|
|
pbReview.com / Sports Sensors, Inc. RADARChron / Sports Sensors, Inc. RADARChron / Sports Sensors, Inc. RADARChron / Sports Sensors, Inc. RADARChron
Sports Sensors, Inc. RADARChron Reviews
|
|
|
|
Number of Reviews: |
43 |
|
Average Rating: |
8.6 / 10 |
|
Manufacturer Website: |
Click here |
|
Suggested Retail Price: |
$100 |
|
|
|
Just hold the small
RADARchron™ within 1/2 inch of the Marker barrel, about 2 inches
behind the marker barrel exit and reading the velocity of the expelled
paintball. Simple one-button operation turns on the radar transmitter and
feet per second paintball exit velocity is indicated on the LCD. |
|
| Product Availability | |
|
| The Sports Sensors, Inc. RADARChron is newer, so it should be commonly available, both new and used. Check out the Places to Buy links below for places to purchase it new. |
|
| Places to Buy | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Period of
Product Use: |
| 1 year | 9 of 11 people found this review helpful.
|
|
|
Paintball
Experience: |
3 years |
|
Similar
Products Used: |
VLocity
Oehler Model 35BNC
Chrony |
|
| Marker Setup: |
2 F4s, each w/ WGP Ergo regulator and anti-siphon tubes
Griffin w/ WGP Ergo regulator and anti-siphon tube
Griffin w/ ACI bottomline regulator
Model 98 w/ Flatline, WGP Ergo regulator and anti-siphon tube |
|
|
|
|
| Strengths: |
Cost: At approximately $90, the RadarChron is cheaper than 2 cases of paint. Anybody who says they can't afford is either making excuses or can't afford to be playing paintball in the first place.
Setup Time: The RadarChron takes zero setup time, unlike most optical-based systems.
Versatility: The RadarChron will work for any paintball gun. By comparison, the VLocity doesn't work well on guns that have irregularly shaped, small, or particularly large muzzles.
Portability: The RadarChron fits in your pocket - enough said! |
|
| Weaknesses: |
Accuracy: The RadarChron is only accurate to 2%%. While this is plenty accurate for ensuring safe play, it is not up to the task of precision "gun tweaking". I've compared the RadarChron to a laboratory grade chronograph (Oehler Model 35BNC w/ Type 57 screens) and the difference between the two is astonishing. Suffice to say that after measuring with a precision instrument I've found that even my low-end guns are more consistent than the RadarChron is! Thus, the RadarChron is virtually useless for fine tuning guns.
Interference: On particularly humid days, the RadarChron sometimes measures the velocity of the vapor cloud (condensation) that emits from your barrel rather than the velocity of the paintball. This can be avoided with practice (hold the RadarChron a bit further away from the barrel...but not too far!), but can be frustrating to user's who aren't bright enough to figure out what's going on.
Size: The RadarChron is actually *too* small. When at the field it is constantly getting lost in the dark nooks and crannies of my gear bag. |
|
| Conclusion: |
While it is not a perfect product, the RadarChron is the best chronograph out there for general use. Those with demanding specifications will have problems with it. So too will those who live in particularly humid climates. But again, for 99%% of the users out there, it will do everything they want for a price that is hard to beat. |
|
| Rating: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Period of
Product Use: |
| 6 months | 4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
|
|
|
Paintball
Experience: |
1 year |
|
Similar
Products Used: |
Haven't used other chronographs |
|
| Marker Setup: |
Tippman C98, J&J 14"ceramic barrel, PMI 20oz with SP on/off |
|
|
|
|
| Strengths: |
Very portable, durable, accurate, bright so you won't loose it unless it gets legs. |
|
| Weaknesses: |
Two digit display, what were they thinking?? |
|
| Review: |
I like this product a lot. It sure keeps everyone safe while playing bush ball. Nice and compact for refs on field. The problems I see others having with this chronograph I think could easily be fixed by READING the instructions. It clearly states not to touch the barrel with it (within 1/2 inch) and within 2" from muzzle of barrel. Change battery if problematic and to check the battery contacts while you're in there too!! I think people could get rid of most of their "lemmons" by following the instructions. If problems persist, you do have a warrenty for 180 days, send it back to get fixed. And the battery can be had at most any camera shop for a few bucks, what else do you expect, plug in charger?!? |
|
| Conclusion: |
I highly recomend it. You pay how much for all that flashy crap on your marker, you spend how much on premo paint, you buy the best goggle system out there but can't afford to be safe shooting?? I think we can all afford to be safe, that's #1. By the way, your goggles are only rated to 300fps, better to be safe than sorry. Only gave it a 9 because they should have put a 3 digit display on it. Otherwise it would of been a 10! |
|
| Rating: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MrDan |
|
Thursday, February 21st, 2002 |
|
Period of
Product Use: |
| 6 months | 4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
|
|
|
Paintball
Experience: |
1 year |
|
Similar
Products Used: |
Large professional field chronographs |
|
| Marker Setup: |
Carbine 68 with multiple doo-dads, various shiny gizmo's, and random sprinklings of thingies that add no performance. |
|
|
|
|
| Strengths: |
I hate to even admit that my 6 month old chrono received this test but it did. While playing at our outlaw field a few weeks back, we had the chrono out and in use. When it came time to go home, somebody (me) forgot to get the chrono from it's place at our defined chrono area. After 1 week, and two solid rain storms, I found the chrono, blown off of it's hanging place by one of the storms, on the ground. It was still soaking wet, oh and it was plenty cold to boot. Thinking I deserved to have to buy another one for being so stupid, I picked it up and pressed the button... Worked like that day it was new!! Was I surprised! It's worked perfectly well ever since. |
|
| Weaknesses: |
You do have to reset the thing after every shot, which with gun, allen wrench set, wifes gun, mask, o-rings, snack crackers and a drink in your two hands can be a problem. It's kind of a pain to hang off the barrel, but that's easily outweighed by it's portability and compactness. |
|
| Conclusion: |
In summary.
Does this chrono accurately measure your marker? Yes, as best I can tell from comparing it to other chronos.
Do my chrono reading vary by 10-20 fps? Yes, on occasion. As they do on the big chronographs as well.
Is it small, handy, easy to use, easy to take places? Yes. It's so small, you'll be more concerned with losing it/leaving it in the rain.
Is it more awkward than a large bench top chrono? Yes, to use. No, to have to lug around/setup/etc.
Is it water/snow/sleet/lightning/locust proof? Apparently so.
Should you own one, if for no other reason than you can now effectively work on and test your own equipment? Yes.
Will it be nearly as cool as the new shiny overpriced thingy that you really, really want for your marker? No.
Will you actually get your money's worth out of this? Yes. |
|
| Rating: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Period of
Product Use: |
| 1 year | 3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
|
|
|
Paintball
Experience: |
2 years |
|
Similar
Products Used: |
I've used that red boxy chronograph too! |
|
| Marker Setup: |
*02 WGP autococker (blue)
- STO RAM
- Shocktech bomb 2-way
- dead on pro products drop
- kapp pressure gauge
- J&J 2-piece barrel
- Hinge Trigger frame with as short of a trigger pull as I could get it
- Dye back block/ bolt combo
*03' WGP Sniper
- ghetto-old 5" drop forward
- 8in. Freak Barrel
- Black Ice inline reg
* Kingman Hammer
- Trracer grip frame
- duct tape
- electrical tape
- grease
- a lil' bit of magic
|
|
|
|
|
| Strengths: |
compact
tough
precise
can be put on a lanyard |
|
| Weaknesses: |
small enough to lose... |
|
| Review: |
As a field referee, I've been assigned the task of running the chronograph range on far too many occasions. Despite several complaints from kids who just bought their nifty Spyders and constantly readjust their velocity to their liking,( Their liking being 20-30 fps over 280) I have found this chronograph to be accurate, consistent, and simple to use. |
|
| Conclusion: |
this is definately a great chrono for refs, I highly reccomend it! |
|
| Rating: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Avery |
|
Tuesday, March 11th, 2003 |
|
Period of
Product Use: |
| 1 year | 2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
|
|
|
Paintball
Experience: |
More than 5 years |
|
Similar
Products Used: |
Non-handheld chronos |
|
| Marker Setup: |
TIppmann 98 (Every accessory I can think of)
Custom assembled Autococker
PT Punisher |
|
|
|
|
| Strengths: |
It is very small, easily carried by refs (allowing them to chrono on the field), APG lists it as the most accurate and consistent of all chrono's they've tested, it doesn't need to be plugged in, only 1 button so it is simple to use. Cheap - like a budgie! |
|
| Weaknesses: |
I sometimes have trouble getting a reading when it is dark out or space is confined (shooting into a garbage can at night on my patio). It's a little awkward to hold under the barrel, and the strap to put it on isn't reliable in its ability to make the chrono perpendicular to the flight of the ball. It requires you to push a button every time you fire, it can't measure BPS (like some really nice chronos) and it's more of a pain than a tabletop chrono to use. The display is only 2 digits, (so it says 2 then 95 for 295). Oh, I don't like yellow. |
|
| Review: |
All told, very reliable, useful and revolutionary. I recommend it to anyone as a personal chrono to use on occasion, but airsmiths or field owners will want a tabletop one too. That way they can use two hands on the marker they are testing, or whatever. I'd like to put mine on a lanyard for easier use. |
|
| Conclusion: |
I am glad I bought mine, since I cannot justify the cost or space requirements of a tabletop chrono, and I can take this out with me!
9/10 for revolutionizing tournaments and offering something really new and accurate, but not being perfect. Nothing out there right now even compares (definately not that on barrel thing!) |
|
| Rating: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Period of
Product Use: |
| Less than a month | 2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
|
|
|
Paintball
Experience: |
1 year |
|
Similar
Products Used: |
VL POS clamp on barrel crono
feild chronos |
|
| Marker Setup: |
err..... ok
USAS Viper M1
14" VxT ceramic teflon caoted barrel
Raised Sight rail
adco hotshot r/d sight
the car-15 adjustable stock (i dont keep it on)
VXTdouble trigger
45° rip frame
dye stickies
vl 12v revvy
CP drop
45/45 crossfire n2
that about covers it |
|
|
|
|
| Strengths: |
errr..... its an afordable chrono, it seems to keep up or down about 5fps, but i dont care about 5 fps, its plenty good enough for rec play, to make sure all my buddies are under 280 when we play speedball. who wants to go out for a day of fun and get hurt? thats no fun. the good is, it works..... |
|
| Weaknesses: |
it could have been a bit more accurate, and have a wider fps band, i think it does 150-45 fps, the other day i seen a feild chrono that read 40fps-7000 for the same damn price, i feel i been cheated... >=-(> |
|
| Conclusion: |
i bought it for 90 bucks, good deal, make sure everyone is fair and no one has a hot gun advantage, and you cant really put a price on saftey can you? if i lost it or it had been stolen, i would buy anothe one, because they are small enough to throw in your pocket and they seem quite durable |
|
| Rating: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Period of
Product Use: |
| 3 months | 2 of 4 people found this review helpful.
|
|
|
Paintball
Experience: |
1 year |
|
Similar
Products Used: |
big red field chronos |
|
| Marker Setup: |
99 LED
99 STO
2k1 LCD
GX3
2002 impulse |
|
|
|
|
| Strengths: |
worked for a while, when it does work, its accurate |
|
| Weaknesses: |
it broke, bottom line |
|
| Conclusion: |
My friends and I invested in a chrono for safety reasons, this one was cheap and portable and had a good rep. Well we got it and it seemed to be accurately reading FPS for about a month. Then it stopped giving readings. I mean, we would try to chrono, buit only 1 out of every 20 or so shots would register. About another month later, it started giving readings again, but they were HORRIBLY, inaccurate. Im sorry, but i was running nitro through my SIdewinder on my LED, and i dont think my velocity was going from 196 to 428. My shots appeared to be consistent just looking at them, but the chrono was wild. There was no way i was shooting either of those 2 velocities. When i recently chronod my gun at a field on a REAL chrono, i was getting around +-5 in the 280s range. I have made no modifications to my gun, but hte RADARchron must be broken. My friends have gotten similar wild readings using their setups (the setups listed below my LED). |
|
| Rating: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Unregistered User |
|
Sunday, October 14th, 2001 |
|
| |
| 2 out of 5 people found this review helpful. |
|
|
| Strengths: |
Reasonably priced, pocket sized and easy to carry around, great for taking with you or just for tinkering with your gun. |
|
| Weaknesses: |
Don't expect accurate readings with this thing (unless you call readings within 30fps accurate). I read another reviewer on here had the same problem with accuracy.
Takes a special battery (which I'm pretty sure can be replaced by 3 regular watch batteries of some size, but they don't bother giving you that information in the instructions).
Requires you to push the reset button before each new shot rather than automatically resetting.
I was on the field using my Radarchron so I wouldn't be taking up time at the field chrono and while I was reading 280fps on this thing the field chrono was getting me at 310fps consistantly. Even just firing off rounds in the backyard the fps fluctuates 10 to 20fps (or more) where on the field chrono it's not quite so wild.
I've tried this as per instructions (tied to the barrel with the included strap; held in your hand; I even placed it on a holder on a table to keep it steady and from wiggling or wobbling); no go. |
|
| Conclusion: |
The price is reasonable if you don't need to be accurate, but playing "backyard" games with your friends can get dangerous when the thing can be off by 30fps (or more). This would be good to use as a reference while you're out and about as long as you've got a gun with you that's been checked on a good chrono to reference by.
Personally I wouldn't buy another one or recommend it unless the accuracy problem were fixed and it would auto-reset when a new shot was fired. There are other more accurate units out there for comparable prices - they just don't happen to be as portable.
It gets points only because of the portability (since it doesn't really work the cost is really too high at any price). |
|
| Rating: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
f2f4 |
|
Sunday, February 22nd, 2004 |
|
Period of
Product Use: |
| Only tested | 1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
|
|
|
Paintball
Experience: |
2 years |
|
Similar
Products Used: |
The "Big Red Box" |
|
| Marker Setup: |
If you REALLY wanna see my setups... which I doubt, go to:
http://www.freewebs.com/f2f4 |
|
|
|
|
| Strengths: |
- Small
- Measures velocity
- Durable
- Not horribly expensive |
|
| Weaknesses: |
- Two digit display? Aaaarrrrrgh!
- Not the most accurate, but it is good enough. |
|
| Review: |
It's not mine, but I use it all the time. Performance seems good enough, but on very moist, humid days the reading can be thrown off a little...
What's up with the two digit display? I don't get why the designers couldn't just stick a three digit one in there... |
|
| Conclusion: |
Small, durable, useful...I would say get it. An overall good product. |
|
| Rating: |
| 8 out of 10 | Last edited on Monday, July 18th, 2005 at 9:35 pm PST |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Period of
Product Use: |
| 1 year | 1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
|
|
|
Paintball
Experience: |
4 years |
|
Similar
Products Used: |
none |
|
| Marker Setup: |
2k WGP vert autococker
12"DYE Boomstick
ANS pneumatics kit w/ QEV's
ANS GX-II regulator
15* ASA
WGP hinge trigger
Sys. X drop w/ on / off
Shocktech Supa fly bolt
Stock hammer, valve and springs
Halo B w/ rip & Z-code
Centerflag hyperflow 420 68ci 4500psi hpa
Crossfire 68ci 3000psi hpa |
|
|
|
|
| Strengths: |
Portability, reliability, consistent, easy to use, comes w/ protective case, yellow |
|
| Weaknesses: |
Two digit display, functions, should come w/ lanyard. |
|
| Review: |
This chrono is not only useful as a safety precaution, but usefull for measuring the consistency / efficiency of your marker. Fine tuning my Autococker is now so (so, so) much less of a guessing game since I got this chrono.
Getting an accurate reading is really easy if you think about what you are doing. First, read and understand the instructions. Almost everyone needs to be shown how to use it properly to get an accurate reading. Second, get a lanyard so you don't have to hold it on the barrel (your hand can affect the reading). Put the strap around the barrel and pull down on the lanyard (make sure the strap is adjusted properly so that the chrono is 1/2" below barrel) . Third, Make sure that the chrono doesn't slide around on the barrel. Every reading should be taken at the same exact location on the barrel to ensure the same reading every time. That's how it's done. Measurements good enough for safety reasons are far more simple.
The operation or this chrono would be better if you didn't have to push the button after each shot. The display would be better if it displayed the reading in one 3 digit display rather than displaying the reading in two segments (hundreds column first then tens and single column second. hard to explain).
At any rate the radarchron is actually fast and easy to use. Once you have the barrel strap adjusted, the only setup required is to pull it out of the case and turn on. |
|
| Conclusion: |
There should be one of these little things at every game! Another reviewer stated that this device costs less than 2 cases of paint which totally nullifies any argument as to the cost / usefulness ratio of this device. I agree!! Safety should always be first priority to keep the game fun for pb veterans and to start the game right for newbies.
This device has made my gun better and the game much simpler. Worth every penny!
9/10 because there is room for a little improvement.
|
|
| Rating: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Places to Buy | |
|
|
|
|
|
