Got the Labradar worked out (120gr SHPBT and WW748)

[richj]

Mini-Mauser 20" Hart sporter barrel
PPU cases, LR primers (CCI)
Sierra 120 HPBT
WW-748 = 28gr
I weighted 3 and just dumped the rest with the RCBS measure

This was while I was setting up the labradar. 100 yards



A few notes about the Labradar.
The tripod mounts the LR too high.
The power supply has to be unplugged and plugged back in every time you power down/up the LR.
I'll have to play with the settings with the remote trigger.
Used a rubber band to hold the trigger.


Having said that. I really liked it over the Magnetospeed or a skyscreen model.

Here's a pic with the Rem Creedmoor. Public range.

[Harpoon1]

[TedBrewer5]

Range brass anyone?

[jasper2408]

The power supply has to be unplugged and plugged back in every time you power down/up the LR.

I just checked mine and I can turn the unit off and back on without unplugging the Labradar external battery. Did it several times with no problem.

[grendelnubi]

Check your firmware. May need to upgrade

[Klem]

rich,

Why do you have to plug and unplug to turn it on and off? That shouldn't be the case.

Your tripod looks like it's a ball and socket type. You could tilt it on a 45degree angle towards the gun to bring the microphone closer to the barrel. The microphones are on either side at the half-way mark on the plastic frame.

That said, another way is to dispense with a tripod for flat surface shooting and just use a block of wood, or the lid of your case tumbler. It brings it down and is more stable.



Nothing wrong with using an elastic band to attach a motion trigger. There should be no need to play with the settings. Plug it in and start shooting.

[Oso Polaris]

I assume you are operating your Labradar using the Iphone App.... using the buttons on the device is so painfully clumsy. I kept having issues with quickly and reliably get the Labradar focused on my target. Nothing worse then not registering the first couple of shots and being distracted waiting to see if everything was going to work.

I bought an aftermarket bolt on sight that eliminates any alignment issues. No more hassle or futzing with it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/193000909117

The internal microphone(s) wasn't registering suppressed loads. I bought the external microphone (used for air rifles and archery) to resolve this issue. My range then added overhead baffles which cancelled the Labradar's abiity to track the bullet. I spent another $35 bucks and bought a kinetic trigger. It is reliable and so very easy. I use a velcro patch on along side of stock close to the end of forearm. The only issue I am still encountering is when I'm shoot prone with little Howa using a bipod, the trigger keeps activating when I rack the bolt, specifically when I unlock the action after firing a cartridge. My bolt has a snappy release that the Labradar interprets as another round fired... I then get the "failure to track" message. At the moment my only works-round is to disarm the unit (Iphone app) after each shot to unload spent case and load next round, and then re-arm the Labradar. PITA

Anyone have a suggestion/cure for this issue.

[richj]

Thanks for the suggestions.
Not sure why but I could not get the unit to turn back on unless I unplugged the power cable and plugged it back in.
I got it working by raising the front of the rifle to be more near the middle of the unit, but it's too high for me. I didn't have a bag/rest high enough for the toe of the stock.
The height is no big deal, I just wish I bought a small ball head instead of the tripod. I'm taking the head and attaching it to a piece of wood.

[richj]

Oso

Yes I got a bunch of false reading operating the bolt. I didn't play around with the trigger settings yet.

I'm at 1.1.5 and 1.0.0 firmware. I see there are updates.

[richj]

Just updated to 1.2.4 firmware. I had have more info.

I can power up and down if the unit doesn't auto turn off. (timeout)

If it times out then i have to unplug and replug the battery. I'm going to check again with the new firmware.

As for Blurtooth. Ha Ha. ever try to see your phone screen at high noon in the sun.

[Klem]

Oso, Ritch,

I wouldn't worry about false triggers caused by movement. The screen tells you to press a button to reset but just ignore it and keep shooting. It will register the next shot so I don't know why that message screen exists. Later, on your smart device or scrolling through the radar any crazy velocities representing false triggers can just be deleted. Any false triggering that does not register a projectile is not there anyway.

I have the phone app but don't bother using it anymore. I find it is more trouble than it's worth and if you can't export a file to some other app like Excel then it's even less useful. It's almost a gimmick. I spend more time wrestling with my phone going to sleep and often dropping-out than just leaning forward and pressing a button on the device which is right there next to me. I use an SD card to record shots and transpose that to Excel later.

Ritch,
In th settings I go to max time before the radar goes to sleep. If you have an external battery you may as well have the thing on for as long as possible - one less thing to worry about when you want to take your time taking the shot.

[jasper2408]

Just updated to 1.2.4 firmware. I had have more info.

I can power up and down if the unit doesn't auto turn off. (timeout)

If it times out then i have to unplug and replug the battery. I'm going to check again with the new firmware.

As for Blurtooth. Ha Ha. ever try to see your phone screen at high noon in the sun.

I set my Arm Time and Screensaver to the max and my unit stays on for the whole time and only uses about 14-16% of the battery in 4-4 1/2 hours of shooting. I do disarm it while I am cooling my barrel between groups.

If you set the unit to use a trigger then the unit only triggers when the trigger is activated and does not use the side microphones. As long as the chrono is lined up with your target correctly then it should capture your shots with your tripod. You might have to tilt it forward slightly but it should work.

As far as the trigger mount, you might need to put some padding between the trigger and your stock to help get rid of the false positives. Which brand of trigger did you get?

The software upgrade may fix some of your issues.

[Klem]

Aiming.
In the photo of the two labradars in Post#6 the right-hand side radar has a piece of pipe elastic banded to the groove on the top. It acts as a boresight. I use a ballpoint pen and hold it on the groove while looking at where it is pointing.

Stand
Ritch,

The Labradar is a standard tripod/camera thread. Drill a hole through your super expensive plank of wood and countersink it. Of you can raise the plank slightly with little rubber feet on each corner. You need a 1/4x20 thread screw.

[Oso Polaris]

Oso, Ritch,

I wouldn't worry about false triggers caused by movement. The screen tells you to press a button to reset but just ignore it and keep shooting. It will register the next shot so I don't know why that message screen exists. Later, on your smart device or scrolling through the radar any crazy velocities representing false triggers can just be deleted. Any false triggering that does not register a projectile is not there anyway.

I have the phone app but don't bother using it anymore. I find it is more trouble than it's worth and if you can't export a file to some other app like Excel then it's even less useful. It's almost a gimmick. I spend more time wrestling with my phone going to sleep and often dropping-out than just leaning forward and pressing a button on the device which is right there next to me. I use an SD card to record shots and transpose that to Excel later.

Ritch,
In th settings I go to max time before the radar goes to sleep. If you have an external battery you may as well have the thing on for as long as possible - one less thing to worry about when you want to take your time taking the shot.

Klem,

Thanks! I was using a clear pen tube, but it got to be annoying disassembling and reassembling my lucky pen that I needed to take notes in my log.

Next range trip I will ignoring the false trigger notice and keeping shooting. It was getting to be a huge distraction disarming unit with phone so that I could then reach over and manually press screen button to clear the message box to then load my rifle and then rearm system with my phone. Periodically, would forget to re-arm for a shot. It was making it incredibly difficult to stay in the pocket and maintain proper form. Labradar yoga...

[Klem]

Oso,

Yes, no need to unscrew the guts of the pen. Just look roughly where it is pointing. The radar emits a vertical oval shape of beam so fairly forgiving in the vertical plane but less so horizontal. If you square the radar with the front of a permanent shooting bench (like in Ritch's photo) it will always be perfectly pointing at the corresponding target at 100yds. I turn up to the firing point, square the radar with the front of the shooting bench and start shooting. You don't even need to use the aiming notch.

As long as the engineers when they built the range were pretty square with their benches to the axis of the range. I did get a bit cheeky once and drew a silhouette on the concrete shooting bench with a felt tip pen, around the wooden plank of the radar's stand. Then positioned the plank perfectly each time. Then realized the front of the benches are square enough to the targets, so no need to graffiti the bench.

One more thing - I've noticed over time the Micro-USB socket getting sloppy. Power cuts out if you accidentally knock it or the weight of the plug and cable causes the plug to droop at a slight angle, which is then prone to breaking contact.

If this happens you can install a proper power socket in the space above the SD slot. This is something LabRadar could/should do for the cost of the thing, it's only a couple of dollars. There are 8 screws that need to come out to open it up and I recommend leaving the flat ribbon cable connecting the two halves of the radar connected while you do this. Connect the new power socket leads to the battery compartment leads. The 6xAA battery compartment is divided into two parallel inputs of 3xAA, so 4.5V to the motherboard. Keep the integrity of the existing battery compartment leads so you can still use the battery compartment if you want. I rarely use AA's, preferring external rechargeables so it is where the kinetic trigger gets stored.

You can see where the two internal microphones are in the photo.

Obviously you void your warranty as soon as you peel the VOID WARRANTY sticker off to get at that last screw. But, the warranty is only for one year and once that has passed it is a non-issue. The 8th screw is in the battery compartment.