Gents:
Not sure where this belongs.
Any of you gentlemen have experience with the Lab Radar chronograph?
I'm looking to upgrade my cheap Chrony.
Cal

Cal I haven't used one but observed them being used on the range I shoot at. Both users, one a prolific reloader and quite knowledgeable bloke bought their Labradar's second hand of our national auction site "TradeMe. Not sure if this signals anything or not i.e. original owners didn't like them.
They seemed easy to set up and could be done so while other shooters were firing on the range, not like Chrony's or other type of sky screen type chronographs.

I have had a Chrony since the 70's and it has been a great instrument but the Labradsr seemed quite sophisticated in what data it produced and stored.
Only issue I noted is that when a large calibre unsuppressed rifle was being fired from the next door shooting bench at the range (no baffles between benches) The Labrador picked up the shot noise and then gave an error as there was no bullet to measure speed of. Other than that the instrument seemed to be very good, certainly ease of setup and no issues when wanting to shoot groups and not have to shoot through distracting sight screens or wires.

Do a search here.

Many posts regarding it, mostly positive.

It does not work in enclosed space like a tunnel and that came directly from them.

quote:

It does not work in enclosed space like a tunnel and that came directly from them.

It would be nice to have that problem.

I guess I well just have to just keep using my private out door ranges.

We have tried every chronograph we could find.

Non worked as consistently as the Oehler.

I have had one for some time now and really like it. There is a learning curve, but no worse than any of the others. It is very fast to set up and the sun angle/position isn't an issue. Its memory is very handy; just pop the sim card and download to the computer. The mfg. says it won't work with shotguns and it won't as I tried just to see. They are power hungry so I use it with a rechargeable usb battery pack. With the caliber rifles you like to shoot it will probably track your bullets until they hit the ground.
C.G.B.

Yes won't work with shotguns as they use doppler radar which needs a solid bullet base for the radar to reflect back off. Shot shells don't provide that.

I understand LT won't pick up round balls. True?
A good part of my shooting is double rifles in 12, 10, 8, 4-bores.
Cal

I purchase a LabRadar about 5 months ago.
It saves time by allowing you to sight in
and check velocity at same time. Also saves
Ammo. You don,t have stop firing line to set up.
I run mine off external battery pack I all ready
had. First SD cards I had would no work. Ultra
Speed 80mg a second work perfect. Also speeds
up LabRadar. Mine picks up shooters next to
me at times, especially someone with a muzzle
brake. Software that comes with it has a
learning curve to it. Keys should have names
on them not symbols. Alignment to target can be
tricky.

loved mine -- as i am out of the game for the foreseeable, i sold it to someone that could use it now --

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
I understand LT won't pick up round balls. True?
A good part of my shooting is double rifles in 12, 10, 8, 4-bores.
Cal

It will read paintball velocities and arrows so can't see why it wouldn't read round balls. I see no info excluding round balls. Only exclusion is shot shells with shot but works on slugs.
Needs an accessory microphone for use with airguns to pick up the sound and some report the need to change settings to pick up sound to trigger the unit from suppressed 22RF. Similarly arrows can be picked up by changing settings or using a remote accessory on the bow that triggers the unit on release of the arrow.

From various reviews from users here in my country, you need to read the manual thoroughly and set up the Labradar properly for the type of firearm you are using i.e. changing from big rifle to suppressed RF etc.

Love mine, one of my better purchases. I get velocity data for every shot during load development - a big help. Setup without going forward of the line is another big plus.

I love my Oehler, but will likely get a Labradar next spring. The thing that appeals to me the most is being able to shoot for accuracy and speed at the same time.

quote:

Originally posted by lawndart:
I love my Oehler, but will likely get a Labradar next spring. The thing that appeals to me the most is being able to shoot for accuracy and speed at the same time.

At least they have a cool factor to them, no tripods, screens, cables, remote readouts that get knocked off the bench or people like me with stretched necks trying to read the screen 10 ft away

The Labradar does look the part.

I love my Lab Radar. I mounted it on a camera tripod and keep the compete set up in a cheap hard plastic rifle case. With the tripod I and can use it easily when shooting off sticks without worrying about hitting the screens. It must be aimed fairly precisely but I lay a short section of straw across the "sights" on the top of the unit and that easily gets it aligned with the target.

Speeds up range time by quite a lot and saves
money on Ammo. I,m getting better with software
but still learning. Others at my range have been
a real help. the Lab Radar is getting real popular at my range