Shooting Chrony Archery Master Review

[Horsem4n]

My field has been using an evike chrono since we broke our Xcortech within the first week of operation. the Evike chrono worked ok for the fist couple months, but at this point im the only one who can get any reliable readings with it. so i have been asking for a new chrono for almost a year and a half.

finally, i was given the task of finding a new chrono after our evike chrono finally stopped giving me readings all together (its second hand, so i dont know how old it actually is).

after some research, i chose one of those classic Shooting Chronys. i use to think they cost about $250, i dont know that they did at any time, but they are all going for round $100 now. the specific model i bought was the Archery Master. the archer master model is essentially an indoor orented F-1. the F-1 designates it as a "feet per second" (M-1 is meters per second) model, has no programming features, and the Master verients have the LCD readout detached from the main body of the chrono, attached with a what looks like a phone cable (like smaller Ethernet cable). the Archery Master includes, from what i can tell, a larger diffuser kit to increase the shooting area under the diffusers and the indoor lighting kit.

these types of open chronos hate florescent lighting, so if your shooting in a non lit, dimely lit, or flourecent lit area, a lighting kit is essential. i heard you can use basic LED lights attached to the diffusers, but i got the chrono with the kit for $135 shipped. less than buying an F-1 master along with the lighting kit separate. 

 

the chrono only came in today, so this is more of a thread to talk about it as i use it.

 

so far, i really like it, but one of the lamps in my lighting kit isnt totally well, more on that later.

 

the chrono went together well and just needs a 9v battery to function. the lighting kit is 2 lamps that require separate power sources and is screwed into the center pieces of the expanded diffuser. the lamps use tubular bulbs (i think they are halogen) that are rated to last 3000 hours according to the box. i was worried about where to buy new bulbs, but at 3000 hours, im not to worried anymore and there is actually information on the bulbs boxes to order new bulbs. after using it for about a half an hour, one of my lamps started to flicker. if i let it run longer than a few minutes now, it starts to smoke. im going to open that one up to figure it out, its probably a loose connection inside, id rather no return it. if its dead, ill just try that LED puck trick.

 

i have chronoed a dozen guns through it so far, including AEGs, gas and CO2 pistols and an SMP. its very accurate and i havnt received any error readings yet. but with the lighting kit, you have to make sure you shoot straight through and under the center of the diffusers where the light from the lamps are. and it reads about half as fast as other airsoft chronos. around 1 shot every 3 seconds.

 

now i must return to work, ill update this over the course of a few days. today i will look at the lamp and tell you guys about that. ill also try just using my phone torch to replace the lamp and see if that works. i expect to chrono another 30 guns today or more, so ill tell you guys how that goes.

 

ill post some pics later. 

[Horsem4n]

Update 1: i cannot open the lamp assembly. the flickering bulb has now blown. these are standard 30w incandescent bulbs. too bad i cant buy more because my government banned them. but im going out anyway to try a new bulb as im not entirely sure that the lamp itself is bad, but the bulb may have been bad. all i have here is fluorescent bulbs, which wont work. 

 

Update 2: i tried a florescent bulb i had around to test the lamp and its working fine, so i went out to my local home depot and found a bulb very close to the bulbs that come with the unit. ill try it in another 5 minutes.

 

update 3: the bulb i got from home depot is staying lit without flickering and its working for the chrono. they are just 40w incandescent bulbs.

 

so yeah, another 30 guns down and im getting much more reliable results. some guns from regulars shot hotter than i thought from the readings of the evike chrono. so its already helped my field stay a little safer. im happy and the chrono is a lot easier to use for my boss when im not round to chrono people.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Horsem4n