MINELAB SD2000,

Well, I've just taken a giant leap ... from an x-terra 705 Gold Pack to an SD2000

I bought the best that I could currently afford, with an eye to finding a little gold to help pay for my next upgrade ... GPX5000

Now for the details:
3 Barrie Johnson upgrades.
3 coils: 1 x 11 inch dd, 2 x 8 inch monos, 1 of the 8 inch coils has a dickie lead
new battery
new 8mm bungy
late model harness
2 x lower shafts
car and home charger
curly lead
cable thingy coil lead stabilizer
head phones
Barrie Johnson booster speaker
sd 2000 manual
Barrie Johnson sheet of specs for upgrade.
Machine is described as "in good working order" & "very clean"

PRICE: $1350

So now I shall be in here picking everyone's brains, and making a complete nuisance of myself, looking to glean every last bit of information that I can from everyone's posts ........ Sorry to all, in advance!!

All advice gratefully and graciously accepted.

Here it is: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/300714009319?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Cheers
Kate

G'day Kate i need to give the old memory banks a bit of a polish, I found a lot of gold with my old 2000, I also had Barry mod mine way back, after he modded mine the brother in law use to complain that I was not leaving any gold for his 2100, they really did find the small stuff after the mods were done. The 2000 would be a better
Machine IMO.

Cheers.

Mike.

Thanks Mike for your post. Very much appreciated.

I've been going through the section "All About Detectors" and have found some REALLY interesting posts. The old SD2000 seems to have been/still is a pretty popular model ... even if some of the post are more "fond memories"

If you happen to come up with some of those "gems of wisdom" about the SD2000, you'll have a very receptive pair of ears here

Congratulations Kate you got newer machine than mine.

May be in a future , you can change your batt to a more convenience one with better depth.( I guess )

It's not how it looks, it's how it performs. A wise prospectors whose name has passed everyones lips at some stage, wisely said that the "dirtier and banged around" the machine looked, meant that the more it had been used & it had been used a lot because it found heaps of gold. Your machine looks, let's say, "not new" Nohave but I bet it has found more than it's fair share.
Hopefully Kate's machine will prove to be a winner too.

P.S. Welcome Kate to the SD club...

Hey, Hi NoHave and CostasDee ... thanks for your replies as well as the welcome to the SD club

I'm headed to Laancoorie this weekend and, with any luck, I will be able to pick up the SD ... with a (large) bit of a detour! Can't wait ... I'm really excited about the whole weekend and hope to learn a lot from everyone!

Well done Kate
It saddens me when with all the great advice on this that many get caught up with the razzle dazzle of GG@t magazine.Minelab PI machines are the only way to go and as you have shown you can now buy a great machine at a fraction of their original price.What must be remembered is that these machines are made for Australian conditions and are lightyears ahead of all other makes.
There now three generations of these machines and all have abitilies that are common to each other and some features that are not.You will meet Jimmy Stewart among others at Laanecoorie.This guy is a Guru on reading ground and has a brilliant understanding of Minelab PI machines.I am sure that you and many others will get a fantastic insight into prospecting.
Well done and enjoy
Cheers Dig

Hi Kate,

Sweet, looks like I'm not the only one using an old 2000.

For a small coil to look for small gold run in position 3 or 4. Have a look along(in) the creek at the test site providing its not full of water, you might get lucky. I found 2 small bits there about 6 months ago

If you are using a larger coil >16" run in frequency position 1 or 2. These will pick up better on larger gold deeper than 3 or 4.

Always detect with the switch in the search position. When you get a signal use the switch to see what it sounds like in both ch1 and ch2. This will help you to get to know your machine better.

Don't be disappointed if you don't find gold straight away, it is hard to find and you have to put the coil in the right spot.

Good luck with it, your next target could be a nice bit of gold, even if it sounds like trash....

Cheers Mick

Thanks Mick ... that was just SOOOoooo helpful

By chance I did have the small coil on this morning while we were testing at the pit. BINGO!! BOTH test pieces found ... I was really chuffed! Then we tried the big DD ... did not work anywhere near as well as the little fella. I think those two test depths were something like 15" and 20" ... or something akin.

Have only had the one day here so far, it currently being Saturday, and WOW! What a wealth of information is floating around. And everyone is incredibly helpful. Advice, assistance, friendship, camaraderie ... it certainly bodes well for the future of detecting if this weekend is any indication.

Hi Kate,

Glad you are having a great time! I was going to head up there this weekend, but the rain scared me away Don't tell me that it is nice and dry there!!! Next time.... Might even take the day before it off so I can be there for the early 8.30 am start!(thats early when you have to drive up from Melbourne)

Cheers Mick

Kate, I'm interested to know the size and whether they where mono or DD coils that you used at the test site, the smaller one that found the targets well and the bigger DD that had a little trouble. Are you able to post your results?
Cheers

G'day CostasDee! Well I'm home from the VIC trip and have caught up a LITTLE on the office work

OK, the smaller of the coils (that was successful in reading both test coins) was/is the 8" mono. The larger of the coils was/is an 11"DD
Now, it may have been that my settings weren't exactly right, but the mono coil had no trouble at all in picking up both of the test coins!

On Sunday I did a little detecting and found all kinds of interesting things ... just no gold
I did however, find some carbon staining about 6" down which nearly blew my eardrums out ... and I'm told that if I could pick that up, then I should be able to happily pick up gold.

Late that afternoon, I realised that the main lead was not in the best of condition (having begun to separate from the joiners) so I am guessing that I might do just a little better now that I have purchased a new lead!!!!

The Laancoorie weekend was just the BEST time!! I couldn't have been happier ... loved the camp out ... everyone was just FANTASTIC!! ... and I am TOTALLY HOOKED

To Mechanic ... thank you so much! The information that you supplied is going to stand me in good stead in my future trips! I truly appreciate your taking the time to put that information in for me ... and others with a 2000 of course!

Can't wait to get back out again ..................................

PS: To everyone who was involved in planning, running and participating in this wonderful event ... a MASSIVE ThankYou ... it was simply BRILLIANT!!