Minelab SDC2300 or GPX4000 / GPX4500 / GPX5000
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A better choice Pete. Lots of coils to choose from, and you can always chuck a pan in for places where there is water available. It all depends on what your aims are. If you know what you are doing you will soon pay for your pan investment, whereas how many people will ever find enough gold these days to pay for an SDC?
Lots of blokes have on this forum. Not me though I don't get out enough.Reg Wilson said:
Goldtarget
(AKA OldGT)
You'd nearly have to wear that pan as a hat in about a months time. I switched over from wet prospecting about 6 weeks ago, but I'm lazy.
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Plenty of water all year round in many parts of Gippsland, though admittedly pretty dry in other places. WA, forget it. Vic GT as well. I wouldn't mind the SDC if it was not such a horridly designed beast. Unbalanced, ungainly, and very limited. Must have been designed by the tea lady in her spare time.
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No, I don't want one madtuna, and yes of course I can do better with a pan. I understand that to you panning is not viable because of where you live, but in parts of the alps here in Victoria there are very rich places still to be found where a pan in the right hands will produce quite nice gold yields. Because I used a dredge back in the days when they were legal I have some knowledge of spots that show good gold in every pan.
I was given a pan a while back, but I live in WA, where we throw the gold back & keep the precious water :lol: 
layful:
layful:
Well I was going to just hire an SDC to do a first over on my own ground in southern WA.
Then perhaps invest the time to learn it properly and go back with a 4500.
Hopefully find any patches with shallow fines, then work my way deeper on them.
Best of both that way?
Then perhaps invest the time to learn it properly and go back with a 4500.
Hopefully find any patches with shallow fines, then work my way deeper on them.
Best of both that way?
on second thoughts, panning for gold in WA's outback is actually feasible
just pee in the pan! :goldpan: :awful:
just pee in the pan! :goldpan: :awful:
Also consider the 4500 with some of the new coils will give the same performance as the SDC. I had an SDC and found loads of small stuff. But then moved onto the 4500 and find less but much bigger nuggets.
Love the 4500 but also loved the SDC.
But for me money was the issue I could not keep both.
HH
Love the 4500 but also loved the SDC.
But for me money was the issue I could not keep both.
HH
Dron
Dron
Seems as though stevenj48 is located in Victoria.
Another option that no one has mentioned yet is try both machines and see which one you like best.
For $250 you could book a training day with Mark and Rhonda http://goldprospectingaustralia.com/victorian--training-days
I'm not sure if they have a 4500, but they definitely have GPX5000's which are similar machines. They are also a wealth of knowledge.
Another option that no one has mentioned yet is try both machines and see which one you like best.
For $250 you could book a training day with Mark and Rhonda http://goldprospectingaustralia.com/victorian--training-days
I'm not sure if they have a 4500, but they definitely have GPX5000's which are similar machines. They are also a wealth of knowledge.
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Probably the best advise right here.Dron said:
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I have both machines, and initially I did what Dron has suggested.
I went with the SDC first up, mainly for it's portability. Throw it in a backpack and I can hike with it, or transport it easily on my motorbike.
I love both machines, but if you want to cover all bases, the 4500 is much more versatile
I went with the SDC first up, mainly for it's portability. Throw it in a backpack and I can hike with it, or transport it easily on my motorbike.
I love both machines, but if you want to cover all bases, the 4500 is much more versatile
Hi Steven,
As we are all different, a variety of opinions will always be offered. Mine is no different. There is an old saying that goes something like 10 percent of fishermen catch 90 percent of the fish I reckon the same applies to gold prospecting. A few comments here come from guys who are a part of that 10%. They have thousands of hours on the ground, have worked hard, persevered and put in the hard yards as far as learning how to read the ground, research areas and understand the machine they are using.
My question for you is this. How committed are you to this hobby? If you get out regularly, do a lot of research, walk for miles and have considerable patience then a 4500 would be your best choice. If you just want to get out occasionally with the family and have a machine that everyone can use, an SDC would be your best option. In the hands of an experienced operator, an SDC will find much more gold (numbers of nuggets) where as a 4500 will find considerably more gold (in weight) This of course is a generalised comment and can vary from area to area. I run a 5000 and an SDC. Both are good machines and both have limitations. Last winter I only used the 5000 and spent a lot of time looking for larger gold. The rewards were good but there were many days where I came home empty handed. This winter, I focussed on the old workings and mainly used the SDC. Found plenty of gold but it was small. Came back with yellow nearly every day. I couldnt personally make a choice between the two machines as they are both fun to use in their own ways. Good luck with your choice. You are on a winner either way.
Cheers
Les
As we are all different, a variety of opinions will always be offered. Mine is no different. There is an old saying that goes something like 10 percent of fishermen catch 90 percent of the fish I reckon the same applies to gold prospecting. A few comments here come from guys who are a part of that 10%. They have thousands of hours on the ground, have worked hard, persevered and put in the hard yards as far as learning how to read the ground, research areas and understand the machine they are using.
My question for you is this. How committed are you to this hobby? If you get out regularly, do a lot of research, walk for miles and have considerable patience then a 4500 would be your best choice. If you just want to get out occasionally with the family and have a machine that everyone can use, an SDC would be your best option. In the hands of an experienced operator, an SDC will find much more gold (numbers of nuggets) where as a 4500 will find considerably more gold (in weight) This of course is a generalised comment and can vary from area to area. I run a 5000 and an SDC. Both are good machines and both have limitations. Last winter I only used the 5000 and spent a lot of time looking for larger gold. The rewards were good but there were many days where I came home empty handed. This winter, I focussed on the old workings and mainly used the SDC. Found plenty of gold but it was small. Came back with yellow nearly every day. I couldnt personally make a choice between the two machines as they are both fun to use in their own ways. Good luck with your choice. You are on a winner either way.
Cheers
Les
Agree with Lesgold. I use to have both. I did a comparison over 2 days. 1st day sdc 19 bits for just over a 1 gram. 2nd day 4500 with 11 elite for 15 bits 2.5g. Sdc was on a surfaced area gpx was on the outside perimeter of the surfacing.
G
Guest
Reg I beg to differ!
All SDC gold.
All SDC gold.
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Retirement stone, you forgot to post the weight, and how long it took to accumulate. If you got that in a few days that would impress. If it took a year, not so.
Greglz86
Greg Anderson
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