Chrono indoor & close outdoor range use

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little b

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Hey all have what should I would have thought been a semi simple question to answer. How does the Garmin and Athlon preform when used at an indoor range so others at close proximity and it capturing shots from the bay next to you and how close does someone have to be next to you at the outdoor range before that becomes the problem.
I got an Magentospeed before the Garmin came out because while the Labradar is a great unit the doplar has the issue of picking up other peoples shots when close enough and it's way to big for setting up at an indoor range.
As I do use a local indoor range for load development when working on a new load as it's quick and easy to go to the indoor range and get velocity measurements before heading to the outdoor range to work on things from there.
Obviously I live in the city and have to drive 45-60 min for the outdoor range or crown land and can not just just do it off the back 40 as some can.
And while the Magnetospeed by default does not care about what anyone else is doing or how close they may be I have 3D print/made a couple of different versions of a mounting system to get it off the barrel and mounted to the stock so it is still usable when shooting groups and the like.
Obviously both the Garmin and Athlon are a easier set up as just plop it in front of you vs the 2 min it takes to setup the magnetospeed.

Thanks for the input
 
little b said:
Hey all have what should I would have thought been a semi simple question to answer. How does the Garmin and Athlon preform when used at an indoor range so others at close proximity and it capturing shots from the bay next to you and how close does someone have to be next to you at the outdoor range before that becomes the problem.
I got an Magentospeed before the Garmin came out because while the Labradar is a great unit the doplar has the issue of picking up other peoples shots when close enough and it's way to big for setting up at an indoor range.
As I do use a local indoor range for load development when working on a new load as it's quick and easy to go to the indoor range and get velocity measurements before heading to the outdoor range to work on things from there.
Obviously I live in the city and have to drive 45-60 min for the outdoor range or crown land and can not just just do it off the back 40 as some can.
And while the Magnetospeed by default does not care about what anyone else is doing or how close they may be I have 3D print/made a couple of different versions of a mounting system to get it off the barrel and mounted to the stock so it is still usable when shooting groups and the like.
Obviously both the Garmin and Athlon are a easier set up as just plop it in front of you vs the 2 min it takes to setup the magnetospeed.

Thanks for the input
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I have an Athlon Rangecraft chronograph. The bad news is that it sometimes captures shots from a neighboring bay both indoor and outdoor. Despite that my indoor range has metal partitions and my outdoor range has wooden partitions between bays. It does not happen every time but from time to time. I simply delete a bad reading from the string when it comes from my shooting neighbor. But you have to continuously monitor the screen during a shooting session which is a bit annoying.
I don't know about the Garmin. Never had one.
 
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I remember Paramount Tactical talking about the behaviour of chronographs in close proximity to each other. Gary from Paramount discovered this behaviour accidentally when he was testing a couple Garmins, a Rangecraft, a Labradar, and something else at the same time. He was looking for output variance between the models.

The video below is from that conversation, which included a technician from Athlon:


Just some interesting context about this technology. Start at the ~10:00 mark.

I remember getting a couple false positives in a string or two when I was at the range last. Once 6.5 PRC shot registered 4100 FPS on my Rangecraft. (Take that, +Peak!) :ROFLMAO:. I was the only one on the range for most of that time, so not a whole lot of interference sources that I was aware of. Maybe chrono tech is fairly sensitive across the board?
 
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jimbo14 said:
Stay away from the main range walls if you can. They can cause issues.
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Interesting! I have to try that the next time I'm at the range. That might explain some of the false positives I was getting with my Rangecraft. I was shooting in a lane right next to the range wall at the end of the line.

Thx
 
thirdeye462 said:
Interesting! I have to try that the next time I'm at the range. That might explain some of the false positives I was getting with my Rangecraft. I was shooting in a lane right next to the range wall at the end of the line.

Thx
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I found that at both indoor and outdoor ranges. At one outdoor range, I was beside a long concrete wall lined with plywood. The wall is about 40 yards long. I was seeing some interesting readings.

Moved a few lanes over, and the anomalies disappeared.
 
little b said:
Hey all have what should I would have thought been a semi simple question to answer. How does the Garmin and Athlon preform when used at an indoor range so others at close proximity and it capturing shots from the bay next to you and how close does someone have to be next to you at the outdoor range before that becomes the problem.
I got an Magentospeed before the Garmin came out because while the Labradar is a great unit the doplar has the issue of picking up other peoples shots when close enough and it's way to big for setting up at an indoor range.
As I do use a local indoor range for load development when working on a new load as it's quick and easy to go to the indoor range and get velocity measurements before heading to the outdoor range to work on things from there.
Obviously I live in the city and have to drive 45-60 min for the outdoor range or crown land and can not just just do it off the back 40 as some can.
And while the Magnetospeed by default does not care about what anyone else is doing or how close they may be I have 3D print/made a couple of different versions of a mounting system to get it off the barrel and mounted to the stock so it is still usable when shooting groups and the like.
Obviously both the Garmin and Athlon are a easier set up as just plop it in front of you vs the 2 min it takes to setup the magnetospeed.

Thanks for the input
Click to expand...
I've used mine at our indoor range, haven't had any problems with it picking up other people's shots. It's a Garmin X1. - dan
 
Took my Garmin to indoor range several times, don't recall it'd pickup others shots. Stayed at least 10 feet away from cement walls but not intentionally.
 
thirdeye462 said:
I remember Paramount Tactical talking about the behaviour of chronographs in close proximity to each other. Gary from Paramount discovered this behaviour accidentally when he was testing a couple Garmins, a Rangecraft, a Labradar, and something else at the same time. He was looking for output variance between the models.

The video below is from that conversation, which included a technician from Athlon:


Just some interesting context about this technology. Start at the ~10:00 mark.

I remember getting a couple false positives in a string or two when I was at the range last. Once 6.5 PRC shot registered 4100 FPS on my Rangecraft. (Take that, +Peak!) :ROFLMAO:. I was the only one on the range for most of that time, so not a whole lot of interference sources that I was aware of. Maybe chrono tech is fairly sensitive across the board?
Click to expand...

Funny, I had that same issue the other day.
It read probably 100 shots between me and a buddy fine on the 300 Wins and 6.5x47, first rip out of my 6.5 PRC was 4100+, then it was normal.
I figured it was off as I was able to open the bolt without a hammer lol.
I moved it a bit to be more out of the muzzle brake blast and it was fine, I think it picked up blast that one shot
 
Hitzy said:
Funny, I had that same issue the other day.
It read probably 100 shots between me and a buddy fine on the 300 Wins and 6.5x47, first rip out of my 6.5 PRC was 4100+, then it was normal.
I figured it was off as I was able to open the bolt without a hammer lol.
I moved it a bit to be more out of the muzzle brake blast and it was fine, I think it picked up blast that one shot
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Yep. I bet muzzle blast is a variable, too!

Yesterday, at the range, I shot in the middle lanes to avoid close proximity to either wall....not one false reading and I shot probably 80 rounds or so.

I think Jimbo14 was spot on getting us to think about other sources of interference: Check if others are using chronos near you, how close you are to walls, and how you've positioned your chrono relative to your muzzle. All seem to have an effect on reliable readings or error rate.

I usually do about 10 inches back from the muzzle tip and 10 inches to the left or the right of the barrel with the chrono screen perpendicular to it. Seems to work so far.
 
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