Labradar Chronograph

Status
Not open for further replies.
cfullgraf

cfullgraf

Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2010
Messages
12,849
Location
East TN
I got a Labradar chronograph a month or so ago and used it for the second time today.

I'm pleased.

The first session was with rifles, today was with handguns. Set up was easy. Getting all the parameters set was easy while following the instructions.

Changing to a new strings was easy.

I have had only one miss-read from about 100 rounds fired to be measured. I'm not sure the exact cause, but I think I did not arm the system correctly. Operator error.:)

The data can be saved to a SD card and uploaded to a computer for messaging later. There might be some improvement here in data presentation but there is lots more data stored than I use (velocity and energy at different distances down range) so that may be cool for me some day.

As a note, there is one You Tube video out there where the producer could not get the Labradar to work. My experience does not mirror the video. It was easy to make the Labradar work. My shooting range has a up slope hill and I expected that to cause some issues with the data gathering. Not so. So, take the video with a grain of salt.

The Labradar is not inexpensive. I'm a believer in using chronographs so I feel it is worth the expense. But, I can understand if folks want to economize. There are many excellent chronographs out there at a lower cost that provide excellent data.

As a side note, I have had several optical sensor chronographs, a couple that have expired from "lead poisoning", and I have a Magnetospeed chronograph (version 2 if I remember correctly). I have been pleased with all of them, but each "upgrade" really has been an improvement.

Anyway, just thought I would pass on some information.
 
Last edited:
My club has one and I can't get it to work most of the time. I get lots of "can't acquire bullet" or something like that. Very annoying when shooting expensive ammo. I've gone back to my Chrony B out of frustration. The error message isn't even listed under trouble shooting. What's with that?
 
GarySTL, I'm by no means an expert. The instructions talk about background terrain that can cause issues. I thought my rising hill for a back stop would cause problems but it has not.

There is an option in the settings menu that selects the distance the firearm is from the instrument. I'm not sure how sensitive this setting is, but the one failure to read that
I had was due to the gun being outside the selected window for the instrument to sense the firearms discharge.

I'm still learning so I'll keep your problems in mind if I run into them in the future.
 
I was saving money to buy one, mostly because of how it reads velocity down range and you can set it up without asking everyone to go "cold range"

Then my neighbor heard me say i was saving for a chrono and he gave me a RCBS chrono "bullet looking" thing that actually works good enough, I lost interest in the LabRadar.

I spent the money on powder/bullets/primer

Its still on my wish list but not high priority.
 
My club has one and I can't get it to work most of the time. I get lots of "can't acquire bullet" or something like that.
Click to expand...

Rifle or handgun? Caliber? Range to target? Target background?

I won't ask if you read the manual - it's pretty thin so you probably did...
 
The sights on the Labradar are very rudimentary. I aimed the device as closely as possible to the target but figured high precision would not be necessary.

After reading the link posted by jmorris and another link embedded in the first link, seems folks are having troubling aiming the Labradar and some kind of aid is helpful.

Also, there are a number of settings in the Configuration menu that could affect operation of the chronograph.

Items such as...
Velocity Range (Handgun, Rifle or Archery)
Offset distance (distance the muzzle is from the unit)
Trigger source (microphone or doppler)
Trigger level (sensitivity of the microphone)
TX Power

A bit more involved getting started than a Chrony's set up the sky screens, turn it on, and blast away.

I've not yet shot anything by the unit that has a flash hider, compensator, or brake. The instructions recommend shielding the unit for the blast and extend the barrel out front of the unit.

So, I'll see how things go as I get more time with the chronograph.
 
Buck13, I feel there are two types of optical sensor chronograph users.

Those that have shot their chronographs and those that have not yet shot their chronographs.:)
 
A bit more involved getting started than a Chrony's set up the sky screens, turn it on, and blast away.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have two tripods by the back door of the shop. One with ATV gun rack mounts and the other with my least expensive chronograph ready to go on it (well I do unplug the battery).

IMG_20160513_141358_048_zpsxgsbvoqe.jpg

I have yet to shoot any of my chronographs but I also don't bother getting velocities from loads that won't group inside a much smaller hole than they provide.
 
The sights on the Labradar are very rudimentary. I aimed the device as closely as possible to the target but figured high precision would not be necessary.
Click to expand...

Yes, they are rudimentary and I am also thinking that high precision is not necessary. I did read the links with the fancy scope mount for the LR and if people are finding it helpful, then more power to them - I think it's great.

But I have shot a couple of thousand rounds past my LR unit and I've never seen the need for that type of aiming device. Yes, I have gotten the "couldn't acquire projectile" error once in a while, but I've never associated it with having the LR aimed improperly. I've used the unit with pistol and rifle with targets at ranges from 25 yards to 400 yards and have never had the error occur more than once every 40 or 50 shots or so. It is random enough that I have always figured it was a result of a timing error between the unit triggering and the bullet entering cone of the radar signal.

The only time I've had that error consistently in a string of shots was the first time I tried to use it for pistol loads with the target hung on chicken wire at 10 yards. About 30 seconds of thought after firing that string was all that was required to understand that little debacle.
 
Chuck, thanks for sharing what you have to date. They were a long time in releasing those units and I have been following them on and off. Eventually as much as I like my 20 plus year old Oehler 35P the day will come to replace it with something new. The Lab Radar units seem a good contender.

Ron
 
jmorris said:
Yeah, I have two tripods by the back door of the shop. One with ATV gun rack mounts and the other with my least expensive chronograph ready to go on it (well I do unplug the battery).

IMG_20160513_141358_048_zpsxgsbvoqe.jpg

I have yet to shoot any of my chronographs but I also don't bother getting velocities from loads that won't group inside a much smaller hole than they provide.
Click to expand...



Damn it must be nice to be able to do that in your back yard!
 
I have used my LR at the inside range I use twice and it worked without a miss. When I first got it, I set it up in the backyard and tracked rounds (they really are round) from my BB gun.
 
I've had my LabRadar Chronograph for about 6 months now. It as a LOT of settings and it can be finicky. To me it is worth it. The cool part is the amount of data it generates with every shot measured. Post processing of this data can be interesting and informative.

29127748283_feb26c32bb_c.jpg [/url]
 
The biggest issue is getting it aimed correctly. The notch on top of the unit flat out sucks. The aiming range is a lot smaller than you think it would be.

I had nothing but problems the first time out. Out of ten, ten shot strings the most it picked up was six out of ten. Average was four out of ten. I'm not an idiot and set it up just like the instructions say.

Then I found out about using a speed square. Fixed the problem immediately. I haven't had any issues since I started using one to aim it. Any missed shots are due to shooting to quickly. It can't pick up the shot if it's not armed.

I think people have gone overboard w/ mounting scopes to one. But if that's what they want to do I won't be one to tell them not to. There is a good percentage of people that have had aiming issues so it's something the manufacturer should consider w/ any future changes. I sent them my opinion already and I hope others have as well.

IMO it's worth every penny. Price should come down over time. It will eventually make sky screen chronographs obsolete.
 
I haven't had aiming issues. I know with mine you have to have the gun centered vertically to the LabRadar and muzzle distance fairly close for microphone trigger. The Doppler trigger is a little more forgiving. Size of bullet matters too. .22 will only read out to 75 yards on average. 30/06 will read all the way to 100 yards with a strong signal the full range.
 
I have a friend that bought one. The first time we took it out, it would not read the velocity of any of his loads from his rifle. We took it over to the pistol range with my 45 and it worked flawlessly. :confused:

Went back to the rifle range and tried my rifle (223) and it worked fine. Turns out that his rifle, a Pedersoli, was launching his heavy 45/70 loads around 1300fps, and were too slow for the "rifle" setting. Once we changed to the handgun or pistol (I forget) it worked fine.

I like the fact that it is not out in front where it can be shot, or where you have to call cold range to setup/takedown. It is not affected by sun position or sky conditions like an optical chrono. It also it not attached to the rifle so it won't affect POI like the magnetospeed.

Once we had it working, we played with it to find out how far downrange it would read. The tiny 223 bullets would register to about 75 yards. Pretty cool.

I'm not about to run out and buy one to replace my Caldwell, especially since my friend says I can borrow his anytime. :) But, I do see one in my future.
 
climbnjump said:
Rifle or handgun? Caliber? Range to target? Target background?

I won't ask if you read the manual - it's pretty thin so you probably did...
Click to expand...
Range to target was 100 yards while the background was more target frames out to 300 yards. Caliber is 6.5 Creedmoor.

Reading posts after yours I'm thinking aiming the unit might be the issue. I'll pick up a plastic speed square tomorrow.
 
If you are having issues aiming it. You can do the speed square, or you can use a coffee stir straw in the notch. Aiming is semi important, the cone is not very large.

It is also important to make sure you are in the correct velocity range, and that your Muzzle Brake is not shaking, moving, or effecting the unit. I have watched a shooter get failures and bad data, when they had it too close to the break. It was shaking the unit. The blast itself can also interfere. So placement is key. Don't place it somewhere that its going to get rocked every shot.
 
DocUSMCRetired said:
It is also important to make sure you are in the correct velocity range, and that your Muzzle Brake is not shaking, moving, or effecting the unit....

...Don't place it somewhere that its going to get rocked every shot.
Click to expand...

This is good to know.

I do not have many rifles and only one handgun with a brake and/or flash hider. I was planning on attaching a blast shield to the chronograph just to protect it from the hot gasses.

Now, I'll plan on the shield to be mounted independently of the chronograph so that the chronograph will not get shaken by the gasses.
 
They were using one at IPSC nationals in FL a couple weeks ago. That was the first time I'd seen one.

Looks cool I guess... It showed basically exactly the same velocity I got at home, but that doesn't really mean much since it was on a different day in different conditions.

I wouldn't mind shooting it back to back against an optical chrono to see how it compares on the same shots.

I was curious about how far downrange the bullet it getting before the measurement was taken.

Overall, I didn't see anything that would immediately make me want to spend $600 on one when my $120 ProChrono seems to work pretty good.
 
My observation:

There ain't but 2 kinds of chronograph users...
1. Them that's shot theirs
2. Them that's gonna shoot theirs.

I'll admit, I'm in the first category.
Scoped rifles are the bane of a chronograph's existence.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

santacruzdave
  • Locked
Labradar users. Can you recommend this chronograph?
2 3
Replies
61
Views
6K
Caliper_Mi
C
forty_caliber
  • Locked
LABRADAR - Field Test
Replies
6
Views
541
peels
P
Doublehelix
  • Locked
Chronograph Questions
2
Replies
40
Views
3K
cfullgraf
cfullgraf
TacticalJanitor
Let's talk about chronographs that will work with iOS
2
Replies
42
Views
1K
TacticalJanitor
TacticalJanitor
A
  • Locked
Best value chrono for INDOOR testing?
Replies
19
Views
2K
jmorris
jmorris
Back
Top