Shooting Chrony F1

[roverboy]

I've been looking at this model too. For a basic model it should be all I need.

[rogerstg]

The F1 Shooting Chrony will occasionally act up in direct sunlight, indirect or angled sunlight, and sometimes in the shade as well.

I got sick of the lighting hassle, and just bought a couple of battery operated magnetic LED lights from Amazon.

I mount the lights on the screens pointing down at the sensors, and now the chronograph always reads. (no more freaking errors) I no longer have to rely on the perfect amount, angle, or quantity of sunlight to read my velocities.




As an added bonus - The lights even fit inside the F1 Shooting Chrony when it's folded up, making them easy to store (and more difficult to leave at home) as well.

- Bullwolf

I've used similar lights from Harbor Freight, but only indoors. It hadn't occurred to me to use them outdoors as well - thanks for the tip.

Aside: the Harbor Freight lights only worked once before I had to change the batteries. The batteries are so cheap that one actually had already started to leak a bit. Still, at $3.99 on sale, it's an inexpensive solution.

[Bullwolf]

I've used similar lights from Harbor Freight, but only indoors.



It hadn't occurred to me to use them outdoors as well - thanks for the tip.

I've also done the indoors thing as well. The trick I used was to simply place my old chronograph inside of the barn, with the sensors positioned underneath a fluorescent shop light.

The shooting Chrony F1 was giving me fits in the sun light this year, so I tried moving it out of the direct sunlight, to underneath the shade of the tree. It still was giving me errors when set up this way though.

So next I tried the LED lights taped to the chronograph screens, (pardon the Duct tape mock up) while the chronograph was under the shade of the tree branches/leaves... And I found my sweet spot. Bingo! I got good readings while still outdoors, and none of the blast back that I would get while shooting from inside of the barn.



- Bullwolf

[lovedogs]

I've had two Chrony's and never had a problem with them. Once you use one you'll never want to be without one. My first one was a casualty of a windy day. A gust hit my tripod and blew it over just as I fired a .45-70. The bullet (cast, of course) hit one of the rods which tore things up enough it didn't work right afterwards. So, anchor it if the wind is blowing. Another help is to put a thick piece of plexiglass in front of the readout screen in case of a gas check coming loose and hitting it. I just sit the p'glass on the front shelf and hold it in place with two rubber bands. For other projectiles no shield is needed. The shield will also keep bullet lube off the readout screen.