After some research I picked the Leica over the Swaro Laser Guide because of the narrow laser dispersion.
I was a little concerned after reading reports of some units functioning far worse than others.
In one thread I found, the OP sent a CRF 1600B back to CameraLand NY as it would not range reliably much beyond 1000 yards.
An employee of CLNY tested a handful of 1600B units and found that some would range buildings only to 950 yards, while others would range all the way out to 1500 or so, and the OP was shipped one of these cherry picked units and lived happily ever after.
Well, I made that last part up.
When I called CLNY to order, the fella I was transferred to told me that Leica had eliminated the issue and all current manufacture units perform "up to snuff".
As it turns out I was talking to Doug, and Doug has gone to great lengths to get me some incredible deals on equipment... not the hard sell type.
I finally remembered to bring the 1600B along today in my travels to put it through its paces.
It was a somewhat bright afternoon, pretty clear, with some snow still on the ground.
I could routinely range buildings 760 yards away but when I tried to hit another house farther out (another 200 yards or so) or the trees up on the ridge, another few hundred yards, I got nothing.
Of course the trees have lost all their leaves, so maybe I'm expecting too much there, but the house presented a target 4 mils square at least.
I then turned the CRF on a building in the other direction and got sporadic hits at 800 and change, but 60% of the time I got nothing.
The outside walls I was scanning were at least 7 mils x 7 mils and I was supporting my arms on the hood of my car.
In another direction there was a lone tree with no leaves but a pretty good size trunk, but at 1300 + yards still not a very big target.
In scan mode I got a range of 1348 one time only, and I tried for a while, half a dozen scans and a dozen single scan attempts trying to reproduce the one successful reading.
I then drove a few miles to an overpass on a highway but, once there, I could not range one single highway road sign, which were quite large at around 400 yards... maybe the nature of the paint they use on the signs, though.
From the overpass I could see a building about 3/4 mile away, and I had an unobstructed shot at 2 large yellow brick walls, both at about a 45 degree angle (I was facing the corner).
I could not get one single range out of dozens of attempts. Again I was able to range a closer building (600 yards) as well as a D-9 Cat (or something close) parked outside, but not consistently, maybe a 50% success ratio.
Am I expecting too much?
Anybody in the SE PA (Chester County-ish) area have a working unit I could benchmark mine against?
Joe
I was a little concerned after reading reports of some units functioning far worse than others.
In one thread I found, the OP sent a CRF 1600B back to CameraLand NY as it would not range reliably much beyond 1000 yards.
An employee of CLNY tested a handful of 1600B units and found that some would range buildings only to 950 yards, while others would range all the way out to 1500 or so, and the OP was shipped one of these cherry picked units and lived happily ever after.
Well, I made that last part up.
When I called CLNY to order, the fella I was transferred to told me that Leica had eliminated the issue and all current manufacture units perform "up to snuff".
As it turns out I was talking to Doug, and Doug has gone to great lengths to get me some incredible deals on equipment... not the hard sell type.
I finally remembered to bring the 1600B along today in my travels to put it through its paces.
It was a somewhat bright afternoon, pretty clear, with some snow still on the ground.
I could routinely range buildings 760 yards away but when I tried to hit another house farther out (another 200 yards or so) or the trees up on the ridge, another few hundred yards, I got nothing.
Of course the trees have lost all their leaves, so maybe I'm expecting too much there, but the house presented a target 4 mils square at least.
I then turned the CRF on a building in the other direction and got sporadic hits at 800 and change, but 60% of the time I got nothing.
The outside walls I was scanning were at least 7 mils x 7 mils and I was supporting my arms on the hood of my car.
In another direction there was a lone tree with no leaves but a pretty good size trunk, but at 1300 + yards still not a very big target.
In scan mode I got a range of 1348 one time only, and I tried for a while, half a dozen scans and a dozen single scan attempts trying to reproduce the one successful reading.
I then drove a few miles to an overpass on a highway but, once there, I could not range one single highway road sign, which were quite large at around 400 yards... maybe the nature of the paint they use on the signs, though.
From the overpass I could see a building about 3/4 mile away, and I had an unobstructed shot at 2 large yellow brick walls, both at about a 45 degree angle (I was facing the corner).
I could not get one single range out of dozens of attempts. Again I was able to range a closer building (600 yards) as well as a D-9 Cat (or something close) parked outside, but not consistently, maybe a 50% success ratio.
Am I expecting too much?
Anybody in the SE PA (Chester County-ish) area have a working unit I could benchmark mine against?
Joe
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