LabRadar Woes

[magtech]

Bought a new LabRadar on Midway and it seems to have an issue with the SD card and the shockwave. Maybe its a junk solder joint. Maybe its a bad SD slot, but it shuts off everytime i shoot it with a SD card in. Its fine without one.

It was this way straight out of the box. No drops, nothing. I'm really feeling its a lottery with these things.

I emailed LabRadar a couple days ago and haven't heard anything. Should I ask for a straight refund?

Reading others on this site the quality/reliability seems questionable.

 

[phlegethon]

I would try calling. They will probably have you send it in. I think a lot of things about the labradar design suck (small display, crappy interface, radar and control should be separate, should have a built in lithium ion battery like every other electronic device), but at the same time it really has no competition if you don’t want to deal with obnoxious magnetospeed mounts or POI shifts.

 

[magtech]

I would try calling. They will probably have you send it in. I think a lot of things about the labradar design suck (small display, crappy interface, radar and control should be separate, should have a built in lithium ion battery like every other electronic device), but at the same time it really has no competition if you don’t want to deal with obnoxious magnetospeed mounts or POI shifts.

I agree. The button function to view your shots /strings is utterly terrible. Maybe the app is better... I dont know. All i know is that since it came out of the box it doesnt work ( shuts off) with any SD card in it. Maybe midway will send me a replacement... They replied sooner than LR, so i'm losing faith in LR CS to be honest.

If I were to take this example as a company example, the results would not fair well with them. I cant imagine anyone worth their weight tested the buttons for usability. I cant imagine anyone even tested this thing to take shock loads. It would have been easy to support the internals for stress testing. Maybe i'm hasty to judge. Maybe its a shit product... If LR doesnt get back to me within a week, it will be a straight refund.

 

[flyright]

Just call them. A friend of mine had a similar issue and it was a bad/incorrect SD card. Solved over the phone in about 2 minutes. It's a really good device. My shooting friends don't bother setting up their various chronos if they know one of us will be there with the LR.

 

[nn8734]

Bought a new LabRadar on Midway and it seems to have an issue with the SD card and the shockwave. Maybe its a junk solder joint. Maybe its a bad SD slot, but it shuts off everytime i shoot it with a SD card in. Its fine without one.

It was this way straight out of the box. No drops, nothing. I'm really feeling its a lottery with these things.

I emailed LabRadar a couple days ago and haven't heard anything. Should I ask for a straight refund?

Reading others on this site the quality/reliability seems questionable.

Labradar is solid but you may have a dud. I’ve had mine for over 4 years with no issues....Just curious, did you try more then one SD card in the slot to see if perhaps you have a bad card?

Call Midway tomorrow and see what they will do for you. They usually do a good job of taking care of customers in these type of situations.

 

[Woollymonster]

Send it back to Midway for a refund or exchange. You got a dud. These are really great units. I have had mine for several years. Any time I am shooting off a bench or prone, the Lab Radar is on.

 

[Boatninja]

Mine has been sent back twice in a year and both times they said they found the problem. This says there was a problem. The second time they sent the wrong one back to me and it worked perfectly. I had to send it back and when mine came back still same problem , not able to tune out triggering on others shots. Other LR owners have tried to help. It only works consistantly on suppressed guns with external mic. I have purchased a recoil trigger now, just shouldn't have to buy stuff to make it work.

 

[6.5SH]

Make sure your SD card is similar or older specs to what they offer:

SD Card-SanDisk 16GB SDHC Card

Product UPC: 619659135676 SanDisk Ultra SDHC Class 10, Memory Card 16GB, Blister Pack. This is enough memory to hold thousands of shots. Prices are in USD.

buymylabradar.com

sdxc, sduc or microSD in an adapter just cause problems.

If it is a card you got from LabRadar keep after them for support, I recall a recent thread about a recent-ish batch of units with SD slot issues.

 

[magtech]

I think I'm up to 5 SDhc cards I've put in it. I have an ass load for trailcams so that's not an issue.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Tyler Kemp]

I would try calling. They will probably have you send it in. I think a lot of things about the labradar design suck (small display, crappy interface, radar and control should be separate, should have a built in lithium ion battery like every other electronic device), but at the same time it really has no competition if you don’t want to deal with obnoxious magnetospeed mounts or POI shifts.

Oh come on...a nice Magneto Mount and you just bolt things up and shoot. No aiming. No cussing your finicky Labradar. After using both, I only use one

 

[Yellowhammer]

I've been 100% happier with my LR since I got the accelerometer trigger from the guy here.

 

[Holliday]

Oh come on...a nice Magneto Mount and you just bolt things up and shoot. No aiming. No cussing your finicky Labradar. After using both, I only use one

Exactly! Did you guys ever work up a version that would work with longer reaches with a can?

 

[phlegethon]

Oh come on...a nice Magneto Mount and you just bolt things up and shoot. No aiming. No cussing your finicky Labradar. After using both, I only use one

Unfortunately I don’t think the perfect MS mount exists. The two rifles I shoot most frequently are in Manners PRS-1 stocks, so there is cant between the Arca rail and barrel axis. If the rail and barrel are parallel, I think the MKMachining mount is pretty good, but the use of set screws for adjustment (with multiple sizes, no less) is a bit suboptimal in terms of convenience. Everything is a compromise...

 

[Tyler Kemp]

Exactly! Did you guys ever work up a version that would work with longer reaches with a can?

Yes, we have a new mount that you can hang plenty of distance off of. Solid 5/8 stainless rods, 12" modular sections

 

[Tyler Kemp]

MK Machining Gen III Magnetospeed Mount

MK Machining Gen III Magnetospeed Mount We’ve made substantial improvements to our very popular Magnetospeed Mount for better performance.

mkmachining.com

 

[Holliday]

Yes, we have a new mount that you can hang plenty of distance off of. Solid 5/8 stainless rods, 12" modular sections

Oh sweet! I will check those out. Thx!

 

[doc88]

Labradar is an excellent company to deal with. I have had to send mine back a couple of times and they have always taken care of me. Fixed a couple small issues that were out of warranty for free. Call or send an email and they will right back in touch. They will fix the issue. Good luck

Doc

 

[7mMike]

I got one of the first runs of them. Not a single issue over the years. If it ever shits the bed, I’d get another one in a heat beat.

 

[phlegethon]

Mine will no longer pick up .22LR bullets.

 

[Travelor]

Love mine.

If you are having trouble picking up 22's get the airgun mic.

 

[7mMike]

Mine will no longer pick up .22LR bullets.

Try the jkl trigger.

 

[Tokay444]

MK Machining Gen III Magnetospeed Mount

MK Machining Gen III Magnetospeed Mount We’ve made substantial improvements to our very popular Magnetospeed Mount for better performance.

mkmachining.com

I need this, and I need it in Canada, and I need it not to be on back order.

 

[phlegethon]

Try the jkl trigger. View attachment 7399023

I have it. That’s not the problem. It hears every shot even with the built in microphone, but then says it can’t track it. Will have to call Monday.

 

[Tyler Kemp]

I need this, and I need it in Canada, and I need it not to be on back order.

We ship to Canada, and more in stock in 2-3 weeks. They are impossible to keep up with demand as a small company!

 

[Painless300]

We ship to Canada, and more in stock in 2-3 weeks. They are impossible to keep up with demand as a small company!

We need a gen 4 that has the ability to CANT for rifles that have an angles forend!!

 

[Tyler Kemp]

We need a gen 4 that has the ability to CANT for rifles that have an angles forend!!

I know, I know

Open to ideas here, but with recoil it is essentially impossible to get something rock solid with infinite adjustments. At least with my simple mind thinking of how to make it, at a reasonable cost to the consumer.

 

[Baron23]

I love my Labradar and have had no issues. I don't shoot supressed or rimfire so that should be taken into account.

I did have loan of both a Labradar and Magnetospeed and made my decision based on my first hand experience. YMMV

I agree that whoever designed the flow of the GUI needs to be replaced with someone who knows wtf they are doing. It has a processor, it has a display, and just some competence in design is all that would be required to make the user control more intuitive.

I did, however, buy a aiming accessory from @Tyler Kemp and IMO this is an essential piece of kit for the Labrador.

One example of a problem (or scattered reports of issues) with a consumer electronic device is not sufficient for me to condemn a company. ALL electronics have field failures no matter how well tested (and I did a lot of specification of full spectrum testing for military electronics back in the day...MIL-STND-810 stuff). If the problems are wide spread or endemic, then hell yes, let's roast them. But if not, then the focus (IMO) should be on CS and warranty support. Did the company take care of the problem effectively and efficiently.

Quite frankly, if the OP submitted a ticket to Labradar last Wed (no time of day noted, I think) and if he doesn't get a response by COB today (Monday) then yes, I would get on the phone with them and my first question would be "why the fuck haven't you responded". And no, COVID is not an excuse as CS can be done anywhere (like from home) with an internet connection. I know this from first hand experience also.

Cheers and best of luck to the OP. And while I do think Labradar owes his a response, I believe that the suggestions to contact Midway are valid and good. They will respond.

 

[Tokay444]

We ship to Canada, and more in stock in 2-3 weeks. They are impossible to keep up with demand as a small company!

Not the worst problem in the world to have.
I was gonna machine up my own at some point, but I also do like to support the companies that support us.

 

[Painless300]

I know, I know

Open to ideas here, but with recoil it is essentially impossible to get something rock solid with infinite adjustments. At least with my simple mind thinking of how to make it, at a reasonable cost to the consumer.

I understand making something bomb and dummy proof is hard to do!!! Love your products, keep it up!!

 

[phlegethon]

I know, I know

Open to ideas here, but with recoil it is essentially impossible to get something rock solid with infinite adjustments. At least with my simple mind thinking of how to make it, at a reasonable cost to the consumer.

What about something that is not continuously adjustable but just has fine steps, like a geared clutch?

 

[tony413]

I’m a former Magnetospeed chrono user who sold it to buy a labradar and I like the labradar way more!!!

reach out to midwayusa and have them replace the unit and they will deal with labradar.

also get the JKL trigger for the labradar and absolutely use the labradar phone app.

 

[Tyler Kemp]

What about something that is not continuously adjustable but just has fine steps, like a geared clutch?

Two thoughts on that...how fine would that adjustment need to be? I'd worry about there being no success if the bayonet is canted just a touch too far. Second, how much cost are we talking for interfacing pieces such as this, and would the average consumer want to pay?

 

[phlegethon]

Two thoughts on that...how fine would that adjustment need to be? I'd worry about there being no success if the bayonet is canted just a touch too far. Second, how much cost are we talking for interfacing pieces such as this, and would the average consumer want to pay?

I don’t know these answers. It’s outside my field. Does it matter if there is slight cant of the bayonet as long as it isn’t running into the bullet path? One would probably have to experiment to figure out the tolerances. And I have no idea about cost, although the rotating clamps on a C-stand work similarly and I think they are around $75. They may be produced in larger quantity.

 

[Painless300]

Two thoughts on that...how fine would that adjustment need to be? I'd worry about there being no success if the bayonet is canted just a touch too far. Second, how much cost are we talking for interfacing pieces such as this, and would the average consumer want to pay?

You may could take a few of the more popular stocks like Manners and McMillian and get a good guide on the angle/s you would need, the Magneto speed is pretty forgiving with the sensitivity setting so I think you could make it work pretty easily. If you could incorporate it into your latest Get 3 model I would certainly pay more. $200???