Athlon Rangecraft Chronograph at S&S Archery

[BBob]

Who has been able to update software? I keep seeing random posts of say .62 on up to the .64 version where mine is on the original .61 and continuously says no updates available.

Updated to .69 this evening.

 

[DB29]

Updated to .69 this evening.
View attachment 899216

I downloaded it and it deleted 1 of my bullet profiles, deleted the notes I had in the 2 other bullet profiles and duplicated a couple of the saved range sessions I had. I will get out this weekend and shoot to see if it is giving different speeds.

 

[coacht84]

I know this isn't exactly a review thread, but I don't see a better place to post because the only other thread is specific to reloading and I've only used the Rangecraft for archery. IDK if I should have started a new thread...

Overall, I am a little disappointed/frustrated, but hopefully and optimistic that issues will be resolved eventually. I have zero experience with chronographs. I bought this to use for archery (mostly curiosity on FPS) and primarily for muzzleloader load development. I have only used it for archery so far. Hoping to try it with muzzleloaders this weekend.

First impression was very positive. Screen is bright, button design and menu layout is easy to use, and it has picked up every arrow I have shot over it. I first shot in my garage and the speed was very much in range of my expectations. In 10 shots, there were no outliers on results. Everything looked great and I thought I was golden.

The next day I took it to a very large indoor range. My buddy wanted to chronograph his bow. The readings were about 10-15 fps faster than I expected. He was super pumped, but I knew something was fishy. I grabbed my bow and shot over it. It was reading about 15 fps faster than it did the night before. I tried positioning the Rangecraft in a bunch of different places and more/less had the same results.

The only difference I could identify between the 2 shooting sessions was the size of the space I was shooting in. My garage was pretty confined, shooting with my freezers on one side and storage shelves/totes on the other and a 9 ft ceiling it was like shooting in a hallway. The range is in a huge steel building, 60 yards long, 30 yards wide, and probably 30+ ft ceiling. I had a theory that the radar waves were acting different in the confined space.

Next I asked the pro shop at the range to shoot in their little shooting booth and use their Garmin chrono. Magically, when I went to the confined space of the booth, the Rangecraft was reading the same as it had in my garage. I think my theory has some legs. Also, interesting to note that I was not at all impressed with the Garmin chrono. It wouldn't read the first shot of any session, and it missed another couple. The Rangecraft hasn't missed any since I've gotten it. The Garmin read about 6 fps faster than the Rangecraft (no way to know which is more accurate), but it's standard deviation was much higher than the Rangecraft. It's a small sample size I know and I didn't take a photo after I had a higher shot count, but I thought the Garmin kind of sucked. I didn't even mention the crappier screen brightness, worse button design, and menu layout that was much less user friendly IMHO.

I have been hopeful that a firmware update will improve the archery functionality in the Rangecraft, but I can't get the damn thing to install. It stalls at 50% progress repeatedly. Hopefully that gets remedied soon too.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I’m glad they didn’t copy Garmin on the price. Idk why competition for Garmin gets people excited.

Because people who bought the garmin don’t want to believe there is something as good for ~ 60% of the cost. I have a garmin but I’m not mad about this.

 

[Time2fish]

I got mine from S&S awhile back and used it for multiple rifles with good sucess. super easy to use and didn't miss a shot when properly placed. I had only used a Caldwell before this, so a big upgrade for me.
I tried to crono my bow last week and could not get a read, I was parallel to the riser 4" to 10" away. Clearly not a correct set up. What is the best set up for archery with the Athlon? I feel like I shot next to a Garmin at the bow shop parallel to the riser and it worked great.
T2F

 

[Madpacific]

I got mine from S&S awhile back and used it for multiple rifles with good sucess. super easy to use and didn't miss a shot when properly placed. I had only used a Caldwell before this, so a big upgrade for me.
I tried to crono my bow last week and could not get a read, I was parallel to the riser 4" to 10" away. Clearly not a correct set up. What is the best set up for archery with the Athlon? I feel like I shot next to a Garmin at the bow shop parallel to the riser and it worked great.
T2F

I shoot over the Rangecraft with my bow. It has no problem reading shots. The problem is it reads anywhere from 10-20 fps hot consistently. I emailed Athlon a couple days ago and they told me they are working on the archery issues and hope to have an update out in the next 2 weeks.

 

[GuppyWN]

I shoot over the Rangecraft with my bow. It has no problem reading shots. The problem is it reads anywhere from 10-20 fps hot consistently. I emailed Athlon a couple days ago and they told me they are working on the archery issues and hope to have an update out in the next 2 weeks.

At least it sounds like they are actively working on updates.

 

[WesternHunter56]

Does anyone know if the Athlon Rangecraft has the downrange mode like the Garmin Xero has?

 

[BBob]

Does anyone know if the Athlon Rangecraft has the downrange mode like the Garmin Xero has?

It does not.

 

[WesternHunter56]

It does not.

That sucks! Thanks for the info.

 

[Johnboy]

I shoot over the Rangecraft with my bow. It has no problem reading shots. The problem is it reads anywhere from 10-20 fps hot consistently. I emailed Athlon a couple days ago and they told me they are working on the archery issues and hope to have an update out in the next 2 weeks.

@Madpacific - Any feedback from Athlon on your issue? I'm on the verge of returning the one I purchased, as the readouts it gives are unrepeatable from one day to the next, even though I can sometimes get repeatable results on any given day. I got it for measuring arrow speed, and unless there's some sort of firmware update that solves all of the inconsistency issues, this thing is pretty much useless to me.

 

[Madpacific]

@Madpacific - Any feedback from Athlon on your issue? I'm on the verge of returning the one I purchased, as the readouts it gives are unrepeatable from one day to the next, even though I can sometimes get repeatable results on any given day. I got it for measuring arrow speed, and unless there's some sort of firmware update that solves all of the inconsistency issues, this thing is pretty much useless to me.

I’ve been in contact with them. There should be an app update any day now, and the day after that the new firmware should be out. They’re taking their time to get it out, so I’m hoping that the issues are fixed….. but I was told the app update was supposed to be out last week, so the delay could mean they haven’t figured it out…

 

[CouesFlagAZ]

Anyone seeing an archery improvement with the latest firmware update (1.40.79)? Just purchased a new unit with the latest firmware and it's still consistently 10-15 fps hot.

 

[6.5Express]

Any updates on this?

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

@thinhorn_AK it sounds like you're happy with the Athlon for rifle testing?

 

[thinhorn_AK]

@thinhorn_AK it sounds like you're happy with the Athlon for rifle testing?

I have the garmin which I’ve been more than happy with, I know a guy who has the Athlon though and he likes it. If I didn’t have the garmin, I’d be happy with an Athlon.

What I really like about these chronographs is that I end up using them all the time. No setup, no change in POI from strapping stuff to your barrel, just turn it on, set it on the bench or wherever and do your shooting.

 

[Conrad101st]

I got one couple months back.

It worked on slow muzzleloader to magnum rifles.

I found the use very intuitive and easy, to the point a school kid could use it.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

No setup, no change in POI from strapping stuff to your barrel,

This is where I'm at with my bayonet, and looking for the best value. The Garmins are great, but if the Athlon is 90% without the issues I have today, I'm happy to save the money.

 

[BBob]

Athlon is 90%

IMO there’s no functional difference between the Athlon and Garmin. Mby you’d get a better resale value out of a Garmin by name alone but that’s about it.

 

[ezwy]

Used a garmin and athlon side by side last week. They were within 2-4 fps on shots. The athlon had to be closer and positioned more in line to read. Both worked fine though