Chronographs, any suggestions???

[Stayhuge]

Hi everyone. Anyone have a suggestion about Chronograph? I was looking at the Shooting Chrony, F1. Anyone use one? One of my buddies bought a PMI handheld one, and it hasn't been working too well, so I was thinking about picking up a legit one. Open to all suggestions. Thanks guys

[Turbo Chicken]

good post ... this is something i was looking into getting for this season ...

I seem to be playing more "backyard" games and dislike it when there isn't a crono and know certain players are shooting hot .... or even when i see my opposing team shooting too slow ... it's just no fun ...

sooo i'll be watching this thread unfold...

this is one of those things i feel i shouldn't skimp on price ... but at the same time those red crono's are flipping expensive..

========================
i'm searching warpig for crono "reviews" if you will ... they usually have pretty good informative stuff ... but i'm empty handed right now.

[tymcneer]

I have an old Shooting Chrono. It has always worked for me, even after a LOT of abuse! The only real "problem" with it is you must NOT use it under flourescent(sp?) lights as they mess things up really badly! I put a piece of 1/4" Lexan in front of the LCD display, to keep idiots from blowing the display out. That is about the only modification it needs.

The red "Paintball Radar" units are in use at most of the fields we play, and they seem to work very well. They are also very hard to damage, based on the rough handling I've seen them endure.

Ty

[Turbo Chicken]

Ta Da

Warpig strikes again ...

http://www.warpig.com/paintball/technical/radarchron/index.shtml

^i always thought these were optical ... but they are infact "radar" crono's ... and got a decent write up...

i believe these are around 60-80.00 now ... and the fact that they are accurate within -+2FPS ... i say this is your best bet ...

see what you made me did ... i had to go do research today...

====

super unproductive day at work today :D

====
http://sporting-goods.search.ebay.com/chronograph_Paintball_W0QQfromZR34QQsacatZ16045
all over ebay ... prolly get one for 50.00 if you snipe one

[FiXeL]

Handhelds suck. Get a big red chrono, it can take alot of abuse and make a notice on it that whoever shoots paint on it, is the one that cleans it up. At our field we first only had a arrow chrono (the one with the two antennas) and that thing was pretty much either not functioning, or the 9V battery died. With the big red we had no problems at all and one whole season on just one battery.

And the best thing it beeps whenever somebody is shooting hot. :banana:

[Stayhuge]

Yea, I've been looking online all day at work too, very unproductive, oh well. Safety First!!!

[Stayhuge]

How much are those big red ones, and what type of batteries does it take? thanks

[FiXeL]

Not sure what US prices are for those, since i am living in the netherlands. I've bought the one for our club second hand for 1/3 of the retail price. It runs on those big camping 6V batteries.

[tymcneer]

You could consider something like this...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Competition-Electronics-PROCHRONO-PAINTBALL-CHRONOGRAPH_W0QQitemZ250204674231QQihZ015QQcategor yZ10554QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQtrksidZp1638.m118. l1247QQcmdZViewItem

But, I have no experience with this model. Caveat Emptor

Ty

[FiXeL]

You could consider something like this...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Competition-Electronics-PROCHRONO-PAINTBALL-CHRONOGRAPH_W0QQitemZ250204674231QQihZ015QQcategor yZ10554QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQtrksidZp1638.m118. l1247QQcmdZViewItem

But, I have no experience with this model. Caveat Emptor

Ty

We had something like this at our field before the red chrono... It sucked. Either batteries are dead or half of the shots don't register. These are for bow shooting.

[tymcneer]

Good... I can strike that off my list of useful chronos...

Thanks FiXeL!

Ty

[Stayhuge]

Fixel, do you know the brand of the chrono you are using?

[Turbo Chicken]

can you tell us Why? the handheld one's suck ... what your expierence with them were and how you came to that conclustion...

i don't doubt that the red ones are worthy ... but i don't think the average baller can afford one ... then again it depends on the application ... you it seems are a member of a club where lots of people use it ...

I want one for tunnig my pumps :glare:

I've used them before at the renegade games and they seemed to work fine ..

and if i'm not mistaken the big red ones are like 200.00 bucks ... i'm looking right now though

====
i just read my post i sound like i'm being an *** ... i didn't mean to come off that way ... just wanted some clarification is all.

[Stayhuge]

No worries!! usually we only have about 10 people play, and once we tune our guns the first time I bring this chrony out, we really will only need it for new players, and to check ourselves real quickly before we play each time. We only play about once or twice a month, and once summer hits, we will be playing at the fields, due to more people roaming the woods where we play. I also need something that is easy to carry along with us.

[Turbo Chicken]

stayhuge ... i meant for fixel ... should have quote him i guess

you can't just say "handhelds suck" (i mean you can it its the internets) but not giving a reason why it really doesn't have much merit.

and the big red chrono's are 300.00 ... goggle "paintball chronograph" and click the google shopping link ... it'll be on the top ...

may have to get the other 10 to pitch in 20 bucks or so to get one ...

big crono is easier to use therefore a little faster ... and it's harder to hide shooting hot ... and i'll even give it durability those are the only + i see over a handheld ... for almost 250.00 dollars less ... i'll sacrifice that for something that gets the job done ...

[Sn toter]

I've been using the radarchron that TurboChicken linked to for about 7 years and it has been a huge help. It is very accurate, the size is convenient, and it's never not-worked. I can't speak for other hand helds but this one is the bomb and I'd recomend it to anyone. Its not that expensive anymore and sure beats lugging around big red.

[FiXeL]

I should have explained why, but my expierence with the handheld ones is that they are off by about 10-20 FPS. If i chrono with a handheld, and then chrono on a big red i see a huge difference. The big red's may be expensive, but they are accurate. If you play with a group, you can share the cost. I've bought one for the club i play in because i could get it for cheap. And the club bought it from me. It was a big leap in safety compared to the old chrono we previously used. I didn't care about the cost, since it improves safety, but they wanted to buy it from me for the club so i've did some good.

To be honest, i'm not 100% sure if these big red chrono's are as acurate as they say they are, but what i know is that most of the fields i've played at use these instead of those hand chronoes. Millenium series uses them, and i've seen these hand chronoes deviate from what i previously chronoed at at a big red a moment ago. (german biggame, getting checked nazi style every 15 minutes by a ref)

[Sn toter]

I should have explained why, but my expierence with the handheld ones is that they are off by about 10-20 FPS.

What models did you use? I have found my radarchron to be accurate within 3-4 fps. I know my buddy picked a generic one recently for $40 that reads off by 10 -15 fps though so I guess you get what you pay for with handhelds.

[FiXeL]

http://www.paintballsupplies.nl/images/HandGrono%20Geel.jpg

These are very common around here... IMHO not very accurate.

[Stayhuge]

That's what my buddy picked up second hand, and it sucked

[tymcneer]

Just so people know... The original design of this chrono was for baseball pitch speed. I don't know too many people that can throw over 100 MPH (~150fps) The company says it "just rewrote the software" to make it capabale of dealing with paintballs. I think that the hardware might be at its outside limit, hence the inaccurate readings. Just my :twocents:

Ty

[Stayhuge]

Just so people know... The original design of this chrono was for baseball pitch speed. I don't know too many people that can throw over 100 MPH (~150fps) The company says it "just rewrote the software" to make it capabale of dealing with paintballs. I think that the hardware might be at its outside limit, hence the inaccurate readings. Just my :twocents:

Ty

good point

[Stayhuge]

Is this the red one that FiXel is referring to: http://www.ozarksportsworld.com/storefrontprofiles/processfeed.aspx?sfid=144843&i=233064275&mpid=10215&dfid=1

[Turbo Chicken]

wonder if i can get stuff from radioshack and make one?

bet i could make something that measures kinetic energy ... the energy of the paintball hitting something ...

i'd just have to figure out how many feet a ball keeps "260FPS" and always shoot at that range ...

[Stayhuge]

wonder if i can get stuff from radioshack and make one?

I wonder how accurate that would be??:rolleyes:

[tymcneer]

There is another thread I started... I am looking for someone with an electronics clue to help me out on a chronograph project. I have the ability to write the software, but the hardware eludes me. Look here (http://www.pblegion.com/showthread.php?t=1366) for more details.

The biggest downside would be the need for a computer running windows 98SE or XP... It might even work on Vista, but I'm not going to bet on it.

The accuracy is based on exact measurement of the distance between two points for mounting the sensors. The math part is no real problem, and the computer timer is accurate down to 10,000ths of a second. you only need to be accurate down to .003 second to get an accurate reading at 300 fps. I will post more a little later... it's quitting time, and I have a 2 hour drive home :(

Ty

[Mann]

http://www.paintballsupplies.nl/images/HandGrono%20Geel.jpg

These are very common around here... IMHO not very accurate.

ive got two of those. They arent that bad. I use my red paintball radar 99% of the time (basicly because it cost a few hundred more than those little yellow ones), but none the less they work great for the price. I shot ~100 balls accross both chronographs, and the difference is minimal.

[Moose]

I, My team, and my Sponsor all used to use the yellow radars, but we have mostly switched the X-radar (http://www.pbreview.com/products/reviews/4680/) with great success. good repetability and consistancy between units. Our refs use them almost exclusively.


I used to use a yellow thing, but its a bit of a pain to reset after each shot..

[Stayhuge]

Mann, have you had any experience with the Shooting Chrony, the one with the metal rods that forms an arc over the Chronograph?

[Turbo Chicken]

There is another thread I started... I am looking for someone with an electronics clue to help me out on a chronograph project. I have the ability to write the software, but the hardware eludes me. Look here (http://www.pblegion.com/showthread.php?t=1366) for more details.

The biggest downside would be the need for a computer running windows 98SE or XP... It might even work on Vista, but I'm not going to bet on it.

The accuracy is based on exact measurement of the distance between two points for mounting the sensors. The math part is no real problem, and the computer timer is accurate down to 10,000ths of a second. you only need to be accurate down to .003 second to get an accurate reading at 300 fps. I will post more a little later... it's quitting time, and I have a 2 hour drive home :(

Ty

Sounds like an optical crono ... but attached to a pc ... and you can do cool things with it ...

now hook up markers to it and have the pc activate the board ... i'm sure a pc can do that rather quickly ...

then you can see if every trigger pull actually shoots a ball to test loaders ...

[Moose]

Mann, have you had any experience with the Shooting Chrony, the one with the metal rods that forms an arc over the Chronograph?

I have, I personally dont like it, Too many nubes shooting it because the can't hold the marker properly. Flouresent(?) lights mess with them also..

But mostly just people shooting it in the eyes.. They work, but...

[Stayhuge]

Yea, myself and two other people who all know what we are doing would be the only ones using it. I just figured, for $90 and the compact size, it might actually make a pretty good chrono. Do you know if they mount to a "Camera" tripod? It says that they mount to a tripod.

[MeÐiC]

Mann, have you had any experience with the Shooting Chrony, the one with the metal rods that forms an arc over the Chronograph?

I've used the F1 (green one) for a couple of years. It's held up nice to some abuse. Just change the battery every year and its good to go. It's more consistant than my yellow handheld. The F1 can mount to a standard camera tripod which is very useful.

[tymcneer]

Sounds like an optical crono ... but attached to a pc ... and you can do cool things with it ...

now hook up markers to it and have the pc activate the board ... i'm sure a pc can do that rather quickly ...

then you can see if every trigger pull actually shoots a ball to test loaders ...

Exactly! It's a cheap version of a PACT timer. The good news is that since the program is just collecting data for later analysis, the collection routine is very fast. The big catch is finding someone with enough electronics experience to help me out with the circuit.

Ty

[bryceeden]

I've used about every chrono in existance at my tourneys. The X-radar handheld is by far the best and easiest to use. It also does FPS and BPS. Its the way to go.
http://shopping.netsuite.com/core/media/media.nl?id=3226&c=312007&h=d668201b1d895f133080

[Cold Steel]

At CFOA events, we use the chronographs seen at this link. http://www.paintballradar.com/

These units give you feet per second and balls per second. They work well for our applications. Not sure on the retail costs though. The guy at PaintballRadar.com is named Al. Al can tell you all about the difference between these units and the big red radars. I don't remember the specifics but I seem to recall the big red radars employ a different kind of radar than the handheld units. One of them uses doppler radar, the other, another kind of radar I can't recall. Sorry to be vague, but I can tell you Al has a nice product and has done a great job of standing behind it.

CS

[Stayhuge]

Thanks, any input is helpful.

[Stayhuge]

OK, so I know this thread is a little old, but I just had a chance to use the Shooting Chrony that I bought about a month ago. It was great. Not too bad to set up. Only took like 3 mins to set up, the only thing that you have to be careful about is when you shoot. You just have to make sure that no one screws around and shoots the thing, because the internals are exposed. Other than that, I thought it was great. Very compact and light weight. I even bought a used Camera Tripod for $20 off Ebay, and the thing mounted right on it (Came in handy since we play in the middle of the woods) Thanks everyone for your imput and suggestions. :cheers:

[Gee Tee]

My team bought a red radar chronograph about 10 years ago, and it got plenty of use (abuse) at training sessions. One of the guys was also running a site for a while, and it came in handy for setting rental guns. It's still going strong today so must be a really robust design, and good on batteries too with a pair of 6V lantern batteries lasting more than 2 years.

Later ones have a ROF (BPS) counter too - ours just does FPS

http://www.hustlepaintball.com/product-p/21530301.htm

It looks like this one is it's modern replacement?

http://www.firstcallpaintball.com/pages-productinfo/product-9489/custom-chrono-field-radar-chronograph.html

[DevilMan]

StayHuge... which one did you get??? The Yellow?? or the White one??? :D

and it mounts to a camera tripod??? If that's the case then I'll be getting one as I've got one of those spider mounts for the camera. Would come in handy for that me thinks.

DM

[Stayhuge]

Hi DevilMan, this is the one that I bought: http://cgi.ebay.com/SHOOTING-CHRONY-F1-Chronograph-Bullets-Paintballs-NIB_W0QQitemZ200200776736QQihZ010QQcategoryZ36258Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It is the Green one. I believe that they come in other colors too. Works great, but you just have to be careful because the electronics are exposed. Folds up nice and small for transporting. I believe that someone had suggested to put a piece of plexi glass over the electronics area. I might try that. Other than that, this thing is great. Oh, and yea, it mounts to a camera tripod.