FX Radar Chronograph Barrel Mounting Proof of Concept

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mmahoney

mmahoney

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Feb 20, 2017
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Wyoming, United States
 



Following is a video showing the proof of concept of hanging the FX Radar Chronograph off the end of an airgun barrel to get accurate readings. I previously made a video where I showed that the placement of the chronograph is very finicky. Very slight changes in barrel alignment result in untrustworthy readings or missed readings altogether.

Copying an idea by Steve Allen of Airgunology, I made a bracket out of cardboard to hang the chrony on my barrel. I am pleased to say that doing so solved all my issues. The unit is now consistent, easier to set up, and no longer misses readings! The readings are now reliable as long as whatever you use to hold the chony keeps it from wobbling or sliding around as the barrel moves.

Using my trusty Caldwell Chrony, I tuned my Taipan Veteran Long to shoot a variety of different mass pellets at 900 fps. In this video I retest the tune of the gun using the FX chrony and get stellar results. Check it out.

https://youtu.be/XFwZnfji7N8
 




Following is a video showing the proof of concept of hanging the FX Radar Chronograph off the end of an airgun barrel to get accurate readings. I previously made a video where I showed that the placement of the chronograph is very finicky. Very slight changes in barrel alignment result in untrustworthy readings or missed readings altogether.

Copying an idea by Steve Allen of Airgunology, I made a bracket out of cardboard to hang the chrony on my barrel. I am pleased to say that doing so solved all my issues. The unit is now consistent, easier to set up, and no longer misses readings! The readings are now reliable as long as whatever you use to hold the chony keeps it from wobbling or sliding around as the barrel moves.

Using my trusty Caldwell Chrony, I tuned my Taipan Veteran Long to shoot a variety of different mass pellets at 900 fps. In this video I retest the tune of the gun using the FX chrony and get stellar results. Check it out.



https://youtu.be/XFwZnfji7N8

Click to expand...

Glad to see you are still testing the FX unit. Considering what you had identified with your initial testing of this unit (and it was very well done IMO), my question at this point would be does the ideal position change from gun to gun or condition to condition. In other words, would a person need a good regular chronograph to use to verify WHERE to put the FX unit or can you reliably say something like 2" below and 4" behind muzzle for all guns? I can see how mounting it on the barrel could make it read more consistently but are you now fully confident that simply mounting it on the barrel in the area as shown will make it both consistent AND accurate across multiple guns? 
 
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@bandg

I've sold all my other airguns so I can't determine if the ideal position changes from gun to gun or not. However, moving the chronograph forward or back along the barrel doesn't seem to make any difference on my gun. I'm not fully confident that mounting it on a different airgun will give the exact same results, but I can't imagine why it wouldn't. I still think that a good regular chronograph is a good idea to have as well. Yesterday, I was shooting some old copper covered H&N pellets through the FX chronograph and the readings were random. I thought to myself "Uh Oh, the problem is back" so I changed to my standard chrony only to have it verify that the pellets were indeed leaving my barrel at random velocities. I don't fully trust the FX Chony quite yet and like to have the ability to verify it's data with another source.

Bottomline: If the FX continues to perform like it has for the past few days since I've started hanging it on my barrel, it will earn my trust quickly. I've already put a package of extra batteries in my range bag for it. It goes through batteries quicker than I expected. I'm currently on my 3rd set of batteries with it. Rechargables are likely in my future.
 
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I have always been happy with my FX radar and haven't had any of the issues others have talked about. However, as I stated in response to the original post, I always positioned my radar about 2-3 inches below the barrel and about 3-4 inches behind the muzzle. I think I got lucky with the initial positioning and found the sweet spot right off the bat so I never had to mess with it. I was also pretty careful not to move the gun around a lot, just like I would when shooting through a Caldwell or anytime I'm shooting prone or off a bench. I think the positioning is and always has been, the key and why I've never had problems with mine.

To answer the above question, I have shot my FX Impact .25, FX Streamline .25, Brocock Bantam .22 and RAW 1000x .25 with the radar positioned in about the same place with no problems or anomolies at all. I've also heard there are some software updates on the way which will enhance the radar with additional features like ES, SD, average velocity and a record of longer shot strings. Maybe that will help sell some radars to the people who were initially going to buy one but then got scared and bailed out.

Stoti
 
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I got the bracket for the FX Radar from Steve Allen - Airgunology and it is working very well and consistant. 👍

Initially I had problems with getting proper readings without the cradle - ES of 60+ FPS.

1565518980_7387370975d4fec847c57a6.63242767_FX Radar Chrono Cradle.jpg


The cradle mounted on my Daystate Red Wolf .177 HP 😃

1565519047_18351068885d4fecc7cda028.36403661_FX Radar Measurements.jpg


My measurements using JSB Monster 13.43 gr Redesigned pellets. 👍
 
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Besides the POI shift that may result from Steve Allan's cradle mounting approach, does it have any other potential drawback? No risk for the barrel when adding weight to its end?

On Huma-Air.com, they seem to be waiting for an upgraded version in 1st half of October. https://www.huma-air.com/FX-Wireless-Radar-Pocket-Chrono-Chronograph-With-Bluetooth-For-Airguns

Is there any communication from FX? In my opinion, it would make their customers feel "better" if they knew what the FX plans are... Always easier to be patient when you know/understand what's going on.

The above thread stopped on August 11. Has another one started?

Thanks for all the information that you guys have already shared !
 
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Besides the POI shift that may result from Steve Allan's cradle mounting approach, does it have any other potential drawback? No risk for the barrel when adding weight to its end?

On Huma-Air.com, they seem to be waiting for an upgraded version in 1st half of October. https://www.huma-air.com/FX-Wireless-Radar-Pocket-Chrono-Chronograph-With-Bluetooth-For-Airguns

Is there any communication from FX? In my opinion, it would make their customers feel "better" if they knew what the FX plans are... Always easier to be patient when you know/understand what's going on.

The above thread stopped on August 11. Has another one started?

Thanks for all the information that you guys have already shared !
Click to expand...

My DonnyFL Tanto weighs 106 grams and the FX Radar Chronograph including the cradle weighs 213 grams, so not that heavy a deal 👍

The app for the FX Radar was updated and now works a lot better giving you all sorts of readings 😊
 
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Following is a video showing the proof of concept of hanging the FX Radar Chronograph off the end of an airgun barrel to get accurate readings. I previously made a video where I showed that the placement of the chronograph is very finicky. Very slight changes in barrel alignment result in untrustworthy readings or missed readings altogether.

Copying an idea by Steve Allen of Airgunology, I made a bracket out of cardboard to hang the chrony on my barrel. I am pleased to say that doing so solved all my issues. The unit is now consistent, easier to set up, and no longer misses readings! The readings are now reliable as long as whatever you use to hold the chony keeps it from wobbling or sliding around as the barrel moves.

Using my trusty Caldwell Chrony, I tuned my Taipan Veteran Long to shoot a variety of different mass pellets at 900 fps. In this video I retest the tune of the gun using the FX chrony and get stellar results. Check it out.







https://youtu.be/XFwZnfji7N8





Click to expand...

Glad to see you are still testing the FX unit. Considering what you had identified with your initial testing of this unit (and it was very well done IMO), my question at this point would be does the ideal position change from gun to gun or condition to condition. In other words, would a person need a good regular chronograph to use to verify WHERE to put the FX unit or can you reliably say something like 2" below and 4" behind muzzle for all guns? I can see how mounting it on the barrel could make it read more consistently but are you now fully confident that simply mounting it on the barrel in the area as shown will make it both consistent AND accurate across multiple guns?
Click to expand...


The most inconsistency I saw with the placement of the FX chrony is parallelism to the bore and being far below the barrel (5+ inches) which is an issue only with a tripod placement. I have now used the rubber band method for the past 2 weeks and had good results and repeatability. I was also skeptical at first at the accuracy especially when I looked at the returned results statistically. The chrony seemed to create bimodal groups of speed and the speed variance was odd. That all went away when I started to attach the chrony directly to the barrel of my FX Crown Cont.

Also this is my first chrony I have bought for a long time (since 1992) when I still lived oversees, so it wasn't an issue with the investment, but I agree if you already have a working setup putting down 200 doesn't work for everyone. I do have to say though it being this small and it actually being most accurate attached to the barrel it is like a built in chrony that doesn't need a lot of setup.
 
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