Help With Pact Mkiv Timer Chrn Please

[R/T Performance]

I have the plain mark vI and mine works fine.

[tdash911]

Pact is really starting to bug me. Bought the MarkIV-Xp had the samr error. They finally admitted that they were not sure what was causing the problem in some timers. Traded it for th professional different error. I have yet to get one shot through either of their chronos. They keep saying they will fix but I am starting to wonder what year.

[R/T Performance]

I am going to pm Brian with a link to this thread Maybe he can get us some answers.

[TenTool]

I am going to pm Brian with a link to this thread Maybe he can get us some answers.

Well, darn... I don't know if I am glad to have discovered this thread - or not! I was "THIS CLOSE" to buying a Pact for use as a timer AND chrono, but now... well, darn.

It gives me gas to hear about this type of "customer service" - as I am in a service industry myself, and I value the customer. Obviously they aren't sending out direct replacements even if your Pact is 100% brand new, because they must KNOW the unit they'd send would also be coming back. Not good.

Although it pains me to think about it due to the rave reviews of the Pact as a timer, I guess I'll have to look at other timers, as that is my #1 need. I'll just keep bumming my buddy's funky chrono when I need one. Phooey.

[41mag]

I am going to pm Brian with a link to this thread Maybe he can get us some answers.

Thats a great idea, thanks. I was thinking about that as thats where I bought all my reloading stuff including the timer. I think I remember reading that Brian knew the PACT folks pretty well. That would be great if he could get this resolved for us.

If your reading this Brian thanks for your time and anything you can do to resolve this.

41 mag

[benos]

I talked to Pat today - unfortunately I don't have anything that hasn't been discussed here already. It comes down to - some MKIV's have an intermittent bug that happens as has been described. (The chrono error's out when you plug in the skyscreens.) He told me what they've been doing to test them and I can assure you they're doing everything possible to get this problem solved.

If your MKIV XD has this problem, at this point, the only solution is to send it back to PACT for an exchange.

PACT INC

2100 N Highway 360 #1901

Grand Prairie, TX 75053

They typically include a check to cover your shipping cost when they return the unit. But just to be sure they do, it wouldn't hurt to include a note saying to "please include a check to cover my shipping costs" when you send it in. And it will also help expedite your return if you include a note saying the chrono problem occurred "out of the box" - so please send a replacement as quickly as possible.

be

[R/T Performance]

To Give credit I had one great exprince with pact I shot my sensor housings and the hooked me up fast with extras and they where cheap.

For once I am glad I scored a non XP model mine works great good luck fellas

[41mag]

update....

not much I'm afraid. Just called a couple of minutes ago and heres what I was told my the guy on the phone.... I don't know, I,ll have to check....then theres silence so I have to ask if he wants me to hold the line or what? And he says he will have to look in a box of stuff that came from the tech.... so I ask if he will call me or do I have to call back and he says to call back in an hour or two.

They have now had my new out of the box timer for over a month and can't even tell me the status. They said it would be a week when I first called them about sending it back.

I feel like I have been ripped off.

Based on the problems known with this product and the lack of customer caring from the company I am strongly adviseing any one else wanting such a product to buy another brand. This is the first time I've ever had such a bad experience with a manufacture.

I will call back again when time permits and hopefully will be given an answer.

41 mag

[R/T Performance]

update....

not much I'm afraid. Just called a couple of minutes ago and heres what I was told my the guy on the phone.... I don't know, I,ll have to check....then theres silence so I have to ask if he wants me to hold the line or what? And he says he will have to look in a box of stuff that came from the tech.... so I ask if he will call me or do I have to call back and he says to call back in an hour or two.

They have now had my new out of the box timer for over a month and can't even tell me the status. They said it would be a week when I first called them about sending it back.

I feel like I have been ripped off.

Based on the problems known with this product and the lack of customer caring from the company I am strongly adviseing any one else wanting such a product to buy another brand. This is the first time I've ever had such a bad experience with a manufacture.

I will call back again when time permits and hopefully will be given an answer.

41 mag

This is heart wrenching bieng they are one of the few USA Eltronic makers

The main reason I bought a pact

[Punkin Chunker]

They typically include a check to cover your shipping cost when they return the unit. But just to be sure they do, it wouldn't hurt to include a note saying to "please include a check to cover my shipping costs" when you send it in. And it will also help expedite your return if you include a note saying the chrono problem occurred "out of the box" - so please send a replacement as quickly as possible.

be

That's interesting. Because I didn't get a check for $10 when the replacement unit came back, I got an invoice that said that I OWED THEM $10 to pay for their shipping the replacement unit back to me, after I had paid to send the defective unit to them.

What you describe washes out to a net $0 out-of-pocket to take care of the problem. WHAT I EXPERIENCED was a net $20 out of pocket to take care of the problem.

And I still intermittantly get ERROR-SCREENS TRIGGER TOGETHER when I try to chrono some loads.

[elenius]

I got one of the new Mk IV XP models recently. Only used it once. I chronoed some loads, and then it started giving me an error, something like "can't read stop screen". So I didn't get the error when I hooked in the cables or started it up, only after each shot.

I may very well have had the cables together, however. I will try it again this Sat.

[98sr20ve]

I got one of the new Mk IV XP models recently. Only used it once. I chronoed some loads, and then it started giving me an error, something like "can't read stop screen". So I didn't get the error when I hooked in the cables or started it up, only after each shot.

I may very well have had the cables together, however. I will try it again this Sat.

Geez, I was going to get one of these till I read this thread. Chrono/Timer unit sounded nice.

[elenius]

I got one of the new Mk IV XP models recently. Only used it once. I chronoed some loads, and then it started giving me an error, something like "can't read stop screen". So I didn't get the error when I hooked in the cables or started it up, only after each shot.

I may very well have had the cables together, however. I will try it again this Sat.

Geez, I was going to get one of these till I read this thread. Chrono/Timer unit sounded nice.

For what it's worth, I tried it again today, and it worked flawlessly. I did three things differently:

1) Kept the two cables separate.

2) Put the timer unit off to the side instead of right under where I was shooting.

3) It was sunny, last time it was kind of gloomy.

[TenTool]

I got one of the new Mk IV XP models recently. Only used it once. I chronoed some loads, and then it started giving me an error, something like "can't read stop screen". So I didn't get the error when I hooked in the cables or started it up, only after each shot.

I may very well have had the cables together, however. I will try it again this Sat....

For what it's worth, I tried it again today, and it worked flawlessly. I did three things differently:

1) Kept the two cables separate.

2) Put the timer unit off to the side instead of right under where I was shooting.

3) It was sunny, last time it was kind of gloomy.

Thanks for the follow-up; I've been watching this thread, because I REALLY WANT the Pact to work as designed - timer AND chrono. If I can get some sense that it does, I will feel better about placing an order.

This is encouraging.

[DarkSmileyX]

Thanks for the follow-up; I've been watching this thread, because I REALLY WANT the Pact to work as designed - timer AND chrono. If I can get some sense that it does, I will feel better about placing an order.

This is encouraging.

I don't know if you would get a functional chronograph or not. But I sent mine in 3 months ago and still don't have it back. They can't fix them because they don't know what's wrong with them. There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that I'd buy another Pact product.

[elenius]

Another thing worth mentioning is that the timer unit is very large. I expected it to be more convenient.

[Scoterbeast]

Didn't know much about Chrono's so I bought cheapest chrono i could find to get started- I think it was either 69 0r 79 bucks. It works fine - compared my figures with those on some high dollar units - mine hangs right in there.

[DarkSmileyX]

I finally decided to e-mail Brian with the details of my plight, (I purchased the MKIV though him) to see if he could get a little more action out of Pact. Brian e-mailed me back within a few hours with the info that they would be shipping me one the next day, I was hopeful but but I had been down that road before, two days later a properly working MKIV showed up at my door. Brian also said in his e-mail to me that Pact believes that they have found and can fix the problem with the chronographs in the MKIV, I guess buy them at your own risk at this point. In my case Pact lost a potential return customer, but Brian gained one.

[98sr20ve]

I finally decided to e-mail Brian with the details of my plight, (I purchased the MKIV though him) to see if he could get a little more action out of Pact. Brian e-mailed me back within a few hours with the info that they would be shipping me one the next day, I was hopeful but but I had been down that road before, two days later a properly working MKIV showed up at my door. Brian also said in his e-mail to me that Pact believes that they have found and can fix the problem with the chronographs in the MKIV, I guess buy them at your own risk at this point. In my case Pact lost a potential return customer, but Brian gained one.

Keep us informed. I was thinking of buying one from Brian as well. I really want this chronograph for the features of the timer and chronograph. Willing to put up with a little (not a lot) if Brian will back it like that.

[AlamoShooter]

I have an older one - 1992 model MK III It was used in 200 + matches and is still working great and the crono mode has never missed up. Edited January 23, 2007 by AlamoShooter

[maineshootah]

For what it's worth, I tried it again today, and it worked flawlessly. I did three things differently:

1) Kept the two cables separate.

2) Put the timer unit off to the side instead of right under where I was shooting.

3) It was sunny, last time it was kind of gloomy.

I noticed the same thing this morning. (Sunny, 33 degrees, 15 mph wind, 6" of snow...what am I doing crono'ing rounds??)

I had the timer right on the same shooting bench and was getting the "screens triggered together" error. Moved cables apart, plugged them in and out, turn off and turn on the device.

I had a brain storm and put the timer in its case and on the ground a few feet from me.

Worked fine after that.

[BayouSlide]

FWIW, I just started using my PACT MKIV as a chrono, with very mixed results, i.e. the same sort of errors others are reporting here.

But with two changes in my set up, I've gone from a 25 - 50% success rate to a 98% success rate.

First, following some advice on this forum, I made sure that the two leads from the skyscreen setup run parallel to each other (no touching or cross over) and touch the ground for the majority of their length.

Second, I put the PACT unit in a padded mini-CD player case. The case even has a slit designed for headphone wires that allow the skyscreen unit leads to plug in while the PACT is cased.

I had noticed the first time I used the PACT as a chrono that it started to register shots more successfully once it was removed from close vicinity to the gun. But in my last session, while in the CD player case, the PACT worked fine when placed right next to the muzzle.

Like others, I'm guessing that the impulses to the shot-timer microphone in the PACT may have been interfering with the chrono in some way.

Curtis

[SSDriver]

uh oh I'm scared, I just ordered one and now have no idea what to expect.

[Al Capizzo]

I have an older one - 1992 model MK III It was used in 200 + matches and is still working great and the crono mode has never missed up.

I've got a Pact 1 chrono from the late '80's and have never had a problem with it. Don't you hate it when things keep "improving"

You can pretty much trace the history of USPSA by looking at the different caliber holes in my skyscreen housings.

[George]

I have a pre-XP one and have had no problems with it whatsoever other than having to play with shade vs. sunlight positioning as the day progresses and shadows change. I have never paid any attention to keeping the cables separated and keep them zip tied into one twisted up bundle. I always keep the timer box on the bench seat right next me rather than anywhere near the muzzle blast.

My PACT digital precision scale and automatic powder measure work just fine too :-)

I am fine with PACT and like the idea of buying American made stuff to boot. I have opened mine up to inspect the workmanship and feel it is well built product and worth the price.