sdc2300 noises

Hi
We purchased a SDC2300 for our 13 year old son and hes keen everyday to get out in the bush. Currently his is finding heaps of lead shot from mullock heaps and surface areas. The lead is easy to hear and now hes asking me what should he be listening for to find gold. I've never owned an SDC so not much help but have told him just a slight break in the threshold can be a target. Any suggestions
thanks

Cv
I haven't run a 2300 so I hope you get replies from those that do.To me shot sounds exactly like gold and with new machines being able to detect it.The saying dig every target makes it hard.I always scrape the potential response with the edge of my boot if it moves I move on.Shot generally sits on or near the surface.Let see what operators of 2300 s have to say.
Cheers Dig

Did you buy it new? If so you should get a free training session thru the dealer.
Another good way of checking things is to get a sub gram piece of gold & test it at different locations with his settings until he's confident with the set up.
In my experience with the SDC shallow gold will sound very similar to the small bird shot that it finds in abundance so if he's finding that then he should find gold. It's surprising how loud some very small but shallow gold can come thru on the SDC so don't ignore any or get into the habit of thinking it's always going to be rubbish.
Where the target signal is only a slight break in the threshold then this usually indicates a deeper target. Any break in the threshold or unusual sound should be investigated. Usually a scrape or two of the ground will brighten a target up or dissipate any ground noise.
A lot of people swear by using the SDC maxed out i.e. on setting 5 & full threshold. IMO this works in some circumstances but for most cases (& when starting out) it's better to run it more settled. Running maxed out can drown out the slight wavers, again in my opinion, & running smoother helps to pick up those slight threshold changes - I'm sure others might disagree but I used to run mine at a max setting of 4 (very rarely used 5), drop to 3 in some noisier ground or bad EMI days & run the threshold at 3-4 bars but did use a booster. I found ounces of sub gram nuggets with the SDC using those settings & found running maxed no benefit + would get mentally tiring after long periods.
Always keep the coil on the ground too.
Some tips here:
http://phasetechnical.com.au/getting-best-sdc2300/

Dig24crt wrote:Cv
.I always scrape the potential response with the edge of my boot if it moves I move on.
Cheers Dig

So it was you who left me that 23gm piece amongst the leaf litter all those years ago.
Many thanks.

Redfin wrote:

Dig24crt wrote:Cv
.I always scrape the potential response with the edge of my boot if it moves I move on.
Cheers Dig

So it was you who left me that  23gm piece  amongst the leaf litter all those years ago.
Many thanks.

Reddie
Should have been clearer, never found gold in topsoil and a lot of time is wasted playing in it.But if the ground your on doesnt have topsoil check everything.A lot of newbies also dont listen for the faintest whispers , there the most interesting.
Cheers Dig
Now can I have my nugget back?

If you are finding lead shot you will find gold,to me a training day with a sdc is a waste of time,they are idiot proof,turn on and go,just stick in there mate by the sounds of it you are doing everything right and usually if you are finding bullets no-one has been there before you, you will find a piece of gold very shortly

Thanks everyone for the info, will keep him at it over the weekend. Mbasko is a booster worth it do you think?
Thanks

Depends - a booster or enhancer can be a personal choice.
Previously I used to always use an external speaker with a booster as a speaker by itself can be a bit quiet.
These days I pretty much prefer to use headphones all the time & for me a booster isn't required. In saying that I have been using the Pro Sonic wireless system that has volume control & before getting it had a set of wireless headphones with volume control so have had some extra volume if needed with the headphones. If I went back to an external speaker all the time I would get one again.
The pluses with having a booster is obviously more volume if needed & volume control (+ easy access to volume control).
The minuses are extra cost & extra leads/batteries etc.

koeh wrote:If you are finding lead shot you will find gold,to me a training day with a sdc is a waste of time,they are idiot proof,turn on and go,just stick in there mate by the sounds of it you are doing everything right and usually if you are finding bullets no-one has been there before you, you will find a piece of gold very shortly

Must be some idiots around then. I've seen some beauties since the SDC came out for a turn on & go machine including:
- bloke complaining about noise but hadn't done an auto tune. Didn't know it had the option or that you should do one
- battery compartment lid not put on correctly. Seen this a few times now
- bloke swinging it like it was a brushcutter. I told him to slow down, scrape the coil etc. 30mins later he's back cutting the weeds again

The free training sessions/days can be a lottery depending on dealer but if you get a good one they should cover more than just setting up your detector. They should also give some basic tips on detecting technique & what to look for/what areas best suit your machine etc. For new operators they can be good but sometimes are little more than a quick demo - if you've got one offered ask the dealer what'll be covered.
Often the best thing is to try & get out with someone local that is willing to give you a hand + show you what works for them in your area.
Like koeh says if your finding lead there's no reason you won't get some gold.

I called into coiltek at Maryborough yesterday and grabbed a couple of books off Mick about prospecting. A bit more reading should get him thinking about where to look a bit more when hes out the bush. Is there any advantage to using the new 11inch coil from coiltek, I think standard coil will be just fine at the moment.
Thanks

Hi Centralvic
Stuart mill has plenty of small specimen gold it is a good place for the SDC.You can look through the Rostron Rd/Centre Rd diggings which are easy to access.There are plenty more locations on gold maps.Work slowly with the coil flat to the ground.

centralvic wrote:I called into coiltek at Maryborough yesterday and grabbed a couple of books off Mick about prospecting. A bit more reading should get him thinking about where to look a bit more when hes out the bush. Is there any advantage to using the new 11inch coil from coiltek, I think standard coil will be just fine at the moment.
Thanks

You never stop learning Centralvic, your boy has a long ways to go but no doubt he will come through and find his first soon.
Leave your SDC standard, don't mess with it, an awesome machine that will find gold if you're on gold bearing ground. We have just returned from a trip and with a few hints from Veronica Dench, mainly swinging slow, lightly scrubbing the ground (Carol wore out a heavy duty skid plate in two weeks) she found many tiddlers on an area flogged since the late 1800's. That was within an approx 400 square metre area. Total area is about 10 square kilometre in total, a heap of gold to be found.
A few hints:

[Read the operating manual cover to cover, read it again, for luck read it again]

[list=2][Read the forum hints by helpful prospectors][/list]
[list=3][Tune the machine every time you move to new ground.][/list]
[list=4][Run the 23 flat out on setting 5. (Maybe a little noisy but your brain sorts that out.][/list]
[list=5][Dig every target, unfortunately they made shotgun pellets from lead (very similar target sound to gold) and the wild west boys fired them in all directions. ][/list]

*** We came across 3 supposedly experienced prospectors recently swinging the Z, 4500 & 5000 helping a newbie/novice with a brand new SDC 2300 get into the hobby. Can you believe this supposedly novice mate was staggering around swinging his machine stooped over like the Hunchback of NotreDam. He did NOT have the first extension of his machine extended???????? He couldn't stop thanking and smiling at Carol after she helped him out. The fella with the 5000 was strolling swinging the coil at about calf level, if he had swung it any faster he would have become a drone?? Finally they drove past several times where we were chaining and then had the audacity to park up so close that their vehicles and machines interfered with ours. After telling them politely that this wasn't prospecting etiquette they moved on! ***

Going to hit some diggings over the weekend, might give the Rostron rd area a try as suggested. Deutran thanks for the advice
Thanks

Had a look at a couple of spots around Stuart Mill this morning, found the usual lead shot and bullet shells. Detector seems to be working fine just have to walk over the gold
Cheers centralvic