Precision Rifle Gear Silencerco Radius Issues

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Hey guys, I recently just acquired a Silencerco Radius and have been having intermittent issues.

When it first arrived I mounted it and had an issue with acquiring ranges. All the buttons on the unit would work, i.e. visible laser, m/y switch, brightness, but as soon as I attempted to range, the unit would display the crosshairs “ranging” icon in the top right and completely freeze up without displaying a range. At this point, no buttons would work, the visible laser would turn on and off, but the display would not say “vis” as normal.

After messing around with the unit for quite a while and changing out batteries for ones that were brand new, the unit suddenly was fully functional. It would range targets and all buttons worked as they should. I played around with it for several days before placing it in my gear bag.

Then, last week I took it out to the range and was experiencing the exact same issue again. I had not touched it between the two outings and suddenly it would no longer function. I have yet to be able to get it to work properly again.

Has anyone experienced this issue or does anyone with expertise with these units have any ideas? I realize the units are discontinued and probably for good reason, but it seems like plenty of people have good success with these units without issue.

 

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No ideas on this one?

 

[kthomas]

Have you talked with SilencerCo?

 

[Screach]

Not yet, I was planning on sending them an email. It’s weird after a good smack, the thing starts to work again. I wonder if something on the inside is a bit loose.

 

[kthomas]

Not yet, I was planning on sending them an email. It’s weird after a good smack, the thing starts to work again. I wonder if something on the inside is a bit loose.

Could be a loose connection somewhere inside.

Is the display unit, which is held by a couple of screws, on tight?

 

[onetopgun]

Try cleaning the contacts (both in the battery compartment and the back of the display where it plugs into the rangefinder body). It’s also a good idea to remove the batteries when the unit is not in use between outings. I also use only lithium batteries in mine. More expensive, yes, but much less susceptible to temperature variations.

Hope this helps

Regards
JHC

 

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The display is on tight, I have verified several times. I am also solely using Lithium batteries. I might open it up in a bit to see if I can find a loose contact.

 

[Bluedog82]

Bummer that you got this right before Vortex’s new offering that just came out…

 

[Screach]

Very true, however I doubt I’d be able to get it for anywhere near the price I paid for the Radius.

I may have to save up for it, because it looks sick!

 

[wigwamitus]

pics of your setup ?

i've had 7 radii over the years since they first came out and can try to help trouble shoot but starting with pics of your setup would help.

 

[Screach]

pics of your setup ?

i've had 7 radii over the years since they first came out and can try to help trouble shoot but starting with pics of your setup would help.

That would be awesome!

Here are a few pics. The first is the unit right after power up in Yards.

The Second is the unit after being powered up but before attempting to hit the “ranging” button. I put the visible laser on to show that the display does in fact work before lasing a target.

The third photo is the screen after reverting the settings back to yards and shutting off the visible laser. I then hit the ranging button and this is the screen that is displayed. The crosshairs icon stays on constantly and will not shut off after hitting the button, and no range is displayed.

The fourth photo is to show that once the “ranging” button is pressed the unit freezes and the display is locked with the crosshairs icon displayed. Furthermore, the visible laser will turn on and off, but the “vis” icon on the screen will not display when the radius is in its frozen state.

There is no damage to the outside of the unit and it was fully functional prior to being shipped.

 

[wigwamitus]

Ah, so you haven't actually mounted it to a weapon yet.

In terms of ranging it does have a minimum distance under which it will not range and that's about 9 yds IIRC. So if you are lucky it will barely range in a 30 foot long living room - IF - you are standing in the door way at the long end and ranging at the other long end.

Do you have the ability to mount it on a weapon and take it outside for further testing ?

Do you have more batteries ?

Do you have the ability to test the voltage on the batteries - i.e. a multimeter ?

Did you receive the pressure pad switch with the unit ?

Do you have a pvs-14 or other night vision (i2) unit we can use to observe the ranging laser ? We would do this at night obviously !

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The general trouble shooting process - is to swap out various parts and try various scenarios in an attempt to isolate the problem. So that's the road I would be leading you down !

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And you might want to remove and remount the display to a different orientation to help rule out display mounting issue.