Is a Minelab SD2000 still useful!

[niffler]

Hello prospectors! A little while back I traded a couple gold rings for a Minelab SD2000 detector, with the stock huge mono loop coil. My question is, is this detector still a contender for nugget hunting? I know of some spots I would like to check out, but I worry that I might be wasting my time using a detector that's too old and obsolete. Anyone care to give their opinion on this issue? Thanks in advance.

 

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[smokeythecat]

If it still works, use it!

 

[arizau]

If it still works, use it!

Agree. Here is a link for the product manual if you do not already have one. https://www.minelab.com/customer-care/product-notices/discontinued-products/sd-2000

 

[smokeythecat]

Put it this way. I once saw a guy with a $75 machine, an old Bounty Hunter with a small coil, pull a $3000 gold coin off a beach, and a guy with a Minelab Excalibur go home empty handed. I got a gold earring that day with my $329 Tesoro. You have to have a machine that works, get the coil over the signal, dig it without being too picky and please...just have fun. We were all less than 50' from each other.

 

[firebird]

Put it this way. I once saw a guy with a $75 machine, an old Bounty Hunter with a small coil, pull a $3000 gold coin off a beach, and a guy with a Minelab Excalibur go home empty handed. I got a gold earring that day with my $329 Tesoro. You have to have a machine that works, get the coil over the signal, dig it without being too picky and please...just have fun. We were all less than 50' from each other.

Nugget hunting is different, especially since there have been considerable advances in PI technology in recent years.

 

[bug]

For sure you can find stuff with it, and if you have some good nugget ground to detect, it might make you happy. But if you're going down to a place like Rye Patch, or any of those well known placers in Northern Nevada, it would be pretty hard to find anything, as the place has been hit with every Minelab detector known to man.

 

[Lanny in AB]

That machine found a lot of gold when it came out. I chatted on the Internet with quite a few guys from lots of different places that were using it, and they swore by its ability to find gold. (I got in a bit late on the game [missed using the 2000] and started out with its successor instead, the 2100, and I slew the nuggets with that machine in some terribly hot ground; that SD 2100 was, and still is, a gold finding wonder, much noisier than the newer PI's, but still deadly on gold in hot ground.)

The 2000 was simpler to use than the new PI's, and if you're looking for deep gold with that big coil, you could have some luck. As well, if you're on hot bedrock, or hot ground over shallow bedrock, you might get a few pleasant surprises as well. Read the manual carefully, and search online to see if you can find some old videos with tips on how to best use the machine.

I chased gold around Boise once for some fun, but most of it was smaller gold with small nuggets, but if you know an area with bigger gold (at least a gram or larger), you might be pleasantly surprised, especially if you have some hot bedrock or hot ground where VLF's either have a lot of trouble or just won't run.

I'd take it for a run for sure, and please drop back in to let us know if you find something.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[meMiner]

For sure there are newer detectors, but at the end of the day the best detector is the one you have. If you put your coil over a nugget, the GPX2000 will tell you that it is there. It might not have the same depth or abilities as more recent technologies, but it does work and will find gold. Have at it and let us know how you do.

 

[alaskaseeker]

If you cant find gold with a proven detector that works well despite its age, you sure as heck wont find gold with the latest greatest....Just my thoughts...