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A shot timer that activates a strobe light?


bmillios

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Hi ...

I'm a deaf shooter, and cannot hear the beep from any of the shot timers out there. I have been shooting with having the SO put his hand on my shoulder when it's "shooter ready", I nod ... when the timer goes off, he removes his hand, and I go.

Two problems with that:

1) him removing his hand messes up my inner balance (I know this sounds all weird zen and stuff) - but if I'm focused on the hand on my shoulder, it's an effort to re-focus on shooting
2) there is a delay between the time he hears the beep, and the time he moves his hand off my shoulder. It's not a lot - but add up that time for every course of fire.

So, I'm looking for shot timers that can fire a strobe. I know the CED7000 can do it. I know the Competition Electronics Pro Shot Timer 4 Super can do it. They have aux jacks that emit a signal that can be used to fire a relay, which can in turn fire a strobe.

Are there others?

Where are the ready-made electronics to fire a strobe?

Thanks,

Bill

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cguy1177 - that means that the vibrating device would have to be attached to me somehow, from the shot timer. After it goes off, I wouldn't be free to run around.

It has to be a strobe, or some kind of light.

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I know about the jacks - but where's the rest of the stuff? Where's an example of this technology working? I could probably kludge something together from my photography gear, but ... come on. I can't be the first person to ever want or need this.

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cguy1177 - that means that the vibrating device would have to be attached to me somehow, from the shot timer. After it goes off, I wouldn't be free to run around.

It has to be a strobe, or some kind of light.

ok, I had thought the RO could press it against the back of your neck/head and you would feel it then start the stage.

I'll ask my friend who has a similar problem though I think he uses a shot timer with a strong speaker that creates a vibration and has it put up against his neck/head.

I can see why you would want the strobe.

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Strobe would be cool. I wonder if you could get the RO a flag on the end of a stick that he could hold in peripheral vision and drop when its time to go.

Maybe not the most sophisticated solution could could work until something better comes along.

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Dropping a flag though has the same issue as removing the hand from his shoulder, there is a few moments of lost time when the RO has to react and then you have to react to that....

Cause if you figure the average person has a reaction time something around .25-.35 of a second, that is how much you are losing every stage if you are waiting for the RO to drop the flag.

cguy1177 - that means that the vibrating device would have to be attached to me somehow, from the shot timer. After it goes off, I wouldn't be free to run around.

It has to be a strobe, or some kind of light.

ok, I had thought the RO could press it against the back of your neck/head and you would feel it then start the stage.

I'll ask my friend who has a similar problem though I think he uses a shot timer with a strong speaker that creates a vibration and has it put up against his neck/head.

I can see why you would want the strobe.

I think holding against the back of the neck or shoulder would b a good solution. Not as good as a light but better than what you've got.

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Dropping a flag though has the same issue as removing the hand from his shoulder, there is a few moments of lost time when the RO has to react and then you have to react to that....

Cause if you figure the average person has a reaction time something around .25-.35 of a second, that is how much you are losing every stage if you are waiting for the RO to drop the flag.

cguy1177 - that means that the vibrating device would have to be attached to me somehow, from the shot timer. After it goes off, I wouldn't be free to run around.

It has to be a strobe, or some kind of light.

ok, I had thought the RO could press it against the back of your neck/head and you would feel it then start the stage.

I'll ask my friend who has a similar problem though I think he uses a shot timer with a strong speaker that creates a vibration and has it put up against his neck/head.

I can see why you would want the strobe.

I think holding against the back of the neck or shoulder would b a good solution. Not as good as a light but better than what you've got.

-

No real RO reaction time added. Just set the timer to instant and the RO can drop the flag at the same time as he is activating the timer.

It would be better than touching the shooter given that it can't affect his stance, ballance, etc.

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designed for weather radio audio jack out alerts, but might work with the buzzer audio jack out from a timer? Not too pricey to try and amazon has great return policies.

http://www.amazon.com/Midland-18-STR-Strobe-Weather-Hazards/dp/B0002UB2K0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399488569&sr=8-1&keywords=strobe+alert

Edited by cguy1177
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Flag and drop the flag as hit the button on instant. Is there a chance it may be a little off but should be very minimal. Any thing rigged to the timer means the ro has to yank the wire or have it trailing along. In all honesty you are pretty much always going to be at a slight disadvantage but all that can be expected is reasonable effort to make it as minimal as possible and other than just deal with loosing a tiny bit of time every stage

Edited by EkuJustice
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Again, not wanting to over complicate things you could just rig up any switch with a long cord that turns on a small light on a stand down range. Put the light in the peripheral view of the first target and have the range officer throw the switch at the same time as he/she pushes the instant button to start the timer.

The RO won't need to worry running down range with a cord attached to the timer as he/she couldn't just activate the light switch and leave it there.

Edited by alma
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designed for weather radio audio jack out alerts, but might work with the buzzer audio jack out from a timer? Not too pricey to try and amazon has great return policies.

http://www.amazon.com/Midland-18-STR-Strobe-Weather-Hazards/dp/B0002UB2K0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399488569&sr=8-1&keywords=strobe+alert

I ordered this device and will try it out this weekend. what a great Idea! I use the lift off method. works for me, I just have to go a bit faster!

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Thanks all, for the ideas.

The vibration thing is out because then your focus is on the back of your neck, or wherever that thing is pressed up against. Plus, would you want someone pressing on the back of your neck as you're trying to relax and get into the zone before a run?

I am leery of having the SO drag around a cable. I want the light in front of me somehow, and if it's a stage where I have to move, I don't want to have to worry about tripping over a cable.

I am also a photographer, so I have a lot of photo equipment.

I am going to get one of these timers (still trying to figure out which one), and connect it to a radio remote trigger. These radio triggers have a jack input, so I just need the cable that goes from the timer to the remote. The remote will trigger another remote, which is connected to a speedlight.

Need to make sure that the timer can talk to the remote without frying it. I have electronics-savvy friends. So far, they are optimistic.

This is a very expensive solution, however. The triggers are 185 bucks each, and the speedlight is another $100. (I may invest in a cheap set of triggers just for shooting, so if they get shot or broken, it's not as painful.)

The SO would have to carry the timer and the remote, connected via cable. It wouldn't be that big, but it's not as nimble as the timer alone. I'm thinking maybe rubberband them together so it's not floppy.

I'll see how it works. If anybody else has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

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Not sure I would like to have a flash going off just before shooting. Can't be good on the vision.

I still think just something corded would work with a simple toggle switch or button. The RO can drop the switch right there after activating since it wouldn't be attached. No need to take the switch down range.

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At our range, we have turning targets activated by a standard garage door remote that's wired to the AUX output on a CED 8000. That way there's no wire running downrange to the receiver, and it's compact enough for one person to practice without having someone else to run the timer. The remote is attached to the timer with velcro and we use a plug in the earphone jack to silence the beep. The reason for silencing the beep is because of the delay between the beep and the pneumatic turners of about .25-.30 second. I'm not sure if that would be the same on a strobe light, but I doubt it.

Alan~^~

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This is a good topic for me because I too am very hard of hearing. I have to use the touch method to know when to go.

I wish there was a better way, I like the visual flash idea, but in reality, I'm not a very good shooter anyway so the little time lag isn't going to hurt. LOL

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ok, I can add a little insight as I shoot with a guy who is deaf and cannot hear the beep.

he also hates the tap on the shoulder method. generally we just show the timer face to him and do a very exaggerated finger press so he can see me hit 'start' and it's set to instant. that works ok, but we get the odd false start or the odd delay. we also have tried (and I think this probably works better). timer in one hand, other hand is where he can see it. do the old finger count down, 3 fingers, 2 fingers, 1 finger and then closed fist means go. At that moment other hand hits instant start on the timer. that works pretty well and costs $0.0. Is it possibly an advantage for him by reducing reaction to the beep? I don't think so. sure he can anticipate the start as he has the countdown rhythm but he's usually so focused on not stuffing it up I don't think it gains him anything.

the problem with buying the strobe set-up is they may not let you use it at a L3 or L4 match? I dunno. maybe they would. but I would hope a friendly RO would do the finger countdown for you.

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