Thanks for that input Steve. If you don't mind I'd like to also ask you how you feel about its ground balance, threshold stability and performance when other PI detectors are in the area. Any problems with emi interference from aircraft or metal structures? The SD series had a lot of difficulty in the area of emi and GB with the 2200 was never really stellar in my opinion.
The ground balance is almost a non-issue. In many areas the SDC 2300 simply ignores the ground right out of the box and there is no ground balance procedure. In more mineralized ground, holding the ground balance button causes a quick ground balance to occur. The SDC 2300 is always automatically ground tracking at a medium-slow rate to maintain the best possible balance, so it is impossible for a novice operator to mess it up. I had no issues with it tracking out targets.
I did encounter hot rocks the SDC would not balance out, the very same types my GPX 5000 would not balance out. Overall the SDC handles ground better than the GPX because it is a lower power detector and the coil "sees" less ground than the same size coil on the GPX 5000 therefore there is less ground for it to balance out.
I can get my GPX 5000 to make a threshold that is perfect with no waver. The SDC 2300 has a less stable threshold more reminiscent of other SD series detectors at higher sensitivity settings. It is pretty stable at the stock "2" sensitivity setting but still not as solid as my GPX.
The SDC 2300 is quite a bit more EMI resistant than the GPX 5000 and plays well with other detectors as long as reasonable spacing is kept. When my brother fired up the SD2200v2 I could get within about 50 feet of him unless he ran a larger coil, then I needed a bit more space.
The bottom line is the SDC 2300 is perhaps the most user friendly nugget detector you can buy. Anyone can run it. It really is normally a turn on and go detector. The only option normally to consider is the sensitivity setting, which gives a balance between a bit more depth but more threshold noise. We were in mild ground and I could run it maxed out but that did make for a less stable threshold. Once you find the sensitivity setting you like in an area you just leave it alone ground balance setting is retained when the detector is turned off. So for me operating the SDC 2300 boiled down to turning it on or turning it off. Batteries lasted a good seven hours plus. It seemed just right for most days, never quite running dead by the end if the day except for rare occasions.
If I have to complain about the unit I could complain about the armrest folding up every time I pull my arm out and the lack of volume control. The headphones I received are wired on the left and the cord runs across your chest. You either wear the headphones backwards, or in my case run the cord behind my back. I need a headphone adapter to run optional phones with volume controls. But these really are minor niggles. The waterproof, compact folding design is extremely compelling and easily offsets these minor complaints.
The SDC 2300 except for the cost is a perfect detector for many more casual nugget hunters who would never, ever learn what all the settings on a GPX 5000 do. It is far easier to operate in bad ground than a VLF. I can hand one to anybody, tell them to turn it on, keep the coil on the ground, and dig everything that goes beep. If it were not for the high price I would flat out just tell everyone to go buy one. It is practically impossible to be unhappy with the SDC 2300.
How do you rate the detectors performance to say a 2200 or 3000?
Thank you Steve. I've marked this up on my x-mas list. Looking forward to how it works out when your back home.
