The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Was thinking along the same lines reading this through...

I wish I'd thought of it! And twelve months before it happened.

The idea is a sound one though, it was just that the NRA bought a rubbish system by the sound of it.

Are there no viable alternatives?

shugie wrote:The idea is a sound one though, it was just that the NRA bought a rubbish system by the sound of it.

Are there no viable alternatives?

Yes Shugie. Hard wired as at Blair Athol, and ]300m at Bisley which was in at the time the wireless system was installed.

The NRA chose wireless because the wee beasties were eating the 300m shed wires. (No one it seems had heard of armoured cable) and because digging in the cables would be expensive.

The failed wireless was of course much cheaper with all the man hours wasted etc.!

:roll:

John25 wrote:

shugie wrote:The idea is a sound one though, it was just that the NRA bought a rubbish system by the sound of it.

Are there no viable alternatives?

Yes Shugie. Hard wired as at Blair Athol, and ]300m at Bisley which was in at the time the wireless system was installed.

I think the 300m system has long since been upgraded to armoured cable (didn’t cost prohibit it initially?). It is now very reliable. Since it is actually designed for target shooting, not hacked from a military system, it can cope with a useful number of shots, rather than grinding to a halt after about 20. Of course, being a fixed distance system with indoor accommodation for systems and monitors, permanently installed and not needing to be moved or changed for reverse-echelon nonsense, or removed before major meetings (sometimes months before) it is much better suited to a cabled electronic target system, and less challenging than putting targets out on Century or Stickledown at multiple distances. I’m looking forward to shooting on it tomorrow, but I wish that its availability wasn’t so restricted by the stupid clay danger area screw-up.

..

Rox,

Yes, I agree, the NRA requirement for a choice of distances increased the degree of difficulty. However, as some of us said at the time, as a shooter, one target at 1000x and one at 600x would have sufficed. It would have been full, I suspect, when available. Only the 1000x would have to be removed for major meetings.

These could have been provided with sponsorship which was offered, and refused, at the time.

John25 wrote:However, as some of us said at the time...

A lot of sensible things were said at the time .

..

Digging in cables is expensive, but line of sight wireless with directional aerials and decent transmit power should do the job if designed properly. Lots of handheld radios about wouldn't make that easy though.

Does the current NRA hierarchy intend to continue trying to get electronic targets working, or is it really a dead duck?

ovenpaa wrote:To this day I have never understood why this very minor but very specific piece of circuitry was removed and also wonder who would benefit from such a theft which would lead me to ask the question were they stolen to order to hide the inadequacies of the system or the original procurement source.

I'd put it down to a much simpler cause - the thieving pikey magpies who work in the butts seeing something shiny and thinking "ooh, that must be worth a few bob!"

Gaz wrote:I'd put it down to a much simpler cause - the thieving pikey magpies who work in the butts seeing something shiny and thinking "ooh, that must be worth a few bob!"

Gaz, I suppose they could have seen the electronics as a threat to their income however I am not convinced...