Seeing pre order options at some retailers as low as 349.99..
https://athlonoptics.com/product/rangecraft-velocity-pro-radar-chronograph/
https://athlonoptics.com/product/rangecraft-velocity-pro-radar-chronograph/
Lower cost option doppler chrono coming
- Thread starter backyardtndeer
- Start date
Oh yeah, got mine pre-ordered a couple weeks ago, looking forward to getting it. It should be much better than my old optical one and make load development easier.
WestTN2288
Well-Known Member
I'm just glad to see some competition with garmin out there. I'm sure their chrono is great, but it's out of my price league
Yeah, Garmin hit a home run with that. They got the other manufacturer's attention. 
Wiley
Well-Known Member
This always happens to me. A little while back I jumped on a decent deal for the Garmin unit. I waited all that time from market introduction for a price break, got one and went with it. Now this. But, competition IS a good thing!
Doubt I get rid of my Garmin. Hopefully the Athlon unit will be good. Almost looks like a Garmin clone. Anything these days beats the shoot thru chronographs.
Pre-ordered mine for $315 and my card was charged when I ordered so I should not be affected by any price increases.
I know some places are already locked to thier first shipment, like one place is getting 2000 units and had a few not allocated yet. You'd think if the initial shipments are already paid for by the seller they would be locked in but if they order more units for sale after the tariff then I could see an increase in price.
I'm not fully sure how tariffs are applied but they better not try to increase the price of something I already bought/paid for just because I haven't taken possession of it yet.
DaveB
Well-Known Member
Simply don't buy if the price is above that $349.
Send Athlon a message-Your price goes up, I will not buy. MAGA
The profit margin (I wager @50%) realized by the seller will not be realized if product sits on store shelves.
Look at price of wings chips beer before and two weeks after Super Bowl.
Send Athlon a message-Your price goes up, I will not buy. MAGA
The profit margin (I wager @50%) realized by the seller will not be realized if product sits on store shelves.
Look at price of wings chips beer before and two weeks after Super Bowl.
DaveB
Well-Known Member
I can very clearly remember an 80 gig WD hard drive selling for $70 while a 40 gig was $50.00. I ran out of 40's and was holding a very expensive bag of 80's. After 3 weeks I bit the bullet & cut my 80's price to what I paid and sold out. You cannot live on value of unsold inventory.
Let them adjust the price up (agreed, this would be rare in your instance) and take the refund. Just sit. If a relatively small percentage of prospective buyers are sitting on their wallets the price will drop quickly.
Not sure how I missed this.. Wish I had ordered it !
I can get a Garmin for < $500, and now this is showing $472msrp
I can get a Garmin for < $500, and now this is showing $472msrp
Wiley
Well-Known Member
I wonder how many of these gadgets they can fit in a 40' container 
Ordered mine from europtic at $339. My card was already charged as well.
Midwayusa.com showing the Athlon chronograph in stock, should be a good sign for everyone waiting on them.
Ordered mine from europtic good ways back, hopefully they ship soon.
Brown truck just delivered mine a few minutes ago. Might be a bit before I get to test it out.
Mine got delivered today as well, did a quick test with a couple. 22, I like it, will test it more over the weekend.
Wiley
Well-Known Member
Several places are showing in stock now. They're also showing the price at $400.
Surprised there isn't a patent problem.
user 14220
Well-Known Member
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- Dec 2, 2013
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From what I read both, Garmin and Athlon are using existing technology (Doppler radar) so there is no patent infringement by either company.
fairchaser
Well-Known Member
Seems placement of the doppler chronograph affects how it reads the speed of the bullet. Directly under the barrel seems to be a good spot but probably not critical for just loading to a specific fps range, for long range I true to a ballistic calculator by shooting at distance, just use a chronograph to get me a good fps to start with.
fairchaser
Well-Known Member
I was asked to test the new Athlon Rangecraft chronograph vs the Garmin Xero. I've been using the Garmin now since it first came out so I'm somewhat biased. It's a great unit!
I positioned the two units side by side and shot two sessions of 26 shots each. Both units picked up 100% of the shots. Both units were user friendly but the Garmin App is easier to use as it's dedicated to the Xero where the Athlon combines their ballistics app with the chronograph.
In summary, I believe the Xero is more accurate and consistent than the Athlon Rangecraft. The Xero is not too sensitive to placement where the Rangecraft might be. But the inconsistencies were significant enough to give me pause on the unit. This might be one of those cases where you get what you pay for!
The Athlon Rangecraft appears to be well made but the underlying internal calculations that produce the results don't appear as good as the Xero. Here are my findings.
I positioned the two units side by side and shot two sessions of 26 shots each. Both units picked up 100% of the shots. Both units were user friendly but the Garmin App is easier to use as it's dedicated to the Xero where the Athlon combines their ballistics app with the chronograph.
In summary, I believe the Xero is more accurate and consistent than the Athlon Rangecraft. The Xero is not too sensitive to placement where the Rangecraft might be. But the inconsistencies were significant enough to give me pause on the unit. This might be one of those cases where you get what you pay for!
The Athlon Rangecraft appears to be well made but the underlying internal calculations that produce the results don't appear as good as the Xero. Here are my findings.
