Minelab GPZ7000 vs SDC2300

[Goldfreak]

For those who have used both machines. Is the gpz capable of detecting smaller peices of gold than the sdc or does its advantage come with its ground coverage and depth capabilty ?

 

[Muk]

G'day I've just come back from WA on prospecting trip to my sons place he has a gpz and I a sdc the gpz was a better machine all round found bits deeper and when the ground got hot seemed to handle it a lot better both detectors found gold but gpz was better if I could afford one it would bethe one I would have or even better I would have the gpz and a sdc it couldn't get much better than that cheers Muk.

 

[aussiefarmer]

Cable tie a brick to your sdc coil and that way it will feel like your using a Z :lol:

 

[Northeast]

I have owned both. Personally I think with the sensitivity turned up on the Z it will find bits smaller than the SDC.

Have used this method to clean out really tiny bits from a couple of places. One in particular I found a few pieces with the Z, thought I would clean it up with the SDC (and found some pieces) and then used the Z with the sens on 20 and found about another 6 pieces. And this is in an area of maybe 4 square metres so covered pretty thoroughly each time.

The problem is that it is pretty hard to put up with sensitivity on 20. It makes it very chattery and just generally noisier which can knock out some faint signals.

In default settings on both I reckon they are that close it is not worth arguing about. Maybe SDC a little smaller but GPZ a bit deeper on the small bits - all evens out in the wash.

But the reason I sold the SDC? I wasn't using it - why would I when the GPZ can find bits just as small but then also find pieces WAY deeper and cover more ground.

Just my thoughts :Y:

 

[Northeast]

Have a squiz in this thread http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/4320-15-pieces-for-the-zed/ There is a few tiny pieces in there.

And have a look in my avatar pic - the very smallest piece in the middle of the middle row was with the Z. And all but about 6 pieces in that pic are from the Z.

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

GPZ will detect even smaller targets believe it or not. I have had and SDC and now a ZED and it has surprised me very much.
It obviously depends what mode you are in, but regardless even in high yield mode it still seems to find both big and small very well. Even targets that aren't too deep, the SDC has not even sniffed at them whilst ZED was screaming.

You get what you paid for in the end, but the SDC is a more than capable machine, IN SHALLOW GROUND.

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

Cable tie a brick to your sdc coil and that way it will feel like your using a Z :lol:

That is a bit exaggerated. I swing ZED with no harness without a problem, I just don't have it extended out too far so the coil is closer to me. Balances it out better.
And going from SDC to ZED I found no problem, in fact, you actually do less swings because of larger coil you are covering more ground. Less work.

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

I'm with Northeast on that, once I had the ZED I couldn't get myself to use the SDC again, would let my mate use it. So that is also why I sold it. It is better getting used than gathering dust.

I am always confident after I have walked over ground with ZED, the SDC always had me questioning depth.

 

[madtuna]

Both are specialized machines and both excel at what they were designed to do.

I'm currently redoing a spot with the SDC that I've hammered with the GPZ. The SDC has well and truly paid for itself in the month that I've had it.
What surprised me was the amount of sunbakers that wont register on the GPZ unless touching the coil.

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

Both are specialized machines and both excel at what they were designed to do.

I'm currently redoing a spot with the SDC that I've hammered with the GPZ. The SDC has well and truly paid for itself in the month that I've had it.
What surprised me was the amount of sunbakers that wont register on the GPZ unless touching the coil.

Are you for real? SDC is specialised for its portability and water proof features, thus its lack in finding anything deep. It is not more specialised than the GPZ in finding small gold at all. The GPZ will find the same thing and smaller, unless I have a special GPZ.

What size were these sunbakers that did not register on the GPZ. Considering the GPZ works best off the ground and the SDC likes to scrape the ground I don't understand how?

 

[user 7268]

Both are specialized machines and both excel at what they were designed to do.

I'm currently redoing a spot with the SDC that I've hammered with the GPZ. The SDC has well and truly paid for itself in the month that I've had it.
What surprised me was the amount of sunbakers that wont register on the GPZ unless touching the coil.

Are you for real? SDC is specialised for its portability and water proof features, thus its lack in finding anything deep. It is not more specialised than the GPZ in finding small gold at all. The GPZ will find the same thing and smaller, unless I have a special GPZ.

What size were these sunbakers that did not register on the GPZ. Considering the GPZ works best off the ground and the SDC likes to scrape the ground I don't understand how?

You must have the special one and may have done yourself an injustice by parting with the blue baby I've seen the SDC scream over a nugget that a GPX5000 with 12 and 15 Evo coils couldn't even see ................. hence tried the second coil as thought the machine must be broken :| When the Z was put over the target if you hadn't known the target was there it would not have pulled you up. The owner of the Z was somewhat amazed also at how the blue baby was howling over something the big fella barely made a peep over. On asking those that know this is the case on certain types of gold (prickly was used to describe the type and has to do with the different coil timing of the two machines I'm told) and probably why the SDC and Z in combo is the best you can get :Y: Personally for me the SDC just does what it does better than any other machine currently available and why I would never part with it regardless of what other machine I owned. I never leave a patch without giving the SDC a run at it and comes as no surprise to me at what Madtuna is finding :Y:

 

[madtuna]

Both are specialized machines and both excel at what they were designed to do.

I'm currently redoing a spot with the SDC that I've hammered with the GPZ. The SDC has well and truly paid for itself in the month that I've had it.
What surprised me was the amount of sunbakers that wont register on the GPZ unless touching the coil.

Are you for real? SDC is specialised for its portability and water proof features, thus its lack in finding anything deep. It is not more specialised than the GPZ in finding small gold at all. The GPZ will find the same thing and smaller, unless I have a special GPZ.

What size were these sunbakers that did not register on the GPZ. Considering the GPZ works best off the ground and the SDC likes to scrape the ground I don't understand how?

Yep for real.

Also a small patch found here a couple of years back producing 20+oz at an average depth of about 26 inches.
Cleaned out completely or so we thought until a SDC was put in the hole and produced a few more ounces.

It's not the size of the gold, it's the makeup of the gold. Fine reefy prickly gold.
You don't have a 'special' GPZ, maybe you just haven't encountered this type of gold yet.

 

[aussiefarmer]

Cable tie a brick to your sdc coil and that way it will feel like your using a Z :lol:

That is a bit exaggerated. I swing ZED with no harness without a problem, I just don't have it extended out too far so the coil is closer to me. Balances it out better.
And going from SDC to ZED I found no problem, in fact, you actually do less swings because of larger coil you are covering more ground. Less work.

Try the 19 inch coil , its almost the weight of the sdc by itself :lol: .
The Z i use is that sensitive i have to have it extended to 3/4 full length to stop it zinging the speaker and my pick and i am 6ft with my pick on my opposite butt cheek.

I find them very similar but also very different, the Z is close to being a sdc on steriods and does most things the sdc does and lots more .

The sdc wins for pin pointing targets and therefore making recovery real fast , it is by far lighter to use and easy to use right or left handed which makes it the best machine for cleaning the shallow targets from a area , as the Z is harder to pin point and you really dont know if your digging 2ft or 2 inches and can seem big and cumbersome if your getting a target every 1 meter.

The Z is so much better for EMI and wind doesnt seem to effect it , i have had days i could have thrown the sdc up a tree :lol:
Z gives depth and lots of it :Y: knowing how deep you have to dig to get that fugget really can play trick on your mind .

They probably are the two greatest detectors on the market and each have their place , personally the sdc wins if you dont get out much and almost increases your chances of getting gold every trip because your only digging shallow and the Z could have you spending 30 minutes digging one hole.
Unless your searching undug country and the depth is needed.

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

Well that was well said Aussie Farmer.

I have only ever used the 14" coil so I can't comment on the weight with the 19".

I don't know why your ZED goes off if shaft isn't extended, I am 5-11 and have phone in pocket, metal belt clip, pick in metal clip on left hip etc etc. Even a backpack loaded with stuff but I have no problems re interference.

Pinpointing with ZED takes time to learn and once you do it is not much harder than the SDC considering coil sized difference.

The feedback that ZVT gives over MPF is also a big big difference and why I can't see the SDC comparing. To me, the ZED talks to me a lot more and lets me know what is going on, and like I had said, I can cover a lot more ground than using the SDC.

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

Both are specialized machines and both excel at what they were designed to do.

I'm currently redoing a spot with the SDC that I've hammered with the GPZ. The SDC has well and truly paid for itself in the month that I've had it.
What surprised me was the amount of sunbakers that wont register on the GPZ unless touching the coil.

Are you for real? SDC is specialised for its portability and water proof features, thus its lack in finding anything deep. It is not more specialised than the GPZ in finding small gold at all. The GPZ will find the same thing and smaller, unless I have a special GPZ.

What size were these sunbakers that did not register on the GPZ. Considering the GPZ works best off the ground and the SDC likes to scrape the ground I don't understand how?

Yep for real.

Also a small patch found here a couple of years back producing 20+oz at an average depth of about 26 inches.
Cleaned out completely or so we thought until a SDC was put in the hole and produced a few more ounces.

It's not the size of the gold, it's the makeup of the gold. Fine reefy prickly gold.
You don't have a 'special' GPZ, maybe you just haven't encountered this type of gold yet.

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

Hmmm. I would hate that and be returning my GPZ if it left an ounce in a hole. WOW

And ZED is no slouch on fine gold, spongy gold, reef gold etc etc.

 

[madtuna]

Hmmm. I would hate that and be returning my GPZ if it left an ounce in a hole. WOW

And ZED is no slouch on fine gold, spongy gold, reef gold etc etc.

Yep it's no slouch, but in certain situations and with certain types of gold the SDC is just that bit better.
I predominantly swing the GPZ, but bring in the SDC for the final clean up to pick up what the GPZ leaves behind

When you get a bit of time under your belt with both machines you do tend to learn this type of stuff and then you'll say WOW

edit: and by hole I'm refering to a hole the size of half a tennis court

 

[Rockhunter62]

Hmmm. I would hate that and be returning my GPZ if it left an ounce in a hole. WOW

And ZED is no slouch on fine gold, spongy gold, reef gold etc etc.

Yep it's no slouch, but in certain situations and with certain types of gold the SDC is just that bit better.
I predominantly swing the GPZ, but bring in the SDC for the final clean up to pick up what the GPZ leaves behind

When you get a bit of time under your belt with both machines you do tend to learn this type of stuff and then you'll say WOW

edit: and by hole I'm refering to a hole the size the size of half a tennis court

As always Steve you give a no nonsense review. Your real time reports from the field are always valuable. Having only used the gpz for about a week I thoroughly agree with you. Only wish that I used it in an area like you do. Yes the sdc cleans (shallow) up what other machines "may" have missed but the gpz certainly covers more ground. My finds increased by about triple when I used the gpz. :Y:

Love to have a beer with you one day.

Cheers

Doug

 

[madtuna]

Always up for a beer Doug and thankyou! :Y:

Mr AUinAU can you please explain what you mean by this?

"SDC is specialised for its portability and water proof features, thus its lack in finding anything deep."

Because that reads to me like it wont find anything deep because it's portable and waterproof? Even though the SDC was by no means designed as a deep gold large nugget detector I can assure you it will find reasonable size pieces at reasonable depth if it passes over them.

But as I said that's not what it's designed for and not what I use it for. I use my GPZ for that, and if the ground is suitable I put on the 19" coil.

You also wrote..

"I can cover a lot more ground than using the SDC."

Yep 14" vs 8" not much of a contest there.
Except when you are reef or specimen hunting in amongst the rocks and boulders or around quartz or ironstone blows. Then you realize how much more ground you can cover with that little 8" than you can with the GPZ's 14".

Often it's not a case of how much ground you cover, it's how well you cover it.

For covering ground I'll head out with the GPX and an 18" coil.

 

[Rockhunter62]

MrAUinAU wrote,

"You get what you paid for in the end, but the SDC is a more than capable machine, IN SHALLOW GROUND."

I used to work in Laos searching for uxo with the old F1A4 and saw written in the specs that it would detect a grenade sized item at 600mm in dry sand. Now the F3 Compact would be designed with similar specs and as the SDC is basically an F3 Compact in blue overalls I would be happy to find a nugget of that size at 600mm.

In the latest Gold, Gem and Treasure magazine the Minelab ad on page 2 quotes a 114.66gm nugget found at 18" in the Golden Triangle.

Now I wouldn't say that 18" is shallow (not as deep as other machines) but a nugget of that size and depth would definitely make me a happy camper. :Y: :Y: :Y:

Cheers

Doug