Chronograph options

[Trbo323]

I deal with a lot of new players in my local market and every once in a while I get the question of how do I get a chronograph sure enough I got that one the other day and my go-to has always been the radarchron when I went to look around to send this guy a link and realized that you just can't get them anymore

I've been seeing this one around and it doesn't seem to have any brand name, I was wondering if anybody had experience with it

Eyes.sys Airsoft Chronograph High Power Ballistic Shooting Chronograph Paintball Bullet Velocity Tester MPS/FPS Joules for Air Rifle Airsoft Speed Tester (Black) https://a.co/d/gkelGJa

There's always the X radar which is an option a little bit more expensive t than my new players like so I'm trying to find something under $100 that would be a decent recommendation

Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

[Chuck E Ducky]

Virtue Clock is definitely the best way to go for a hand held. But they are pricey. Big Red is and always will be the superior table top for paintball. You can go down a massive rabbit hole when you look outside of paintball specific chronographs those get super expensive. Wow I just looked what Big Reds are bringing I got a killer deal on mine here used.

Nobody makes a decent sub $100 chronograph anymore.

Have you tried ordering factory direct $119 shipped it uses PayPal so worst case you get your money back. They are pretty much sold out everywhere but these work really well. Just make sure they get the Red button one.

https://xradarusa.com

[SignOfZeta]

The little X Chrono works very well and it’s only $130. Nobody needs to invent some new junk just to save $30.

Things with no brand name can’t be trusted. You can’t even tell if two of the same thing are actually the same thing because nobody will claim it. There’s no pretense of quality when the place making it doesn’t have an address. There is no such thing as a “bad batch” of a clone product. All batches are “good” because they all make money for whatever fly by night factory assembled them. When what you are talking about is a measurement device…one with a significant safety connotation at that…cheeping out on $30 just seems really short sighted. What’s half a case of cheap paint compared to a valuable tool that lasts forever?

[Chuck E Ducky]

Those little yellow and black ones work fine though and they were like sub $40. I’m sure those can’t be made that cheap today probably why you don’t see them anymore. They were accurate enough for Paintball.. buttons were always difficult but they were pretty durable so not a bad trade off. One sold on eBay for $140 😬 lol I payed less than that for my early gen Virtue Clock used.

[Chuck E Ducky]

Side note has anyone ever seen this version of the big red?

Not sure this it’s a better design. I think the original Red does a better job of keeping the important bits out of Rental shots way. I can see this design taking direct shots to the screen more often.

[iamthelazerviking]

A field I frequent has one of these, it's nice

[Levi]

I have one. Functionally identical to the old big red. The power switch on the old one is probably a little more robust. The form factor of the new one is nicer for storing, packing, and shipping.

[Trbo323]

Side note has anyone ever seen this version of the big red?

Not sure this it's a better design. I think the original Red does a better job of keeping the important bits out of Rental shots way. I can see this design taking direct shots to the screen more often.

Yes a couple of the fields around me use those yes they do take more shots to the screen but I can also say they take them just fine

Well I guess I should say it's fine as far as I know I've never seen any of them broken but I also don't own the fields

Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

[TKcustoms]

Has anyone tried something like this? I would if i didn't already have a Chrono

https://www.etsy.com/listing/703621894/saturnus-nerf-ballistic-chronograph-9

Reviews said rival rounds worked so why not paintballs. Probably not durable enough to take a hit.

[Trbo323]

Has anyone tried something like this? I would if i didn't already have a Chrono

https://www.etsy.com/listing/703621894/saturnus-nerf-ballistic-chronograph-9

Reviews said rival rounds worked so why not paintballs. Probably not durable enough to take a hit.

Thanks for posting that, that was the one I was thinking about when I posted this but I didn't see it pull up in my searches

Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

[fullofpaint]

Has anyone tried something like this? I would if i didn't already have a Chrono

https://www.etsy.com/listing/703621894/saturnus-nerf-ballistic-chronograph-9

Reviews said rival rounds worked so why not paintballs. Probably not durable enough to take a hit.

I bought this but still haven't tested it out haha. Would absolutely shatter on the first hit, and it's all open so even pain splatter would probably cause some issues.

[TKcustoms]

Bummer about the durability. But at that price. It may be worth taking those internals and throwing them into a more durable case. Maybe even make a muzzle mount like those old viewloader velocity chronos

[minimag03]

It's very hard to recommend a budget piece of safety equipment. But I guess a cheap chrono is better than nothing? I could see new players not wanting to drop th $120 on the X Chrono, and going without one. But I could also see a cheap chrono giving the feeling of safety when someone is shooting 370FPS. That's a pickle... I'd absolutely buy one of those cheap one before recommending them to test it against a proven chrono. Maybe that a bit much but the last thing we want is a story on the 600pm news about paintball accident ending with serious injury. (yes, that could make the news where I'm from...we don't have too much going on 😂)

Very thankful I got my X Chrono when I did. Def wasn't 100+ when I got mine.

[SignOfZeta]

An average kid literally wastes more than $35 in paint just tagging bunkers every time he plays. Heck, I’ve seen people shoot $35 worth of paint over a chrono…or spill it all over the ground even. Kids don’t need $35 chronos. $35 guns are one thing, a $35 mask is really pushing it, but $35 chrono is dunkus. You can’t even feed a paintball team lunch for $35. If they can’t each afford the X Batdar and they can go in together on one, if they can’t afford even that…and can somehow afford paintball…that’s fine too. Kids don’t even need chronos. Fields have chronos, scout masters, Big Brothers, dads, those people who should be around anyway should be paying the bill and maintaining standards and not encouraging them to trust junk from unknown sources. I would much rather give a group of kids $100 out of my own pocket for a X Dar than encourage them to buy potentially unsafe junk from places with no permanent address…and not just because of safety…because I don’t want to spread the philosophy that quality doesn’t matter, or that it makes any sense at all to buy a super cheap version of something that is measurement or safety gear when you don’t even need one. You tell me where to sent the $100. I have Zelle and PayPal. PM me.

Just because nobody actually likes or loves or cares about chronos doesn’t mean they are overpriced. Lots of things that are worth money are boring, like tires or hypodermic needles. That doesn’t mean anyone needs cheaper and cheaper and cheaper ones until we reach a point of tragedy where failures are so common we know which eBay brands to avoid…and that seems to be what’s required for some people. Until we have multiple stories of peoples masks being smashed because of cheap chronos then we haven’t yet proven that existing models aren’t overpriced. That seems to be the OP’s point, right? We don’t have perspective until we reach Takata airbag? Or can we envision the bottom without hitting it first?

Anyone who knows the difference between a DOT certified helmet and a SNELL certification knows what I’m talking about. Something can look legit, even be legit (since DOT helmets are legal) but not actually BE all that safe if it was never properly tested. I will paraphrase a saying from that scene here,

”How much is a chronograph worth?”

”I don’t know, how much are a kids eyes worth?”

[Chappy]

Why on gods green earth did they stop making the radarchron?!? It was cheap accurate and robust, which more than made up for its slight inconveniences. I gotta imagine they could still sell for under $100 when they were half that 20 years ago. Here’s hoping mine holds up another 15-20 years.

[Chuck E Ducky]

Nobody is losing an eye from a hot paintball. That’s a bit dramatic. It might hurt a lot more however paintball survived long before we had chronograph or a standard of velocity. You couldn’t possibly get a paintball up to the velocity needed to blow through a lens. Worst case of you happen to land a hot shot is you end up with a bad bruise. It’s likely you won’t hit anything shooting hot because paint flys like crap at higher velocity’s anyway. Unless you’re shooting FS rounds then you can hit higher velocity shots. Even weighted FN riot rounds still don’t have the energy to blow through a Paintball mask. Hell I have see videos of paintball lenses stopping several 22 rounds before failing. A $35 chrono is better than no chrono.

I have played at commercial fields that don’t even use a chronograph. It’s a pretty crappy field our ref lived in a tent on premises so yeah we all survived just fine. All the markers were set close by eye and we had a blast.

I wonder how close a regular player can get to field speed just by eye. I bet closer than most think. I bet I can get +\- 20fps easy.

I know I can set my Phantom up for 280fps on the money every time by counting TPC rotations and keeping a good bore to paint match.

[minimag03]

I was pretty good at guessing velocity just by putting my hand over an unported barrel and dry firing, prob even better than judging the distance my paint would fly. Prob cause i spent way more time techng my guns than playing lol

I recall some OLD players saying they'd test velocity by shoot certain trees and investigating the bark. If it messed with the bark, they had to turn it down lol

[Chuck E Ducky]

That’s what I meant by back in the day they didn’t even use chronographs and this was the shop goggle days. I do have some FN riot rounds a buddy gave me I could test them on an old mask to prove my point. There’s a video on YouTube of a paintball lens stopping a few 22 bullets before one got through at close range to.

[Chuck E Ducky]

FN Riot round (almost 3x as heavy and will stay together at well over 400FPS) (its hard it’s thick and heavy)

FS Round (these start to shred at like (350-360fps)

GI 5 star (heaviest ball I could find) (be lucky to get this out of the barrel at over 330fps if its above 60*)

[Trbo323]

But I could also see a cheap chrono giving the feeling of safety when someone is shooting 370FPS.

But in order for this to happen the Chrono would have to be wrong, but consistent.

I think you guys are missing the point here. These players that I deal with are buying $60 markers. Telling them a $110 minimum Chrono is the only option means they are going to play WITHOUT a Chrono.

Even a Chrono that would consistently give a ballpark measurement would be better than nothing.

Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

[minimag03]

Oh i agree! And I actually bet that etsy chrono gives reliable readings. My main point was to suggest testing the etsy chrono next to a proven chrono before recommending it to a new player.