Lesson learned about LED bulbs and Shooting Chrony

[Dukemeister]

The old incandescent bulbs that have been going for >10 yrs in my Shooting Chrony are just about dead, so I thought (mistake) that I could replace them with the modern T10 LED bulbs. So, heads up - they don't work.. got a perpetual ERR 2 and occasional ERR 1 flashing - non stop didn't even get a chance to fire a pellet. I rigged up a regular incandescent lamp and it works as it should. I think it must be a AC flickering issue similar to fluorescent lighting in the LED. Stick with DC pucks if you're going to use LED for a Chrony.

[4star60]

I believe it might be that led's are stepped down and are not flickering at 60Hz like the old incandessant bulbs. Is it the 60Hz that is used to measure and get speed??

[killercrow]

I use a shooting chrony. An old one, it's at least 1990 vintage.
I have tried the led light bulbs, neon lights, anything that flickers won't work. Although some cheapy Walmart 3xAAA battery led flashlights have worked... I bet any DC led light would work.

Not an electrician or power engineer, but I do not believe incandescent light bulbs flicker, at least not enough to cause any frequency issues. Neither does natural sun light.

For a shooting chrony to work, you need diffused incandescent light. I use a white tarp and an old school trouble light with a 60 watt bulb. Before I realized I had a white tarp, I used a white recycling bag, 2 layers thick works.
Above all that, clouds work the best if you don't have diffusers, which I don't have. I use a diaper box with the tarp taped onto it all fancy like... I'd post a picture but I don't think the internet could handle that level of awesome

[killercrow]

I believe it might be that led's are stepped down and are not flickering at 60Hz like the old incandessant bulbs. Is it the 60Hz that is used to measure and get speed??

The chrony uses 2 visual sensors, which measure the amount of time it takes the projectile to pass between them. Using a light source running at 60hz, the projectile could pass one or both sensors during the light's off cycle, giving no reading, or an error.
Finicky device, but once you know, you know.

[Dukemeister]

You got it, but it's worse than just could give an error. It drives the chrony crazy and insted of flashing BE it flashes ERR continously when switched on. You can still buy T10 incandescents at CT, and Amazon I figured I go modern and energy efficient. Oh well, I got some spensive bulbs in my trouble lamp now.

[TCooper]

I'm still using an old original green Chrony that came with the cardboard uprights but I don't use them. I have the Chrony set up on a cheapo camera tripod under a ceiling fixture in my basement. The old fixture has a white glass cover and uses two 60W incandescent light bulbs. The Chrony works fine under this light. I tried a pair of LED bulbs and it didn't work. I tried one incandescent and one LED bulb and it doesn't work.

[Daryl]

I use the led pucks held to teach plastic diffuser over the "eyes" with rare earth magnets.

[eSteve]

The old incandescent bulbs that have been going for >10 yrs in my Shooting Chrony are just about dead, so I thought (mistake) that I could replace them with the modern T10 LED bulbs. So, heads up - they don't work.. got a perpetual ERR 2 and occasional ERR 1 flashing - non stop didn't even get a chance to fire a pellet. I rigged up a regular incandescent lamp and it works as it should. I think it must be a AC flickering issue similar to fluorescent lighting in the LED. Stick with DC pucks if you're going to use LED for a Chrony.

Hey Duke. The ac current may be a factor, I couldn't say. But I suspect the LED bulb is the issue.

Like a lot of shooters, when I first got my chronograph, I really struggled to make it work with indoor lighting. I tried lighting it from above with a couple of different light sources. Moved the lighting all around, closer, farther. I had read that fluorescent lights were a problem and made sure none of those were in use anywhere near. I had some headlamps so I tried those. One of my headlamps is a good one, I use it for trail running. It operates on dc current. It's reactive, it adjusts it's level of power according to the ambient light. So it's continually getting more bright or dim. I made sure I had the reactive feature off, so a fixed level of light. It still made my chrony crazy, like you're describing. Error after error in rapid succession. It was making me crazy.

Then I read, I think it was in another airgun forum, that LED bulbs aren't all the same. Some LED bulbs are flash and/or dimmer capable, and some are not. The flash/dimmer LEDs don't work with chronographs, other LEDs do. So I went shopping for the cheapest LED lamps, to ensure that they weren't flashy. I bought the cheapest ones I could find. But bright enough, I think mine are 120 lumens. They work perfectly, I haven't had any lighting problems since.

Sorry about your expensive bulb.

[rsterne]

LEDs running on half-wave rectified AC won't work on Chrony's, they pulse like a fluorescent.... If they are battery operated, on DC, they are fine, and some AC ones work, others not.... I use liquid filled LED bulbs (they are smaller, and run cooler), and they work perfectly, but I did have to move the lamp sockets over to center the bulbs over the shades and sensors....

Bob

[Ace]

the lighting of chrony's comes up so many times
I run mine on a table directly under my 4ft fluorescent light fixture with daylight bulbs and no diffusers
been doing it like this for years never had a problem ever

[Normk]

Thanks for all of the suggestions and clarifications for the old Shooting Chronys. I may try some different lights with my ancient, original unit, as had given up on using indoors.

It is also hopeless outdoors, worse with air guns, unless cloud cover is just so. Bright sun isn't worth unpacking.

A friend has an identical first generation Shooting Chrony which behaves the same as does mine.

I've moved completely to my $25 AliExpress, clamps onto the barrel, chronograph, but this thread has given me incentive to try some suggestions.

Thanks to all who posted in this issue.

[eSteve]

Thanks for all of the suggestions and clarifications for the old Shooting Chronys.

Hey Norm. Happy to help. I especially want to help new or inexperienced members and get them engaged. So yeah, I try to be really clear when I share what I’m learning. As a newer member myself, I find that some information is confusing, maybe contradictory.

Here’s a photo of my chronograph setup from a while ago, before I had a floor-standing tripod. It still has the toothpicks to help with alignment (the other chrony trick), that I mentioned in the other recent chrony posting.

I hope you’re keeping warm there in Chilli, and haven’t been too affected by the devilish atmospheric rivers. Cheers.

[pelsby]

I have found a piece of opaque scotch tape over the entrance to the light sensors helps

[tom_ke888]

I am using LED pucks fixed onto the white boards with double sided tape. So far so good.

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[Dukemeister]

As long as you're using battery powered LED and not household AC you should be fine. The AC produces a flicker not detectable by us, but does the same thing to the Chrony as fluorescent lights.