Picked one of these up the other day and am pretty impressed so far. The reticle seems pretty fine tuned and was able to pick out different targets at various distances with no problems. Was pretty cool to aim at a street sign and get 224 yards and then drop a few feet and hit the car 'below' it at 412 yards. It's not a Leica Geovid, but was $2200 less!!
I have them in each of my shooting bags and have made them standard on all our vessels and all our casualty survey kits. Also found the ones at west marine are better quality and have a 1500 yrd. range, are waterproof, and will display velocity of a target as well for under $400.00
Hey, Sea, What brand is that one you are talking about? I would be interested in checking that brand out, velocity is always nice to have also!
I can set mine on 'scan' and it will update the distance on a moving target. Wouldn't be that hard to have it figure speed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- $354.99 USD In Stock: YES WM Model #: 3818234 Manuf. Part #: LRM1500SPD Shopper Rating: Reviews: Read/Write Email this product to a friend NEW CON INTERNATIONA LRM 1500 Laser Range Finder W/Speed Detection -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This advanced 7 x 25 Laser Range Finder system provides instant distance and speed measurements consistently and accurately. the outstanding optics allow a sharp, clear image under almost any conditions. The LRM 1500 SPD utilizes a revolutionary digital design that displays units of measurement in yards, meters, KMV, MPH or degrees. Features last target measurement and Automatic Reflective Mode Class 1 eye safe laser type 20° field of view Maximum effective range is 1500m Accuracy of 1m and 1mph Magnification: 7 Objective lens: 25
You need more than a distance change to get speed, you need "angle on the bow." SC will know that term. Fer 'zample, if the deer is moving perpendicular to your line of sight, he can be zipping right along and you will see him moving, but the distance won't change. If he is coming right at you, speed is an easy calc. That Westmarine unit that gives speed sounds neat --
but, would it work at the same above angles? I watched a car driving at an angle in 'scan' mode. It was giving me a 1/2 second refresh on the distance... How would the unit know if you were shooting a target that was moving at an angle to you? interesting.
The unit would not know unless you told it, or it had a frame of reference. I don't know if there are handheld units that can read angular changes and make the necessary calcs, never looked into it. Radars (well, some of them) can read angle and distance and calc out speed, and some sonars can also. SC said they can and do, but he is using them at sea where the speeds are lower. He might be manually entering angle on the bow into the device. If so, speed is as accurate as the angle entered. Most skippers should be able to estimate that pretty closely. So far as calc'ing out the speed of a car going past, consider how the cop's radars work. If they are close enough to straight on, they gotcha. If the angle is too steep, he can't get good enough info for an accurate reading. Most of the time the cops get you on radar, the recorded speed is lower than actual because of the angle he has to use.