campbell954 Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I have a Gold Bug II and I run it with the 6 ½ in coil. I do all of my prospecting here in AZ. I have been looking at the Minelab SDC 2300. What will the 2300 do for me that the GB won’t? I have looked on the net and have not been able to find any comparisons. Thank you,-Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mxt Sniper Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I would venture to say much quieter operation with the sdc2300 in hot soil versus the GB2. Maybe not as small of gold as the GB2 can find, but deeper with sdc on several grain wt pieces and up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 It'll go deeper because it's a PI.Very simple operation too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campbell954 Posted November 28, 2015 Author Share Posted November 28, 2015 Thank you for the replies. I think its time to start negotiations with the wife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garimpo Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 C954 the SDC will run quieter because it will ground balance better than a VLF in very hot soil.With a small coil like the Coiltek Joey mono it will get some really small nuggets but the GBll will out do it on micro gold.The PI will definately go deeper even if you have the same size coils on the two machines but for best performance I prefer the 14"-16" DD coils because then you have two coils in one if your PI machine has a switch for DD/Mono. Since you already have a super machine for little nuggets (GBll) get a larger coil for the PI, in the 14"-17" range. Then you will be able to cover more ground faster. Be sure to use a head phone so you can hear the really small sounds of deep nuggets. Good hunting and good luck. I LOVE THE TASTE OF EGG.....THIS POST PROVES IT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campbell954 Posted November 29, 2015 Author Share Posted November 29, 2015 Thanks for the reply garimpo. We may have a 2300 in the arsenal Monday...then again maybe we won't...wife pending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank c Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 You guys got me BAMBOOZELED here,..................I was under the impression that the 2300 had a "hardwired coil" ??Not interchangeable coils. ????????????????????????????????????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alwaysdirty Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Couldnt he buy a used GPX5000 for around the same price or less of a new SDC? I've heard the SDC doesnt have much of a smooth threshold in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahorton10 Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 I got one for more than 1000$ less than a new sdc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOC Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 Yes the SDC2300 is a hardwired coil because it is waterproof. It is an 8 inch coil. Auto ground balance and goes deep. I have a Gold Bug II and and SDC2300, I don't need any gold that is smaller than what the SDC2300 will find. The SDC2300 runs smooth and is darn near immune to mineralization. It stays in balance, unlike the Gold Bug II and it goes deep 2/10ths of a gram at 6 and 7 inches. I also like the fact that it uses rechargeable C cells or regular C alkalines in a pinch. Down side, the the SDC2300, has no discrimination.The Gold Bug is good for those really shallow areas that may have a lot of trash. Sitck that baby in iron mask and off you go.I have found a lot of gold with the SDC and I have seen a lot of gold found with it. Robin, Lucky Lundquist's wife was using an SDC at Rye Patch while we were all using GPZ7000's and she was kicking our ass ever day for 4 days straight.Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alwaysdirty Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 I got one for more than 1000$ less than a new sdcSure just keep rubbing it in Adam. Still got your Extreme? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahorton10 Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 I still have it, im not sure if I'm gonna keep it or sell it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campbell954 Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 Thank you DOC...that is the information I was looking for - a direct comparison between the two. Ahorton10 - why you thinking of selling yours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahorton10 Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I just got a gpx5000. I don't really need a second pi. I might keep it incase one of my kids decides to get into detecting down the road but otherwise it will just collect dust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boulder dash Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Before you bust out the cash on a 2300 better find one to borrow. I did many comparisons with gb2 and 2300 2 different times. Hands down the gb2 was better in my opinion. In the gb2 favor, I do use different settings than most users . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I`d like to see that showdown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campbell954 Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 (edited) BD - care to share the settings you use? Yes, it is a significant amount to spend, which is why I am asking what it will do that my GB won't. I do find the GB frustrating with those little red/black hot rocks. I don't have the experience though to know if that is something one lives with in any detector. Also, I find that I do a lot of digging, raking, scanning and then repeat, due to the shallow depth of the GB. Edited November 30, 2015 by campbell954 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LipCa Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 I've used a GB2 since they first came out. No way a GB2 can handle highly mineralized ground like a PI machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alwaysdirty Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 BD - I do find the GB frustrating with those little red/black hot rocks.Are you finding small bird shot with the GB2? Those hot rocks sound different than lead shot and gold do. You have to listen close, after awhile you get used to it. In areas heavy with those hot rocks I can skip those signals and recover even more bb's for the day. When I havent been out for awhile it takes me an hour or so of digging everything to learn the signal of the hotrocks in that area. I couldnt do that with the PI I previously owned. I love to GB2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campbell954 Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 Alwaysdirty - Yes, I do find the birdshot, boot tacks, slivers of metal shaved off the pick and blessed with a piece of gold on occasion, some, amazingly small. I don't have the confidence to skip the signals of the hot rocks. Some are obvious to me and others not. I do carry a small piece of gold that I toss down from time to time to remind myself of that distinct "zip - zip". I do know from burying my test nugget, that I don't have to go more then a couple inches and the signal is lost. This piece may weigh a couple tenths, if that. My concern is that if I don't rake the dirt out in the location I am detecting that I will miss these pieces due to the lack of depth for the GB. A lot of the areas I detect are not right on bedrock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alwaysdirty Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Yeah, I only detect exposed bedrock or remove overburden to bedrock with the GB2. Trying to go through the overburden with it is no fun. Seems most of the gold is on bedrock anyways here in AZ. Took me awhile to get over the fact that I might be missing gold in some of the overburden I toss aside, but whenever I check the overburden in areas I'm finding gold I end up wasting a bunch of time pulling out micro pieces of rusted tin cans, wire and aluminum. On bedrock I pretty much only recover heavy metals. To me I had to draw the line somewhere and realized that a higher percentage is on bedrock than overburden and thats where I need to spend my time and not worry about getting every piece of gold possible, but instead move more dirt and get the heavy stuff.If your not into removing overburden than go with a P.I. and you'll miss the little guys but cover more ground faster and maybe get bigger gold. That didnt work for me and my gold take increased substantially placering and gold bugging after I quit the P.I. detecting. Before dropping $3700 on an SDC you should do as bd mentioned and borrow one if possible to test out. I've heard so many mixed reviews about it that I wouldn't commit to one without using it first. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montana Professor Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 In my 60 years of gold prospecting I have always built my own equipment and until last fall the only detector I had used was one of the first gold bug detectors. Thus I was reluctant to pay $3700 for a new sdc2300 but I did and I am happy I did. I have found hundreds of .2 gram to .7 gram nuggets mostly on a Montana claim that has been beat to death. I do have to give a shout out to Boulderdash who found me wandering around the Arizona desert last winter. He could see I didn't have a clue about Arizona prospecting so he took pity on me and escorted me to a gully where I found my first Arizona nugget. Many more followed with the largest weighing in at 3 grams. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahorton10 Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Getting help from boulderdash in the field with definately speed up the learning curve! Not many folks find as much gold as he does for sure. As for the sdc2300, why not get a used pi to look for the bigger stuff and keep using the gold bug 2 in areas where the pi can't pick up the little guys. The sdc might do what the gb2 does but it's not a substitute for a bigger coil. A used minelab pi and a gb2 are a pretty deadly combo. Just ask TomH, he made a gb2 mini to carry in his pack while using his pi detector for pin pointing an keeping the skunk away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LipCa Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 maybe you should throw this into the mix? http://arizonaoutback.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=12336 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boulder dash Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Montana professor sdc2300 seemed hotter and gets more depth from the other 2300 I did samples with. It's nice of him to share his wisdom. He is a good guy and a great friend. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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