Pulse Induction On A Budget?

[EVIE/BEE]

Well I am now the proud owner of a minelab sd2000! Talked them down to $650 and got a $300 trade in for my whites GMT (what I paid for it originally) so I'm happy enough with that. It's un-modded unfortunately so that will be my next venture with it, get Woody to work his magic.
Seems in good condition for an older machine. It came with a harness headphones and even a spare battery but it might be a dud.
I went to jaycar to look for a little external speaker but there wasn't any there, so I'll probably hit up eBay. Any recommendations for a half decent one is welcome.

Big thanks to everyone who added to the thread and PM'd me with information about helping me make my choice. Its a very friendly community and Im grateful for the guidance. erfect:

Leave it original mate.... my 2000 is un-modded and it's awesome.

 

[HarryHoudini]

it will cost a lot to get it modded and they run well anyway
just my 2 bobs worth

 

[kicksome]

yeah i plan to give it a good go just stock for a while just yet. Does anyone have an external speaker for theirs? I'm not keen on these dog shit headphones that came with it.
Also how does it go over wet ground does it go a bit noisy? Just been pissing rain all day here today so next few days might be a bit soggy under foot

 

[Ded Driver]

I bought an sP01 with twin speaker kit from Phasetech for my GPX4000, & it works equally as well on my modded SD2100

 

[mbasko]

To run an external speaker on the SD (IMO effectively) you'll need some type of amplifier (booster/enhancer) too.
Something like a Steelphase, B&Z, Treasuremate or generic portable speaker with built in amp.

 

[Aussiedigs]

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=30973

 

[Dignit]

Well I am now the proud owner of a minelab sd2000! Talked them down to $650 and got a $300 trade in for my whites GMT (what I paid for it originally) so I'm happy enough with that. It's un-modded unfortunately so that will be my next venture with it, get Woody to work his magic.
Seems in good condition for an older machine. It came with a harness headphones and even a spare battery but it might be a dud.
I went to jaycar to look for a little external speaker but there wasn't any there, so I'll probably hit up eBay. Any recommendations for a half decent one is welcome.

Big thanks to everyone who added to the thread and PM'd me with information about helping me make my choice. Its a very friendly community and Im grateful for the guidance. erfect:

Good stuff kicksome. Let us know how you go with it. Cheers

 

[19.3]

Hi Kicksome,

I bought a Treasure Mate V3 booster amp to use with my Eureka Gold ($98). It's a nice well made unit that plugs into headphone socket and has inbuilt speaker and can be worn on shoulder strap or belt and also has a Headphone socket. Made a big difference.

 

[kingswood]

my gp3000 and the (extra extra!) spare sd2000 both utilize the Lucky Lark battery and booster all in one unit.
Works well.
See them from time to time on Gumtree.
Good luck with your purchase!
Now go buy a range of coils .....

 

[kicksome]

Hi Kicksome,

I bought a Treasure Mate V3 booster amp to use with my Eureka Gold ($98). It's a nice well made unit that plugs into headphone socket and has inbuilt speaker and can be worn on shoulder strap or belt and also has a Headphone socket. Made a big difference.

This looks like exactly what I'm after. Checking out their website it looks ancient as haha, i'll send them a message on facebook and see what they have to say.
Thanks

 

[kicksome]

my gp3000 and the (extra extra!) spare sd2000 both utilize the Lucky Lark battery and booster all in one unit.
Works well.
See them from time to time on Gumtree.
Good luck with your purchase!
Now go buy a range of coils .....

Haha I dont want to confuse myself with coils just yet
I dont see any on gumtree atm but I will keep looking

 

[Aussiedigs]

There are some coils on Gumtree, you just have scroll past the detector listings.

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-miscellaneous-goods/minelab+coil/page-2/k0c18319

 

[Guest]

Well I am now the proud owner of a minelab sd2000! Talked them down to $650 and got a $300 trade in for my whites GMT (what I paid for it originally) so I'm happy enough with that. It's un-modded unfortunately so that will be my next venture with it, get Woody to work his magic.
Seems in good condition for an older machine. It came with a harness headphones and even a spare battery but it might be a dud.
I went to jaycar to look for a little external speaker but there wasn't any there, so I'll probably hit up eBay. Any recommendations for a half decent one is welcome.

Big thanks to everyone who added to the thread and PM'd me with information about helping me make my choice. Its a very friendly community and Im grateful for the guidance. erfect:

Gday

Congrats on your buy, the basic sd2000 is well known for being a capable detector for depth but not so much on small gold, so many were modded in the early days with what was called a hot chip mod where two more higher frequencies were added to give it better sensitivity, they were done by several different people, you will see on some of them a four position rotary switch, and there were several other enhancement mods done as well, as you say woody does mods on them as well but you might find the cost would be a lot more than you paid for it in the first place, but if I were out to buy one then a stock standard one is what I would buy unless I knew what the mods were and how they were to be used, as many sellers don't have any instructions for them and don't know what they do anyway?

The best and most economical way you can get a bit more out of the basic detector is to add a regulated battery system to it, there are several choices of Li ion battery systems about, all are much lighter than the brick battery and have a better run time, reeds prospecting do a li ion dome battery as well that comes with a home charger and can be charged with the standard minelab gel battery charger that comes with the sd to gp detectors, and also the ones mentioned like the lucky lark that have an inbuilt audio enhancer/booster, the regulated power supply will help with sensitivity as it tends to drop off after a short time with the standards brick battery.

The other thing is a audio enhancer/booster, as there is no volume control on the early detectors only the threshold level adjustment, you will definitely need one if you want to run an external speaker properly, also good quality headphones are a must if you prefer to use them instead of a speaker, all these things you can carry over to the next detector you buy provided it is up to the gp models, the gpx's use different plugs and voltages, if you spend a lot of money having the detector modded then its unlikely that you will get it back when you sell it anyway if you decide to upgrade to something else at a later date.

cheers

stayyer AU

 

[kicksome]

Thanyou stayyer for that post, I'm just trying to have a look for a lithium ion battery pack for it now, but not exactly sure on what I am looking for? I believe it usually runs on 6v but some run it on 7.2 or 7.4? Any links for battery sales would be helpful.
I messaged the maker of the Treasure mate v3 audio and amp but he is currently out of stock and not sure when he's getting more in.

Edit: https://www.reedsprospecting.com.au/shop/detail/lithium-dome-top-battery-4-pin/

Is this what I'm after?

 

[mbasko]

Something like this might be better:
https://www.detectronicsaustralia.com/product-page/busy-b-crv-wireless-battery-system
Smaller & wireless it will drive a small speaker too.

If you consider the cost of a li ion battery system + amp/booster + wireless system these are a pretty good deal.
Throw in a $30 external speaker https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=494535#p494535 & your set.

 

[kicksome]

Something like this might be better:
https://www.detectronicsaustralia.com/product-page/busy-b-crv-wireless-battery-system
Smaller & wireless it will drive a small speaker too.

If you consider the cost of a li ion battery system + amp/booster + wireless system these are a pretty good deal.
Throw in a $30 external speaker https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=494535#p494535 & your set.

Man that does look really nice, that would make things easier. I'll see how this default battery goes first and see how I go carting it around on my back. It weighs just short of a metric tonne I think

 

[kicksome]

Just curious guys do these SD2000 suffer much from EMI ? because I just took it out in the backyard and it was noisy as all get-up and I couldn't get it to ground balance at all. I was probably only able to get like 8m from the house, So I was wondering if power lines and all that would play a big roll?

If not i'm tempted to go to the minersden and ask them to show me how to operate it a bit, see if they think its up to snuff. I have a 90 day warranty I wont be scared to use it haha
cheers

edit: Or maybe the battery isn't charged up enough? battery light wasn't on though

 

[mbasko]

It will be affected by EMI.
You need to get out of town away from powerlines etc.

 

[kicksome]

Yep thanks that was the case haha, I took it in to minersden in Bendigo and asked them a couple of questions, they are a friendly bunch in there. He said the same thing, need to get away from all that stuff so I quickly raced out to the whipstick off the track a little and set it up. As quiet as a church mouse! Ground balanced no worries at all and was just purring like a kitten; was an awesome feeling.
Now I'll just set it up with a different battery and an external speaker amp combo so I don't have to lug around a backpack and I will be laughing.

 

[kingswood]

Thanyou stayyer for that post, I'm just trying to have a look for a lithium ion battery pack for it now, but not exactly sure on what I am looking for? I believe it usually runs on 6v but some run it on 7.2 or 7.4? Any links for battery sales would be helpful.
I messaged the maker of the Treasure mate v3 audio and amp but he is currently out of stock and not sure when he's getting more in.

Edit: https://www.reedsprospecting.com.au/shop/detail/lithium-dome-top-battery-4-pin/

Is this what I'm after?

Yes thats an SD Battery.
There is lots of stuff on the net about the 2000 running better/deeper at 7-odd volts rather than 6...some people swear it makes a difference.
I personally wouldnt get to caught up with all that...if Candy designed it to run on 6v, it will run well on 6v
You can always buy a normal 6v battery and gently remove the dome off the battery you have and solder it to the new battery if handy with electronics...works out way cheaper http://www.billandlindaprospecting.com/minelab-battery-new.html
Spend your $$$ on a small 8" coil, a mid-sized mono and DD and a huge mono and DD...good priced ones on ebay all the time.