New Athlon Chronograph

[S&S Archery (Rob)]

Nice work on the vid, thanks for getting it out for everyone quickly.

Curious if the averages you observed were reading regularly a little faster than the Garmin (or slower) or if it was just kind of back and forth.

We'll have this data posted in our blog in the next couple weeks. But on 10 round group averages the Athlon was always faster. One 10 round group was 20 fps faster, one was 10 fps faster and one was 2 fps faster. Again, these were 2600 to 3000 fps rifles so the numbers were too small to matter. Also, who is to say that the Garmin isn't slow?? We don't know. It will be fun to do some truing and see what the changes look like.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

We'll have this data posted in our blog in the next couple weeks. But on 10 round group averages the Athlon was always faster. One 10 round group was 20 fps faster, one was 10 fps faster and one was 2 fps faster. Again, these were 2600 to 3000 fps rifles so the numbers were too small to matter. Also, who is to say that the Garmin isn't slow?? We don't know. It will be fun to do some truing and see what the changes look like.

Awesome that's what I was curious about, thank you. Also curious depending on the rifle/suppressor/blast pattern if there were any differences in the averages if you switched them out on the left side or the right side of the rifle. I have one on order so I can play with it back and forth but I won't have a Garmin to compare it to. Thanks again for doing the testing and providing it quickly.

 

[jml49]

I ordered mine yesterday.

 

[TheCougar]

They sure seem to be reading fast for just about everything. It is concerning for archery, as that’s a much larger deviance proportionally. I wonder if Athlon can fix that with a firmware update, or perhaps they got a squirrelly unit. It would have been good to test two Athlons side by side.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

They sure seem to be reading fast for just about everything. It is concerning for archery, as that’s a much larger deviance proportionally. I wonder if Athlon can fix that with a firmware update, or perhaps they got a squirrelly unit. It would have been good to test two Athlons side by side.

Hoping for firmware but this could very well end up being a variance in the hardware and/or QC type of thing.

 

[jfk69]

That is on my wish list. Thank you for the video. I agree, a couple firmware updates will settle this in nicely. At a price point of $200ish below the Garmin it’s a no brainer.

 

[wind gypsy]

put me in the “10-20 FPS deviation is concerning and would be unacceptable” camp.

I’d rather use my labradar than deal with that.

 

[waspocrew]

^^^ agreed. I wouldn’t be happy with that at all.

 

[wind gypsy]

Is there an accuracy spec that would allow these to be returnable/warrantied? I’m considering cancelling my order until more is known about this issue. I would be pissed if I bought one and then got told 10-20 FPS is acceptable.

 

[KyleR1985]

is the concern accuracy - not reading the right velocity, but reading precisely the wrong velocity every time?

Or precision - reading the velocity accurately, but being imprecise about it?

Precision seems to be the most important factor for most use cases, no?

I need to know the thing Will do exactly the same thing every time, regardless of what thay thing is, within reason. I can engineer around a known commodity.

Also curious of what we have to go on with the Garmin - was all this Sussed out when they hit the market, or did no one care because they’re the only game in town for this type of chrono?

 

[waspocrew]

is the concern accuracy - not reading the right velocity, but reading precisely the wrong velocity every time?

Or precision - reading the velocity accurately, but being imprecise about it?

Precision seems to be the most important factor for most use cases, no?

I need to know the thing Will do exactly the same thing every time, regardless of what thay thing is, within reason. I can engineer around a known commodity.

Also curious of what we have to go on with the Garmin - was all this Sussed out when they hit the market, or did no one care because they’re the only game in town for this type of chrono?

There were several comparisons with the garmin units against the lab radar and magnetospeed. From what I remember, they all showed very similar readings, but the Garmin was way more convenient in terms of form factor, set up/use, and an app that actually worked (LR app was/is terrible).

For the athlon, if it's consistently reading higher velocities than actual, I wouldn't be happy with it. You should always verify/true at distance, but I don't want to be second guessing every number that pops up on the screen.

 

[wind gypsy]

is the concern accuracy - not reading the right velocity, but reading precisely the wrong velocity every time?

Or precision - reading the velocity accurately, but being imprecise about it?

Precision seems to be the most important factor for most use cases, no?

I need to know the thing Will do exactly the same thing every time, regardless of what thay thing is, within reason. I can engineer around a known commodity.

Also curious of what we have to go on with the Garmin - was all this Sussed out when they hit the market, or did no one care because they’re the only game in town for this type of chrono?

I never got a garmin but my recollection was that they tracked along with Labradars and magnetospeeds when they came out. I don’t recall any similar reports. And when I first got a labradar I ran it with a magnetospeed and prochrono and got speeds that were less than 10 FPS different and tracked consistently with each other which is more reason I’d find this unacceptable.

 

[TheCougar]

I never got a garmin but my recollection was that they tracked along with Labradars and magnetospeeds when they came out. I don’t recall any similar reports. And when I first got a labradar I ran it with a magnetospeed and prochrono and got speeds that were less than 10 FPS different and tracked consistently with each other which is more reason I’d find this unacceptable.

I would expect the lesser of 1% or 10fps error.

 

[menhaden_man]

I never got a garmin but my recollection was that they tracked along with Labradars and magnetospeeds when they came out. I don’t recall any similar reports. And when I first got a labradar I ran it with a magnetospeed and prochrono and got speeds that were less than 10 FPS different and tracked consistently with each other which is more reason I’d find this unacceptable.

I shot my 7 RM with a labradar and Garmin side by side last fall, they were typically within 1-5 fps over the 20 shots or so.

Curious if S&S has a labradar to toss into the equation on next range trip.

 

[Muledeerfanatic]

Mine shipped today
Will get a bunch of use
Have pretty solid data on several rifles so I will know soon how accurate it is

 

[HairyScandinavian]

^very nice. I emailed EuroOptic for a quote on something else and asked about the Rangecraft, they said they don't have any info when they may be getting their shipment and they don't have them yet.

 

[Muledeerfanatic]

Got mine from camera land for $315

 

[marjje]

I had one on pre order from EuroOptic, just got an invoice and tracking number in my email.

 

[madgrad02]

I had one on pre order from EuroOptic, just got an invoice and tracking number in my email.

When did you order yours? I picked one up through EuroOptic as well at a discounted price (had to be $320) at the time of purchase.

 

[JGRaider]

Anyone ever figure out what the warranty is on this Athlon chrono?