TedinVT

9 hours ago, MD4V.org said:

Again, Legend, Equinox 600, saltwater hunters need an SMF. Single-freq machin (especially IN the saltwater) means you're missing gold.

My wife's finds April 12, 2024, day after April 11 storm, Manasota Key, Fl saltwater beach using her X-Terra Pro in Beach mode.

4 hours ago, MD4V.org said:

Why wouldn't you just get a Vanquish 440 if you are hunting saltwater beaches. SMF Brother!!

Probably because only the Vanquish coil is waterproof and the really good stuff is out in the water where you need a waterproof detector.

Did this Gigmaster fix to my 800 coil ears after both ears broke (while using one of those so-called coil ear protectors) and I received the warranty replacement coil. It's been several years since doing this and my coil is like a rock. I've used my coil to clear ground, detected in fresh and saltwater. No issues. Personally, I would never use one of those coil ear stiffeners again.
 

I received a Minelab email this morning stating the XTP update adds the Continuous Noise Cancel and there are now updates for the 700/900 that also adds the Continuous Noise Cancel plus the -1 Iron Bias setting.

My under standing of the CNC is it will do repeated noise scans while the Accept/Reject button is held down, giving the detector more opportunity to locate the best noise free channel. I did the update on my wife's X-Terra Pro. Scans displayed -1, 4, 5, 4, 4 which might indicate the first scan result may not have been the best choice and it stabilized in the 4/5 range. I'm guessing the idea is to eliminate any noise (EMI) resulting in more stable TID readings.

Iffy did a video on the XTE and unmasking iron. He said in so many words, the addition of the -1 FE setting made quite a bit of difference. Check out his video.

The Minelab release email this morning stated the XTE is shipping with the CNC and -1 software already installed.

Does anyone real user who's migrated from the XTP to the XTE have any thoughts on TDI stability, depth and overall performance improvements? Worth making the XTE purchase?

3 hours ago, phrunt said:

We haven't had a competitive market in the PI/GPZ arena, and they do have a very healthy bottom line as per their investor reports 🙂

No argument with that, especially the PI/GPZ market. Just pointing out looking at parts cost only makes no sense. 

13 hours ago, Lead Detector said:

I believe Woody made a video once, where he tore down and priced out the components of a gpx 5000, and ended up at about $250.  That tells a story of greed after so many years of that detector being sold.

Now mentally think of all the things you need to turn $250 in parts into a worthy product. Start with a building then the utilities that the building and employees need, then computers and software which need constant updating, then the employees and their benefits, then parts and spare parts inventory, production costs and add shipping, warranty repair costs, taxes, etc. This list goes on and on. Doesn't leave a lot of room for greed in a competitive market.

4 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

If they never intend to get a Legend, all the Legend coil form factors are covered by the Score accessory coil series.  Plus, unlike ML, the Nokta accessory coil prices are comparatively reasonable at just over $125 a pop or thereabouts.  Having both the most popular coil sizes covered in the Score 3 Pro Pack is also a good move.  I would seriously consider getting the Score 3 instead of the Legend for value on top of value and for UI simplicity since you don't need to have all the Legend secret keypress combinations memorized to access the bolted-on Legend features provided in the Updates.

You nailed it Chase. Plus Dilek said in her announcement last night that they plan to add some of the Legend's features via software updates in the near future. Add to that convenience features like lighted keys that the Legend lacks.

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!

1 hour ago, Maximus said:

Is the discount dependent on individual dealers or has Minelab set a blanket policy of no Veterans discount on the Xterra Pro?

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.

On 2/5/2023 at 6:20 AM, palzynski said:

I like the rectangular telescopic shaft , the stems dont rotate when you adjust them , I wonder why ML has not used this design for the MCore or Equinox 700/900 btw ...

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…

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

From the User Guide, Xterra somehow identifies "residual salt response" and assigns a "0" TID using it's "specialist salt noise rejection configuration", whatever that means.  It looks like the main difference between Beach Profile 1 (Wet and Dry Sand) and Beach Profile 2 (Underwater and Surf) is Profile 2 has a higher default recovery speed.  Black sand is more problematic without the benefit of Multi-IQ, as your only recourse after ground balancing is to reduce sensitivity.

Salt balance capability is not solely limited to simultaneous multifrequency detectors.  The Fisher F19/Technetics G2+/etc single frequency machine is known for its ability to balance well in salt sand and the Tarsacci MDT 8000, a multiple selectable table single frequency machine is specifically designed to have a salt balance adjustment separate from its ground balance adjustment.  So it can be done, with some limitations.

 

 

The Xterra Pro user guide can be downloaded here:

https://www.minelab.com/usa/metal-detectors/x-terra-pro

Good stuff! Thanks for filling in the blanks!

Agreed, Chase. No headphone packages available, yet. And ML recommends the ML85 phones which I haven't found sold separately, yet. Yes, they'll probably be in the $139 price area when available. BUT, if the plan is to dedicate the machine as a water hunter, the wired waterproof Nox, etc. headphones we already have will work with the X-Terra.

So, lots of good comments on my previous post. Be sure you've read the other X-Terra Pro (XTP) usage considerations I stated. My prominent reason for possibly purchasing the XTP is in the water beach detecting. Why would I consider the XTP for that purpose? Here's a link to Calabash's recent XTP saltwater beach test:  https://youtu.be/i6Gs0uKPk1c

A single frequency detector running quietly in saltwater? Who'd have thunk! I had tried my AT Pro in saltwater 6 years ago and quickly learned a 15kHz machine was no match for the saltwater. Great on the dry sand and tolerable in the wet sand. Thus the 800 entering my stable to cover all the bases. But the drowning worry still exists even though it's in its 5th year and I detect up to neck deep in saltwater and fresh water and hasn't leaked - yet. So, for the price and better chances of not leaking than the 800, why not pick up a cheap machine that, so far, seems to be a decent performer in saltwater? Especially if could serve the other purposes I stated in my previous post. The 800 will remain my land machine for sure.

Good discussion guys.