CaldwellCaldwell G2 Ballistic Precision Chronograph with Tripod and Rechargeable Battery for Shooting Indoor and Outdoor MPS/FPS Readings

I absolutely love this thing. I have used several chronographs in the past, and recently I had purchased the Deluxe Chronograph Kit from Caldwell but was having issues with it giving errors and misreadings. I sent it back to Amazon as defective (I was getting roughly 40 missed readings a minute when the IR lights were on, even when I wasn't passing anything through the screens...I'm guessing one of the IR light panels were bad and flickering, making it appear something was passing through the screen). Anyway, I decided to upgrade to the G2 and try it instead; I'm VERY glad I did. the rechargeable battery works great, and lasts 2 hours on a charge if you are using the lights, and much longer than that if you do not use the lights. The days I've used it have been dark and very overcast (actually I was rained out the first time I took it out), so not a lot of light to work with and the LEDs worked perfectly as intended. I love that it has bluetooth and can work work with the Caldwell App wirelessly. The App is actually really neat, you can download it and kind of check out how it works before buying the chronograph to get a feel of what it can do. In two full days of shooting hundreds of rounds through it, I got ZERO missed readings and ZERO extra false readings. I don't expect it to work that well, as I'd assume all chronos miss every now and again, but this one really exceeded my expectations. it comes with a tripod and carrying case too which is nice. Another great feature that goes unnoticed is the fact that it charges via a micro USB port. The reason that is great is you can buy those "portable power banks" designed to use on cell phones, and use it instead to power the chronograph. I use Milwaukee Power Tools, and they sell a "power bank adapter" (as does Makita and Dewalt) to convert their batteries into USB power supplies...using one of my Milwaukee M18 batteries allowed me to run this thing all day long with zero issue, and I had plenty of power to spare, so if you get a little creative, you can use this all day long without worrying about batteries dying on you! I cannot recommend this chronograph enough to anyone who is looking for a solid performer in any condition and wants the added convenience of Bluetooth wireless phone connectivity and rechargeable battery pack that can be also be powered by micro USB!UPDATE 4/5/18: I've owned this Chronograph for a few months now and have had it out a few more times since my initial review. I still give it 5 stars, but something I found that could use improvement is the tripod...it turns out it is very wobbly (head unit) on a breezy/windy day. the tripod itself has a hook on the bottom to hang weight from to keep it from tipping over (I learned the hard way!) but the head is so flimsy that it tilts and spins the unit fairly easily, even when the knobs are all tight (it's just flexible and cheaply built - the head of the tripod that is). The good news is it's easy to get a better tripod if you experience the same issue, but since this is dedicated to this task I may take all the adjustable features of the head of the tripod and eliminate them by epoxying everything together as one piece, eliminating the flimsiness and flex inherit of the design. I don't expect much better given the fantastic price point of the whole package, but just an observation I wanted to share with everyone.

The chronograph works well and is very easy to use. The app adds very useful information and worked perfectly with my phone. None of the issues I had read about in other reviews occurred when I loaded the app. The chronograph did display some Errors during the first shooting test. However, I was not set up in a optimum environment for the chronograph. ( cloudy, under trees and low sun angle) It was still able to read a .177 pellet at over 1000fps with only 6 errors on 20 shots. The readings appear to be consistent as the pellet rifle only had about 50 fps of variance between any shot. This was the smallest projectile I have and the chrono was intentionally set up where it might have difficulty, but it still worked. The bottom line here is that this chronograph works and is worth the money. The tripod is a little flimsy, but it is very light and fits easily into the carry bag that is included.

This is my first chrono, but I have had experience using those of friends (including Chrony, CED, and older Caldwell). Overall, I am very happy with the purchase and would highly recommend the product.One recommendation (that applies to any chrono) is to have a target you are aiming for behind the chrono. This helps ensure a consistent point of aim and data .. and also reduces chance of "oops".Positives:- Set-up is very easy (with a couple of minor exceptions below)- Excellent bluetooth interface to the iPhone app. Super easy to store Chrono data .... and email/text it to friends (yes, your friends will want to chrono loads when you have this out). No more scrounging for scraps of paper.- All inclusive... every thing you need comes with the package (LED lights, tripod...)- Rechargeable battery. Easy to re-charge via included power adapter or any USB power source.- The "upside down" has proven chrono has proven reliable in several indoor and outdoor uses. Very few error readings.Negatives:- Between the upside down design (chrono weight on top) and the light-weight support arms connecting the chrono to the lights and the parallel cross members that connect the lights to the tripod, the assembly is not very rigid. It tends to torque and twist. I believe much of it is due to the two parallel cross members that tie everything together twisting a little.That said, it is not a big deal if you remember to check level on the CHRONO and not the tripod mount. Luckily the iPhone has a built in level that makes it easy. You want to make sure chrono is level and you are shooting straight through it to get accurate readings.- Too easy to inadvertently set the chrono to Meters per Second -vs- Feet per Second. Inevitably, when this happens, the line is already 'hot' when you notice it. That said, the App will continue to read and record in FPS even if the chrono is MPS.- As other have stated the tripod is trash. The tripod is beyond flimsy, and the fact it has a cheap 'quick release' head connecting the top heavy chrono to the tripod makes matters even worse. That said, I do use it with the included tripod, and it hasn't collapsed yet. But it does require some balancing and adjusting to get it set up correct.- Battery is not readily replaceable if it goes bad over time. That said, if it was to happen, it would be very simple to use a small portable USB charger to keep it operating.