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Questions for anyone using Labradar

quartermaster

What are the physical measurements of the unit?
Is it necessary to have the barrel aligned with the center of the unit height wise?
Can the barrel of a center fire rifle be 6-8” in front of the unit and will it still trigger?
What is the height to the center of the unit sitting on the base unit with the large metal base?

Thinking of buying one, but these questions answered will allow me to see if the unit will work for my application.

Any other input that anyone can give me would be helpful and appreciated

thanks in advance
Terry
 
I don't have my unit handy for measurements but I can conform that there is at least some latitude in the height of the barrel vs the unit. I have used mine for years and ended up with the barrel at or near the top as well as at or near the bottom and never had a read issues due to alignment. With no muzzle brake, you need the muzzle in front of the unit. When using a brake, you need the muzzle behind the unit.

One accessory I would highly recommend is the external trigger. I had issues with the unit missing reads on the internal acoustical trigger. Once I got the external, the unit reads 99% of shots successfully.

Hope that helps.
 
What kind of external trigger, I was thinking of the one they sell based on sound. I shoot from my range at home and never more than 1 shooter at a time
 
10" wide, 11" high (not including an after market aiming device), 2" thick.
It is better to have the bbl aligned, but not vital, you can turn up the sensitivity, but that makes the unit more sensitive to other nearby shooters.
I have the large base plate sold by LR a=several years ago, the height to the center of the unit with it attached to the base is 9-1/2"

There has been much conversation about the LR and it's pros and cons, I have two other cronographs that have not been turned on since I bought my LR. The data available from the unit on each and every shot is incredible up to and over 100 velocity readings and much more. All downloadable in the form CSV files.

As far as external trigger they seem to work well, I don't have one and have not found a need for one, but I've thought about getting one, just haven't done it.

Mike
 
quartermaster said:
What are the physical measurements of the unit?
Is it necessary to have the barrel aligned with the center of the unit height wise?
Can the barrel of a center fire rifle be 6-8” in front of the unit and will it still trigger?
What is the height to the center of the unit sitting on the base unit with the large metal base?

Thinking of buying one, but these questions answered will allow me to see if the unit will work for my application.

Any other input that anyone can give me would be helpful and appreciated

thanks in advance
Terry
Click to expand...
1. Don't know. Should be on the LR site though.
2. No.
3. Maybe. Depends on the rifle, caliber and muzzle treatment. Can be mitigated by use of an external trigger.
4. Don't know offhand.

Labradar states unit dimensions as 29x26x6cm.

At a guess the baseplate raises it by 3 or 4 inches (I'd estimate closer to 3, but as I said that's a guess.)
 
As an aside, I bitched to LabRadar about the pairing of the unit to a phone via Bluetooth (or rather lack thereof); their response was that they were testing a new app that was supposed to address the myriad of problems that users experience. No timeline, other than "probably later this year."
 
They have been "working" on a new app for over two years. Don't hold your breath.
 
quartermaster said:
What kind of external trigger, I was thinking of the one they sell based on sound. I shoot from my range at home and never more than 1 shooter at a time
Click to expand...
jklprecision.com

Labradar Trigger Gen 2

This is the gen two trigger for the LabRadar chronograph. It will work on anything from a 22LR to a big bore rifles. The trigger works great with suppressors and crowded ranges. The new, removable …
jklprecision.com
jklprecision.com

Labradar Trigger Magnetic Mount

Magnetic mount for the labradar trigger. Quickly and easily mount the device to your rifle and easily switch between firearms. Perfect for bolt actions where there is no pic rail or you don’t wan…
jklprecision.com

Preventing the internal microphone being set off by other shooters is only one of the things the external kinetic trigger will do. There are several additional perhaps not-so-obvious ways it makes the unit more functional and more reliable. These include things such as letting you place the muzzle in a much wider range of locations relative to the unit, i.e. slightly in front, slightly in back, etc. Many of those positions were were not possible with my LabRadar such that the internal microphone would still reliably pick up every shot. With the kinetic trigger, it doesn't matter if the muzzle is a couple inches in front or behind the unit, 6" or one foot off to the side, etc. Obviously, it is desirable to place the muzzle in the same position relative to the unit whenever you use it, but with the external trigger, you have a wider array of positions that will work equally well. I would strongly recommend getting the JKL kinetic trigger and the magnetic mount, they simply make the unit work better and more reliably, IMO. You won't regret the purchase. I made my own magnetic mount before JKL had one commercially available. Their magnetic attachment is simpler, far less expensive than the one I made, and absolutely worth the price.
 
Unfortunately they don’t make the flat plate base anymore. Too bad, as it was the right height for my purposes. The newer tripod that they make now will be too high for me to comfortably shoot. I am trying to find a gimbal tripod top to make a base that will work. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
My next decision will be what kind of triggering device to get. I don’t really want to go with something that requires velcro for a recoil trigger and the magnetic one is questionable as to where it should be fastened. I was thinking of the microphone one, as there will be no one else shooting to give false triggers.
Thoughts?
 
JKL trigger is backordered, so ordered the another one oneline. Hope it works.
took the plunge and ordered the unit, the padded case, and the LR power pak from Scheels.
thanks to all
 
quartermaster said:
Unfortunately they don’t make the flat plate base anymore. Too bad, as it was the right height for my purposes. The newer tripod that they make now will be too high for me to comfortably shoot. I am trying to find a gimbal tripod top to make a base that will work. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
My next decision will be what kind of triggering device to get. I don’t really want to go with something that requires velcro for a recoil trigger and the magnetic one is questionable as to where it should be fastened. I was thinking of the microphone one, as there will be no one else shooting to give false triggers.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I’ve been using the Labradar as it comes from the factory for several years and have measured thousands of rounds. I have not found a need for the external trigger or the microphone and I don’t suggest you buy it unless you need it.
My unit has only missed a handful of shots over its lifetime and it has to do with where you place the labradar in relation to the muzzle.
If you go to the Labradar website, the placement of the labradar is described in depth and with videos depending on what type of muzzle break you have or don’t have.
As for the tripod, it will go almost as low as the plate bringing the LR to just a few inches off the ground. You can also shop on Amazon for a tripod. The tripod is better because it will work on uneven ground or on the bench. The LR does not require that the muzzle be perfectly centered on it to pick up shots. Some people make this harder than it needs to be. I suggest you purchase one and start playing with it before trying to solve problems you may or may not have.
 
quartermaster said:
Unfortunately they don’t make the flat plate base anymore. Too bad, as it was the right height for my purposes. The newer tripod that they make now will be too high for me to comfortably shoot. I am trying to find a gimbal tripod top to make a base that will work. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
My next decision will be what kind of triggering device to get. I don’t really want to go with something that requires velcro for a recoil trigger and the magnetic one is questionable as to where it should be fastened. I was thinking of the microphone one, as there will be no one else shooting to give false triggers.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...

If there's no one else shooting with you, I'd try the internal trigger first. Should that not work for you try the airgun microphone (quick note: someone mentioned there's more to the trigger than just a mic plumbed to the jack, so I never tried a homemade job.) If that doesn't work, you'd need to go with something like a kinetic trigger mentioned above.

To make your own plate-type mount like LR used to sell, search the web for a "tripod ball head". They run anywhere from about $20 to over $400. The LR mount was just an aluminum sheet with a ball head and some rubber feet.
 
The recoil trigger is nice when it's a crowded range with people shooting next to you

i haven't had many problems with it as it comes out of the box when I'm by myself shooting
 
Just another question. When using an external recoil activated trigger, I am wondering how far down range the bullet is when the Labradar is actually picking up the bullet? I would think there would have to be a tiny bit of lag time, no?
 
The answer depends on the centerline offset. If you imagine a beam coming from the LR face and spreading as it goes, the bullet path crosses into that beam out in front of the unit a short distance.

The beamwidth is shown in their specs as 7.6 deg x 18.5 deg.

Not sure if this is still the case, but I think you can download the manual from their site.
https://mylabradar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/UserManual-V1.2-Labradar-EN.pdf

Look on table 3.0 and also the diagram on 4.3.2 to follow what I am talking about.
 
quartermaster said:
Just another question. When using an external recoil activated trigger, I am wondering how far down range the bullet is when the Labradar is actually picking up the bullet? I would think there would have to be a tiny bit of lag time, no?
Click to expand...

I'm probably going to butcher this, but here goes. When the unit is armed it is constantly scanning. Activating via the internal or external mic only writes what it is already seeing to memory. There will be no difference in where it picks up between internal and external. The piet recoil trigger is what I chose for mine. It was well worth the money. The Apache 4800 case from HF holds everything nicely as well.
 
Well Andy, I guess we think alike. I bought the Piet trigger last week and today I went to Harbor Freight an bought the Apache 4800 also. Actually, just finished putting the unit and accessories in it 2 hours ago.
My bench setup may not be conducive to triggering the unit with the internal trigger. I can’t help but think that by the time the Piet activates the unit via recoil, the bullet might be out of the barrel and headed down range, but I certainly could be mistaken and hope I am
 
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