Bisley Electronics Broken .... Again!!!

[Ralpharama]

Booked Stickledown for Friday week and have been told that the Intarso targets are buggered .... yet again and all they have on offer is 300yards. I have a new 6.5 Creedmoor which I was looking forward to testing at a thousand.

There isn't I guess any discount offered given all that is on offer is 300yards. 

Is it me being unlucky or is this system really flakey? They tell me that they are awaiting parts unlikely to arrive before the end of August as a best case scenario FFS!

Why do I keep paying my NRA membership?

Grumpy from Somerset.

[gunfantic]

Sorry for your trouble. This things can be very frustrating. Guess you have to be patient with them yet again. NRA membership doesn't guarantee special privilege anymore, I guess.

[No i deer]

The GBFCA rep is continuously on at the NRA to keep them well maintained as many of the f class community had major issues with them.

If it wasn't for him they'd be alot worse for sure.

Some travel hours to use them nevermind the cost of ammo to send shots downrange for the shots not to register or stop working altogether.

I've had issues with them myself and would prefer hand marked target but it's more expensive.

 

[Popsbengo]

Our club has just been offered butts markers for 29th on Stix at no additional cost due to electronics failures requiring parts on back-order

[20series]

I've got an electronics booking for September for my 51st birthday weekend 16-17th, they screwed up last years 50th and I had to cancel because they couldn't provide markers when the replacement electronics took way longer than planned..

I might ring them and change it to marked targets.

Alan

[SMLE]

A couple of shooting buddies and I used Gary (private marker - sometimes on here) when the NRA had problems last time. We found him enthusiastic and reliable although £20 or so more per session at stickledown. The confidence in knowing the place we were making holes was being accurately marked was worth the extra cost to be honest. That was an additional cost spread across three of us though.

[Catch-22]

Is it possible to bring your own electronic targets, like the Shot Marker system?

Would be easy enough to bring along your own target board with the sensors pre attached, then do the base station setup in just a few mins.

[Elwood]

7 hours ago, Catch-22 said:

Is it possible to bring your own electronic targets, like the Shot Marker system?

Would be easy enough to bring along your own target board with the sensors pre attached, then do the base station setup in just a few mins.

110% no I'm afraid.

[maximus otter]

12 hours ago, 20series said:

I've got an electronics booking for September for my 51st birthday weekend 16-17th, they screwed up last years 50th and I had to cancel because they couldn't provide markers when the replacement electronics took way longer than planned..

I might ring them and change it to marked targets.

Alan

🤞

 

maximus otter

 

[Re-Pete]

What irritates me is driving 50 miles to Bisley, paying £53 for two hours on a Shotmarker target, only to get an error message that one sensor isn't properly connected with the first shot, and then to be told "You can ignore that, it's still working OK....."  If that's the case, why not build the thing with three sensors in the first place?? Or better still, check it's fully operational BEFORE the punters arrive??

And that mysterious shot that's recorded as a black circle on the roundel but that isn't scored in the box at top right........we were told this is most likely caused by frame movement between shots due to wind.

The system is apparently used with rigid steel target frames in the US....that sounds a bit dodgy to me. The chances of ricochet are pretty high, and it CAN come straight back. And if it can, sooner or later, it will.

I remember a mate getting smacked in the Jacobs with a 22 air rifle pellet that did just that....

Then again, they do have a lot more room to play in the US...

Pete

[rocketdogbert]

It happens frequently when I’m there with my club, the most frustrating thing for me is failing part way through the day, and wasting 5-10 rounds wondering what’s going on.

Whilst I’m moaning, the 600yd electronics at Century are so much more complicated than they need to be, with poorly thought out GUI that’s has some impossible  to see selections in bright daylight.

There, I feel better now 🤣

[Simonc65]

I was there on 28th July, there was a classic car festival being held (50's American POS's!!) I guess to raise revenue for the NRA, we clearly don't pay them enough !!

They were close to the 600 firing point....... handy no one was shooting on the 600........ coincidence the system was "broken" ? !!!

I must subdue the conspiracy theorist in me !!

[Popsbengo]

22 minutes ago, Simonc65 said:

I was there on 28th July, there was a classic car festival being held (50's American POS's!!) I guess to raise revenue for the NRA, we clearly don't pay them enough !!

They were close to the 600 firing point....... handy no one was shooting on the 600........ coincidence the system was "broken" ? !!!

I must subdue the conspiracy theorist in me !!

I was shooting on Century on 29th, no problems with the hotrods going to and fro behind.  No electronics working on there or on Stix in the afternoon but the butts lads were doing a Stirling job.   Personally I think the Hot Rod Hayride is a great weekend, no trouble and plenty of interest.

[Simonc65]

So another conspiracy debunked 🙂

[Ralpharama]

I’m up at Bisley now - been playing with Ruger 10-22s this afternoon as part of my RSO course. Nasty little fiddly things 🤣 Learned a lot today, just hope I don’t balls up the exam tomorrow 😳 I’m staying in the Pavillion tonight. The “en suite” is rather like the heads in a sailing boat 😖 It all looked much nicer on the website 🙄

[One on top of two]

Bisley is slowly turning into the NHS of the  the shooting world ….   
 

run down , overstretched , expensive , and far too many people think there in charge with endless micromanaging . 

[Popsbengo]

6 hours ago, One on top of two said:

Bisley is slowly turning into the NHS of the  the shooting world ….   
 

run down , overstretched , expensive , and far too many people think there in charge with endless micromanaging . 

far too many Micromanaging ?  Please do explain

[John MH]

Get your own Shotmarker.

I recently remade my Target Frame and have mated it with a Steel Target Company HD Stand Cross Bar, I can position the Shotmarker Target either 12 inches off the deck or 4 feet of the deck.

Tested on Friday in Devon, wind was blowing a bit but the target remained upright all day.

 

 

[martin_b]

No axe to grind here, but in a bit of defence of the NRA.. I'm a local, semi retired, and regularly shoot, 900y 1000y and even 1200y  and on a number of occasions my range neighbours have asked if my target is working, as theirs isn't, so Ive moved across sent a round down range and proved there target is fine.

Of course Im lucky I've got DOPE on every distance in all weathers, but I do question the wisdom of letting guys shoot electronics with their  .303 with Iron sights in a stiff cross wind for the first time in years.

[Roy W]

13 hours ago, One on top of two said:

Bisley is slowly turning into the NHS of the  the shooting world ….   
 

run down , overstretched , expensive , and far too many people think there in charge with endless micromanaging . 

I would say the opposite is true.

There are constant improvements being done, I think the ranges are actually good value for money. Apart from a lack of flexibility over available distances, the process of booking is simple.

Not sure what you mean by overstretched?

There are certainly more visible staff members around, but they seem to be checking on safety and, in the main, are polite and helpful.

The NRA's biggest problem is the large number of detractors, many of whom seldom go there but clearly know 'how bad it is'.

It obviously isn't local for many, which is a shame, but wherever it was some people would be close, others would have to travel.

 

 

[Popsbengo]

1 hour ago, Roy W said:

I would say the opposite is true.

There are constant improvements being done, I think the ranges are actually good value for money. Apart from a lack of flexibility over available distances, the process of booking is simple.

Not sure what you mean by overstretched?

There are certainly more visible staff members around, but they seem to be checking on safety and, in the main, are polite and helpful.

The NRA's biggest problem is the large number of detractors, many of whom seldom go there but clearly know 'how bad it is'.

It obviously isn't local for many, which is a shame, but wherever it was some people would be close, others would have to travel.

 

 

well said Roy,

I also agree with Martin_B too  - we had a demonstration of the same 'problem' on Stix the other week, a group next to us insisting their target markers were not marking correctly.  It was blowing 12 gusting 18 full wind,  we let them shoot a couple on our lane  - guess what? They missed completely.  Funny that considering our shooters were on target and getting marked every time.

[20series]

I spoke to the range office last week and apparently they are waiting new skins for the targets, not sure how the particular system works but assured they should be working properly before my booking 16-17 September, I guess we'll see 

Alan

[TSG]

I deal with them in a commercial basis and the organisation is very good. There have been issues with club leases and I suspect some financial mismanagement in the past but they are pretty good now. Everything changes, I loved Bisley in the 1980s, but it had to change and at the moment it does what it needs to. ( I should add that I do not do target rifle and I would never venture to Short Siberia at a weekend! ) 

[Artiglio]

21 hours ago, 20series said:

I spoke to the range office last week and apparently they are waiting new skins for the targets, not sure how the particular system works but assured they should be working properly before my booking 16-17 September, I guess we'll see 

Alan

Thats interesting, my last foray with the electronics (intarsos) was a disaster, subsequently identified as being due to a perished membrane. I then asked that seeing as all the intarsos had been fully rebuilt around the 3rd quarter of 2022, would it not be safe to assume that all the intarsos were likely to fail in the same manner. I didn’t really get much of a heartening response. 
It would appear that information relayed to you from the range office supports my assumption. Hopefully now that the NRA knows that the membranes fail after about 9 months , going forward they’ll order spares accordingly, surely the loss of target hire whilst awaiting spares would offset the expense of holding spares.