New Product: Target Camera System

Re: New Product: Target Camera System

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: The Mechanic</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm thinkin' group buy on the 1,000
</div></div>Add me to that list as long as it will work with an iPad or Mac.

Until we get a member to personally test a unit and post the results, here is a link to some of their latest videos showing shots on steel and various other shooting scenarios: Bulls Eye Camera Videos at http://bullseyecamera.com/videos.html

I would personalty put a steel plate up in front of my camera system to minimize any possibility of a stray hit. You get out to 1000 yards plus on a really windy day and you might just be buying a new camera.

You can make a nice plate for basically free if you can weld, or at the most you might put $50 into it if you have to pay a welder. Just pick up some free railroad tie plates and make a camera blocker out of them. Most every rail yard will have 100s of them sitting around. I just picked up another dozen this past week where they were replacing a section of track near me.

I would be interested to know what the price of the camera alone is. That way if you get some back-splash off of the steel your shooting at, and it damages the camera or lens, then you could just replace it and not the entire system. I was checking on Ebay and it looks like similar cameras can be found for less than $50.

Also, you can replace the omni-directional antennae that comes with the kit with a directional antennae and probably stretch the range out to well over a mile - maybe even 2000 yards or so.

Looking forward to a full review soon. If the initial reviews by our members come back positive then I will buy one and test various replacement antennae and let everyone know what kind of extended range you can really experience with this unit. It would be nice to be able to reach out to a mile if it could.
 
***Warning*** somewhat long review

I bought and received the 1000 yard edition. I have an older laptop CF-73 with built-in wireless.

I first connected it my living room, with the camera pointed to the wall. It connected quickly and easily.

However, when I took it to our range, it was a different story. Our range accommodates up to 1000 yards.

I set up the camera as I did in my living room with the laptop next to the camera and router. It did not connect at first. My laptops wireless config picked up the BullseyeCameraSystems, showed 5 signal bars out of 5... but still would not connect. After resetting the battery, camera, router and booster several times it connected... next to the camera.

I drive to the 1000 yard firing line and it is no longer connected. I reset the wireless connection, shows 5 out of 5 bars... but still would not connect. At this point I am frustrated and embarrassed as I had fellow shooters stay after the match to check this out. After they left I stayed and tried to get it to work. No luck.

I take it back to the camera and it works. I emailed customer support who then forwards the email to the developer. He is confused and doesnt understand why it is not working. He suggests there may be interference from something? Hmm, the oil wells on the club property, I was told, has wireless so they can check the wells remotely. I asked the developer if the wireless on the oil wells and the BullseyeCameraSystems are using the same channel if that would be a problem, he told me no. Hmmm again. I have been working with computers for almost the last 20 years and having trouble understanding his answer of no.

Yesterday, I take it and set it up for 60 yards. This time it did not connect quickly with the laptop next to the camera. I spent over an hour rebooting, resetting and trying different settings... and magically it started working.

Ok, lets take some shots and see how it looks. First, if you are shooting at a black bull, it is difficult to see the impact hole. It does flash the frame, so the first couple of shots are somewhat viewable. But if you shoot at the same hole, well not so good. It overlaps and you really cant see it that well. I suppose it would be different if you use white targets or the ones that are black and show green for the impact. Also, at 60 yards it showed on the application 68% signal strength? How poor would that be at 1000 yards?

Also, my wireless adapter on my laptop supports B/G/N. The developer recommends using mode B.

My last attempt will be to force the router to mode B and force my wireless adapter to mode B and to change the default channel from 6 to 11. Channel 6 is the common channel.

There is no focus on the camera and only supports resolution 640 x 480, which is not the great.

I sent an email asking more questions to the developer today with no response. If it does not work tomorrow, it will be going back.

I will be more than glad to change my review if it works with the changes or if the developer returns my email with some actual suggestions.

Feel free to email me directly as I do not monitor this forum as much. I also have some video of the laptop showing the impact holes taken with my camera phone. I plan to upload somewhere soon. I also have emails from BullseyeCameraSystems that I have no problem sharing.

***EDIT***
Received an email late last night. They said they would ship out another unit on Monday.

Jeff Pletcher
Secretary, Alliance Rifle Club and Ohio-Penn League
Home - Alliance Rifle Club
[email protected]
 
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I live around houston, and i will be at the NRA convention. They are supposed to be there...I will definately be checking them out. I wonder if i can get them to lend me one to take to the range while they are in town to test out at 600 yards
 
***Warning*** somewhat long review

I bought and received the 1000 yard edition. I have an older laptop CF-73 with built-in wireless.

I first connected it my living room, with the camera pointed to the wall. It connected quickly and easily.

However, when I took it to our range, it was a different story. Our range accommodates up to 1000 yards.

I set up the camera as I did in my living room with the laptop next to the camera and router. It did not connect at first. My laptops wireless config picked up the BullseyeCameraSystems, showed 5 signal bars out of 5... but still would not connect. After resetting the battery, camera, router and booster several times it connected... next to the camera.

I drive to the 1000 yard firing line and it is no longer connected. I reset the wireless connection, shows 5 out of 5 bars... but still would not connect. At this point I am frustrated and embarrassed as I had fellow shooters stay after the match to check this out. After they left I stayed and tried to get it to work. No luck.

I take it back to the camera and it works. I emailed customer support who then forwards the email to the developer. He is confused and doesnt understand why it is not working. He suggests there may be interference from something? Hmm, the oil wells on the club property, I was told, has wireless so they can check the wells remotely. I asked the developer if the wireless on the oil wells and the BullseyeCameraSystems are using the same channel if that would be a problem, he told me no. Hmmm again. I have been working with computers for almost the last 20 years and having trouble understanding his answer of no.

Yesterday, I take it and set it up for 60 yards. This time it did not connect quickly with the laptop next to the camera. I spent over an hour rebooting, resetting and trying different settings... and magically it started working.

Ok, lets take some shots and see how it looks. First, if you are shooting at a black bull, it is difficult to see the impact hole. It does flash the frame, so the first couple of shots are somewhat viewable. But if you shoot at the same hole, well not so good. It overlaps and you really cant see it that well. I suppose it would be different if you use white targets or the ones that are black and show green for the impact. Also, at 60 yards it showed on the application 68% signal strength? How poor would that be at 1000 yards?

Also, my wireless adapter on my laptop supports B/G/N. The developer recommends using mode B.

My last attempt will be to force the router to mode B and force my wireless adapter to mode B and to change the default channel from 6 to 11. Channel 6 is the common channel.

There is no focus on the camera and only supports resolution 640 x 480, which is not the great.

I sent an email asking more questions to the developer today with no response. If it does not work tomorrow, it will be going back.

I will be more than glad to change my review if it works with the changes or if the developer returns my email with some actual suggestions.

Feel free to email me directly as I do not monitor this forum as much. I also have some video of the laptop showing the impact holes taken with my camera phone. I plan to upload somewhere soon. I also have emails from BullseyeCameraSystems that I have no problem sharing.

***EDIT***
Received an email late last night. They said they would ship out another unit on Monday.

Jeff Pletcher
Secretary, Alliance Rifle Club and Ohio-Penn League
Home - Alliance Rifle Club
[email protected]

Jeff,

To clarify, I have been developing software professionally for over 30 years, and have extensive experience with the wireless aspects of our system (I am the developer and designer). What you experienced was not what we would consider "normal" at all - we just were at the NBRSA Nationals in Sacramento Valley Shooting Center had the shooters used the system at both 600 yards and 1000 yards with no issues. We have also tested the system to over 1600 yards with over 50% signal strength left - all documented on video. You did send us an e-mail and we offered to swap you out full kits AT OUR EXPENSE as I believe once things were reconfigured by yourself that with an unknown state, it's hard to debug/diagnose the issues.

You declined to have us send you a new kit. We are more than happy to send a new kit at our expense, or simply take yours back for a refund. If you would like to get the system working, we are happy to send the kit and call tag the old kit so it won't cost you any money.

Every situation is different for antenna placement, signal path, etc. and we are more than happy to walk you through setup in your situation - but we need the hardware left in the shipped state for debugging and testing purposes. I look forward to hearing from you and we look forward to getting the system up and running smoothly for you!

As for the resolution of the camera - it's not been an issue, but we are also testing an HD Camera with 1280x960 resolution that will provide even more clarity on the system. Also, all software updates are free of charge, so as we improve the product you get the software updates for free - this included the iOS and Android versions.

We also do in-person demonstrations to many rifle clubs - maybe we can schedule something and make sure the system works for you at your range/club. Let us know how we can help!

Nick Skrepetos
Founder
Bullseye Camera Systems, LLC.
 
I would be in on a group buy, if it had an android app.

Question: (1) Will it work (or is the maker working on a system that accommodates) tablets that use the ANDROID system? (Mine is a Nexus 7, 2nd gen). I do have a notebook that is a windows machine, but the battery life on it is pretty short....though I suppose I could try an extension from my truck with a 12v DC to 110v AC converter...maybe..but that would be a large PITA. Seems like ANDROID is the way to go now days in the mobile computing/graphics display arena.....

(2) Does the manufacturer have some kind of an "ARMOR" setup to install the downrange portion of the system in? ( I often shoot at a public range and the shooters are pretty much WHO KNOWS when it comes to what they might shoot at). I would think I could come up with an AR500 armor setup for the system...probably best it it incorporates a camera mount and a carrying case for the whole works...could be heavy, but maybe not if proper angularity and metal thicknesses were considered/used. If the manufacturer isn't marketing one, yet...do they maybe have any plans/specs available that one could use to make and armored setup without having to re-invent the wheel?

(3) I have looked at their web site, but can't seem to find any dimensions for the stuff that has to be left downrange. Can any of you tell me what those are? I'm interested in the case open for use, the case closed, and the camera itself. Basically, I'm wondering exactly what the dimensions are of ALL the stuff that would have to be armored....(THANKS)

I think keeping a several hundred buck investment well protected from both splashback and direct hits (either on purpose of accidental) would be worth the extra weight, time, expense and effort. Funny....my buddies ALREADY laugh at how much stuff I cart to the range NOW...but guess who they are always asking "Do you happen to have a "whatever" doo-dah that I can borrow?" I do loan them the "whatever", but I ALWAYS (very pointedly) ask first..."Hey...aren't YOU one of the guys that was making fun of all the crap I haul along?"
 
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I have one and love it, as long as the dun is behind you.. no protective case. Everything stays with the target. So a tool box that needs a cover from dust, IMHO. Then the camera on the tripod. Off to an angel. I haven't come close to shooting it at all but at a public range... not advised.

They are working on the tablet and their software currently to make some improvements. But worth the money. I used it to test my new loads to gather data. All I had to do was mark the shots with their program.. and move backwards to change my yardage. Saved me a lot of time and it records all shots in order. It even has infrared to do some fun night shots
 
I'm just getting into Long Range shooting and my wife and son bought me the Bullseye 1000 system for Christmas. Looking forward to trying it out when the 3'+ of snow melts. Just saw this thread and downloaded the app for my android. Going to set it up in the yard and try tablet and phone on it this weekend.
C'mon spring!
Will order some plate as a JIC shield. I am learning after all. LOL

Wife did, however, buy the if-you-shoot-it-we-replace-it one time insurance. Again JIC. LOL
 
Just downloaded the app and will be giving it a try .
Put a yaggi on my system and 2k is an easy day now .

Greg

We are adding all the features of our Windows application to the iOS and Android applications as well. Software updates are always free. If you have any suggestions, questions or concerns, we want to hear about them so we can continue improving our system!
 
I'm just getting into Long Range shooting and my wife and son bought me the Bullseye 1000 system for Christmas. Looking forward to trying it out when the 3'+ of snow melts. Just saw this thread and downloaded the app for my android. Going to set it up in the yard and try tablet and phone on it this weekend.
C'mon spring!
Will order some plate as a JIC shield. I am learning after all. LOL

Wife did, however, buy the if-you-shoot-it-we-replace-it one time insurance. Again JIC. LOL

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us - we have a full time staff that are all shooters and well versed in our system.
 
How about multiple cameras.

Can I use an antenna from the camera to get to the router/booster? Then I could put the cam out by the target, then move the other stuff a safe amount away ?

Sound?

Greg

The system supports multiple cameras, and our next version of our software has that fully integrated! All software updates are free of charge for Windows, iOS and Android, with Mac OSX coming soon. The additional cameras communicate wirelessly with the base system, so you only have the camera and battery near the target. We are doing some testing this week on exact (in practice) distance you can get between the base and additional cameras. We will have those and other options up on our website shortly.

We do not yet have sound support, but the cameras do, so adding that to the software won't be a difficult task as we develop all of our software in-house so we typically can respond to consumer requests quickly.
 
I like the idea - I use an android tablet, will this work with Android? Must suggest this to my wife.

Is it possible to mark/label shots, i.e. cold bore, or perhaps a string from a specific load or a ladder/load development test?
 
I just ordered there 1000yard kit with the YAGI Antenna Upgrade my 338lapua I should have barrel installed by end of this week. I will let you know if this does the mile is says it does with the upgraded antenna.
P.S. my friend has one of these units we have been shooting 800yards and it works great luv it
 
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I got my hands on the Bullseye system for the first time a couple weeks ago at the match branson1369 mentioned above. It was easy to set up and use, I couldn't believe it connected so easy at 1000 yds. The hardest thing was getting line of sight, that took all of ten minutes. We mounted the yagi on a piece of driven rebar and fine-tuned it using radios to communicate between the target & shooting positions. I love it.
 
We are also releasing our "Base Station" for the Bullseye Camera System that will help out when the signal path isn't perfect, etc. and for using devices with less powerful antennas at longer distances. It's a small (12"x7"x2.5") case that sits at (or near) your shooting location and rebroadcasts the signal locally. It's equivalent (similar) to having and extended antenna on your laptop. We have used this with the iPhone and Android devices which have weak antennas at over 1500 yards with full live video. We will be releasing some photos and units shortly. For those that don't want to use the YAGI antenna it can really help, and it plus the YAGI also for some crazy distances!