Infared sky screen?

[patchhound]

This might be a dumb question but not as dumb as killing my sky screen Will IR screens work outdoors too and are they any better than regular ones? I need to get a new one for my Pact pro.

 

[chuckw2]

That's great news I just got a Pact Pro XP for Christmas with IR and was wondering the same thing.



Thanks..

 

[memilanuk]

Donovan,or anyone),

I was wondering if you've ever encountered conditions under which maybe even the IR screens didn't work so well?

I've had a CED Millenium for a few years now, and almost immediately got a set of IR screens for it. Where I shoot we are in a large valley that frequently gets some severe temperature inversion. About three months out of the year, a regular chrono is about worthless - its not uncommon for a low cloud/ high fog bank to 'park' at around 1200' or so - but the range is at 1470' or so!!! so we get a lot of days with very dim and diffuse light - no real shadows during the day. Add in snow on the ground reflecting what light there is back *up*, and it really makes things dicey as far as getting chrono readings.

The CED w/ IR screens certainly works better than nearly anything else I've tried in these conditions, but it still is a little sporadic. As an example... I was at the range yesterday with some friends running some loads across my chrono. New battery, freshly charged, new side panels on the chrono,shot two pair in a row this winter, don't ask!) and everything seemed to be working. My .308 Win loads - 175gr SMK / 44gr RE15 / Win case / 9.5 primer was chugging along a little over 2600fps - 2625-2635 - like I figured it should. Got an occasional high suspect shot,2805?!?), most of their shots were considerably lower than they expected and showed terrible ES/SD, and by the end of the session,about an hour and a half) the chrono had quit clocking even the chunky 175 SMKs.

I had placed the NiMH battery on top of the padded case to insulate it somewhat from the 18" snow drift where the tripod was; I'm considering putting it in an insulated lunch box w/ a couple hand/toe warmers next time!

I know RSI recommends using dark tarps / trash bags on the ground to cut down glare from bright sunlight on snow; I wonder if that would help when the light is as diffused/indirect as it was yesterday?

Any ideas or suggestions welcome!

Monte