Well, Kindles are designed first and foremost for reading ebooks. Pressing them into service for wifi web browsing is not conducive to good battery life.Any cell phone that has WiFi capability will work. I have an Iphone 3 that does great. Battery will easily last three matches, but the screen is small. The newer phones with bigger screens, or the larger Ipads and tablets are more easily readable. As Shawn mentioned, our experience with the Kindles was not good.
I have a battery powered extra power supply that I can hook to the Kendal Fire to extend the life of the device by about 1 hour. Would that be enough?
Thanks John for this post, (It was informative)I've been in the dark as far as electronic targets, and what to do with the device to set-up for target use. I do have a couple questions though..are display devices given to shooters or do they have to bring their own device? Will a lap top also work as a display? I do not own a Hi tech phone.. My phone plan costs me $20 every 3 months.As a target owner and I know there are differences in what is at Lodi but I will tell you what are the most common problems. Guess what it is not the target system, the tablet operator! Every time including last weekend the same issues always arise.
John
- You need to know how to operate your tablet, computer, phone or device. Everybody can go to Facebook, eBay and email but not much help here.
- You have to know how to change the device's sleep mode time so the screen does not go to sleep while shooting. (I change my I pad to never and change it back to 5 minutes when I am done shooting) 3 shooters shooting a 60 shot match I still have at least 50% battery remaining at the end of the day.
- You have to know how to connect the wifi so you can get on Silver Mountain wifi. Sounds easy but I still have to connect someone at every match.
- Now you can log on to the target by going to your internet browser. Type in the IP address of your target and you are ready to operate the target.
- The biggest thing I had to learn and most will agree is don't look at the screen as soon as you shoot. The bullet will still be in the gun and you will be so impressed how much you can pull or push a shot. Follow through you can't change what you are about to see on the screen anyway. (That took at least a full string of kicking myself.) Now I just charge the batteries in the target and no excuses from the pits. Or if you are doing load testing or just extra shots you don't have to worry about the puller in the pits being unhappy with more shots down range.
FYI, on the SMT e-target system at Lodi, you CAN watch the shots land on the neighboring targets (and so can everybody else). Ask someone there to show you how to do it, it's a really easy one-touch thing. You are then shown your neighboring targets along the bottom of your screen, and a live update of the most recent shot on each of them.I will miss watching the action on other targets, but then again, so will everybody else. It's a great equalizer, everyone will have the same pit service. We will adapt.
My point is that I don't want to be bothered doing that when shooting.
Do you text when you drive? Why would I want to mess with a device when I'm shooting or scoping.
I like getting an appreciation for the conditions when I set my spotting scope to be able to see 10 targets or quickly focus on a couple near me.
I control my perspective with my spotting scope.
With an electronic device, that will be different. It will be different for everyone.
Trust me when I say this. I will absolutely figyre out all the fancy things with the electronic devices.
My point is that I don't want to be bothered doing that when shooting. Do you text when you drive? Why would I want to mess with a device when I'm shooting or scoping. I like getting an appreciation for the conditions when I set my spotting scope to be able to see 10 targets or quickly focus on a couple near me. I control my perspective with my spotting scope. With an electronic device, that will be different. It will be different for everyone.
Wow....... remind me not to set up on the lane next to you. I'd be afraid you might start flogging me with your buggy whip........ snip......... This change is being forced on every shooter that wishes to compete at a range that employs E targets, your choice being either suck it up and shoot on them, or too bad for you. How inclusive is that? Does it sound like I'm pissed off? You can't even begin to imagine.
Wow....... remind me not to set up on the lane next to you. I'd be afraid you might start flogging me with your buggy whip.![]()
Before you come up to the line we will have a little meeting/ training on how to use the Lenovo tablet that will be issued to you and your scorer.No surprise, Denys, I agree completely. Tried to be quiet, but really can't. Almost a full page of what type of tablet to use, Kindle battery issues and possible solutions, using your cell phone, logging in to WiFi, how to look at your neighbor's scores, how the other shooters and spectators can fully enjoy looking at your scores, which by the way really aren't their any of their business, or the business of any other shooter more than a lane or two away that simply wants to know what they have to shoot to better someone else's score, et cetera, ad nauseum. Really??? This is way beyond ridiculous, it's completely insane. The system wasn't broken to begin with. Most ranges at which I've ever competed make every effort to accommodate shooters with issues pulling targets, so "inclusion" is not the real reason behind this either. This change is being forced on every shooter that wishes to compete at a range that employs E targets, your choice being either suck it up and shoot on them, or too bad for you. How inclusive is that? Does it sound like I'm pissed off? You can't even begin to imagine.
Not sure where all you have shot, but the places I've shot/shoot (Oak Ridge, Atterbury, Cincy, Camp Perry, Ft. Knox, Lima, Ft. Wayne, Malvern) if you show up to shoot, you pull targets. ...........snip.......