is this a decent chronograph

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303 hunter said:
Caldwell makes a quality chronograph, but once I owned a Magnetospeed I never looked back. No tripod to keep up with, and it’s very compact. Fits in my range bag with my other supplies.
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My opinion as well.
I still have my eyeball Chrono but I almost never use it anymore
 
My neighbor has one and has had problem getting his iPhone to work with it. He has found that running the cable from the unit to iPhone not as convenient as me using blue tooth with my CE Pro Digital unit. It seams to be sensitive on how you power up the devices in a particular order, if you want the data on your device, so you do not have to use pen and paper. I had to show him how to set it up the first time, he could not figure it out. But he's not the most tech savie guy I know either. He's always coming to me to help him with something.
 
Thats the same one I have. Works great, tripod is cheesy but works. If you have the $$$$ to throw elsewhere on other ones, great. But considering I break this out once/twice a year, never had an issue with it (other than I switched Iphones and had to buy an adapter for the plug in).
 
I got the Caldwell Gen 2 earlier this year and didnt like it. I didnt think it was very sturdy and a pain in the arse to shoot through, not all shots register. I winded up just upgrading and getting the Labradar. I was trying to avoid it because of the price but it truly was a tremendous difference.
 
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That's the one I have. The connection to the smartphone doesn't work as well as I would like. I just use the display on the chrono.

Sometimes it won't register a shot. Try to shoot through the centre of the triangle. In all I am happy with it.
 
Do any chronographs give the statistics for 50 shot strings? My Chrony's, (shot at least one and replaced it) they only collect data for 32 shot strings. You get the average, SD, ES, for 32 shots no more. When I am shooting a box of pistol rounds, which are typically 50 rounds a box, I would like to see the numbers for a larger data string, but the chrony deletes data, keeps the latest shots in memory, deletes the oldest, to maintain statistics on a 32 shot string. I don't want to have to manually write each and every shot and go home to calculate the statistics, at least with pistol ammunition.
 
Im not sure what the max shots are in a series on the Labradar but I know it can have multiple series and each series generates a csv file. Even if there was a max, it would be as easy as copying the rows of data from the one excel file into the other
 
JO JO said:
Amazon has this on sale for $114

https://smile.amazon.com/Caldwell-B...32992163&sr=8-5&keywords=shooting+chronograph
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That is the one I have. I bought it soon after it came out. I've put over 1000 shot strings across it. I've had no issues with it connecting to my iPhone (first an iPhone 4, now an iPhone 6, but have also used it with my iPad). I understand that other brand phones have had some issues.

The tripod is lightweight, a little cheesy, but it works. I've only used the light kit once, just to test in my back yard with a BB gun. The carry bag is convenient.

As with any optical chrono, the lighting or the position of the sun can sometimes cause problems. I've experienced this. I have found that sometimes just tilting it away from the sun (leaning left or right, but still on axis with the bullet path) will help. If it is an overcast day, the sunscreens are not even needed.

As far as the Magnetospeed, if I only shot rifle I would probably own one. While they do make attachments that allow use with some handguns, there are simply some handguns that it can't be used with.

At some point in the future, I will own a Labradar.
 
Slamfire said:
Do any chronographs give the statistics for 50 shot strings? My Chrony's, (shot at least one and replaced it) they only collect data for 32 shot strings. You get the average, SD, ES, for 32 shots no more. When I am shooting a box of pistol rounds, which are typically 50 rounds a box, I would like to see the numbers for a larger data string, but the chrony deletes data, keeps the latest shots in memory, deletes the oldest, to maintain statistics on a 32 shot string. I don't want to have to manually write each and every shot and go home to calculate the statistics, at least with pistol ammunition.
Click to expand...
The Pro Digital should do 9 strings with 99 readings in each string.
 
That's the same kit I have. I used it again today, checking some downloaded 7.62x54R rounds.

It works fine. As others have said, the tripod is a spindly, cheesy looking thing, amazingly lightweight, but it works.
Occasionally I need to shut off and restart the chrono, due to some unspecified error, but not often.
I connect it to an Android phone, via the supplied cable, using the Caldwell app. I don't remember having any problems connecting, or staying connected.
The Caldwell app is somewhat clunky to use, but it does work. The 'notes' field in the app doesn't transfer cleanly to paper, but that could just be my inner Luddite at work.

I have no idea how long a string it will record, I usually run 10 shots and start over.

For the price, I would buy it again. At some point a LabRadar would be nice, but it needs something to sit on next to the shooter, and I rarely shoot anywhere with a bench.
 
thanks for all the input , the caldwell seems the the cheapest but the magnetospeed seems much easier to use I did see a guy yesterday at the range with that caldwell set and it does look like a pain ti set up and cheaply made but for the price it is what it is , I may wait and go with the magnetospeed basic kit it looks so much easier to use
 
I have the CE Prochrono and like it.
It is about another $50 to get the cordless smartphone adapter or the corded adapter for a laptop.
I have never had to but I understand CE will replace it for 1/2 current price even if it dies from lead poisoning.......not that any chronos ever have;)
 
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