Minelab GPZ7000 vs SDC2300

[Westozadventures]

It's a ripper machine, I chained over someone's holes with the 7 for a few hours one day last week and got 30 nuggets easily. Seen some very deep 2-3 gram bits found with the zed, have video evidence of some of them.

 

[user 7268]

From what I have seen, it's only the type of gold as has been previously mentioned by Muk that would be main difference in finds. Both and all very capable machines :Y:

 

[Baldy]

Im a bit worried if I get rid of the 4500 and 2300 That I would miss the 2300..Just because they are so good and easy to use on the small stuff..and very convenient and quick to get going for a quick look..I suppose the 7000 is good for a quick look as well..

 

[Cando]

I have a 7000 now, and only very new with it. so I'm not even going to try and compare the two as I've never really spent much time on an sdc, however one thing I have noticed is that everyone that i have seen that has a 7000 and sdc, very rarely do you ever see them with anything other than the 7000 the hands. And when I have seen them using the sdc it is only after they've gone over the area with the 7000.This is only an observation that I have made over the last 18 months. personally I wouldn't sell the sdc!!! you know the rule, the man with the most toys wins

 

[kingswood]

I have a 7000 now, and only very new with it. so I'm not even going to try and compare the two as I've never really spent much time on an sdc, however one thing I have noticed is that everyone that i have seen that has a 7000 and sdc, very rarely do you ever see them with anything other than the 7000 the hands. And when I have seen them using the sdc it is only after they've gone over the area with the 7000.This is only an observation that I have made over the last 18 months. personally I wouldn't sell the sdc!!! you know the rule, the man with the most toys wins

I concur I have both and have used the 23 once since October when I got the zed....and that was to locate a tiny 0.2g flake that I detected with the 7...then couldnt find it once I got it out!!...the 23 is a great pin pointer
I like the 7 simply because I can still ping the smaller stuff but am not so worried about missing anything larger a bit deeper depth....

 

[cq gold digger]

I have 7 a 5 and an sdc, was going to sell the 5 or sdc when I got confident with the zed, over time I've realised they all shine at different times. In my opinion anyone that is capable of getting a zed running sweet will be way ahead of anything else. I think the most impressive thing with the zed is its ability to pick targets up in places you cannot even get an sdc coil close to the ground. I was a scrubber no need with the zed. If I had to choose one it would be the zed imop its deadly on small gold I get many .03 up to .10 and will pick .01s every couple of trips. could get more of the little .01s and .02s but really that's not what I'm chasing at this time.

cheers

 

[Baldy]

Thanks kingswood..I dont really call .2 of a gram that small..I would be very happy if all the gold I got with the 2300 was that size..I find a lot of tiny stuff with the 2300, and are a bit concerned that if I go a 7000 alone that I will be walking over that small stuff that I would be getting with the 2300..Cheers..

 

[cq gold digger]

hi baldy I've been going back over spots with the sdc after thrashing them with the zed and its been very sad, got a few mostly bout .1 to .2 long thin pieces just operator error, should always run over spots 90 degrees to the direction you started I just get lazy and sometimes over confident in the zeds ability. cheers

 

[kingswood]

Thanks kingswood..I dont really call .2 of a gram that small..I would be very happy if all the gold I got with the 2300 was that size..I find a lot of tiny stuff with the 2300, and are a bit concerned that if I go a 7000 alone that I will be walking over that small stuff that I would be getting with the 2300..Cheers..

It was a pretty small 0.2...like a thin flake
TBH, I used to think the same as you, then decided I would rather not miss the bigger ones and accept missing the 0.1g's.
I pinged a specie that had 7.9g of gold in it. Quite "well" detected area. Was 45+cm down. The 23 had been over that spot a few hours earlier.
The zed screamed.
I have heard of blokes over here going back over well trashed patches with the 7 and getting even more gold. One guy (I know him) got ounces....well detected patch. All gold deep. All found on Extra deep/normal
I dream of that ha ha

 

[aussiefarmer]

Double post here but has relevance :Y:

Going on that , if you cant handle the weight use a sdc , the Z is heavy and arquad and no idea if your diggin 1 inch or 3 ft deep, for ease of use and user comfort the sdc wins , target pin pointing isa fraction of the time with the sdc, with the sdc i can dig 100 + targets easily in a day, the Z throws the odd target in that can take 40 minutes,
ideally you would smash a patch and rob all the surface targets with the sdc before even getting the Z out.
I have both and love the Z but somedays are wasted digging what a sdc could get with no pain arm and 50% quicker retrieval.
The Z still finds bits gold pan sizewith fine tuning and super trained ears, plug and play ,no experience the sdc rocks the small gold , Z users getting sub grammers are just getting desprite because they havent found anything better or are sick of digging deep trash. Imo.

Love them bothknowyour area and target size , no point detecting 3 ft deep if its only a surface gold area.

Last edited by aussiefarmer (Today 08:55 pm)

 

[Baldy]

Thanks for your input and excellent advice Guys..Just bought a 24x12 eco Nugget finder and had a ball with that on the 4500,Dont think Im quite ready to give up on the gear you know just yet..Not an easy decision..

 

[Muk]

Gday all sdc2300 awesome gpz7000 awesome gpx5000 awesome gpx4500 awesome minelab has a excellent range of detectors stop bagging them just enjoy them there brilliant.cheers Muk.

 

[Northeast]

Cando post #9.

kingswood post #10.

Aussie farmer post #15.

Agree with them all.

I love the 7 and sold the SDC because it never got used.

It will pick up real small stuff.

I actually find it really easy to pin point with.

One pass with one coil and you'll get most stuff from tiny to huge. Obviously you still miss some that are super small or too deep but every machine does.

BUT

- it is heavy.

- it's expensive.

- you will waste a shite load of time digging deep rubbish.

- there probably are some places that a PI will handle the ground better.

- the SDC is way more portable, stick it behind the seat in the ute, waterproof, really simple to use, etc.

It all comes down to will you get value for money out of a 7000 over and above a 4500/SDC combo and will you physically be able to use it?

Terrible problems to have to contend with

Good luck :Y:

 

[kingswood]

Dont think Im quite ready to give up on the gear you know just yet..Not an easy decision..

And that is the single best answer! A good detectorist with a detector he knows well, knows its pops and farts, knows it settings, knows what its little groans mean, will always be better at detecting than someone who doesnt know their machine

 

[Shamir]

I have been running a 7000 for about 3 years paid for itself well and truly, anyway I bought a 2300 hoping the big chief would get interested( she lasted about half an hour in that noisy ground near Cashmans).we went down to Cue caravan park on the way home ,I sneaked out to the patch that stingrays missus had found on the way up, to give the machines a run against each other,started with the 2300, gave it a Couple of hours and got 4 little bits, went back over the same ground with the 7000 and got another 8 little bits, so the 2300 has now gone .

 

[user 7268]

So in one post you state Z found what SDC couldn't and another post states opposite ? I'm confused :/ If the blue baby found 4 pieces in an area I had hammered previously with a 10K detector .................... it would be a keeper in my eyes

Shamir wrote:

I have just had 8 days in the Murchison and gave the sdc2300 a go with the wireless headphone setup ( the $34 setup) it worked really well ,I could run the threshold low and smooth and adjust the volume thru the headphones ,picked up 4 little ones in the area that I had hammered with the 7000.

 

[Guest]

Shape, size, the way its sitting in the ground ,type of ground play a part if just done my own bit of test of un dug targets in Wa, tibooburra, i run s/p enhancer ifound 7000 starts about 1/2 way though 2300 size but with more depth , then just tested 12x8 n/f in tibooburra on 5000 flat pieces loves it ,with a bit more depth than2300 I've come to the conclusion there can be to many varibles on the day so if find gold there, use everything u got every setting possible eg ground ,temp, backgrond noise , gold u finding ,and most of all YOUR MINE SET, U GOT TO WANT TO FIND GOLD ,NOT THINKING DONALD TRUMP TWITTERS PS just when u think u got it worked out a machine chucks a ' how did it here that'

 

[user 4485]

Can work either way.
Been back over patches where I did well with the SDC with both GPZ + QED & haven't pulled another bit there or very few in some cases.
Other patches where we've had both SDC & GPZ running together the GPZ clearly was the better option.
Horses for courses.

 

[Reg Wilson]

Recently went over an area that had been raked and gridded by Zs and SDCs. I was using a QED PL2 with a 9" Elite coil that I had just purchased from Coiltek at Maryborough. Found 2 pellets and a speck of gold that was barely a flutter of a signal. Different machines will find different gold in different situations.

 

[Shaenae1]

I have both the GPZ and the SDC and I would not part with either one.

I have worked an area with the GPZ then gone back over it with the SDC and found anywhere from 1 - 6 nuggets with the SDC and vice versa but not always, I believe they complement each other.

The other reason I would never get rid of the SDC is that I can go half a day maybe even a full day without finding anything with the GPZ and I can grab the SDC and usually have something in my jar within 5 mins to an hour. I think the SDC is alot of fun after swinging the GPZ around for a day or two.

Cheers