Pro Chrono Digital by Competition Electronics

EDIT: Well it’s been a year that I have had my Digital Model ProChrono by Competition Electronics and it is still working like a champ. Like all chronographs, it sits and does nothing for long periods of time. However, when it comes time to check velocities, this chronograph still works flawlessly. No frustrating error messages. No 10 shot limit. Just good, easy to use, intuitive user interface. I sure am pleased with this unit.

Many of you have also purchased one of these chronographs. How are they working for you? Share your experiences good and bad so the new guys can get a more objective view of the subject.

Those of you who are thinking of buying a chronograph should just do it. There isn’t really any way of figuring out how your trusty airgun is behaving without one. Oh sure, you can shoot into plywood, or devastate soda cans, but you really aren’t sure of what the last tophat adjustment, fill pressure, or different pellet has made to your velocity and shot string data.

It’s here! It showed up yesterday and I like it! 😀 I like that has 9 strings that are easy to switch from one to another. Each string is capable of recording and calculating data for 99 shots! My lame shooting chrony beta would only record 10 shots and then began to dump the earliest preceeding shots. That sucked. The use of this unit is intuitive giving you individual buttons for the options of deleting a single shot, delete an entire string, redisplay (identifies the string and shot number), string change (to go from one string to another), and a review button for tabulating data.

The owner’s manual is in color and has a type face large enough to read easily. The information and instructions is written clearly and is well presented. There are color pictures where necessary to full explain the unit’s functions. In the back of the manual are accessories that are available. There is a kit for connecting the chronograph to your computer. They have their own lighting system. There is a debris shield that appears to be made from plexiglass, and a replacement diffuser set.

The sc manual was printed in very small type and was difficult for me to understand. They did however supply some mathematical equations, although I am not sure what they were for.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the battery compartment had an extra slot for a spare 9volt battery. That’s handy.

The unit is of a fixed legnth configuration measuring 16″. The top of the unit is covered and prevents debris from getting into the unit. The “eyes” or sensors are deeply recessed into the unit. (I placed clear plastic shipping tape over each sensor well to prevent debris from falling onto the sensors.)

The Pro Chrono sky screen material is a little bit thicker and thus more durable. I was however, actually able to use the sky screens and lights from my sc beta unit on my new Pro Chrono. That was a pleasant surprise..

I set it up in my garage, turned it on, and shot my TSS over it with no error messages. That was refreshing. My sc product was very picky about lighting.

I like that I am not getting all of the error messages that I was getting with the beta chrony. (In all fairness, if you get the lighting right, the sc works OK.)

Why do we allow the shooting chrony company to dictate to us that there will only be 10 shots in a string?

Edit added 10-4-10
I just shot my kid’s Red Ryder for the full 99 shots. At that point, the Pro Chrono reads “FULL”. I was adding the required two drops of oil and wanted to see if the velocity would come up. (It did come up, but just by 10 fps, from 240fps to 250fps.) It was then that I realizeed that we are getting screwed by the sc company with their limited shot strings. Again, another reason not to buy a shooting chrony product! Again the Pro Chrono by Competition Electronics has the better product! I like it!!! 😀

For those who may be interested, my Gamo Shadow Express shotgun is doing 674 fps with 15 pieces of #8 lead shot.