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Hey guys and girls. I'm new to this and have been out panning a few times and found some small gold. It's time for a mid range detector. I'm worried ill buy the wrong one. Please can someone help
Gold detecting Ballarat Victoria
- Thread starter Sammytheseal
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Help Support Prospecting Australia:
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Id suggest an Sd2100, SD 2200. Great machines that do quieten the mineralisation.
A P.I machine is the go mate.
You will spend $1500 tops so its an affordable way to get amongst it.
Oh, im in Ballarat and have a 2100
A P.I machine is the go mate.
You will spend $1500 tops so its an affordable way to get amongst it.
Oh, im in Ballarat and have a 2100
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Thanks for that. I'm think like 800 range. To keep partner happy then if I'm lucky enough to find something then just go all out on the best there is. Ate the gold bugs any good out here?
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Please dont take what im about to say in offenisive way bloke but i rekon
you have that arse about.
Spend 1100 and you get a ripper machine known for finding gold.
My most recent piece was .5 and at 8 inches deep.
I will offer this.
If you do decide on the 2100 ill personally get you out to areas
known and try to teach you the noises it makes.
Or if you like come out with me and use mine for an hour or two.
If you spend 2-5 hrs a week getting out there then youll never regret it and
i doubt youll upgrade in a hurry
Ive found gold in areas that the best have looked and managed gold.
My tip
Never give up
you have that arse about.
Spend 1100 and you get a ripper machine known for finding gold.
My most recent piece was .5 and at 8 inches deep.
I will offer this.
If you do decide on the 2100 ill personally get you out to areas
known and try to teach you the noises it makes.
Or if you like come out with me and use mine for an hour or two.
If you spend 2-5 hrs a week getting out there then youll never regret it and
i doubt youll upgrade in a hurry
Ive found gold in areas that the best have looked and managed gold.
My tip
Never give up
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Sammytheseal said:
I live in Ballarat. Used a SD2200d and currently have a GPX4000.
For $800 you will get a machine that is as good as useless for finding nuggets in mineralised ground. No exceptions.
Spend double the money and get a used Minelab PI. You will then have a chance of actually finding some nuggets and it will hold it's value providing you look after it. A new $800 detector will be lucky to retain half it's value once used.
MYSPOT
Steve
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Hello,
Save your money some more, purchase a GPX series detector or a CTX3030. Tested here in Australia for our type of soil, not some machine from the states that is not tested here or a machine from Italy.
Sd2200 ok machine but you will do a lot of walking between finds, you will pick up a GPX4000 for about 3k in good nick.
thats my bit anyway.
chow
Save your money some more, purchase a GPX series detector or a CTX3030. Tested here in Australia for our type of soil, not some machine from the states that is not tested here or a machine from Italy.
Sd2200 ok machine but you will do a lot of walking between finds, you will pick up a GPX4000 for about 3k in good nick.
thats my bit anyway.
chow
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MYSPOT said:
Agree. 4000 is excellent bang for buck.
A mate of mine is still running his original battery and after at least a thousand recharges it still goes all day. GPX batterys are darn good things.
There are a few places holding hot ground around Ballarat, but all in all it's quite passive ground really. The hotter ground is miles further north.
You'll have no trouble finding gold with a new Minelab gold Vlf unit around $850 to $1200. You just have to nut them out though to get the best out of them. In fact once you have your 'style' down pat and know how to set one up correctly and detect correctly with it, and enjoy your days out, you should strike at least 7 out of 10 targets that you'd pick up with a PI unit.
Stay away from the multifrequency CTX and Etrac's, they have and still do find gold but are maddening to use on hot ground and cannot be set-up to bring out any brilliance for gold detecting (the American units like the 70khz Gold Bugs and 50khz and 14khz Whites simply do not cope in the same ground a Minelab Vlf does, they are only suited to quiet heaps or dead quiet ground, in which the are quite good at.
As for the second hand Minelab PI's, the SD2000, SD2100, SD2200, GP Xtreme, GP3000, GP3500, GP4000, GP4500 - each has a very slight improvement over the previous model, yet some previous models do have some advantages to later ones. And we all have our favourites amoungst them.
So whichever second hand PI is bought, it really does not matter in the end, as long as you set that unit up with a matching battery and amplifier and coil combinations that suit it, and use it to the best of your ability, you'll do just fine.
Bare in mind many spend hundreds of hours with a PI and haven't found gold yet, and some get onto it in their first run out. That's our lot in the detecting game.
It sounds like your keen on getting out into the sunshine and spending the day finding gold, and that you've looked at a few detectors on-line or in a shop, so what the hell, throw that goldpan in the shed and get stuck into it.
Detecting's a great hobby and it pays off. The best gold detector you can buy new is of coarse the GPX5000, $7500 by the time you're fully kitted up. $1000 and above gets you on to an earlier SD model, great machines! and it's not much money at all.
I must admit that I don't really understand why blokes don't want to upset their 'partner' by buying a detector. The girls spend more on make up and grooming products each year than we do on detectors.
(Put her in her place. You do whatever you want to do, toughen up)
PS. Having said all that, I'll add that buying the best new gold detecting unit on the market is the best way to go!
And that's coming from a bloke who'd still rather grab his old dual ace and big coil and head into the bush.
You'll have no trouble finding gold with a new Minelab gold Vlf unit around $850 to $1200. You just have to nut them out though to get the best out of them. In fact once you have your 'style' down pat and know how to set one up correctly and detect correctly with it, and enjoy your days out, you should strike at least 7 out of 10 targets that you'd pick up with a PI unit.
Stay away from the multifrequency CTX and Etrac's, they have and still do find gold but are maddening to use on hot ground and cannot be set-up to bring out any brilliance for gold detecting (the American units like the 70khz Gold Bugs and 50khz and 14khz Whites simply do not cope in the same ground a Minelab Vlf does, they are only suited to quiet heaps or dead quiet ground, in which the are quite good at.
As for the second hand Minelab PI's, the SD2000, SD2100, SD2200, GP Xtreme, GP3000, GP3500, GP4000, GP4500 - each has a very slight improvement over the previous model, yet some previous models do have some advantages to later ones. And we all have our favourites amoungst them.
So whichever second hand PI is bought, it really does not matter in the end, as long as you set that unit up with a matching battery and amplifier and coil combinations that suit it, and use it to the best of your ability, you'll do just fine.
Bare in mind many spend hundreds of hours with a PI and haven't found gold yet, and some get onto it in their first run out. That's our lot in the detecting game.
It sounds like your keen on getting out into the sunshine and spending the day finding gold, and that you've looked at a few detectors on-line or in a shop, so what the hell, throw that goldpan in the shed and get stuck into it.
Detecting's a great hobby and it pays off. The best gold detector you can buy new is of coarse the GPX5000, $7500 by the time you're fully kitted up. $1000 and above gets you on to an earlier SD model, great machines! and it's not much money at all.
I must admit that I don't really understand why blokes don't want to upset their 'partner' by buying a detector. The girls spend more on make up and grooming products each year than we do on detectors.
(Put her in her place. You do whatever you want to do, toughen up)
PS. Having said all that, I'll add that buying the best new gold detecting unit on the market is the best way to go!
And that's coming from a bloke who'd still rather grab his old dual ace and big coil and head into the bush.
Hi everyone. Im new to this site and new to the gold detecting game. Iv recently moved to ballarat and just purchased a sdc2300. Took it out for the first time today and love the machine! No luck with the yellow stuff though, just pellets and nails ect. Just wondering if anyone would share some advice on were to look.
Scarsdale ,Smythesdale, Creswick all in with a chance regards john
