At intermediate energies, the (d, 2 He) charge-exchange reaction can be used to observe Gamow-Teller strength in the β + direction. 2 He denotes the two-proton system being in the singlet 1 S 0 state. In the present experiment the two protons, which in the laboratory frame are emitted into the forward direction, have been momentum analyzed and detected in coincidence by the same spectrometer and detector. Protons from deuteron breakup processes can induce a large accidental coincidence background because of the much larger breakup cross-section as compared to the (d, 2 He) cross-section. Nevertheless, background-free 2 He spectra with a resolution of 145keV at an incident energy of 170MeV are obtained, allowing the identification of many levels with high precision in the residual nuclei. The essential features of the detection system and the data-acquisition and analysis techniques which make our (d, 2 He) experiments possible are described. Two nuclei, 1 2 C and 2 4 Mg, have been used as a test case.