RE: Detectors and detectors

A new detector in the offing, the mighty Z, SDC, and GPXes, the place must be afloat with detectors and those I mention could be the tip of the electronic iceberg!! What has happened to the multitude of even earlier machines?? Not everybody has a Z, have they? One only hears of finds and performances of the later machines so it stands to reason the now defunct 4500, SDs, GPs, Extremes and the Garratts green machine and whites which were good in their day must be all moulding away behind the wardrobe as one never reads a word of their recent performances ,, if any..Have they all gone to the big gold field at the tip? Hmmmmm. dundiggin

Spares dundiggin spares,you've got to have a few back up tectors,i've got 2 sd 2000 just in case my 5000 goes bung and the other sd goes bung at the same time.  .
Always be prepared



cheers   moredeep

I recently did some testing on the SD2200d with large coils which is where this detector shines. On big targets at depth the 2200d will outperform later GPs and GPXs when fitted with a big coil (Nuggetfinder 25"). What must be stated however is that the 2200d being the first of the auto ground tracking machines was capable of tracking out very deep and faint signals when in auto. It is necessary to switch to manual when a deep faint target is located. You must obtain a good ground balance near the target and then switch to manual, otherwise the target can be balanced out after a few sweeps. You may have to dig a few false signals using this procedure, but it is better than balancing out a real signal. Later models of auto tracking machines were less susceptible to this problem.

hi DD, i remember a conversation i had with Barry Johnson more than a decade ago at his house in wedderburn, he told me that out of every 100 detectors he sold, 85 would go into the wardrobe after a month, 10 after 12 months and of the last 5, 4 would be used and make the odd find and the last one would be used all the time and make some big finds. I thank Barry that he and Dave Watters got me into prospecting years ago, still love it, time in the bush and meeting good people. Regards

Covid has left my 45 languishing in the wardrobe through no fault of its own.
I'm probably overdue an upgrade, but what the heck it still finds the good stuff.
The challenge is to find the right place to swing and to be switched on when you do.
Having the latest toy/tool comes a fair way down the list.

We have to remember, when a new detector came out it was normally the best of its day with the best of technology available at that time. Gold has never changed, the ground has never change. Only the technology has changed to help in finding it. So it does not matter if you have the latest or earlier model detectors, if it is capable of finding gold or relic then, it will still do that now.
It is just like a car. If it is well maintained, it will still get you from "A" to "B", it does not matter how old. It only depends on how much comfort you would like in your car while you travel from A to B .
wombat

The only PI detectors I have are 2 ML 3000 GP's (both bought together new)the last range of the analog audible detectors. They have found a ton kilos of gold so they will not go to the tip while I have them.

I would love to respond tonight to the replies and I thank you all for the interest shown but I've had a heavy day, got to take a trip to Toowoomba in the morning to smell the flowers and have picnic etc, so it'll be a big day and so I say thankyou and goodnight for now..Wish I was still in the 70's.......dunduggin

Sounds like the Toowoomba flower show is on, great outing.

Hi moredeep, at first glance I thought it was wiser to have 2 5000s but after thinking about it I comprehend that the sd2000 has certain charateristics the 5000 doesn't and probably you as others have intimated that in the right circumstance it goes deeper than the 5000.. Although the Sd is getting ancient, in detector terms, it obviously has a place. Good onyer for covering all field occassions and may the yellow keep coming in for you.. BUT would you recommend to a "dyed in the wool" newbie with very little cash to get hold of a sd and master it despite the advanced electronics of the sdc2300 or the 4500 and the 5000??? Is it a case of "horses for courses"?

Hi Reg Wilson,, Nice to read your reply and obviously you have studied the sd's behaviour in field circumstances,, which is of course what one should do with any detector... ( a tradesman has to know his tools) I thank you that you have given us all practical use of that early machine ,sd, gleaned by you out in the field.. And you show that aged ones have a niche worth following.. Thanks... dundiggin.

Hi delapan, Barrie Johnson's comments are probably very well on the mark, probably a host of detectors gathering the dust of time and or spiders having fun spinning webs around the stems and over the box and around the knobs and switches.. As some have replied, there is life in em yet if driven knowingly.. Bit like us, we age but if we just sit in a deck chair staring out into infinity the cobwebs will definitely weave their foggy threads in our grey matter..Mastering a detector of whatever age out in the bush will keep cobwebs at bay and swinging a pick to uncover a gram or more or a hot rock will keep" the age dust" off the muscles.. Thank you delapan.. dundiggin

howdy to staples61, Wombat and geof_junk,, So many replies so I"ve heaped three together. Obvious my post about detectors and detectors has stirred the reflective minds and I find that a good thing...Much better than the tooing and froing of some topics that are raised here... The consenses seems to be that if it works, use it, if the latest tech is the draw, go for it,, when gold is the draw, go for it with heartfelt zeal with what you've got instead of sitting at home wishing your life away.. Don't become the ageing spinster gathering cobwebs while expecting the perfect man to drop into her life.. Yes geof_junk the Toowoomba flower show is on and we enjoyed the arrangements even tho the dry season it has been and the unseasonably hot day took a little toll on flowers and people.. BUT!! we never heard a harsh word , no banner waving,no politisizing, the crowds quietly did their gaa gaaing and everyone seemed to have a camera.. A notably pleasant day.. Most pleasant to have a informative conversation with two ( I won't say elderly) ladies in their sunday attire and manners of yesteryear.. At 92 she was spritely and vigorous as was her friend of 86 and it was a joy to converse with such well spoken ladies.. One is older than I and one is younger than I..It was great. My wife loved it also..

Many Years ago had an SD2200D as a backup detector to my 4500. On the way home from a trip to Laverton WA without my detector, mate wanted to have a go on an old patch some K's out from town.

I did not bring my 45 so borrowed his wife's 3000 (with the standard ML Mono Coil), within 5 minutes  I was back in the vehicle as I count not stand the 3000 picking up hot rocks at every swing, these were similar to small gold on my 45. When I had my 3000 and later 3500 in WA I thought they were the Bees Knees, its just that I got use to the 4500.

When I got back to Adelaide I sold the 22 ( My reasoning, if I had issues with the 3000 the 22 would be worse, in this or similar locations).  Having said that I sold my 45 after I purchased the Z, SWMBO kept hers when she bought her 2300, I will be quite happy to go back to her 45 as a backup, if anything untoward happens to my Z.

And Reg re the large coils on the 22 only ever tried the ML Garbage Bin lid that I think came out with the SD2000 with not real time on the ground so no real success it was put in storage until sold with the 22 or 3000.

dundiggin wrote:Hi moredeep, at first glance I thought it was wiser to have 2 5000s but after thinking about it I comprehend that the sd2000 has certain charateristics the 5000 doesn't and probably you as others have intimated that in the right circumstance it goes deeper than the 5000.. Although the Sd is getting ancient, in detector terms, it obviously has a place. Good onyer for covering all field occassions and may the yellow keep coming in for you.. BUT would you recommend to a "dyed in the wool" newbie with very little cash to get hold of a sd and master it despite the advanced electronics of the sdc2300 or the 4500 and the 5000??? Is it a case of "horses for courses"?

Hi dundiggin ,ye old sd 2000 was an art form especially in highly mineralized ground,swing stop balance swing stop balance click up click down balance again.
DD coil helped a lot to quiet things down but as you know depth was compromised.At the time I didn't know any different
As you said a newbie would feel a little cheated now if he got an sd especially after reading reviews on modern detectors.
The sd 2000's did find a sheep load of gold though.


cheers   moredeep

Many thanks to moredeep and all the posters for their enlightening bits of info on detectors and detectors.. I am all for new arrangements of the transistors that sort out the gold from the trash.. I had wondered about whatever happened to the thousands of early machines which were good in their day.. Astute operators found the kilos...Each wave of new detectors saw more gold found where we thought no more existed and along came the SDC to uncover perhaps tens of thousands tiny bits from the same ground!!! WOW! dundiggin

Hi DD, re your flower show ladies and yesteryear, as a young boy in Malaya (before the federation) i was able to observe the tail end of the British empire in asia, what a different world! Many years later as an adult and a serving member of our armed forces i was abele to observe one of the ladies still there from my younger days (a rubber plantation owner and his wife) her husband having passed away years before, for her nothing had changed at all, the waiters seemed to play along with her, it was amusing to watch, i can only image what the empire in it’s heyday was like. Regards

My 4500 is primarily to go after gold ,but if i want to target relics only,like last weekend , then the Infinium is the go. Simply turn on , ground balance and go. The 4500 is a bit more complicated with the SP01 attached . Takes a few minutes` to turn on , tune and set up properly before you get going with it ,so for relic hunting , i wouldn`t bother with it. The Aldi Adventurer is just a back up and i will use it whenever i get around to beach hunting.

Hi delapan, The ladies I met at the flower show, while well dressed and spoke well, were not of the toffee nose variety, but respectable females without the vulgarity of many girls today, and having said that I know times have changed in many respects but I find it refreshing to talk with someone (female) whose every second word doesn't starts with "F" or some other colloqueal(?) ism.. Maybe I'm being toffee nosed, hope not, I love em all...Which reminds me that the family of humankind is like a large garden having sweet violets, beautiful pansies, tall poppys and in amongst them one may find a stinking roger!! Nevertheless it is well to ponder over the diversity of mankind...Twas some creation!! All the best dundiggin.

Howdy soldier of fortune, You have found what others have and that is detectors come with different characteristics which serious operators search out early in the piece.. Maybe you could enlarge on the Aldi machine, its designation, its behaviour with various coils and indicate its price and are they a recent item sold at Aldi.. I have never seen one in Aldis but then I rarely shop there.. Interesting.. The only time I got coins off a beach was approximately 60 or more years ago on Suttons beach Redcliffe when the sea wall was being built.. A huge trench about 3feet deep and about 8 feet wide was excavated along the foreshore and the excavated sand was piled high like a mountain range on the seaward side of the trench where a double row of piles were driven. Anyway,, one of the gang started to spend lunch time walking (when the tide was out) along the beach and he soon came back with some coins that must have been washed out of the sand mountain by the incoming tide.. Well,, boys being boys,,we all tumbled on to why the coins appeared and soon we all had a collection to fill a pickle bottle each.. Of course, greed really gripped us as we decided to use the council pump to wash the sand mountain and yes, great were the rewards. We next deduced that the 1/4 inch brown/rusty horizontal line in the excavation wall was the source of treasure..Apparently over the century or so of human frolicking on the beach much coinage and other objects worked their way down to a collective level by tidal action... The copper coins took a bit of cleaning, silver were pretty good.. They were good times... regards dundiggin

DD, wel said

dundiggin wrote:Howdy soldier of fortune, You have found what others have and that is detectors come with different characteristics which serious operators search out early in the piece.. Maybe you could enlarge on the Aldi machine, its designation, its behaviour with various coils and indicate its price and are they a recent item sold at Aldi.. I have never seen one in Aldis but then I rarely shop there.. Interesting.. The only time I got coins off a beach was approximately 60 or more years ago on Suttons beach Redcliffe when the sea wall was being built.. A huge trench about 3feet deep and about 8 feet wide was excavated along the foreshore and the excavated sand was piled high like a mountain range on the seaward side of the trench where a double row of piles were driven. Anyway,, one of the gang started to spend lunch time walking (when the tide was out) along the beach and he soon came back with some coins that must have been washed out of the sand mountain by the incoming tide.. Well,, boys being boys,,we all tumbled on to why the coins appeared and soon we all had a collection to fill a pickle bottle each..  Of course, greed really gripped us as we decided to use the council pump to wash the sand mountain and yes, great were the rewards. We next deduced that the 1/4 inch brown/rusty horizontal line in the excavation wall was the source of treasure..Apparently over the century or so of human frolicking on the beach much coinage and other objects worked their way down to a collective level by tidal action...  The copper coins took a bit of cleaning, silver were pretty good.. They were good times... regards  dundiggin

Gidday , Dundiggin.

I have had minimal use with this one ,compared to the others ,so i haven`t really tested it properly. It cost me about $100 a few years` ago and is as light as anything.
I don`t know what coils might be available for this because it is an Aldi special. It uses 2 x 9 Volt batteries and has a telescopic shaft .

Here is a link to what i previously posted about it.
https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/t26971-vanquish-340#261566

I still use a 45, I am more than happy with the gold it still finds,I have thought about a 7 but still haven’t got one don’t think I ever will

Been interesting the opinions, experiences and observations on detectors but one thing seems to stand outconsidering other posts on other topics:- the discontinued 4500 has quite a following and I'll bet there is never any for sale even in second hand shops. People hang onto em.. Perhaps one day they too will meet their use by date and gather dust like so many others,,, but in the mean time, swing em!!!

When looking to update to a more serious gold machine a couple of years` ago, i started to investigate all the best options and watched a lot of videos ,as well as reading a heap of opinions about the pros and cons of many detectors. The 4500 fitted the bill for being a pretty robust and reliable detector. When i put a deposit on mine , it was about the same price as the SDC2300 ( within a couple of hundred dollars ) ,but with more functions and more aftermarket options available. But , i nearly bought the 2300 . This is going to be my last detector ,so it might as well be a good one. I bought one of the last 4500`s they produced about this time last year. Been out only a few times with it before life got in the way and then covid struck ,so i haven`t yet perfected the tuning of it ,but i have learned how to adjust it all in the field and what all the knobs mean .It is fairly easy to learn ,but will take more time to master . The SP01 has added another dimension to it ,too . I think it is important to read up all points of views , ask a lot of questions and watch others using the machine you have or intend to buy to see the different techniques and find what suits you . For example, some blokes on youtube do an auto tune on the 4500 by lifting the coil in the air and doing a 1 metre sweep ,they find the noisiest direction and then press the auto tune button .Another bloke shows how he lifts the coil up and slowly does a 360 degree turn to find the noisiest direction before pressing the auto tune button . I was taught the first method ,but am going to start using the second one because it makes more sense. Whatever you choose , try to enjoy just being out there with it .

My way of tuning is,leave coil on the ground,tilt on a 45 degree angle left or right,manual tune usually just a few numbers 5 or 6 either way til it’s quieter,lay flat and is nearly dead quiet,I have been doing it like this for many many years,it’s Very rare where you have to go more than a couple of numbers,the only time I ever used auto tune was when I first got it,

Thanks, Koeh. That is an interesting way of doing it.I will keep that in mind to try out . Cheers.

soldier of fortune wrote:Thanks, Koeh. That is an interesting way of doing it.I will keep that in mind to try out . Cheers.

Too easy mate,I find it’s the best and easiest way to do it,let me know how you go

Will do. Cheers.

nice to see you back Delapan ... i dont frequent this forum as much as i should lol