THE SWITCH

This article will deal with my switch from a Fisher Gold Bug 2 detector to a Minelab SD2100. Now I don't sell detectors so all of the following is simply my opinion and designed to help others thinking about switching to Minelab detectors for nugget hunting. It has been a few years now and I will share my views on the PI detector.

 I spent the better part of two years watching friends makr the switch and I was paying close attention to whether or not their finds increased and in most cases they did. Still I was in no real hurry as I was doing just fine with my trusty Gold Bug 2. I was able to use the 14" coil and get pretty good depth in good soil, but in highly mineralized soil it could drive you crazy trying to sort out all the noise.

 Well it wasn't long before I began to notice that the nugget shooters I knew that had made the switch were getting more gold so and after seeing the proof for myself when a Minelab SD 2200 was used in one of my favorite areas I gave Minelab a try. What a difference, the first thing that I noticed was that all that maddening ground noise was gone!! The Minelab SD2100 is very stable and with a 14" Coiltek coil I can cover 3 times the ground in the same amount of time, plus detect much deeper targets!

 Now I had to get used to carrying a backpack with a battery in it along with wires from the backpack to the detector. Also the machine with the 14" coil is much heavier than the Gold Bug requiring a bun gee cord to relieve some of the weight. The next change was in my digging equipment, I needed a pick to dig those deep holes, some over two feet deep. Long way to go for trash, but not so far to dig for a lunker nugget.

 Now for the results of my own personal tests, I returned to patches previously worked to death with the Gold Bug 2 and found deeper gold! I have also found that the SD2100 simply allows me to work more ground more efficiently and that means more gold nuggets in my poke. Hot ground is no longer a problem for me and if the mono coil begins to act up I can simply switch to a DD coil. So far here in the southwest I've not run into ground I could not work and that was not the case with my Gold Bug 2.

 Now I am not saying the Gold Bug 2 is a bad machine, it is a very good one and I found hundreds of nuggets with Fisher products. It is just that Minelab's detectors have taken that next step in my opinion.

 To sum this mess up I have not gone into all the spec information simply because it is available elsewhere at this site. I simply wanted to say that no detector is a magic wand and finding a good location is a matter of doing research or getting very lucky. Having an edge when that hot area is found is my thing and the SD2100 in my opinion gives me that edge.

 As always I welcome all feedback and questions, Good Hunting!

By William Southern Jr