Always wanting to "upgrade" my equipment, after using a ChronoPro for years, I purchased from AOA within the last 10 days a LabRadar unit, complete with the short bench tripod and the external airgun microphone. At the same time, I ordered from Amazon an SD card reader and SD cards.
In typical AOA fashion, the order arrived within about a week, perfectly packaged and in good order. The Amazon order had already been in three or four days.
I had already obtained the owner's manual on-line and reviewed it a couple of times, but this unit is complicated enough, I am still referring to it after six or eight hours of use.
The unit is set-up in my basement range, and this was concerning to me as my targets are set-up against an angled 1/4" steel plate backstop approximately 54' down range, with concrete walls about 10' to the left ( actually the vault extends out to within 5' of the shooting lane at one point), with metal duct work and on the left and over, electrical panels immediately behind the shooting bench, and a server rack immediately beside the shooting bench to the left. Reading about issues with possible interference, I thought this might be a failed experiment in the end.
After getting it all set-up, I started with a .22 caliber HW77 springer. I had a few shots fail to record until I moved the microphone closer to the muzzle (within 6") and then all went well after that.
Next, I tried my quietest rifle, an HW100 sporter in .177. The only thing audible on this rifle is the hammer strike. After trying several times with no shots reported, I put it back in the vault about to give up. I then wondered what would happen if I set the microphone on top of the action - it still didn't work. As a final attempt, I remounted and adjusted the microphone to within 1" to 2" of the muzzle - and it worked! It never failed to record another shot. I just have to be certain to not shoot the microphone!
The bluetooth app to my I-phone is rather funky and doesn't work very well. Even though my broadband signal is strong, the signal from the unit seems weak. It won't stay in the constant update mode and has to be reconnected at the end of every series and fails to update with every shot.
The SD card system works great, downloading to Excel the data easily, quickly, and in editable fashion.
I did notice, when compared to recent ChronyPro readings (typically 12" to 18" in front of the muzzle), the initial "0" distance reading appears to be 30 to 40 fps less than registered with the std ChronyPro infrared light system. My only guess is that by the time the shot triggers the LabRadar unit, the reading of the projectile speed is a little further down range.
Not having had more than six or eight hours of experience with it, it does show promise as an improvement to the "standard" chronographs we have used for decades, only in terms of convenient. I am not certain that I gained anything in terms of recording accuracy.
It does look "cool" on my bench, lol.
In typical AOA fashion, the order arrived within about a week, perfectly packaged and in good order. The Amazon order had already been in three or four days.
I had already obtained the owner's manual on-line and reviewed it a couple of times, but this unit is complicated enough, I am still referring to it after six or eight hours of use.
The unit is set-up in my basement range, and this was concerning to me as my targets are set-up against an angled 1/4" steel plate backstop approximately 54' down range, with concrete walls about 10' to the left ( actually the vault extends out to within 5' of the shooting lane at one point), with metal duct work and on the left and over, electrical panels immediately behind the shooting bench, and a server rack immediately beside the shooting bench to the left. Reading about issues with possible interference, I thought this might be a failed experiment in the end.
After getting it all set-up, I started with a .22 caliber HW77 springer. I had a few shots fail to record until I moved the microphone closer to the muzzle (within 6") and then all went well after that.
Next, I tried my quietest rifle, an HW100 sporter in .177. The only thing audible on this rifle is the hammer strike. After trying several times with no shots reported, I put it back in the vault about to give up. I then wondered what would happen if I set the microphone on top of the action - it still didn't work. As a final attempt, I remounted and adjusted the microphone to within 1" to 2" of the muzzle - and it worked! It never failed to record another shot. I just have to be certain to not shoot the microphone!
The bluetooth app to my I-phone is rather funky and doesn't work very well. Even though my broadband signal is strong, the signal from the unit seems weak. It won't stay in the constant update mode and has to be reconnected at the end of every series and fails to update with every shot.
The SD card system works great, downloading to Excel the data easily, quickly, and in editable fashion.
I did notice, when compared to recent ChronyPro readings (typically 12" to 18" in front of the muzzle), the initial "0" distance reading appears to be 30 to 40 fps less than registered with the std ChronyPro infrared light system. My only guess is that by the time the shot triggers the LabRadar unit, the reading of the projectile speed is a little further down range.
Not having had more than six or eight hours of experience with it, it does show promise as an improvement to the "standard" chronographs we have used for decades, only in terms of convenient. I am not certain that I gained anything in terms of recording accuracy.
It does look "cool" on my bench, lol.
