LabRadar question

[Liefrutz]

I have a LabRadar and found the instruction booklet a little confusing at first. You have to read carefully to find out how to review etc. One tip that was essential for me is to get a straw (yes a drinking straw) and tape it in the groove at the top (be careful that it is level with the labradar) and use that to aim at the target you will shoot at. Center the target in the straw. Before this I was very frustrated with the device. Also I use the device close and set the trigger distance to 6 (closest). I extend my comped rifles past the Labradar and put my uncomped guns even with the device. Remember 2 pushes to set the device to record. Check the straw alignment after pushing to be sure you did not move it out of alignment. On equipment I bought the mini tripod and the carrying case. I find them both useful. As mentioned above I use an external 5200mah battery with a micro usb cord to run Labradar and have never run out of juice even after hours of use. I carry a small notepad and a pen because if I shoot a string and then my buddy shoots a string I record the string number and who was shooting. Also if you are shooting multiple guns it is a life-saver. The case has space for all that crud. I set the auto off time to the maximum of 300 which is 5 minutes and I find that useful. The display will go dark while you prepare and otherwise fiddle around but as long as the light is orange it will record your shot. When you setup for your session the labradar wants the proj weight and other data. This shows in the recorded shot string when you put the usb card in your computer and open it in excel. I was a hater but now I am a fan.

 

[newmexkid]

Thanks

 

[tbrice23]

Thanks

I hope I'm helping you not hurting by asking stupid questions on your thread.

I set my parameters to 10, 40, 70, 100, 130 yards but its only reading to 70 yards. Why is this?

 

[chickm1]

Welcome to the app. As far as I can tell, they designed it for the first iPhone 10 years ago, and only recently built a chronograph to use it. It's utterly horrific by 2019 standards, but in reality, once you lower your expectations to "wireless remote", it's not all that bad.

If it's anything like the iPhone app, you need to swipe right up at the top left corner (orange LabRadar symbol) to get to the settings page (distances, trigger, rifle/pistol, etc). In the main app screen, the only thing you can do is arm the unit, look at shots and strings, and add a new string.

There's a + button up at the top for new strings. Be aware you cannot reoccupy an old string. Once you create a new one, you can't go back and keep shooting in a previous string.

There's a circular arrow icon like recycling, which will refresh the connection and update the data.

I believe there's "Shot lists", "String Lists", and maybe "Details". Those are where you can review data you already collected.

Basically, the app is terrible, but it will allow you to avoid the even more terrible button pushing. This means you can align the unit, and not jiggle it off target with button pushing.

As I mentioned though, horrific app and interface included, this puppy is still the best consumer chrony on the market in my opinion. Just a little embarrassing that a $550 tool doesn't come with modern support technology.

Why not just stick with a regular chronograph?

 

[kiwikid]

I hope I'm helping you not hurting by asking stupid questions on your thread.

I set my parameters to 10, 40, 70, 100, 130 yards but its only reading to 70 yards. Why is this?

There are two reasons that the range readings can vary, the first is due to the calibre you are shooting. A 22 cal will normally only read to about 60 yards, 270=70 yards, 308=100 yards etc.
The other reason I have found is due to how well you have it aimed at the target. When you shoot you will see graph up the left hand side of the screen, the more bars the better it is aligned. The photo is a 22 cal bullet from a 22-250 and as you can see I didn't have it perfectly aligned which gave me only three bars and a reading out to only 40 metres.

 

[tbrice23]

why would it ask for parameters so much further than it is capable of measuring?
How far do you usually track a 30 cal when it is perfectly aligned?

 

[kiwikid]

Someone else may be able to answer your first question or you could email the manufacturer. It is a very good question as my unit will let me go right out to 250m.
The largest calibre I shoot is 6.5 so I'm not much help with that either sorry. I have managed to get readings to 70m with the 6.5 though.

 

[entoptics]

Why not just stick with a regular chronograph?

The LabRadar is simply better. It's easier to setup, more accurate, and tracks projectiles down range allowing for BC calculations.

I hope I'm helping you not hurting by asking stupid questions on your thread.

I set my parameters to 10, 40, 70, 100, 130 yards but its only reading to 70 yards. Why is this?

In my experience, the unit's tracking can vary significantly from session to session. Last time out, I was able to track 308 caliber bullets out to 170 yds. Today, I was only getting it to track to ~70 yds. No idea why. Perhaps atmospheric conditions? I have a copper tube bedded in the the sighting v-notch, and aim the unit carefully in the same way I always do. Sometimes I get great tracking, sometimes I don't. Rarely do I not at least get useable muzzle velocity though.

Also, in my experience, the little "bars of cell phone service" tracking indicator is full of ****. I always get 2-3 bars, whether it's tracking a 475 linebaugh at 50 yds or 556 at 90 yds.

I intend to post a thread on how to manage and evaluate the LabRadar data soon. The velocity on the screen can be suspect, as the algorithm is biased to calculate the velocity using data from near the set distances. A single bad reading can terribly skew the canned output, when the tracking data for the shot was otherwise good.

 

[tbrice23]

The LabRadar is simply better. It's easier to setup, more accurate, and tracks projectiles down range allowing for BC calculations.


In my experience, the unit's tracking can vary significantly from session to session. Last time out, I was able to track 308 caliber bullets out to 170 yds. Today, I was only getting it to track to ~70 yds. No idea why. Perhaps atmospheric conditions? I have a copper tube bedded in the the sighting v-notch, and aim the unit carefully in the same way I always do. Sometimes I get great tracking, sometimes I don't. Rarely do I not at least get useable muzzle velocity though.

Also, in my experience, the little "bars of cell phone service" tracking indicator is full of ----. I always get 2-3 bars, whether it's tracking a 475 linebaugh at 50 yds or 556 at 90 yds.

I intend to post a thread on how to manage and evaluate the LabRadar data soon. The velocity on the screen can be suspect, as the algorithm is biased to calculate the velocity using data from near the set distances. A single bad reading can terribly skew the canned output, when the tracking data for the shot was otherwise good.

I bedded a 3/8 " tube onto the notch.

Question, how would you explain the loss of velocity decay in this curve??

 

[Susquatch]

Question, how would you explain the loss of velocity decay in this curve??

Not sure I understand your question. The velocity deterioration looks pretty normal to me. Roughly 45fps then 39fps loss per 30 ft. Always lose more in a given distance at faster velocities and less for the same distance as the bullet slows down. Also the cosine law implies more error at close distances. No biggie with such low angles.

 

[Susquatch]

Why not just stick with a regular chronograph?

While unit to unit quality can vary as well as factory calibration, all these issues are inherently lower with a radar based chronograph. One simply cannot compare the old spacing dependent chronographs with the LabRadar. Just a quick look at error sources alone is eye-opening.
Old generation chronos - spacing accuracy, angular alignment, calibration error, bullet shadow edge locating, signal amplitude error from detector one to detector two, clock count (+/- one count on each end), screen vibration and movement, etc etc. The radar system only has the digital display rounding error and calibration error. On top of that, the radar system can make multiple velocity measurements at different distances. Basically, the radar based measurements are a total paradigm shift from the older time/space units. It's like going from the machine age to the space age.

 

[Susquatch]

The


In my experience, the unit's tracking can vary significantly from session to session........No idea why. Perhaps atmospheric conditions? ........ I intend to post a thread on how to manage and evaluate the LabRadar data soon. The velocity on the screen can be suspect, as the algorithm is biased to calculate the velocity using data from near the set distances. A single bad reading can terribly skew the canned output, when the tracking data for the shot was otherwise good.

I have found that a tube doesn't really improve the alignment as much as you might think. I would love to take a unit apart to find out how the transponder is aligned so I can develop a better alignment process. But I'm still under warranty. In the meantime I have found that the raw probability of a better aim improves simply by re-aiming until the usable distance is acceptable.

I doubt that you are correct about how the algorithm is biased. I did not see such a correlation at all. FWIW, the manufacturer refused to tell me how the algorithm works.

That said, I agree with your observation about how a single bad reading can affect the result.

Feel free to pm me if you would like to bounce your ideas off of someone before you publish your thread. I have used the LabRadar's internal data extensively and I am a bit of a chronograph freak.....

 

[tbrice23]

There are two reasons that the range readings can vary, the first is due to the calibre you are shooting. A 22 cal will normally only read to about 60 yards, 270=70 yards, 308=100 yards etc.
The other reason I have found is due to how well you have it aimed at the target. When you shoot you will see graph up the left hand side of the screen, the more bars the better it is aligned. The photo is a 22 cal bullet from a 22-250 and as you can see I didn't have it perfectly aligned which gave me only three bars and a reading out to only 40 metres. View attachment 135346

Today I had two bars and all five distance velocities read on a 30 cal 200gr Accubond. The 6mm 105gr had four bars and two distance velocities read.

 

[tbrice23]

Does anyone know how to calculate true BC from the velocity readings?