I have an email into Caldwell's parent company, but wanted to get INGOs opinion.
Just started reloading so I bought a Caldwell basic Chrono. First one worked OK my first outing. Only a few random anomalies. Second outing it threw a ~6,500+ FPS reading (9mm pistol) then refused to "see" more bullets. No errors, just acted like I wasnt shooting. So I exchanged it.
Fast forward to this afternoon.
New one is doing similar. Readings between 646 and 26,884*, LOTS of errors alternating between error2 and error3 (one or the other sensor fails to see the bullet) *Pretty sure my gun should have blown up if that were true, but no difference in felt recoil.
So far this looks like a craptastic, semi reliable chrono. ( only have maybe 3-4 of the 10 loads I worked up that I trust the results on) Any suggestions that wont break the bank? I'd LOOOOOOVE a LabRadar unit, but that's a bit outside my budget.
I thought maybe batteries, but reliability was sporadic throughout the afternoon. It actually seems to have gotten better as the day went on, but it wasnt a steady improvement. More of a sine wave. (bad, good, bad, good, bad, good...)
Ideas?
EDIT: It MUST have a smartphone interface or have a way to export the data. I'm spoiled by the features of this (maybe PoS) unit. I set the group data and hit record. It saved it to my phone via a cable and I didnt have to write anything down. (one of the anomalies can be seen below)
Example:
--------------------------------------------
Set: 6
Created: 06/18/17 02:30 PM
Description: 147 over 3.1TG
Notes 1:
Notes 2:
Distance to Chrono(FT): 1.00
Ballistic Coefficient: 1.000
Bullet Weight(gr): 147.00
Temp: N/A °F
BP: N/A inHg
Altitude: 0.00
# FPS FT-LBS PF
10 749 183.15 110.10
9 2242 1640.98 329.57
8 761 189.06 111.87
7 595 115.58 87.46
6 1014 335.67 149.06
5 845 233.10 124.21
4 1253 512.55 184.19
3 863 243.14 126.86
2 863 243.14 126.86
1 862 242.58 126.71
Average: 1004.7 FPS
SD: 468.0 FPS
Min: 595 FPS
Max: 2242 FPS
Spread: 1647 FPS
Shot/sec: 0.4
True MV: 1005 FPS
Group Size (in): 0.00
--------------------------------------------
Set: 7
Created: 06/18/17 02:37 PM
Description: 147 over 3.2TG
Notes 1:
Notes 2:
Distance to Chrono(FT): 1.00
Ballistic Coefficient: 1.000
Bullet Weight(gr): 147.00
Temp: N/A °F
BP: N/A inHg
Altitude: 0.00
# FPS FT-LBS PF
10 922 277.52 135.53
9 924 278.73 135.83
8 993 321.91 145.97
7 927 280.54 136.27
6 932 283.57 137.00
5 935 285.40 137.45
4 942 289.69 138.47
3 918 275.12 134.95
2 948 293.39 139.36
1 928 281.14 136.42
Average: 936.9 FPS
SD: 21.7 FPS
Min: 918 FPS
Max: 993 FPS
Spread: 75 FPS
Shot/sec: 0.4
True MV: 937 FPS
Group Size (in): 0.00
Just started reloading so I bought a Caldwell basic Chrono. First one worked OK my first outing. Only a few random anomalies. Second outing it threw a ~6,500+ FPS reading (9mm pistol) then refused to "see" more bullets. No errors, just acted like I wasnt shooting. So I exchanged it.
Fast forward to this afternoon.
New one is doing similar. Readings between 646 and 26,884*, LOTS of errors alternating between error2 and error3 (one or the other sensor fails to see the bullet) *Pretty sure my gun should have blown up if that were true, but no difference in felt recoil.
So far this looks like a craptastic, semi reliable chrono. ( only have maybe 3-4 of the 10 loads I worked up that I trust the results on) Any suggestions that wont break the bank? I'd LOOOOOOVE a LabRadar unit, but that's a bit outside my budget.
I thought maybe batteries, but reliability was sporadic throughout the afternoon. It actually seems to have gotten better as the day went on, but it wasnt a steady improvement. More of a sine wave. (bad, good, bad, good, bad, good...)
Ideas?
EDIT: It MUST have a smartphone interface or have a way to export the data. I'm spoiled by the features of this (maybe PoS) unit. I set the group data and hit record. It saved it to my phone via a cable and I didnt have to write anything down. (one of the anomalies can be seen below)
Example:
--------------------------------------------
Set: 6
Created: 06/18/17 02:30 PM
Description: 147 over 3.1TG
Notes 1:
Notes 2:
Distance to Chrono(FT): 1.00
Ballistic Coefficient: 1.000
Bullet Weight(gr): 147.00
Temp: N/A °F
BP: N/A inHg
Altitude: 0.00
# FPS FT-LBS PF
10 749 183.15 110.10
9 2242 1640.98 329.57
8 761 189.06 111.87
7 595 115.58 87.46
6 1014 335.67 149.06
5 845 233.10 124.21
4 1253 512.55 184.19
3 863 243.14 126.86
2 863 243.14 126.86
1 862 242.58 126.71
Average: 1004.7 FPS
SD: 468.0 FPS
Min: 595 FPS
Max: 2242 FPS
Spread: 1647 FPS
Shot/sec: 0.4
True MV: 1005 FPS
Group Size (in): 0.00
--------------------------------------------
Set: 7
Created: 06/18/17 02:37 PM
Description: 147 over 3.2TG
Notes 1:
Notes 2:
Distance to Chrono(FT): 1.00
Ballistic Coefficient: 1.000
Bullet Weight(gr): 147.00
Temp: N/A °F
BP: N/A inHg
Altitude: 0.00
# FPS FT-LBS PF
10 922 277.52 135.53
9 924 278.73 135.83
8 993 321.91 145.97
7 927 280.54 136.27
6 932 283.57 137.00
5 935 285.40 137.45
4 942 289.69 138.47
3 918 275.12 134.95
2 948 293.39 139.36
1 928 281.14 136.42
Average: 936.9 FPS
SD: 21.7 FPS
Min: 918 FPS
Max: 993 FPS
Spread: 75 FPS
Shot/sec: 0.4
True MV: 937 FPS
Group Size (in): 0.00
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