Minelab SDC2300 or GPX4000 / GPX4500 / GPX5000

[Hotrock]

Thanks for the replies, I can actually see myself ending up with both eventually.

I grew up prospecting with my family north of Kal and those were the days of Garrett ADS and Groundhogs and we did well on small (10 grammers) up to the biggest at 8.5oz.

I have had a prospecting hiatus for some time now building up a career in the mining industry and my own businesses and its time to get back on the horse.

I intend to return one day to all of our old patches with a 2300 because the stuff we didn't detect we dryblowed with great success, also have an area where we sunk a shallow shaft for 42oz which was a pocket of fine (free) gold and small nuggets and also eventually dug an open cut on one of our good patches, the 2300 would be a perfect machine for that.

I now live in Darwin and will be exploring for new ground possibly with the view to peg a lease plus visiting fairly worked area renown for small gold such as Bridge creek so I think the best machine at this stage will be the 4500.

Cheers

Jim

 

[user 7268]

Jim may pay to hang back a little on purchase as Minelab had a recent "pack" deal with a 4500 and SDC for 6K (Plus a few goodies if you pushed dealer a little harder) for both which is a pretty good price considering the SDC is basically 4K on it's own at current prices.

 

[Davent]

Jim, im in darwin if you want to have a go with my 4500 and nugget finders.

 

[GOFIND60]

My 4500 with a 8x6 sadie found pieces down to .04g i was almost gonna buy a 2300 but now knowing i can pick up sub grammers im not gonna waste my money

 

[Hotrock]

Thanks guys

Thanks for the offer Dave, I have pretty much made my mind up on the 4500 I dare say I will ask for some advice on the settings you are using.

Gofind, thats exactly what I was thinking. I will spend the extra on a new dryblower.

Cheers Jim

 

[nuggetino]

Reckon it's a good choice Hotrock it sounds like you could use the veratility of the 4500. The settings really aren't a big deal. Yes, to become an expert takes time as with anything but not to start finding gold. Once you've read through the manual and have some practice on a test piece of gold or lead you should have no trouble finding the yellow if your coil is over it. I found my first two bits with my 4500 (0.3 and 2g) at supposedly flogged out Jupiter Creek the first weekend after getting the 4500 having had zero detector experience so you can have fun finding gold while you're learning the machine.

 

[GypsyGoldAu]

What nuggetino said, ...the FP (Factory Preset) is a good balance of settings to get you started if your worried about making your own adjustments...the rest is just manipulating the filter process to define operation on specific type grounds.....

You'll be fine.

GGA

 

[McGregor]

Great advice for us newbies.

My 4500 with a 8x6 sadie found pieces down to .04g i was almost gonna buy a 2300 but now knowing i can pick up sub grammers im not gonna waste my money

 

[GOFIND60]

Some pieces i found wouldnt even register on scales so clearly picks up smaller bits happy with the machine know it will get smaller bits and will punch deeper if needed

 

[user 7268]

Now will probably get howled down here but here goes .......................... personally I've found when working the two machines beside each other the SDC will still ping gold that the gpx doesn't see and that's before the other advantages the little blue one has. From what those far more knowledgeable than myself tell me when I asked it's all to do with the different timings of the two machines.
Ask indeed I did as it's a bit of a spin out when one machine is having a howl and the other isn't even really speaking to you ................... first thoughts were the quiet one must be broken :lol: :lol: :lol: But broken indeed not simply one was seeing something the other couldn't This especially to be the case on the bits that look like yellow aero chocolate
For me the GPX and selection of coils is great no doub't but having the two is even better as it certainly covers more base's I believe.
The SDC is also without doubt a much more intimate machine as mine even showers with me ................... especially after a big day at the beach Try that with your GPX and I bet it won't even talk to you again much less love you
At the end of the day it probably comes down to the old " You money your choice "

 

[Norvic]

Bogger your on the money, for a new user the SDC is the go, for an experienced user if your chasing sub-grammers the SDC again or the Z. The Xs advantage is the coil sizes available, no doubt they`ll get sub grammers, but not as easily as the SDC especially if the gold is not solid. The current 2 gold detectors to have are the Z and the SDC, between them they cover all and compliment each other. True a X on it`s own with a few coils covers all but only sort of, yesterdays best, todays compromise.

 

[user 4485]

You will have upset the purests now Norvic :lol:

 

[GypsyGoldAu]

I do concede the 2300 'may' hear the 'sponge' gold better than the 4500, yet i still find for a beginner who will be running to & fro to different fields, that a 4500 with a few coils of various sizes is still a better 'beginner' option, unless of course $12-14k for two machines is no big deal then yeah, go the 2300 & 7K....

Not every field has 'sponge' gold which appears to me to be the main argument to buy it.....yet i can still find crystalline and quasi sponge reef gold and sub 0.09 gold with my old 4000. Perfect yourself and know your machine and you wont have to rely on sourcing just 'sponge' gold to be ahead of the game.

What will the 2300 operator do when walking over 'researched' ground and finds no gold due to lack of depth ability of his 2300 as all the 'spongey' gold was cleaned out before he arrived by another 2300 operator?...goes home empty handed, and that can be costly & no fun if it's an annual holiday trip many, many miles away.

Cheers
Gypsy

 

[Hotrock]

The SDC is also without doubt a much more intimate machine as mine even showers with me ...................

Bogger

Ya gotta get a girlfriend mate.........

 

[Hotrock]

As I mentioned previously I have been out of the game for a bit and bought a Garrett AT Gold and an Xterra 705 a year or so ago (would have bought much better but seeing as the ex cleaned me out a couple of years ago) that's all I could afford.

I was at Bridge Creek a month or so ago and come across another prospector who had a 2300 and we had a bit of a natter as you do and decided to test the AT out with some small bits he had.

Worked ok on the AT on an air test buts that about all. He then dropped the quarter of match head nugg on the ground accidentally and he run the 2300 over it and it went nuts, I was quite impressed.

I got the Xterra as I am also into finding WW2 and old mining relics which sites are abundant up here and the 705 seems to be very capable of this.

Time to get serious for the yellow again.

 

[madtuna]

Now to throw a spanner in the works. My 5000 will find gold my 7000 doesn't see, my 7000 finds gold my 5000 doesn't see and the 2300 finds gold the 7000 and 5000 don't see!
Cover you bases and get all 3

 

[Norvic]

Yeah, tis true you need the big 3 to cover all bases, especially with the new age coils the after market fellows are building. Then perhaps a VLF with discrim. also. Crikey it never ends we are a lost cause. But the SDC with its no fuss turn on and go, is high on the list for a first machine. I swapped my 5000 for one, but the Zs the most used by far, and once there is some Z coil choices......well!!! definitely a lost cause.

 

[user 4485]

Now to throw a spanner in the works. My 5000 will find gold my 7000 doesn't see, my 7000 finds gold my 5000 doesn't see and the 2300 finds gold the 7000 and 5000 don't see!
Cover you bases and get all 3

Yep that's the best option if you've got the $$$'s. Most of us haven't

For subgrammers in moderately/highly mineralised ground you won't beat the SDC. The GPX & GPZ will certainly find them but not as consistently or easily as the SDC. Check out some of the Tibooburra SDC results - hundreds of subgrammers. The SDC is made for & excels at that type of gold detecting & it will excel on more types of subgram gold other than just "spongy" gold too! If you want a detector to pick up just the "spongy" bits a GPX WILL miss then get a GMT (but stay out of cranky dirt)
P.s. I've owned, used & found gold (heaps of subgram gold too) with all of them & said many times if money were no object I'd love to have all of them. They're all great machines but for the initial question of "subgrammers in very mineralised ground" then IMO the SDC is a no brainer.

 

[nuggetino]

Another combo would be a GPX + High frequency VLF for the tiny stuff. If a good match can be made with the GPX and a small Sadie coil you could corner the extreme small gold with one of these. They have their downsides ofcourse in areas of extreme mineralization.

 

[Davejane]

Hi guys. I'm tossing up between the 2 detectors. I would mainly be going out to hill end / Mudgee area detecting. I have used a sdc but not the gpx. Anyone who has used both what do you suggest. Cheers.