Zeiss PRF will not work in light fog!

[jdgray]

Was kinda disappointed to find my range finder would not range 200yrds in a light fog... I could see the fence I was ranging, and was hitting the attached sign that was hanging on it, no go! Was setting up to ambush a buck running amuck in the airport I work at, but he fooled us yet again, and took another route. I did catch up with him a half hour later, however....
15" spread, no visible entry wound or exit, must have put it in his ear... Dropped in his tracks like I wanted, too many swamps to run and die in.
Do any range finders work in the fog?? I'm not talking a total white out, just light fog.

 

[jdgray]

Just checked it in the dark, works with no problems.... Must be the fog was heavy enough to block the laser.

 

[poison123]

Fog will fuck up a low powered laser with a wide pattern beam pattern. The defraction of fog is killer.

If you want something reliable you might have to step up to a PLF05, tighter and more powerful beam.

 

[jdgray]

Fog will fuck up a low powered laser with a wide pattern beam pattern. The defraction of fog is killer.

If you want something reliable you might have to step up to a PLF05, tighter and more powerful beam.

Who makes that rangefinder? I could just wait for the fog to burn off!!

 

[poison123]

Its a vectronix LRF.....so its not cheap.

 

[ManBearPig]

My leica has problems in fog as well. Good buck though!

 

[jdgray]

Wow!! That's an epic fail!! LOL... Very nice stuff, but way overkill for what I'm using it for. I had a Leica, but it didn't work when it was cold! At least the Zeiss works cold, and ranges well for my needs. I'll just range without fog..... Thanks for the lesson!!

 

[jdgray]

My leica has problems in fog as well. Good buck though!

Thanks!!
Does yours work cold? My Geovids did not, but they were the originals, and im sure technology has caught up by now. The view through the Geovids were unlike anything I have ever looked through, simply mind blowing clarity!

 

[ManBearPig]

I have the 1000 CFR, and I haven't tried it in the cold yet.

 

[psmith]

Just for the record both the plrf05 and 15c sometimes get confused with the fog or rain as well. Normally both will range out to visible sight but if the fog is thick you can ping a target that you know is there but you will just get a reading off of the fog. So just spending more money is not always the solution.

 

[E. Bryant]

The absorption of different wavelengths of light is affected by the size of the water droplets in the fog. It is quite possible to find conditions that will almost completely block a particular wavelength of infrared light while allowing visible light to pass; the opposite is also true. If you had a different brand of LRF handy - one that used a different wavelength - then you may have had better success.

This is probably a good reason to practice alternative methods of rangefinding.

 

[BayouRobert]

my terrapin is similarly useless in the fog....

 

[softcock]

Had my Leica not range past 300 in light fog. I then grab my Old Cheep Bushnell 600 and click to 'Rain Mode' and it would cut threw and give ranges even farther .
.

 

[bh-ltr]

I also have problems in fog with my terrapin. The best you can do is enable the feature that allows you to get multiple ranges and often the second or third reflections will give you a proper range. I just used this technique on Saturday to get a few ranges through fog and I was able to then reproduce the same results after the fog finally lifted later in the day.

 

[huntin1]

Last year I used my Zeiss PRF in both fog and snow, if I could see it I could get a range. When the weather cleared I ranged the same stuff and got the same results. Is your battery fresh? I know my results diminish when I don't run a fresh battery.

 

[jdgray]

Last year I used my Zeiss PRF in both fog and snow, if I could see it I could get a range. When the weather cleared I ranged the same stuff and got the same results. Is your battery fresh? I know my results diminish when I don't run a fresh battery.

Negative...

Guessing 2yrs old as I bought it a few months used.