TedinVT

Also, CF shafts are a plus for folks that detect in saltwater that will eventually ruin aluminum shafts.

A trick from fly fishing to “tighten up” loose rod ferrules was to slightly roughen up the male part of the ferrule connection then build it up with super glue, smoothing each layer with 400 grit sand paper, until the desired tightened fit was achieved. This might work for the loose carbon fiber shaft problem.

I bought the Sound Blaster BT headphones & the 1Mii BT transmitter for my wife's X-Terra Pro last April. No ML85 headphones available at the time. The Sound Blaster BT headphones are APTX LL and worked well with her XTP to get her started. When the ML85s became available I bought them for her and she is much happier with them than she was with the Sound Blasters. My caution comments are: The Sound Blasters are “on-the-ear”, not “over-the-ear” and they will not block out ambient noise (trucks, waves, wind, people, etc.) nearly as well as “over-the-ear” headphones. Cold weather has arrived here in VT and “over-the-ear” headphones will keep your ears warmer in winter.

Now we need see some real world Double Score saltwater Beach mode testing. And still no manual for download on the Nokta site.

Very nice job! Tnx.

All good info. Sure would be nice to know when your battery was charged to 80% so you could take it off the charger. Lacking that info, charging to full capacity has worked for me for 5 1/2 years and still going strong. My 800 does “hibernate” from January through most of March here in VT though.

Your battery should last a lot longer than 1 1/2 years. My original 800 battery is still going strong since Feb. 2018. I charge my battery after every outing so it's always up for a day's hunting. Try keeping your battery charged and see if that helps. Last resort, try a factory reset. Good luck.

I bought a Minelab X-Terra Pro for my wife and she's very happy with it. Key features for her are light weight, waterproof and simplicity. We recently added the ML85 Bluetooth headphones. Notable finds in the last week are an 1883 V nickel and a 14K wedding band.

JCR's comment on laying out some targets is great advice. I'll add starting out in Park 1 in All Metal is a good place to start learning the machine. When I take a new-to-metal detecting person out for the first couple of times I take them to a tot lot where there are usually lots of targets from pop tops to junk jewelry plus the usual coins to find and get practice with. Plus, those wood chips are easy to dig in. Also, learn to use your ears first and look at the numbers second. Welcome to the hobby. Have fun.

Has anyone tried the Thresher waterproof headphones with the Nox, Manticore or X-Terra Pro? Any thoughts on build and sound quality?

You nailed it, Steve. The technology is topping out and manufacturers seem to be relying more on “convenience” features to boost sales and compete. Sure, the convenience features are nice, but it still comes down to who is swinging the machine and how experienced and knowledgable he/she is with it and the targets he/she is seeking.

Looks good. So you basically only swapped the control pods since the Nox coil will work with the X-Terra Pro control pod. Neat!

The dealer I spoke with today told me Minelab doesn't apply the veterans' discount to their low priced detectors like the X-Terra and Go Find models. He said there's so little profit in those machines that dealers would take a hit. So, that's what I can share. There may be large dealers that may offer the discount anyway so I'd recommend asking.

X-Terra Pro price info update… $269, but no veteran's discount on this and Go Find detectors due to low price. 😢. Still worth it at that price IMHO.

Probably because the XTP upper shaft pieces are aluminum and easy to extrude vs. the new Noxs' shafts are carbon fiber and require a more involved and expensive process to form. Too bad the XTP shaft isn't also CF, but at that price point…