Sale Of Gold Rings Makes Enough To Buy A Goldmaster 24k..

[Erik Oostra]

This morning I sold some of the gold rings I've found for Au$ 1,800.. This didn't include gold rings that I've given away or those which were returned to their owner.. I could've made a bit more and during the haggling I nearly reached for the Vaseline a few times.. Thing is, the gold buyer lives on the island and to deal with my usual buyer I'd have to catch a ferry to the mainland and then 2 busses to his house (if he's not in the pub).. So hassle wise this worked out better but old matey on the mainland might have been a bit less stingy.. 

Since I had a huge amount of cash to splash, I decided to see if I could get a second-hand Goldmaster 24K in reasonable condition.. I've been very keen to buy one since trying out my mate's.. He offered to sell it for Au$ 900 last year but I didn't have that sort of money at the time.. I thought the GM24K compared well to his Goldmonster 1000 and my Equinox 800.. This is prospecting dry creek beds and exposed bedrock on relatively mild grounds (compared to further west).. Usage wise the GM24K felt a bit like my Gold Bug Pro, I've always liked pistol-grips.. 

Even better gossip: I bought the Goldmaster 24K with MS3 Z-Lynk headphones for only Au$ 750.. And the thing's nearly brand spanking new, it's only been used inside for testing purposes.. In Oz this detector cost around Au$ 1,350 and MS3 Z-Lynks go for Au$ 240.. I couldn't hit the 'buy' button fast enough..

I know some of you are thinking 'dumb bastard's been scammed' or 'buy in haste, repent at leisure' or the good old standby 'if it seems too good to be true, it probably is'.. But once you've seen the pictures (the ad even had a little video), you'll realize you're just suffering from sour grapes and won't begrudge my amazing luck..

After this bargain I still had a great big fist full of dollars, so I also bought the 24K 6'' concentric coil.. I've never used this coil (only the 10x6''), how does it compare to 6'' Equinox or 5'' Gold Bug coils? 

The detector didn't come with any batteries (postage rules) so I bought some rechargeable ones.. They are 3800 mAh.. How many mAh are the batteries that come with the GM24K? Can higher mAh batteries damage the detector?     

Today's bill:

Goldmaster 24K and MS3 Z-Lynk (+ 10x6'' coil, extra headphones, charger etc etc).. Au$ 750

24K 6'' concentric coil..                                                                                                       Au$ 370

8 x Ni-Mh (3800 mAh) rechargeable batteries..                                                                Au$ 44

                                                                                                                                              ---------

                                                                                                                                               Au$ 1,164

It's always great when you can buy a detector and coils from the proceeds of your finds, and still have a small fortune to spare!  😎

 

[RickUK]

A massive well done to you and its brand new by the looks of it,hope you find plenty of gold with it 😉

[phrunt]

Outstanding Erik, well done, you won't regret it, the 24k is great, I had my doubts before getting one but once I had it in my hands I realized I was wrong, it's in my opinion the best of the best when it comes to VLF gold prospecting single frequency detectors, not quite as hot as the GB2 but very much equal to the GM 1000 without the knock sensitivity, and having more settings to play with to get the best out of it.   Since I got mine, I've not once felt the need to power on my GM1000, the lack of knock sensitivity is the key.

Use whatever batteries you feel like, you won't damage it, in fact the batteries it comes with the detector firmware isn't even calibrated to, and reports they're not full, when they are 🙂 The same problem the Vanquish had when it was first released before a firmware update.

I myself use Panasonic Eneloops, you won't regret buying them, best rechargeable AA batteries on the market, not only for usage but the long life of them, I'm well over 10 years now on a set I put in my weather station and still going strong, only charged by its little solar panel.  They handle thousands of charges.

The 6" coil in my opinion should have been the stock coil, so I'm glad you've got it, best of the best for the 24k, the DD is good though, and perhaps they included that for compatibility on bad ground, as you know I have no idea when it comes to that.  It leaves the Gold Bug Pro and 5" for dead, so disregard that, as for the Equinox and 6" coil, it's a battle, each have their pros and cons, oddly the 24k loves wet tree roots here, but it handles hot rocks better than the Nox, sensitivity is very similar when using the 6" Concentric and 6" Nox.  Explore the SAT setting, here I can run if off and it gives a noticeable boost, its defaults to 1, and 2 is for worse situations, if you can run it off do so.

You found a great deal, especially with our Garrett pricing.

[Erik Oostra]

56 minutes ago, phrunt said:

in fact the batteries it comes with the detector firmware isn't even calibrated to, and reports they're not full, when they are 🙂 

Thanks a million for your advice Phrunt.. I really appreciate the feedback.. Would the detector calibrating with the batteries be a way to work out if it has the latest firmware update? How else could I check? 

Also, do you know how long the warranty lasts for? He's also sending the receipt, he paid $1,359 for it at Bundy Outdoors on 15/09/2021..   

[Valens Legacy]

Erik,

Congrats on upgrading to an American detector as i know that you will be liking it.

Now it may not be the best out there, but it will do the job in your soil.

Hope to drop by next week right after you get it just to try it out, I want to know if it works just like the ones in the USA do.

Good luck and enjoy your new toy.

Caleb

[phrunt]

8 hours ago, Erik Oostra said:

Thanks a million for your advice Phrunt.. I really appreciate the feedback.. Would the detector calibrating with the batteries be a way to work out if it has the latest firmware update? How else could I check? 

Also, do you know how long the warranty lasts for? He's also sending the receipt, he paid $1,359 for it at Bundy Outdoors on 15/09/2021..   

It was the Vanquish that received the firmware update for the incorrect battery meter, well it's not actually incorrect.  The rechargeables charge to a lower voltage of 1.2 volt.  so, as the detector is calibrated to run 1.5-volt batteries it always reports the 1.2-volt batteries are already well used when you put them in.

Still works fine, just a little oddity with it, which the Vanquish also had but they updated the Vanquish firmware to fix it.

I don't think they've ever done a firmware update for the 24k, they're all the same revision.

And the warranty is 3 years, pretty good so you've got a little bit of warranty left.