Chronograph Sky Screens - LED vs. Stock vs. Infared vs. Make Your Own

vtmarmot

vtmarmot

P Magoon, Livin' Free NH
A couple of years ago the sky screens on my old Master Chrony broke. I got by for awhile using either no screens or paper substitutes. Sure I had a few errors, but nothing like my last outing in late October. I couldn't get any reading at all until around 4 PM. Then it worked about 2/3 of the time. There's nothing wrong with the basic unit. My options are: 1) replace the standard sky screens, 2) Fabricate some panels from translucent plastic, 3) Buy the new LED units from Chrony, 4) fabricate my own LED units or 5) go with a whole new unit with infared screens. I know previous threads have covered this some, but I want the latest thinking.
 
vtmarmot said:
A couple of years ago the sky screens on my old Master Chrony broke. I got by for awhile using either no screens or paper substitutes. Sure I had a few errors, but nothing like my last outing in late October. I couldn't get any reading at all until around 4 PM. Then it worked about 2/3 of the time. There's nothing wrong with the basic unit. My options are: 1) replace the standard sky screens, 2) Fabricate some panels from translucent plastic, 3) Buy the new LED units from Chrony, 4) fabricate my own LED units or 5) go with a whole new unit with infared screens. I know previous threads have covered this some, but I want the latest thinking.
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Go buy a new Alfa here: http://www.sears.com/shooting-chron...=SPM6923089913&blockNo=4&i_cntr=1355800283751
 
Use artifical light

Over the years in the lab we built several surround light sources for chronographs because using ambient light in any band width was one of the major sources of errors. The other is that most of them can't be calibrated with a sync pulse generator. Then there is the fact that many of the electronic components are temperature sensitive. Most don't use any thermal shielding either. It's just pull them out of the box and trust them. IMO if you want accurate and cossistent information you have to spend quite a lot of money on one. Otherwise the results are usually as accurate as a weather report.
Andy.
 
FBecigneul said:
Do you have pictures, Al?
Do you just put those where the skies were?
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On one I made wooden frames with holes drilled for the rods, a cutout for the light and a hunk of plastic from an old flourescent light fixture 'diffuser'...... what I'm calling 'diffuser' is a sheet of translucent plastic, dunno that I needed it. I then covered the thing with visqueen, for the rain.I'll try to take some pictures with the cover off.

Another I stuffed into a hunk of plastic culvert but I took it apart when I moved my range.

The ones on my bow ranges I've just set up beneath an overhead light and I've also shot thru them outside with the unit turned sideways and a standup halogen light pointed at it. Right now when we're tuning bows we just set up beneath a 4ft 4-bulb flourescent fixture.

I haven't found a light source that DOESN'T work......I've just set them so they're consistent and big enough to light both pickups.

al


ooops, I forgot to mention, my bow ranges are indoors. When I've tuned bows outside we just set up under the sky and never needed lights. Arrows is BIG.
 
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You had all choices but i am in the favor of LED lights. LED lighting can be more efficient, durable, versatile and long lasting. An electrical current passed through a semiconductor material illuminates the tiny light sources we call LEDs. Led Strip Lights are now being incorporated into bulbs and fixtures for general lighting applications. LEDs are small and provide unique design opportunities
 
alinwa said:
I haven't found a light source that DOESN'T work......
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Fluorescent lights tended to give errors with the skyscreens on my Model 43. Seems the "flickering" acted as a start/stop signal.

Most artificial light setups I've seen for chronographs use incandescent or LED lights, with LEDs being the more common system today. Why? Because they use less power for the same amount of light.

Hope this helps.
 
Asa Yam said:
Fluorescent lights tended to give errors with the skyscreens on my Model 43. Seems the "flickering" acted as a start/stop signal.

Most artificial light setups I've seen for chronographs use incandescent or LED lights, with LEDs being the more common system today. Why? Because they use less power for the same amount of light.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Interesting....

I've only used chrony's, 7 of them. I keep at least three together in my shooting areas so's I can check them against one another. I've used them under fluorescents in three different archery rooms and tested paintball guns in two other areas and they worked fine but I can't say as I've ever fired bullets under fluorescents.

My latest setup is in a small plastic "food grade" barrel. It's AWESOME..... it's mounted upside down so even fog and condensation don't affect the lenses, the light source is on the bottom, a framework constructed from 1 1/4 PVC with the wires inside and the fixtures ("medium" or E-26 base) easily accessible (altho I've yet to burn out a bulb in 5 different setups)

I use bulbs that look like this bulb

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009L5M0B2...e=df0&creative=395109&creativeASIN=B009L5M0B2

Except I got them for under a buck apiece.

I've used LED's twice, they worked, don't ever see reason to use them again except that in the field we've kludged together the free HF flashlights by duct taping them to the skyscreens. This gives the setup a really tactical look, people always ask us if we're real operators then so we have to leave


or beat them up


al
 
AlanaOkumu said:
You had all choices but i am in the favor of LED lights. LED lighting can be more efficient, durable, versatile and long lasting. An electrical current passed through a semiconductor material illuminates the tiny light sources we call LEDs. Led Strip Lights are now being incorporated into bulbs and fixtures for general lighting applications. LEDs are small and provide unique design opportunities
Click to expand...

I hope the LEDs you are purchasing are relatively inexpensive. I know that retrofitting them on a motorcycle is an extremely expensive affair.
 
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