Vortex 4000 GB first impressions.

[Maggot]

I called Euro Optics and got Clay. Asked him about the Kestral and what he used. He told me about this thing so I ordered one. $799 and free shipping. I ordered on Tuesday it was in my PO Box Thursday morning. Thanks to @eurooptic and the USPS.

I've only had it an hour and am impressed, looks like a kestral killer.

You link it to the GeoBallistics App ($14.99) enter your rifle and load data push the button and up pops range and hold. Measures humidity and BP, probably a few other things I havent sorted out. doesnt do the wind but what good is a wind read where you are when the target is 1500 yds away. It has a link to the nearest airport for weather, and even a link to google Maps so you can see your location.

Ranges deer at 2200, trees at 2500 and reflective targets up to 4k (yards).

Will get it to the range in a day or to but so far I'm frigging impressed.

1. vortexoptics.com › razor-hd-4000-gb-ballisticsRazor HD 4000 GB Ballistic Laser Rangefinder - Vortex Optics​

   
   For precision shooters and long-range hunters, the fully loaded Razor® HD 4000 GB accelerates your speed to target, helping you range with first-shot confidence at pushbutton speed. Rugged. Reliable.
   • Magnification: 7x
   • Range Reflective (yards): Up to 4000 yds.
   • Objective Lens Diameter: 25 mm
   • Range Tree (yards): Up to 2500 yds.

 

[ChuckieP]

I've had one for about a month. It's been to the field once. Was unable to use it because the battery was dead. Just as a note, I had replaced the battery 10 days prior and didn't use it. Ive played with it at the house for the last month. It's been threw three batteries since I've bought it. My sig kilo 2200 has the same battery it shipped with 2 years ago. Either I got a defective one or they have a vampire load that kills batteries.

I wish I could return it. YMMV.

Edit: vortex says battery drain was a firmware bug. Update the device will solve it.

 

[Maggot]

I've had one for about a month. It's been to the field once. Was unable to use it because the battery was dead. Just as a note, I had replaced the battery 10 days prior and didn't use it. Ive played with it at the house for the last month. It's been threw three batteries since I've bought it. My sig kilo 2200 has the same battery it shipped with 2 years ago. Either I got a defective one or they have a vampire load that kills batteries.

I wish I could return it. YMMV.

Call Vortex, they're great about warranty, and that doesnt sound right. Ill keep an eye on mine.

 

[DMZ38]

I've had one for about a month. It's been to the field once. Was unable to use it because the battery was dead. Just as a note, I had replaced the battery 10 days prior and didn't use it. Ive played with it at the house for the last month. It's been threw three batteries since I've bought it. My sig kilo 2200 has the same battery it shipped with 2 years ago. Either I got a defective one or they have a vampire load that kills batteries.

I wish I could return it. YMMV.

The battery-draining issue happened to me twice. It is supposed to be turned off after 30 seconds or something like that but seemed like it was still draining the battery even after it was "turned off". I wonder if this happens because it is connected to the phone app via Bluetooth and remains active. Anyway, I just pull out the battery when I am not using the range finder.

 

[ChuckieP]

I have sent vortex a message. CR2 batteries aren't the cheapest things. I figured the 2pack I bought would of lasted me for years, not weeks. Too bad they didn't make it a 123a battery. I have a mountain of them for flashlights and etc.

 

[ChuckieP]

Vortex has reached out. It was a bug in their firmware that has been patched. It had to do with calibration, once the unit was calibrated for the first time the bug was active.

They said updating will resolve it. Pretty quick response time from vortex and I appreciate that.

 

[ChuckieP]

Those three Without price it comes down to weather you like geobalistics (vortex) or applied ballistics (sig) apps. It's my personal opinion to go with vortex because of their warranty and customer support has always been top tier. See my experience above, vortex called me 45 minutes after I emailed them.

Also, without pricetag.. I would buy the impact 4000 or the fury hd 5000 ab. If I could, I would trade my razer for the impact...

 

[Maggot]

Those three Without price it comes down to weather you like geobalistics (vortex) or applied ballistics (sig) apps. It's my personal opinion to go with vortex because of their warranty and customer support has always been top tier. See my experience above, vortex called me 45 minutes after I emailed them.

Also, without pricetag.. I would buy the impact 4000 or the fury hd 5000 ab. If I could, I would trade my razer for the impact...

I reckon it was fixed by the time I activated/calibrated mine, I've had no trouble. Damn nice unit. It will even connect to the nearest airport for weather. Vortex has a winner.

 

[Taylorbok]

@ChuckieP maybe try a different batch of batteries if you haven't already. I had an electronic call that was killing remote batteries over night. I thought it was the POS call but turns out it was the battery I was using. Switched to a different brand and all problems were cured.

 

[Wallflower]

I had one for almost a month before I decided to send it back to Optics Planet. Overall I'm not impressed with it. Vortex doesn't provide key specs like the aiming reticle size or the beam divergence. Assuming that Vortex's specs are correct and their drawings of the reticle are to scale, the reticle diameter is about 20 MOA. My estimate was 25 MOA. Also, in my testing, objects outside the edges of the reticle are frequently ranged instead of the object in the center of the reticle, making accurate and consistent ranging difficult where there are other obstacles along the line of sight. The ability to range out to even 1000 yards with this thing is mostly hypothetical for real world conditions because you usually can't be sure what's actually being measured. There are "First" and "Last" measurement modes that can help with this but they're not all that helpful if your target isn't the first or last thing causing a reflection along the line of sight. They're certainly no substitutes for smaller beam divergence.

Found a Youtube video that demonstrates this perfectly, even though the uploader didn't seem to be aware of what his tests were actually showing. Note the range discrepancies that appear at 2:04 - 2:08 and again at 3:04 - 3:17.

 

[R_A_W]

Found a Youtube video that demonstrates this perfectly, even though the uploader didn't seem to be aware of what his tests were actually showing. Note the range discrepancies that appear at 2:04 - 2:08 and again at 3:04 - 3:17.

This may not be due to beam divergence.

My Fury 5000 ABs have struggled to get a positive read & range bright white plates & signs, even when I can range the grass right under the plate (unfortunately as close as 500 yards). I have no idea if they use the same laser/sensor. If so, he may be getting a more positive reading off the top part of the angled beam and a poor read or no read off the plastic wrapped hay bales, so it's ranging the grass. Seems counterintuitive, but someone else will have to chime in as to why

You can see the beam in this thread by @MinistryOfTruth

I agree that Vortex should probably include better info relating to the beam pattern & divergence.

 

[Wallflower]

This may not be due to beam divergence.

My Fury 5000 ABs have struggled to get a positive read & range bright white plates & signs, even when I can range the grass right under the plate (unfortunately as close as 500 yards). I have no idea if they use the same laser/sensor. If so, he may be getting a more positive reading off the top part of the angled beam and a poor read or no read off the plastic wrapped hay bales, so it's ranging the grass. Seems counterintuitive, but someone else will have to chime in as to why

You can see the beam in this thread by @MinistryOfTruth

I agree that Vortex should probably include better info relating to the beam pattern & divergence.

The nature of smooth reflective surfaces, like the white plastic covering the hay bales, is generally that they reflect more light than other objects while also scattering less light. Laser rangefinders typically require a substantial amount of scattered light in order to get measurements. So it isn't highly surprising that a rangefinder might have difficulty getting a reading on the hay bale covers.

But the beam divergence is definitely part of the issue because the spread was enough for the beam to reflect off of something other than the hay bale, probably the grass as you suggest, and even give a strong enough reflection for the rangefinder to record a reading from the wrong object. An incorrect reading is much more of a problem than a rangefinder that provides a warning that a measurement was unsuccessful.

 

[MinistryOfTruth]

There are advanced approaches to beam divergence that have to do with creating a FML (First Middle Last) table designed around the target impact zone instead of greatly divergent readings. And there is a beam density issue that can create the reality of a small beam divergence even in the presence of a noise band. Not easily seen on NODS because once you reach full density in the nods return it can't differentiate like a laser detector can.

Depends on the approach.