Lab radar question?

[hot shot 828]

I am using the JKL trigger but I am getting quite a few acquisition errors and low velocity readings. I have the unit pointed at the target. Does the barrel have to be lined up with the unit of not? Other shooters at the range say they don't and the unit works fine with the external trigger. I have it set on trigger mode and tried different sensitivity settings. Any suggestions?

 

[Maurygold]

Do you have a sight? Sounds like potential alignment issue?

Pro Series Improved Labradar Sight

Pro Series Improved Labradar Sight The grooved "aiming groove" on the Labradar leaves much to be desired. This Improved Labradar Sight changes that. Simply remove the bolt just below the groove, and slide the sight into place, and install the included longer bolt for a semi-permanent installation.

www.mkmachining.com

 

[hot shot 828]

Just using a plastic straw for aiming.

 

[spife7980]

Silenced, bare or muzzle brake?
Where is your muzzle in relation to the radar?

But yes. If you want to get accurate readings of the bullet as it moves away from the radar you will want to have it aligned so the bullet is moving away from the radar and not across is. That should be obvious.

 

[Baron23]

RTFM

 

[hot shot 828]

Silenced, bare or muzzle brake?
Where is your muzzle in relation to the radar?

But yes. If you want to get accurate readings of the bullet as it moves away from the radar you will want to have it aligned so the bullet is moving away from the radar and not across is. That should be obvious.

Bare. Had 2 different rifles both chambered in 222 rem. One bull barrel one sporter. Rifles lined up with the middle of the unit. Got no reading with the bull barrel all acquisition errors. 75% readings with the sporter barrel. Do the muzzle s have to be even with the unit of not. Other shooters said no and there unit works with the external trigger.

 

[spife7980]

First I would skip the trigger and figure out how to work the radar.
Leave the trigger away until you actually have a reason to use it. Otherwise you’re just having false alarms the entire time. Can’t read a shot if it’s telling you it came prematurely at the triggers false alarm.


Put the muzzle even with the radar. The blast will set it off.

With a muzzle brake you want it ahead of the radar to limit the excessive blast and if you have a silencer then you want it behind the radar to catch more of the limited blast.

 

[hot shot 828]

First I would skip the trigger and figure out how to work the radar.
Leave the trigger away until you actually have a reason to use it. Otherwise you’re just having false alarms the entire time. Can’t read a shot if it’s telling you it came prematurely at the triggers false alarm.


Put the muzzle even with the radar. The blast will set it off.

With a muzzle brake you want it ahead of the radar to limit the excessive blast and if you have a silencer then you want it behind the radar to catch more of the limited blast.

When I got the unit a year ago I had no problems when using it without the trigger. The range I go to is quite busy and everyone next to me would set off the unit could not read projectile. Went to a less busy range and I couldn't get the unit to line up even with the muzzle.like I said other people were using the unit without the muzzle no where near it but they were using the trigger

 

[max1840]

I use a sight and a Piet Recoil Trigger. It works great. The set up allows me to have the radar unit just forward of the ejection port within arms reach. I don't worry about radar to muzzle relationship. It's all very comfortable with zero frustration.

 

[DownhillFromHere]

Shooting on a crowded range is a major factor in LabRadar setup, especially with a light caliber like .222, Especially if the .222 is long-barreled and unbraked. Then an inertia trigger is almost a necessity.

I'm fortunate to shoot on a range which I often have to myself... with a 28" braked .223, I still need trigger level 1 with the unit just forward of the rifle's bolt. With .22LR, I use the external-microphone trigger - which is useless if anyone anyone else is on the range with anything other than .22s due to false triggers.

And yes, you absolutely have to carefully aim the unit. After four years' use, I can get near-100% success aiming with just the V-notch. But a sight, even a length of soda straw, is helpful to many people. You also want the offset value set correctly - the lateral distance from the rifle to the unit. Mine is set at 6" as the LR is always set 6" from the side of the rifle.

 

[hot shot 828]

Shooting on a crowded range is a major factor in LabRadar setup, especially with a light caliber like .222, Especially if the .222 is long-barreled and unbraked. Then an inertia trigger is almost a necessity.

I'm fortunate to shoot on a range which I often have to myself... with a 28" braked .223, I still need trigger level 1 with the unit just forward of the rifle's bolt. With .22LR, I use the external-microphone trigger - which is useless if anyone anyone else is on the range with anything other than .22s due to false triggers.

And yes, you absolutely have to carefully aim the unit. After four years' use, I can get near-100% success aiming with just the V-notch. But a sight, even a length of soda straw, is helpful to many people. You also want the offset value set correctly - the lateral distance from the rifle to the unit. Mine is set at 6" as the LR is always set 6" from the side of the rifle.

Thanks for your help. I ordered a sight should help with aiming. Next time I go out I'll use a larger caliber and see how it goes.

 

[hot shot 828]

I use a sight and a Piet Recoil Trigger. It works great. The set up allows me to have the radar unit just forward of the ejection port within arms reach. I don't worry about radar to muzzle relationship. It's all very comfortable with zero frustration.

Do you still use a 6 or 12 inch lateral distance from the unit? I had mine set up like yours but got no or very readings.I was thinking there was something wrong with unit.

 

[vh20]

I use a sight and a Piet Recoil Trigger. It works great. The set up allows me to have the radar unit just forward of the ejection port within arms reach. I don't worry about radar to muzzle relationship. It's all very comfortable with zero frustration.

OP- This is exactly how I run mine, shooting suppressed. It rarely ever misses a shot. Trigger is attached at the front of the action, LR is placed beside the action with a 6" offset and Trigger Level 1 (1 is the most sensitive, 5 is the least). I have the MK sight, but honestly I feel like aiming isn't as critical as some here - I never had a problem using just the V-notch, and your straw should be better than that.

 

[vh20]

Do you still use a 6 or 12 inch lateral distance from the unit? I had mine set up like yours but got no or very readings.I was thinking there was something wrong with unit.

As mentioned, .222 is a light recoil rifle. Are you actually getting a trigger on the LR with each shot and just no MV recorded, or is it not even triggering the LR? If it's not triggering, does it trigger every time you tap the recoil trigger with your finger? If not, the trigger may be faulty. How are you attaching the trigger to the rifle? With a light recoil, the provided velcro may absorb enough of a light recoil to keep it from triggering. I hot-glued a magnet to the back of my trigger for a much more solid connection to the rifle so it picks up the recoil more consistently.

Also, another thing to consider - I have several ranges, and the 100 yard range at the house is only a narrow strip cut through a heavily wooded area. It's just wide enough to run a 6' Bush Hog down it. With .223 bullets, the unit has a hard time picking up the little bullets because of the radar clutter returns from all the trees. It does ok with 6.5 and larger bullets on this range, but not .223 (even 88 and 90gr ones). It will pick these up fine, however, when I move out in the open to my big range. Make sure you don't have a lot of downrange clutter that might make it difficult for the radar to see your little bullet.

 

[DownhillFromHere]

Make sure you don't have a lot of downrange clutter that might make it difficult for the radar to see your little bullet.

Or try setting TX POWER to Low. I have found this to be useful on cluttered ranges. From the manual (all sorts of intertesting stuff in there):

"(US, Canada, Australia/New Zealand models only)​

​

Select the LabRadar transmitting power. (Standard or Low).​

​

While Standard power offers a longer range measurementrange, the Low power mode can be useful and perform betteron shorter or indoor shooting ranges and on ranges whereobject create signal reflections.Due to foreign government restrictions, the European Union model is restricted to the Low power setting."​

 

[vh20]

Or try setting TX POWER to Low. I have found this to be useful on cluttered ranges. From the manual (all sorts of intertesting stuff in there):

"(US, Canada, Australia/New Zealand models only)​

​

Select the LabRadar transmitting power. (Standard or Low).​

​

While Standard power offers a longer range measurementrange, the Low power mode can be useful and perform betteron shorter or indoor shooting ranges and on ranges whereobject create signal reflections.Due to foreign government restrictions, the European Union model is restricted to the Low power setting."​

That's great advice. Thanks for reminding me. I haven't read the manual in a long time, and had forgotten that was in there so I haven't thought to try that yet. I'm lucky that it isn't really a problem because I just easily get my .223 chrono data on my big range, but next time it comes up I'll try it. Thanks.

 

[hot shot 828]

As mentioned, .222 is a light recoil rifle. Are you actually getting a trigger on the LR with each shot and just no MV recorded, or is it not even triggering the LR? If it's not triggering, does it trigger every time you tap the recoil trigger with your finger? If not, the trigger may be faulty. How are you attaching the trigger to the rifle? With a light recoil, the provided velcro may absorb enough of a light recoil to keep it from triggering. I hot-glued a magnet to the back of my trigger for a much more solid connection to the rifle so it picks up the recoil more consistently.

Also, another thing to consider - I have several ranges, and the 100 yard range at the house is only a narrow strip cut through a heavily wooded area. It's just wide enough to run a 6' Bush Hog down it. With .223 bullets, the unit has a hard time picking up the little bullets because of the radar clutter returns from all the trees. It does ok with 6.5 and larger bullets on this range, but not .223 (even 88 and 90gr ones). It will pick these up fine, however, when I move out in the open to my big range. Make sure you don't have a lot of downrange clutter that might make it difficult for the radar to see your little bullet.

I do get a trigger every time acquisition error, low velocity reading, or a normal velocity. When I tap the trigger it does work. I use a magnetic mount by the action of or on the barrel. No clutter around.

As mentioned, .222 is a light recoil rifle. Are you actually getting a trigger on the LR with each shot and just no MV recorded, or is it not even triggering the LR? If it's not triggering, does it trigger every time you tap the recoil trigger with your finger? If not, the trigger may be faulty. How are you attaching the trigger to the rifle? With a light recoil, the provided velcro may absorb enough of a light recoil to keep it from triggering. I hot-glued a magnet to the back of my trigger for a much more solid connection to the rifle so it picks up the recoil more consistently.

Also, another thing to consider - I have several ranges, and the 100 yard range at the house is only a narrow strip cut through a heavily wooded area. It's just wide enough to run a 6' Bush Hog down it. With .223 bullets, the unit has a hard time picking up the little bullets because of the radar clutter returns from all the trees. It does ok with 6.5 and larger bullets on this range, but not .223 (even 88 and 90gr ones). It will pick these up fine, however, when I move out in the open to my big range. Make sure you don't have a lot of downrange clutter that might make it difficult for the radar to see your little bullet.

 

[DownhillFromHere]

I do get a trigger every time acquisition error, low velocity reading, or a normal velocity. When I tap the trigger it does work. I use a magnetic mount by the action of or on the barrel. No clutter around.

Sounds like the unit is not aimed precisely. Check the return-signal-strength bars on the right side of display. If you are seeing one or even two bars, subsequent acquisition errors are kinda likely. (Photo screen-capped from manual)

 

[hot shot 828]

Thanks I did see 1,2, and 3 bars.

 

[Baron23]

Thought this might be slightly be helpful...from their quick start guide

https://mylabradar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1299-4842Fx1a-quick-setup-and-tips.pdf

 

[beetroot]

I use a recoil trigger (suppressed rifles, centrefire and rimfire) and end up with a few random readings, it's easy enough to go delete them at the end. Less frustrating than the unit not picking up shots.

Certainly less annoying than when it randomly turns off mid string....