What happened to oehler selling to the public? I wanted to buy a 35p but on their site they say they are not selling to the public.

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Originally posted by 1640:
What happened to oehler selling to the public?

They stopped a few years ago. Now concentrate on industrial chronographs only.

Thankfully they still service my 35 and 43PBL.

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They stopped a few years ago. Now concentrate on industrial chronographs only.

I was watching a feature on The Weather Channel on Saturday that was on hurricane-proofing residences and buildings. One of the classic tests is shooting an 8-foot 2x4 stud lengthwise into a wall at various velocities to test the wall's ability to withstand penetration. The testers were shooting the 2x4'a through what was clearly a set of three Oehler Skyscreens (proof model). I have never used the third screen because the Oehler is so dependable that I find it unnecessary.

Since I can't get the 35 I bought the Infrade screens for my Pact. I hope that works better then the old ones. I tryed to get Oehler to make them again but they said they couldn't get enough good help to keep up with orders so that is why they scaled back production.

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Originally posted by 1640:
Since I can't get the 35 I bought the Infrade screens for my Pact. I hope that works better then the old ones. I tryed to get Oehler to make them again but they said they couldn't get enough good help to keep up with orders so that is why they scaled back production.

From the horses mouth.

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We tried to carefully choose the quoted words from our website. Production of the Model 35 has been discontinued because we cannot get enough Epson print mechanisms. Production and sales of the Model 43 and industrial equipment continues.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/...rch=true#Post1100145

I wish Oehler would produce his chrono once more they were the Gold Standard while available.

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Originally posted by Ol` Joe:
...From the horses mouth.

We tried to carefully choose the quoted words from our website. Production of the Model 35 has been discontinued because we cannot get enough Epson print mechanisms. Production and sales of the Model 43 and industrial equipment continues.

It seems to me if they wanted to sell more, they would simply design the Printer back out of the system. They worked great for many years without a printer.

I'll guess there is more thought involved in this "Business" decision than most folks are aware of.

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Originally posted by Hot Core:

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Originally posted by Ol` Joe:
...From the horses mouth.

We tried to carefully choose the quoted words from our website. Production of the Model 35 has been discontinued because we cannot get enough Epson print mechanisms. Production and sales of the Model 43 and industrial equipment continues.

It seems to me if they wanted to sell more, they would simply design the Printer back out of the system. They worked great for many years without a printer.

I'll guess there is more thought involved in this "Business" decision than most folks are aware of.

I agree. I bought one a year or so before they stopped selling them. Yopu can still get parts & they'll service but unfortunate, as I think they have the best screans on the market. I really have little use for the printer, I bought a M35, & it would reduce the price. I think Chrony sells to many of the casual reloaders. My buddy bought one & is so unhappy w/ the Chrony, he is dying to find an Oehler.

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Originally posted by Hot Core:

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Originally posted by Ol` Joe:
...From the horses mouth.

We tried to carefully choose the quoted words from our website. Production of the Model 35 has been discontinued because we cannot get enough Epson print mechanisms. Production and sales of the Model 43 and industrial equipment continues.

It seems to me if they wanted to sell more, they would simply design the Printer back out of the system. They worked great for many years without a printer.

I'll guess there is more thought involved in this "Business" decision than most folks are aware of.

Yes, there must be. I really don't get all the fuss though, Chronographs are not nostalgic items to me, although tools, not quite like having your dads rasp or manual drill, chisels or the like---Pacts professional was my preference when I bought it and Oehlers were still available, it is simple, works in all conditions for me, and gives accurate readings, verified by some govt. ridiculous expensive stuff I was lucky enough to have access to.

Lot's of printers out there if you needed one as a MFG.

I have a PACT, but it was 75% at best in capturing shots. It's the main reason I bought the Oehler. If it misses 1% of the shots, that's a lot.

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Originally posted by fredj338:
I agree. I bought one a year or so before they stopped selling them. Yopu can still get parts & they'll service but unfortunate, as I think they have the best screans on the market. I really have little use for the printer, I bought a M35, & it would reduce the price. I think Chrony sells to many of the casual reloaders. My buddy bought one & is so unhappy w/ the Chrony, he is dying to find an Oehler.

My sentiments to a tee. Once I clicked off the printer switch and built a power supply I had all I wanted or needed. roger

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Originally posted by 1640:
...they said they couldn't get enough good help to keep up with orders so that is why they scaled back production.

The 'they' I spoke to was Dr. Ken Oehler himself. (He answers his own phone!) He told me the same thing--couldn't get qualified help so they stopped the hobby production. The remainder of his staff...James and Clovis...have been with the company for decades and still make the industrial chronographs.

I don't know for sure, but Oehler's skyscreens are patent protected, and really are the heart and soul of any chronograph. Perhaps that's why they are better at detecting small, ultra fast moving projectiles where other brands show, ERROR.

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Originally posted by onefunzr2:
...The 'they' I spoke to was Dr. Ken Oehler himself. (He answers his own phone!) He told me the same thing--couldn't get qualified help so they stopped the hobby production. ...

Hey Dave, Rumor has it that there are 4.5-10Million folks out of work. I wonder what is so tricky about assemblying the Oehler Chronograph that none of the out of work Electronics Assembly people in Texas are qualified to put them together??? If it wasn't Dr. Oehler saying it, I'd be very tempted to raise the flag.

I would "guess" that if they reentered the "Keep-Dumping-in-Powder until you see the Velocity you think is OK" segment of the Chronograph Market, that Dr. Oehler could easily charge 50-75% more than the competition and dominate 40-60% of that entire market.

I do not disbelieve that you heard what you said. But I still think there is more to this Business Decision than a lack of Electronics Assembly folks.

Do you all think that is all there is to it?

My translation of Dr. Oehler's comments: "I'm now well into my 60's and I don't want to mess with overseeing a lot of employees to build a product that now has lots of competition on the market and has an ever-narrowing profit margin. Instead, I can build a handful of machines for the military and commercial markets and make a great profit margin off of them, and there's very little competition for their business. But I like shooting and serious shooters, so I'm going to continue to support all of the consumer chrongraphs I've sold through the years."

I know that Ken posts here sometimes. He seems a truly nice guy (although the only time I've ever met him was when I was a college student around 1970 and went to his home (then in Pflugerville) to buy a Model 10 from him. If he wants to correct my interpretation, he can certainly do so. Meanwhile, I'm doubly proud that I upgraded to a Model 35 several years ago. By the way, the good old Model 10 with its never-fail paper screens still works as well and accurately (though slowly) as the day we bought it.

I've had my M33 since about 1980/81 and still love it. Dr O sent me his last known bracket's a few years back just incase I either shoot one or I accidentall snap one of the mounting wings off. I do have two extra set of screens just in case though. Hope it all lasts me well into my 80's and i'm only 50.

Alan

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My translation of Dr. Oehler's comments: "I'm now well into my 60's and I don't want to ....

Makes sense to me! Now I have a different idea for a chronogragh - it's a laptop with sound recording software and a string of microphones set at strategic distances apart. One then only needs to analyse the 'spikes' in the recording to produce velocity and BC for that bullet - which is software do-able. Mmmmm......

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Originally posted by 303Guy:
Now I have a different idea for a chronogragh - it's a laptop with sound recording software and a string of microphones set at strategic distances apart. One then only needs to analyse the 'spikes' in the recording to produce velocity and BC for that bullet - which is software do-able. Mmmmm......

Might work. My 43 PBL's acoustic target uses 3 microphones to triangulate hits on target. But max resolution is 0.1". I doubt a microphone could start, and then stop, a timer which breaks each second into 4 million parts to give anything more than 'ball park' speed...like plus or minus 100fps. I wouldn't call that accurate enough.

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I wouldn't call that accurate enough.

I did try a microphone 'screen' once and it did work (but at sub-sonic velocity it only measure the speed of sound). Another difficulty is the distance of the bullet from the microphones. What I am thinking of is is wider spaced microphones.

Hmmm? Oehler's system is just the opposite...projectile must be faster than the speed of sound so the mic can catch the mach cone sonic boom.

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Originally posted by onefunzr2:
Hmmm? Oehler's system is just the opposite...projectile must be faster than the speed of sound so the mic can catch the mach cone sonic boom.

Perhaps I'm misreading this???
My Oehler can measure the speed of a BB from my Red Ryder and arrows to boot. roger

The Oehler is opposite to a microphone system. The microphone 'screen' needs a supersonic mach cone. At subsonic velocities the microphone only pics up the muzzle blast. To measure a su-sonic bullet (suppressed), I mounted the mics on paper screens but the second mic picked up the noise from the first screen. Thinking about it, it woudn't be too difficult to set up a series of sky-screens and use them instead of microphones - they would produce a much cleaner pulse with no muzzle blast and reflected sounds so the signal would be dead easy to analyse.

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303 guy Thinking about it, it woudn't be too difficult to set up a series of sky-screens and use them instead of microphones - they would produce a much cleaner pulse with no muzzle blast and reflected sounds so the signal would be dead easy to analyse.

I'm confused. Are we reinventing the wheel here? It's a warm Saturday after noon and my first drink has not kicked in I guess! roger

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I'm confused. Are we reinventing the wheel here?

Ummm... actually... yes! It's all for fun! Just something to play around with.

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Originally posted by bartsche:
I'm confused. Are we reinventing the wheel here?

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It's a warm Saturday after noon and my first drink has not kicked in I guess!

I'm perfectly happy with my models 35 and 43. 303guy is reinventing the chronograph using mics instead of photo detectors.

If you could clear your beer goggles for a moment, you'd notice I was answering 303 guy with an analogy about my 43PBL's ACOUSTIC TARGET which uses 3 microphones to pinpoint my shots, sending them to the laptop computer it's hooked to. Perhaps you'd more likely comprehend if I'd have used HotCore's hot button word, 'thingy.' Cause the 43 is 3 thingys rolled into one: a chronograph, a strain gauge chamber pressure meter and the mach cone catching acoustic target.

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Originally posted by onefunzr2:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by bartsche:
If you could clear your beer goggles for a moment, Perhaps you'd more likely comprehend if I'd have used HotCore's hot button word, 'thingy.' .

Thingy sounds about right for this brontosaurus. roger

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Originally posted by 1640:
What happened to oehler selling to the public? I wanted to buy a 35p but on their site they say they are not selling to the public.

Perhaps they could not compete with the cheapies, like the Chrony??

I once saw a chronograph at a gunshop in Colorado Springs that used microphones as triggers instead of photo screens. It worked quite well......

Now what other chronograph would you guys buy? I've had 2 pacts, the last one I just smashed sunday shooting. I got tired of it not working and couldn't take it any more. I had an old model and it was ok but the new one was a pos from day one.