FX Wireless Radar Chronograph Review/Opinion Video

[Centercut]

I've also noticed swings in speed depending on unit placement, and have reported that a few times here on AGN. It would appear that if we could get the unit in the same place consistently relative to the muzzle, it would be more useable, and precise. Yesterday I purchased a unit (from Steve Allan (Airgunology on YouTube) that attached to the gun muzzle, and the FX Radar attached to the unit. In theory this will position the FX unit in the correct place so that the readings are more accurate and repeatable. I'll report back once I get the device and test it out...

Web site to order unit



https://youtu.be/-cXZFDW7F4s



Additionally, had the FX Radar been reasonably priced, similar to the Caldwell Chrony ($80 to $90 range), there wouldn't be nearly as many complaints...

 

[bandg]

I've also noticed swings in speed depending on unit placement, and have reported that a few times here on AGN. It would appear that if we could get the unit in the same place consistently relative to the muzzle, it would be more useable, and precise. Yesterday I purchased a unit (from Steve Allan (Airgunology on YouTube) that attached to the gun muzzle, and the FX Radar attached to the unit. In theory this will position the FX unit in the correct place so that the readings are more accurate and repeatable. I'll report back once I get the device and test it out...

Web site to order unit





https://youtu.be/-cXZFDW7F4s





Additionally, had the FX Radar been reasonably priced, similar to the Caldwell Chrony ($80 to $90 range), there wouldn't be nearly as many complaints...

I'll certainly be watching for your test results but I disagree about the cost/performance issue. Seems the inconsistency would be a problem no matter what the unit cost.

 

[Centercut]

I'll certainly be watching for your test results but I disagree about the cost/performance issue. Seems the inconsistency would be a problem no matter what the unit cost.

What I meant was that if people would have spent $80 vice $200, they would be more tolerant of equipment faults and more willing to wait for App upgrades...

 

[bandg]

I see what you mean but I don't view it that way. Seems the whole idea was to have a very easily moved unit that was comparable in accuracy/consistency to a Caldwell or ProChrono or other standard unit. At $200 I would buy an FX unit with no complaints, IF it was as consistent as those other units. Simply for the convenience. Personally, I don't view the price as the problem. At $80 as it has performed to this point I would still be unhappy with the FX and would return it. If the barrel mount works (if it provides the consistency of those other units) then I will buy the FX unit. I'd rather pay $80 but I will pay $200 if that is their price. Simply for the convenience. If it works.

 

[vmaxshots]

@
Low price only with Arduino + HB100 Doppler radar sensor , but the device with HB100 will be unreliable for a high speed measurement.

Jeremy Lee
https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/teardown-tuesday-hb100-doppler-radar-module/

https://youtu.be/0oK-Co2i01U

HenrikL15
https://www.instructables.com/id/Radar-With-Arduino-HB100-and-MAX446/

T.K. Hareendran
https://www.electroschematics.com/11926/hb100-microwave-motion-sensor-an-introduction/







HB100, microwave sensor

What kind of the sensor is inside the FX radar ?
..open the door..

 

[vinny]

it gets more interesting, so now the famous fx radar unit that was going to change everything and make our work easier “but doesn’t work properly” just got a twist. It seems now ya can buy an xtra cradle to put it in that says it “may” help it work better , and if ya don’t happen to have an xtra rubberband with you when the one that’s holding it onto the barrel breaks your back to square one , why not just do a recall and replace everyone’s that isn’t working as advertised, just my opinion but $200 for the fx radar that doesn’t function properly in the first place , and who knows how much $$ for the plastic bracket that may or may not help, ya can just buy a proven caldwell for 1/2 the cost “just sayin”

 

[cootertwo]

OK, after seeing the barrel mount listed above, thought I'd try taping my FX chrono onto my barrel. Took a piece of duct tape, and taped it against the end of the barrel of my Huben. Worked perfectly! So, I guess ignore the directions that say do not let chrono touch barrel. I ran around 100 shots, with no problems. Only funny thing I noticed, is that with the audio turned on, the Girl in the box can not say anything over 999 fps. Over that, it will show on my Android phone, but no voice. I'm not so interested in accuracy, just mainly using for comparison of different loads, so I assume if stays attached to the barrel in the same spot, it should measure the differences between different pellets/slugs etc.

 

[bandg]

it gets more interesting, so now the famous fx radar unit that was going to change everything and make our work easier “but doesn’t work properly” just got a twist. It seems now ya can buy an xtra cradle to put it in that says it “may” help it work better , and if ya don’t happen to have an xtra rubberband with you when the one that’s holding it onto the barrel breaks your back to square one , why not just do a recall and replace everyone’s that isn’t working as advertised, just my opinion but $200 for the fx radar that doesn’t function properly in the first place , and who knows how much $$ for the plastic bracket that may or may not help, ya can just buy a proven caldwell for 1/2 the cost “just sayin”

And you still wouldn't be as portable. Agreed that it should work well as sold and that is an ongoing issue that FX appears to have badly dropped the ball on. But if attaching it under the barrel resolves the consistency issue, many will probably be happy with that. I would. 

And making such a simple mount should be easy. But it shouldn't be necessary.

 

[AEAC]

it’s funny that I find this video, I was all

set to order one tomorrow but after what the few guys at the range went thru with theirs today I started having second thoughts, and now this video. Hmm. I guess I will also stick with my caldwell I watched 3 guys today each with their new fx chrono and each one gave substantially different reading on each other’s guns example guy 1 with his gun and his own chrony average 880fps now same guy same gun but using guy#2’s fx chrony it averaged 957fps anyways they each played the swapping game and the numbers just were making no sense, long story short I have lost any type of interest in this unit. After all it’s only a rebranded airsoft chrony that they doubled the price on when they stamped it “FX” Just my two cents seen first hand

Hi Vinny,

I'm privy to some information on your statement of the FX crony being,

"only a rebranded airsoft chrony."

I might encourage ya to inquire rather than take uninformed position in front of your peers. I'd like to believe we're all here to learn from one another, not spread uncorroborated conjecture. From the beginning, the challenge with the airsoft version was its underpowered radar. FX went through great trouble & expense to significantly upgrade the power of this internal piece of hardware, as well as other things.

I hope this helps anyone who's come along and read this. 

...I too am in the trenches with you guys learning as I go and will relay info as I acquire it.

Steve

 

[AEAC]

Here is a link to a video I made summarizing my opinion of the new FX Chony. Feel free to disagree!



https://youtu.be/ObWJdGKTqhc

I liked your vid Michael. After having spent a few days with the "baby radar" myself, I found it constructively relatable and want to commend you on your professional, analytical approach to relaying us information. I feel like a lot of us here AGN are forgetting that we're in this together... not to take away form the frustration, I get it. I was sorry to hear of your wanting to return it though. I might encourage ya to hang in there and see how things play out. 

The reality of the situation is that there are much needed firmware and app software upgrades coming soon. Right now, these are being delayed by holiday in other parts of the world.

Hang in there and I hope this helps.

Steve

 

[AEAC]

Stoti- what phone or tablet are you using? I’m using an iPhone 7plus. The FX reads 2% lower than the Caldwell from 370fps to 790fps. Is there a difference in accuracy between apple and android apps?

iPhone X. 

I used my Radar again this morning with a different .25 caliber gun. Set it up in the same place as with my Impact, a couple inches below the moderator and a couple inches back from the muzzle and it worked flawlessly again. I didn't measure it against my Caldwell, no need, I'm past that. Whether it works well because I know where to place it or because I'm shooting a .25 cal, I don't know. But for me, it works and I'm very happy with it.

Stoti

This is encouraging to read as I'm told by FX that IOS is much further along than Android at this time in regards to the radar's performance. 

Steve

 

[cootertwo]

Well, for us android users, it ain't as plug and play as most of the advertised videos claim and show. At least mine ain't. Taped to the bottom of my barrel, it works sorta OK. Firmware updates would be nice, like keeping more than only the last 10 shots. etc. etc. And I assume any updates will only be to the program. No way to update the unit itself. Also wondering if the little angled piece of plastic on the bottom is where it receives the radar signal back? If so, that could account for it's rather sensitivity to alignment. Just thinking out loud. Mine when taped to the bottom of my barrel will work good enough for me to compare fps of different loads, so I'm not as concerned with it's accuracy of fps, just the differential. 

 

[AEAC]

Check out you tube for the Lab Radar. I saw a video the other day where a guy couldn't get his Lab Radar to work reliably, almost like the FX.







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vz8n__s8HM&t=2093s

The key to getting Labradar to work properly is microphone placement. It will work flawlessly with even our most docile airguns if:

... you place the radar trigger microphone 8-10" out in front of the muzzle and offset it just an inch or two. The reason for this is pressure wave pulse dispersion. In an airgun (especially a moderated one) the wave comes out like a garden hose set to "jet" and doesn't fan out fast enough to register and trigger the radar. 

Do as I suggest and it should work perfectly for ya with any airgun of any power... springers included. Does for me and I had LOTS of struggles with this until I figured things out.

Steve

 

[Michael]

For public record this is the note I sent to Vinny:

Hi Vinny, some of your replies have been brought to my attention

• "Hype on hype" insinuates a pattern of false hope, when in actuality FX has shown a pattern of delivering high performance products to market. This is slander & uncorroborated conjecture.
• There's nothing wrong with sharing your disappointment, but "Might as well use a stopwatch" is also slanderous and intended only to cut.
• Regarding Palm Beach Airguns return policy, "Seems like a good place to stay away from, Obviously trying to get one over on the customers". This is slanderous & unfounded. You couldn't even begin to understand their business model & what it takes to make it work. On a personal note, I feel you owe them a public apology. They are good people.

I gather that you mean well, but several of your replies have been flagged by members of the community for violating 1 or more of our Laws. Please consider this a friendly warning. You're welcome to continue contributing to the AGN Forum, but it’s important that you keep your posts constructive. We don't want to lose you as a member, but if you can't keep your posts tactful, we’ll have no choice but to revoke your privileges.

-Michael

 

[AEAC]

Well, for us android users, it ain't as plug and play as most of the advertised videos claim and show. At least mine ain't. Taped to the bottom of my barrel, it works sorta OK. Firmware updates would be nice, like keeping more than only the last 10 shots. etc. etc. And I assume any updates will only be to the program. No way to update the unit itself. Also wondering if the little angled piece of plastic on the bottom is where it receives the radar signal back? If so, that could account for it's rather sensitivity to alignment. Just thinking out loud. Mine when taped to the bottom of my barrel will work good enough for me to compare fps of different loads, so I'm not as concerned with it's accuracy of fps, just the differential. 

I respectfully disagree on your statement of:

"no way to update the unit itself"

DJI makes firmware updates to my drone all the time via the App. It's pretty simple tech... as soon as the App updates, the firmware is loaded. Upon connecting to the drone, the App updates the drones firmware automatically. Pretty neat stuff and I imagine easy for FX to do as well.

Steve

 

[MiniMe]

Some chronographs may need to be re-calibrated

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hl147H660c

 

[fe7565]

As I posted it previously in another thread here the FX radar is not a rebranded Dr. Chrono (Carbon chrono) for $119. The Dr. Chrono wasn’t built to be able to detect velocities over 530fps. I suspect this was a hardware design limitation and not a firmware one. In order to get accurate reading the radar signal processing has to be designed to work within a more narrow velocity range. The Dr. Chrono probably did not have the bandwidth to read velocities between 100-1,300fps. The single bandwidth envelope 100-530fps had to be replaced with several bandwidth envelopes 100-500fps, 300-700fps, 500-1,300fps in order to emit and process the signal reliably. I am sure that with a better hardware design this could have been done under a single bandwidth, maybe use higher frequency like 20ghz. It looks like the FX is 10ghz based on the larger antenna size. 

I had the Dr Chrono and it was very stable and seem to have had a wider cone of detection. Somehow, the FX radar may have had an antenna change or signal power change that affected the cone. But rhis is just speculation on my part, no way to measure it myself. 

As far as upgrades, I see only over the air Bluetooth LE as the only user-upgrade option. There is a port inside of the unit, but the covers have to be taken off and requires custom pin header connection. 

 

[Orchidman]

Couldn't be happier with mine. I use it strapped to the barrel using viperjoe's method. In that position it has not skipped a beat. Working perfectly in agreement with the Caldwell. The downside with this mounting system is a slight consistent poi drop. The major upside it the set up time, under a minute.

 

[bandg]

Couldn't be happier with mine. I use it strapped to the barrel using viperjoe's method. In that position it has not skipped a beat. Working perfectly in agreement with the Caldwell. The downside with this mounting system is a slight consistent poi drop. The major upside it the set up time, under a minute.

Seems this might be the solution to the issue others have noted about inconsistency. Still would have to deal with slight POI change when shooting and that isn't ideal for everyone but maybe it will make it workable for more people. I will probably try one even though I'd prefer no POI issue.

 

[fe7565]

No POI shift.