Electronic Target Options

[Gwion]

Our club was formed in 1886 and I think our target system may have been in place ever since!

We are planning a bunch of upgrades and improvements at the club and at the range to bring it into the 21st Century. A new targeting system is high on the list.

Do any of you have suggestions of affordable electronic targeting systems?
The Tas Rifle Association has a bunch of them and so do some of the more well heeled clubs but at this stage the $5k price tag is a bit rich for a small club such as ours. Any suggestions on a system that may be a good gap filler until we can raise more funds for something more sophisticated would be much appreciated.

The Secretary has been looking at the "Bullseye" long range target camera set up at about a grand - $1200 but I'm not so sure it will suitable for shooting multiple shooters in a match style set up. Any comments or experiences with this would be appreciated as well.

Cheers

[sungazer]

Thankfully our club chose Hexta targets a couple of years ago we started with 2 and hope to get a third in the next few weeks, already ordered just arranging installation. They are probably the most expensive of the options but well worth every cent. The Hexta targets have been one of the turning points for the club and are just a game changer. The three options that are really available to you are Hexta, Konsberg and Silver Mountain with some new unknown quantities starting to pop up.
The Hexta are an Australian design, very well supported and are now being well used around the world in such places like Bisley in the UK.
There has been much debate over the accuracy of electronic targets and their use in competition. Due to this there has been a very close look at the targets by some to determine this. This investigation, comparison and resulting paper can be found here https://sites.google.com/site/etargetcomparison/home I belive with the install base and what is now known about the targets world wide Hexta will become the default standard and clubs and organizations using less accurate systems will be unused by shooters. This is already happening with the boycotting of some OPM's and state level competitions by competitors due to the type of target being used.

Hope you can get some grant money to put in a target to get started. Our club and quite a few others have been successful in part funding.

Dont let yourselves think that you are too small with 14 members I think that is more than we had when we took the plunge now up to about 19 4 new members last year. Katandra less than 14 members very similar to your club and they installed 2 targets this week. https://www.facebook.com/joe.melbourne. ... nref=story

[Gwion]

Cool. Thanks for the info, Sungazer.

Do you know what the price point on the Hexta models are? It would be good to have an idea of cost so that we know what funding we will have to raise.

My research today basically returned those three options you mentioned. I'll be interested to read the report when I have some time tomorrow.

Thanks again.

[sungazer]

Im not sure on the costs without trying to dig up some old AGM documents. The one thing Im not happy about our club is the lack of transparency and openness its the only club I have ever been in where regular members are not welcome to committee meetings and decisions big and small are made by two people to suit themselves and they call that a committee meeting. something i hope to change soon.
If money really is tight I would get the personal Silver Mountain Target as it is less than a $1000 so it will not be a big hit that will stop you from the main goal in the long run. Certainly better than any camera thats crazy.

[juststarting]

Gwion, you've mentioned Bullseye, so I am wondering if you are after something that can recognise a 'new hole' in the image and does scoring; or would you be happy with just seeing the target?

If you are just interested in seeing the target and you have someone technically minded, then FPV cameras and small screens could be a good interim solution. Just another approach I suppose. It would probably run at $50 - $100 per target lane. I've tried to build a target camera, there's a separate thread for that (I'll update it when I am done). WiFi attempt wasn't good enough (range). Now I've ordered some FPV cameras (what's used on drones) and receivers. I am going to run a receiver hooked up to my phone, but you can have a dedicated receiver (easier and cheaper option). PM me if this is something you are after - happy to share details (I'll post it here when I receive all the parts, anyway). And having it at a club, you can wire the power in from the mains, so it won't be an issue (as long as the cables don't get shot).

My 2c, hope it helps.

[straightshooter]

Nobody has mentioned Ozscore, also Australian made.
All the currently used systems use acoustic targets and experience fundamental problems when projectiles enter the transonic region and of course don't work at all with subsonic projectiles.
Most operational problems originate from the target. That is, either the design of the target and/or lack of proper maintenance.
Silver mountain is the cheapest but is also the least accurate due to the open faced target.
Kongsberg used dated technology and may have problems with ongoing support.
Hex and Ozscore have their own advantages depending on what you want.

[Gwion]

Thanks for extra info, people!

JS. I think for people wanting to just plink at extended range or shoot a few groups, the camera based system would work fine but having the ability to read new holes/impacts it pretty important. These wouldn't do for match shooting, though; even at club matches.
I could however, see us using two systems in paralell. Having a target lane with camera style set up open for those working on loads or just pinging some off and a lane or two with a match quality target system.

Certainly needs some looking at and investigation of fund raising options.