I am looking at the Chrony and the Competition Electronics Digital.
On the Chrony-what better? Alpha or Beta Master ??
Any feed back on the Electronics Digital ?
I want to measure SD & FPS for the most part.

I hear service on the Chrony is very good.
Does a stand come with these units ??
Any info or suggested recommendations would be helpful.

After 8 jillion years of shooting without one I finally bought a Chrony F1 - couldn't be happier - amazing to pull the trigger and see the velocity stare you in the face - the F1 is the basic model but it gives about all the information I needed - SD, Avg Vel and you can upgrade it to any model or connect a printer if you desire - personally I just log the data in a book I bring to the range - its either that or save printer strips. I have a tripod for my camera which I use to connect the chrony to - works great. It also has a remote hand held control(can't remember if that was an option - think it was) which easily can be operated from the bench and the velocity numbers are easy to read - Think I paid about $75 for the whole thing from Midway. Slick unit and no more guessing about what I think the velocity is. The only problem I ever had was having the unit too close (10 ft) from the muzzle of my 338 WM - muzzle blast scattered the sun screens - thought I shot the thing - but I didn't - just pushed it out another five feet and everthing was fine.

I have a F1 and it is simply great, all I need

I have three Chronys...

Two F-1's and one Gamma Master. The Gamma Master goes 15' from the muzzle, one F-1 goes 1' in front of the target and the other goes half-way between the Gamma Master and the other F-1.

Everything that goes downrange, sooner or later gets shot. You decide how expensive it will be.

F1 = $87.95 + shipping
Housing for Oehler Skyscreen $15.00 + shipping

Gerard; You may be right, but I started out with an F1 many years ago, and upgraded to the Beta about 3 years ago [I also own an Oehler], but the cost initially is so much greater on the Oehler. That being said, I am the only person who has ever shot across my Chronographs, and I have yet to have an accident. Comparing the Oehler with the Chronys has been enlightening, since the variation between them is seldom more than 8-10 FPS, except in very bright sunlight. Regards, Eagleye.

Tacksmacker,
I happen to agree that electronics don't belong in front of a weapon. Some may never put a hole in their Chrony but they do get shot. I have two chronograpgs and I use my Pact unit more than my Oehler (power supply, and size). Buy what you want and live with your choice. You may have to replace it but the choice is yours. The electronics and accuracy of the Chrony are as accurate as any (the differences are negligable). If you don't need all the bells and whistles of the Oehler then the added expense is unnecessary.

PaulS

I have the basic Chrony, and like it very much. As pointed out by others, it does have a very slight dent and some missing paint, where a 30-06 round got a little too close to the sensors.

For your mean and standard deviation, you can save money by just bringing the data home and doing the stats in Excel. You're probably not going to make any statistical decisions that can't wait until you get home.

You can get a little camera tripod for about $35 that will telescope down to fit in your gear bag. That's what I use.

Thanks for the poop ! In reading the responses I think I am going to keep it simple and go with the Chrony Alpha Master. Reasons, as I read replies I see my needs are basic. The 120 bucks keep me from wanting other features not found on the F-1. This coupled with visions of my 358 Norma 250 grain smashing right through the unit makes good sense. I'll be sure to post pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Regards,
Tacksmacker

I was given an Oehler for a christmas present several years back, but....

I have shot through the Chrony's , Pact and Oehler, and the most derivation I have seen was 5 fps with identical loads.

For the money and If I had to buy my own, I would buy a Chrony. Easier to use than the Oehler and a whole lot cheaper.

Not that you guys aren't having good success, but mine was so bad with the two cronies I had before I got the Oehler, What I'd like to see "for my viewing pleasure" is a few peoples pictures of an Oehler and a crony or two all set right in line with each other showing the displays reading all the same when fired over, or within 10-20 fps of each other would be fine with me.

Now how many will make us all "complete" believers?

Should be pretty easy for a few of you guys to do?

Midsouth shooters supply has chronys on sale. Check em out.
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/index.asp
Rick

I've got one of the older competition electronics (prochrono plus) and it's been great. A couple of friends have the later digital models and they love them as well. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. I don't see why they don't have a larger following, I've never heard of one that didn't work 100% while I hear of a lot of problems out of the chronys. They're both about the same price.