Bisley....what happened to the electronic targets??

[targetman]

What happened to the electronic targets....rumour has it that they were stolen......but ALL of them.

I know from experience elsewhere that they can be unreliable especially if wire-less but I found them most useful.

Anybody know the real answer??

And, more importantly, will they be back??

[ovenpaa]

My understanding is the acoustic pick-ups were taken which would suggest the rest of the system is still intact. I did hear ir was going to be reinstated earlier this year however given that it is quite an investment to get it going this may not be the case.

[IainWR]

Hi all

We are still plagued by electronic comms issues over these.

The Century target electronic comms units were stolen.

The contract allowed a setup phase, followed by a reliability demonstration. We have never passed the setup phase.
We intend to get them up and running asap, but how long "possible" is remains to be seen.

Wait out please, everybody in the NRA realises that they are a really good idea but we are not going to release them to members until they actually do what we want.

Iain

[GazMorris]

I know from experience elsewhere that they can be unreliable especially if wire-less but I found them most useful.

I've generally been positive on the subject of electronic targets; however having seen firsthand how badly they can go wrong at CWG Delhi 2010 my enthusiam has been tamed. Before electronics are a realistic option for anything other than casual practice, they need to be subjected to rigorous and publicly scrutinisable testing and the rules of shooting need a serious overhaul.

Cheers,

Gaz

[ovenpaa]

The Aussies are reporting good things with some electronics systems and I have not seen issues with the system I use in Denmark so they do exist however even Blair Atholl has seen issues this year with a combination of large quantities of water and electronic targetry.

[RDavies]

There are dozens of ranges (with many more to follow) here in Australia using electronic targets and overall they have proven to be acceptably reliable. They are used in heat, cold, wet and dry and overall are very popular.

[shugie]

Do these work like the standard paper targets from the shooter's perspective? So you see a score at the bottom and a coloured patch on the target?

And do the targets eventually fall apart?

[ovenpaa]

Electronics usually work by having a monitor adjacent to the shooter that records the last shot, the previous shots and the cumulative score. The ones I have used allowed me to zoom into the centre of the target if I was feeling optimistic and also gave X,Y position from centre in mm and shot group also in mm. Some even give the cumulative position from centre and can discount flyers for training purposes. Bislry ones did not have a print facility and instead this had to be done via the range office however all of the military ones I have used had the ability to dump the results via a built in printer.

Bisley ones were nice and light to carry and the Military ones are usually squadie proofed to a degree.

They are dependant on acoustic couplings at the target end and a rubber backing sheet which has the centre marker on it or similar.

[DanTheMan]

Our club used the Bisley electronic targets for every competition shoot and practice when they were available, we even tested them when requested by the range office. I found them very reliable, perhaps you would loose one shot every few hundred rounds but we would accept this and issue an extra round. The plus points are the speed at which you could get rounds down, perfect for timed competition practice i.e. CSR, you can shoot twice as many comp rounds with electronic targets than with markers. The bad points were not having a marker to radio back if your round was blown off to one side of the target, if you miss then the screen can't help.

A very windy day from 600 yds....the TV is next to you on the firing point.

[The Cupcake Kid]

Hi all

We are still plagued by electronic comms issues over these.

The Century target electronic comms units were stolen.

The contract allowed a setup phase, followed by a reliability demonstration. We have never passed the setup phase.
We intend to get them up and running asap, but how long "possible" is remains to be seen.

Wait out please, everybody in the NRA realises that they are a really good idea but we are not going to release them to members until they actually do what we want.

Iain

I don't know the history, but it would be a really positive development if these could be brought back into action.

Can you clarify a few things?

Are you saying that they were originally installed and worked well, even though the company supplying them did not fulfill whatever contract the NRA had agreed with them? Or is it that new comms units have now been supplied to replace the stolen ones but the supplier hasn't got them set up yet?

Is the supplier still in business and actively selling these systems? Has the NRA paid anything to anybody in order to try and sort this out? Is there a financial/contractual issue with getting this all working again or just a technical one?

Thanks!
TCK