SDC head phone mods

It's simple to modify the headphone cable of the SDC so you can use other brands of headphones or adapt up a B&Z booster.

There is a straight section between the connector and the first curl of the curly section of the supplied Koss headphones for the SDC, cut midway with side cutters, then strip back the outer sheaf to reveal red, white and black wires. Using a 1/4 socket connector make sure the black wire is connected to the last or furtherest from entrance section of the connector (Earth), with the red and white going to the other two to complete the stereo connection.

The SDC head phone cables have a silk like material between the wires, this requires a lot of heat to get rid of when tinning the wires prior to soldering to the connector (use lots of solder so the flux can pull away the impurities created by the silk). Due to having to use a lot of heat the tinning procedure then causes the wires were the solder is applied to become brittle so it requires good anchorage of the wires once soldered to prevent movement in the cables to prevent the connection from cracking, try to not have the wires too tight when you fold over the metal tags onto the outer sheaf.

Once you have wired up the socket you can then solder a 1/4" stereo jack onto the end of the headphones, make sure you solder the red and white wires to the same position you used on the socket. I usually tuck the socket on the end of the pigtail connected to the SDC propriety connector between the strap and arm rest where it is out of the way.

For B&Z use , I used the curly cable of an old set of Koss headphones and soldered a 1/4 stereo jack onto each end, the B&Z works with either a mono or stereo jack, with the SDC I used a stereo one. This is now the power/audio cable supplying the sound from the detector to the booster, you can then just plug in headphones to the booster in bypass mode or single or dual speakers and use the amplified option.

I found the highest Gain setting of the SDC to be a little too aggressive when running the booster through dual speakers, especially the threshold sounding too high, however the second most highest setting was brilliant in quiet (EMI and mineral ) locations.

Hope this helps,

JP

thanks for that jp

if you or anyone else reading this find those connections the 2300 use's, I'd like a short length of cable with a headphone socket on one end and a 2300 connection on the other end so I can keep the original headphones in good condition and still be able to plug after market gear using the headphone socket.
just sing out how much and i'll grab one.
regards tm

Yes I am looking for a short head phone lead for sdc 2300 there may be a market for them regards john

Add me to the list, would be very keen on an adaptor cable. If your over WA this year JP drop in and see me at my Meeka lease, I will supply beer while you solder   

Goldgeo wrote:Add me to the list, would be very keen on an adaptor cable.  If your over WA this year JP drop in and see me at my Meeka lease, I will supply beer while you solder   

Done :-)

Count me in too JP. Good work on the mods. Can you PM me the details for the booster as well as plug patch mod cost please? Thanks

Hi JP  -- do you know what user testing was done on the SDC and what feedback was provided on usability elements of SDC?  It is a bit disappointing that the overall experience of the machine is marred by some minor design issues that are so obvious to users that they are already building modifications (armrest, foot rest, speaker).  As I said in a post that was accidently deleted by the mods -- they are no deal breakers -- yes it is easy to use -- but do make me wonder about the thoroughness of pre-production ergonomics testing. It would have been so easy to get a 10/10 with this machine.  I'll happily volunteer to test the next one, free of charge!  cheers.

Thanks for that info JP   
I`m looking at the same idea as Trashmagnet.
Our local Jaycar dealer knocks up leads and if he can get that waterproof plug, I`m going to get him to make up a curly lead to go from the detector to the B&Z so I can run my chest mounted speaker
dave

I'd be interested to know how you get on Dave, i tried my local jaycar outlet last week to no avail.
The headphone lead is too short and i think they get too hot also

Hardyakka

Ok mate.
I`ll get into Jaycar in the next week or so and let you know
dave

If you are happy with the headphones but not the short lead, all I did was, hook the headphones over something, like a chair arm , stretch out and get the heatgun onto it
I reckon I gained at least another 500mm, problem solved
Goldstrijk

Hi guys I,ve lost my adapter today for the 2300 so if anyone knows how to get hold of the plug or adapter I could really use one.Headphone are pretty pricey.
Steve

Jonathan

I will be buying the SDC2300 in the near future, I already have a GPX500, Proswing harness with an unamplified extension speaker.
Although left handed, I swing the detector with the right, because I want the pick in my left. Also, after years of rifle and pistol shooting (with hearing protection) I have lost some hearing in my right ear. So,my ext spkr is mounted high on my left shoulder when using the GPX5000.

I intend to follow your mod for the headphone connector. I am also aware of the 5000s preamp that negates the use of an amplified speaker. My question are;

Does the SDC2300 amplify it's audio output? and,
As a consequence is it necessary to use an amplified extension speaker with the 2300? or, can I get away with the one I use on the 5000?

Thanks

Mike

The SDC needs to have the audio boosted to work with speakers. The old B&Z boosters have a hard wired cable which normally goes to the battery in a back pack which is in a fixed position on your body so does not get flexed too much during detecting use. This is not ideal for the SDC as the cable has to go from the booster down to the detector so now needs to be more robust.

As of the beginning of July all B&Z boosters now have an unplug-able removable lead with 1/4 " jacks on each end which means people can carry a spare for GPX5000 use when a cable gets broken, this also means you can use a curly cord lead for the SDC. A mate of mine managed to source an excellent one through Jaycar part number WA7046 (hope you don't mind mate) which has a 1/4" stereo socket one end and a 1/4" plug on the other. I just cut the socket off and used that to splice to the pigtail connector end off the supplied Koss headphones of the SDC and soldered a 1/4 right angle Stereo jack to the other. I plug the straight jack into the SDC and the right angle one into the booster, the lead is perfect length allowing you to stand up with the detector in the ground and nit drag the unit around the place.

I should also point out B&Z boosters are in short supply at the moment, once they run out I will not be in a position to make any more till later in the year as I'm away working/prospecting at the moment.

BTW Nenad has organized an accessory connector adapter lead for the SDC, people should contact him if they are not comfortable modifying their supplied headphones.

JP

Hi JP
Thanks for your input!!
Are you able to post some photo's of what you are describing? as this will enhance the understanding!

JP, You mentioned that Nenad has organised an adaptor/cable for the SDC. can you supply a contact no. or Email addy for this please? I read that his association with ML was finished.

Best regards Hotrocks

Thanks JP

Hotrocks wrote:JP, You mentioned that Nenad has organised an adaptor/cable for the SDC. can you supply a contact no. or Email addy for this please?  I read that his association with ML was finished.

Best regards Hotrocks

Gidday Hotrocks,

Here you go mate. A very professional solution from ex Minelab guru Nenad.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?id=6845&p=7

It's pretty ordinary that he has had to come up with a solution to what is a screamingly patent failure by Minelab !  
Minelab should be supplying all of us one of these. Their so called " military spec " detector has a piss weak headphone cable coming out of the fancy 6 pin plug ( why 6 pins when there are only 3 wires ??? ), and I've heard that at least one of these has already been ripped straight out of the plug by catching the cable on a obstacle.
When I attempted to cut the cable and strip back the 3 tiny wires, the black wire ripped straight out of the plug, completely stuffing the thing !  

Cheers,
Rick

Starting to sound like that disgruntled ex minelab dealer again Araratgold.  You left out some very important details of this story.  The person you are talking of got it caught up and yanked it out, luckily minelabs service is extremely good, even for operator fault in this case.  It was replaced straight away and last I heard the customer was extremely happy.

As for yours, you were silly enough to try and cut and modify your own without the skills to fix it, tough luck.  Your inability to fix the fault that you created has nothing to do with the quality of the detector.

And while I'm at it, you have made several digs that the SDC is no better then a gpx5000 with a 'competent' operator.  Yet on the same forum you just posted a link to, you said that you got 19 nuggets of an area you had 'flogged' with a 5000.  So are you calling yourself incompetent? Or just speaking more crap?

Telling stories and leaving out half the details is pretty deceptive, no wonder your no longer a dealer.

Goldgeo wrote:Starting to sound like that disgruntled ex minelab dealer again Araratgold.  You left out some very important details of this story.  The person you are talking of got it caught up and yanked it out, luckily minelabs service is extremely good, even for operator fault in this case.  It was replaced straight away and last I heard the customer was extremely happy.

As for yours, you were silly enough to try and cut and modify your own without the skills to fix it, tough luck.  Your inability to fix the fault that you created has nothing to do with the quality of the detector.

And while I'm at it, you have made several digs that the SDC is no better then a gpx5000 with a 'competent' operator.  Yet on the same forum you just posted a link to, you said that you got 19 nuggets of an area you had 'flogged' with a 5000.  So are you calling yourself incompetent? Or just speaking more crap?

Telling stories and leaving out half the details is pretty deceptive, no wonder your no longer a dealer.

Goldgeo,

You might want to get your facts straight before making unfounded accusations.

The fact that the black wire came out of the plug with little pull shows that it is not at all strong. The fact that the lead broke when caught on an obstacle shows that it is not up to the job, and certainly not " military spec " ! The fact that Nenad is producing a heavy duty pigtail adaptor lead shows what is required to survive in the real world, where we detect amongst the scrub and "b**tard" bush and often get caught up on things.

Another thing, you might notice that I am not the only one stating that the ergonomics on it are ordinary, at best. Minelab have had a lot of complaints regarding the machine.

I have never said that the SDC is no better than a gpx5000 with a 'competent' operator.
If you care to read my report properly, you will see what I said was that the GPX5000 had got everything of substance, that is, better than 0.1 grams, and all that was left was tiny crumbs and tiny bird shot. 19 crumbs for 1.7 grams is nothing of substance !

And as for not being a dealer anymore, which I was for 18 months, I gave it away when I left Alice Springs to get away from the unending cycle of alcohol fuelled crime. I was not able to bring the dealership to Victoria because there were already enough dealers in Victoria. It had nothing to do with being deceptive, as all my customers were very happy with the honesty and service that they got from me, and I resent your insinuation.

Finally, at least I have the integrity to put my name to posts, and not hide behind a pseudonym.

Rick

Of course you didn't say that, here's a quote of your post in general discussion.

"It will however work well in shallow areas where small gold has been found in the past, but has not been flogged by a competent GPX5000 user ! Now, if I could just find some of those areas in the GT ! "

Not hiding behind any made up name even cobber, a lot of members here know me personally. And my face is clearly visible on my you tube vids.
I just call bullshit when I see it, and you seem to come out with plenty of it.

Please fellas, this topic is about headphone mods for the SDC2300, there is no need for a public slanging match, people buy addons for lots of things even their prospecting vehicles and caravans and they cost a heap more than the detectors ATM

People are starting to come up with some good extras for this machine, BlackAl has an excellent cover he has designed and is now for sale, Nenad has come up with a good solution for the headphone plug with a very professional looking pigtail lead to addapt from one to the other.

Now maybe someone will come up with how to make different aftermarket coils, this may take a bit longer though.   

JP has given advise on how to use the B&Z booster with external speakers for extra volume control, this looked like a good extra addon to me.  And best of all these ideas all came from Australia.  

cheers dave

Hotrocks wrote:JP, You mentioned that Nenad has organised an adaptor/cable for the SDC. can you supply a contact no. or Email addy for this please?  I read that his association with ML was finished.

Best regards Hotrocks

nenads lead works great, I ran a booster speaker no probs with it and if you use normal koss headphones with it you have plenty of lead when you sit the machine on the ground to find your target. I'm very happy with it

if you want to use the machine in shallow water, you still need to use the supplied headphones as the connection on them is water proof so you can submerge the machine up to the headphones (but not the headphones themselves, just the lead)
regards tm

Nenad should have by the end of the month
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7853

Just received the adapter from Nenad all good quick delivery.The 1/4 socket can also be held in place by 2x small cable ties which just slide in the gap of the armrest.Been using the adapter and works well.The headphones from the GPX also work fine.

I too had the same issue with the black wire, stripping back the wires, very little force was required to dislodge the black wire from the plug end, i thought at first it was a little bit of stretch, but no, it had pulled out of the plug. My suggestion to others, don't bother trying to modify your headphone cable, order the adaptor lead instead. Poor quality build on the headphone manufacturers side.

Hi  
  Regarding the black wire in the head phone cable. Forget about it as Minelab doesn't use the ground wire. It isn't connected in the plug that is way it came out easy. All minelab detectors don't use the ground wire that is why there battery amps for the GPX wont work with some headphones.

Ken

I'll forgive Minelab in that case...
so where does it get it's earth from??