Oh dang! - Labradar LX - Small form factor

[stevef]

Got mine as well over the weekend, only tried it in my
Basement with my precharged air rifles picked up every shot, very easy to set up and I prefer it much better than my buddies Garmin, it’s all metal and made in Canada, they have a winner now.

 

[rijndael]

I prefer it much better than my buddies Garmin

For what reasons do you prefer it to the Garmin?

 

[stevef]

Metal construction, made in Canada by a leader in Doppler radar and a screen that you can see in bright sunlight.

 

[PatMiles]

they have a winner now.

Time will tell.

 

[jxb]

I view it like this, the better the LX is over time the more Garmin will keep at it and listen to customers wants and in turn hopefully Labradar as well.

Competition is always a good thing when it comes to consumer products.

 

[dgeesaman]

I view it like this, the better the LX is over time the more Garmin will keep at it and listen to customers wants and in turn hopefully Labradar as well.

Competition is always a good thing when it comes to consumer products.

I bought a secondhand LabRadar back in the fall when Garmin frenzy was in full force. Got it with all of the accessories for a very good price, still no regrets.

Three years ago I paid $1000+ for a Bulletseeker Mach4, and it did about what the LabRadar and Garmin do now just for higher cost, with weaker apps, and more missed shots. I try not to think about that too much when I see what the Garmin and LabRadar LX so reliably for half the cost. I’m worn out on spending money on chronographs for at least another year or two.

Now I think this product segment is matured to the point where we can upgrade when it suits our budget and personal needs, knowing that the latest devices will be better version than the last. Game changing technology is less of a factor.

 

[jxb]

Yeah honestly other than a few "want" improvements to the UI the Garmin already does everything I'll ever need for data acquisition. I only moved up from my mag because I can do all my items from rubber band gun to my Swifts at 4500fps reliably and no impact on poi.

If it lasts years it will be worth it over time. Costly buggers for sure, like so many tools are.

 

[kujuak]

An aside, I got my Garmin chrono as a gift. I have a Garmin InSight (also a gift) as I hunt alone and for some reason my wife and kids are worried about me. Garmin's customer service is the best I have encountered with ANY technical product of late, courteous, patient with old Ludites like me, never put you hold, know their stuff. Just a consideration before you spend your money.

 

[Airborne-350G]

Garmin, smaller, lighter, quicker menus and bootup, fast response time to the shot, 5 button presses for a new series, very intuitive app.

LX, slightly larger, definitely heavier, longer battery life (+40-50%), slower to boot up, slower response time to the shot, but only 3 button presses for a new series, app is a bit clunky, but mines been reliable to pull series from.

Both have been easy to orient.

Garmin missed a shot the other day that the LX picked up, but both have been very reliable.

Have you had issues with it picking up shots from shooters nearby? Today mine picked up two shooters on the next target over and the other shooter on my target during pair fire.

 

[charlie b]

Depending on separation and amount of muzzle blast, you will get shots from other folks regardless of the brand of unit. It is an engineering issue. Make a trigger sensitive enough for a 'dodgy' setup, but, not sensitive enough to trigger from another muzzle blast nearby. My older LR was tripped by a guy shooting with a muzzle brake 20ft away from me. I really do hate muzzle brakes on a crowded range.

Then there is the 'unicorn' shot. Had someone shoot at the same time I did and the radar tracked his shot (probably cause it was a bigger bullet).

 

[RegionRat]

Depending on separation and amount of muzzle blast, you will get shots from other folks regardless of the brand of unit. It is an engineering issue. Make a trigger sensitive enough for a 'dodgy' setup, but, not sensitive enough to trigger from another muzzle blast nearby. My older LR was tripped by a guy shooting with a muzzle brake 20ft away from me. I really do hate muzzle brakes on a crowded range.

Then there is the 'unicorn' shot. Had someone shoot at the same time I did and the radar tracked his shot (probably cause it was a bigger bullet).

Agree. There is a time and purpose to a muzzle brake, but those who use them really need to consider where that blast is pointed and make it their own problem instead of blasting the next benches.

A portable partition that can be moved to both sides of a brake user would be the easiest way to keep everyone happy, but I don't know why ranges typically don't have them.

I had my table blown clean at an indoor range when someone came into the next lane and stuck their rifle muzzle just past the partition. It blew my gear all over the floor and the young man didn't blink an eye or acknowledge it was their doing.

I had to stop and wait for them to finish but gave the range master a few words about where he places rifle shooters at an otherwise indoor pistol range. He didn't understand my gripe, so I invited him to step inside my lane and let that kid shoot the rifle. It rung his bell so bad he apologized and moved the rifle shooter to the far end against a wall.

As far as running a Doppler Radar at a crowded indoor or outdoor range, it does take some patients to wait for the neighbor to have a gap in their shooting to take your data. I don't have the problem at my clubs, but if I spare myself the 60-mile drive and go to the nearby indoor range for a quick test, I just wait or ask to space out the lanes.

There is a beam divergence on all of these units, so they neighboring shots have to be close enough to cause trouble, and that can happen at an indoor range or a tightly spaced outdoor rifle range.

 

[SGK]

Does the new version support the external trigger (rifle mounted)?

 

[Varminterror]

Depending on separation and amount of muzzle blast, you will get shots from other folks regardless of the brand of unit. It is an engineering issue.

This isn’t exactly correct.

The Garmin and Athlon radar chronographs are radar triggered, whereas the Caldwell Velociradar and both LabRadar V1 and LX are acoustic triggered (with wired recoil trigger options). So the Garmin and the Athlon don’t care about muzzle blast, they only care about bullet signature within their beam. The LabRadars and VelociRadar can be triggered by a nearby blast, even if the bullet does not pass through their beam.



I certainly do agree, at small, close quarters indoor ranges, any of them can and will pick up shots from neighboring shooters - but I will say, the Garmins have done very well at filtering these for me (although I’m not shooting indoors currently as often as I once was).

Does the new version support the external trigger (rifle mounted)?

Yes.