etc?
The SDC would be good for detecting the old mullock heaps. I have picked up a couple of bits of them already without really concentrating on these areas as yet.
I have used the SDC for detecting the banks of gullies etc. & it would do the shallow pit walls as well. There is no false signals that I have encountered from using it in/at any angle. In fact one of the best things about the SDC that I find, & hasn't been discussed much, is the ability to move the coil through a wide range of angles/rotation to allow for detecting in different situations like banks, walls etc. + you can easily adjust the shaft to a comfortable length to suit.
 
The SDC will handle the mineralisation without an issue. The other plus for the SDC is that in the tight areas where hitting rocks etc. with the coil there is no falsing at all. From all reports this is an issue with the ATX - it will false signal if the coil is bumped.
The only "hot" rocks I have picked up with it is basalt & this was restricted to bantam chook egg size or larger bits but it was only a very low precentage of them in comparison to the coverage on the particular area.
The SDC is also very immune to EMI - not completely but it is barely an issue after using a GPX.
If you get a chance have a test run with one - I think you will find it to be a very stable, easy to use machine after using the xterra.
 
I have owned and used both machines the Garrett ATX Extreme Deep Seeker Package and now the Minelab SDC 2300 and I must say it was difficult for me personally to listen to the tone of the Garrett ATX all day on the gold fields in Victoria and the coil falsed often when knocked. I love the tone of the Minelab SDC 2300 it's music to my ears and I can listen to it all day with no problems and does not false when knocked and when it finds a target it screams out and lets you know your over a target but the Garrett ATX just did not get excited over finding targets for me, it was like listening to a door bell in my opinion.
 
m@ttACT said:
Just helped me make my decision. Thanks guys appreciate your advice :)

Ok, Look at it this way

Do you want Extra Coils Yes / No

Yes = Garrett

No = MineLab

If you still can't Answer that Question Then Buy the Garrett because then All Base's are Covered, Either machine can do the Job, Now Refer to what I wrote Above,

Good Luck
 
Not many people are regretting the purchase of the SDC, I like mine a lot, excellent detector.

People were finding gold on old patches within 5 mins of switching it on. :D
 

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