SD2000 setting dial

Hi

In effort to try learn more, can somebody please shed a bit more light on the 4 settings the dial has.

The bloke who sold me the machine told me setting 1 is sensitive & small, setting 2 is the same, setting 3 is an average setting & setting 4 is deep target.

Based on that I've just been walking around the bush on the average setting 3.

When should I use each setting & can the settings be altered to better decide if a signal is a target or ground noise/minerals etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

On setting 3 I'm finding small bits of nail, what looks like small chunks of iron, but am worried I might be walking over gold because I'm not doing something right.

Thank you
Rob

Gday Rob.B,
Sounds like you have a modified detector there mate.
Hope someone here can help you otherwise find out who did the Mod and contact them.

Hi Gus

I dont know if its modified.

All I know is it has 4 settings & the short explination of each.

Im keen to be using it properly as I'm putting every day off into using it.

Rob

it's a modded one, on sd the unmodded only had balance 1 and 2 on the front cap and the off/on on the back cap.
cheers
stoppsy

Ok, modded, thanks.

Im going to take a guess that all modifications are different & theres no real way to tell what dial does what.

The person I got it from was a dealer in Bendigo, not the original owner.

Rob

Hi Rob

Mate that is a "Peter Nikola" (WA) modded sd2000 with the 4 position frequency mod, for more info
you should ring the prospectors patch on 08 92508998, they have a printout of the settings needed..

Hope this helps





Pete in WA

Excellent tip.

Jamie from the Prospectors Patch will speak with the bloke, get a copy & give me a call.

Thanks very much.
Rob

beepingpete, finders in Dunnoly & Barrie and Rohan Johnson in Wedderburn did heaps of that mod in the east.
There has been a great many people including DIY people have done that mod.

I had Rohan do mine, from memory 1 & 2 were the standard crystals (the 2000 always had 2 crystals but only one was used standard.)

4 was the best for sensitivity and the best all over setting, If you can use it.

If the ground is really hot you run out of limit on the ground balance and then had to use 3.

Using 3 is OK!

Hope that helps.

Hi Rob
My first detector was a modded 2000 from Barrie Johnson and as INhere say's number 4 was the best alround setting, never used any of the others and always found good gold.
hope it works well for you.

Mono

Thanks mono

I just had a lightbulb moment which the average person would have had on day 1.

*Test each setting on what I know is surface junk as well as what I think might be deeper junk & see what the differences are.

Some great ideas on this site, just scrolling throgh posts is informative. I found 2 nice patches of quartz which isnt mapped & will pan a bit of dirt from each side to see if there are any specs. Excellent idea, 10 minutes panning to save 2 hours of no/little hope.

Rob

Mate, would suggest you Google "sd2000 4 position mod" and go thru each item, there is heaps of info.
My suggestion try Frequency 4 and in channel 2 only.
Regards BJay.

another thing is just PM woody on this forum he should be able to tell you as he does all mods..
cheers
stoppsy

Hi Rob,

The best way to figure out what is what would be to as you said, try the different settings on some different targets and see the depth differences. An old .22 bullet is a good one to test with. Now keep in mind that on your most sensitive setting that ground noise may become worse, just turn the setting down until the ground is bearable. Also keep in mind that on the setting most sensitive to small targets that larger bits of gold may not give the depth that they would on a lower frequency setting. There's always a compromise! It can also be helpful for you to try different settings on a target before you dig it up, this will help you somewhat for identifying ground noise too.

I would always run in the search position as this utilises both channels, if there is a response on either channel, the channel with the highest amplitude will be heard through the audio. There are occasions where a large nugget deep will give a response on ch1 and nothing on ch2. Channel 1 also picks up less ground noise because its first sample is very late compared to ch2. There have been occasions where I have searched in ch1 only, this was because the ground was just too variable and hot for ch2 to handle and the only way I could detect there was in ch1. Needless to say I found nothing!

Cheers Mick

Hi there Rob.... Everyone's got their ideas about what the best settings are, and some are indeed excellent.
As you are fairly new and you are a little unfamiliar with that detector, I would set it to standard factory (if it still has them) settings and an 11" DD coil. I would experiment, as mechanic says, with a 22 lead shot at different depths. I would get a feel for the machine at these settings on different grounds and only then once I was totally one with the machine, then and only then, I would try the diffent settings, different frequencies and even possibly a mono coil (although I think the extra ground noise with a mono may turn you off them).
It may take 2, 3, 4 or more trips to learn your machine, but I think it's worth doing it in steps rather that getting overwhelmed with too much too soon......

Thanks for the advice.

The machine doesnt have channels.

It has tone, threshold & the 4 settings on the rear side, with the up/down/middle toggle to ground balance with the dials above & below.

When I find a bullet on the weekend I'll have a decent play.

Thanks again

Hi Rob,

I can assure you it does Balance 1 = ch1, balance 2 = ch2, search = both ch1 and 2

Also its worth noting that smaller targets will give a falling tone, larger targets will give a rising tone

Cheers Mick

Thank you, I understand now.

I thought the switches were only for tuning the balance.
I'll play between the 3 settings before digging to learn what sets what off.

many thanks
Rob

Rob.B wrote:Hi Gus

I dont know if its modified.

All I know is it has 4 settings & the short explination of each.

Im keen to be using it properly as I'm putting every day off into using it.

Rob

Hi Rob

I think that the dealer who sold you this machine should have made it clear to you that this was modded. I think it is unfair that this was not pointed out to you and no I don’t want to start an argument for or against modded detectors. However it may well limit your options if you want minelab to repair this detector in the future.

Hope you do well with it

Dave

Hi Dave

I didnt know what a modded detector was, all I knew was I wanted a minelab (based on opinion from a club member I spoke to) & the 2nd hand SD2000 was in the price range which was OK to store in the garage if I got tired of it (Not happening yet).

The bloke who sold it to me didnt know much about it, as he was asking another bloke in the shop, but being the person I am I just listened to what he was saying in the good faith he wasnt going to screw me.

I did read somewhere that minelab will fix it, but only return it in original condition, which I understand (Holden dont sell upgrades for cars, they sell new models), but thats OK, I understand there are people who are reputable & who can conduct work if needed.

Much Gold in tassie Dave? I was in Hobart, Launceston & Cradle Mountain late last year, beautiful scenery.

Rob