TargetTalk

I have barely started my third roll of paper targets and now the iSystem Elite Scorer has grounded to a halt. With poor support (waiting for a week before being contacted, or sudden halt in communication), I am back on paper and pellet catcher box.

The system works nicely when it does. But as I found out, the wear rate is incredibly quick. Their rollers worn out and thus rendering the consumables (target paper) can no longer be rolled in order to score. Further complicated process, I found out that the manufacturing quality is so so. Screws of the motor - gears - rollers - housing assembly have been stripped, apparently during the manufacturing process. So instead of having to replace a part, an entire housing with the motor-rollers system has to be replaced. FYI I dissembled the box under instruction and permission from tech support. I still have not heard from them since I reported what I found.

Do I recommend an electronic target system? Absolutely yes. They are all superior to paper targets as long as their reporting system is adequate. Do I recommend this brand? I'm not sure. If you have money I would certainly recommend other brands, such as Megalink, or Suis. But if you have limited budget, plan to only train on one and one discipline alone, have your own laptop, then it is worth it...assuming if they can fix the worn out rate of the rollers; other wise if you judge by my rate of use, it is good for two rolls of target papers.

If you like the idea of walking back and forth to replace target paper on a pellet catcher box as exercises, then electronic target system or trolley system is not for you.
If you and other users have yet to master shooting vast majority of shots inside the black, or keep having new shooters joining you, then the electronic target system is also not for you. Scoring outside the black means shooting through the target scoring mask (the "white" of the target), and that will have to be replaced. You cannot have too many holes on the mask even if you use tape to tape them up. The mask itself is part of the roller system that apply pressure to the target paper. After a few holes, you have to replace the entire mask.

Of course even the best sometimes shoot outside the black (if you ever take a closer look at the masks on the megalink in USOTC, you can find multiple shot holes)...

If you have multiple users, and some of them are still not proficient, or keep on having new shooters, the electronic target system is also not for you.

At this point, since the customer no longer answers me, and that the former manager has quit, I have to say don't ever purchase from these guys.

Yikes. Get what you pay for I suppose - although the price point perhaps it was worth a gamble. Meyton make some nice stuff.

Sorry that you had a lousy experience.

I am not convinced that they need to be halfway as expensive as they are. A lot of it would be tied up in IP. Open Source hardware & software could well be the way forward to get these into the hands of clubs.
Any electrical engineers out there?

SamEEE wrote:I am not convinced that they need to be halfway as expensive as they are.

They're relatively low volume items produced in countries with a high cost of living. Yes, they could probably be made cheaper but probably not by much.

SamEEE wrote:A lot of it would be tied up in IP. Open Source hardware & software could well be the way forward to get these into the hands of clubs.
Any electrical engineers out there?

The design of the Meyton target units is interesting. They use a lot of off-the-shelf hardware & software to put them together. As I understand it, the targets are linux machines, the display units are X terminals and the connectivity is all normal TCP/IP over Ethernet. I had a good chat with one of their representatives last year and it was clear that they did their best to avoid inventing anything new. I'm a software guy, so "no moving parts" is a huge selling point too. :)

Too bad about the Elite Scorer... it looked promising.

I have both the Megalink 4K187 and and the Sius HS10, both 10m systems. I've had the Megalink over 8 years and the Sius about 2 years. The Megalink is an old school paper roll & microphone based scoring system. It works well though. I've only had one malfunction with it, and I think that was due to extreme humidity. It wouldn't detect shots that day, but next day everything was fine.

The Sius is newer and is a hybrid IR beam & microphone system. It is very interesting because there are virtually no consumables! You don't ever have to buy rolls of paper.

Now, you do have to buy the face plates (either paper or rubber) if you accidentally shoot into the white. However, since this is just my own home system, I just cut out a regular air pistol target's black and use it as a face template on the Sius, and it works fine. Not good enough for club use, but good enough for home training.

Both system's software can be improved. Megalink's latest software is simpler to use, but is missing custom course of fire definition capabilities. Sius's software has the course of fire definition feature, but doesn't allow you to save sessions for later review. So your only record is your print out (or data export at match conclusion), but it doesn't have an internal session save mechanism. Megalink's does have that feature.

I think price wise they are comparable. But both systems have excellent build quality and good technical support.

-trinity

Hmm by reading at your post messages I think it could help me some tips which I could possibly refer to if ever I am going to purchase one for me. So I have already the good idea on what is the right thing to do.

After reading about your problems we searched the Elite Scorer website. Did you report these problems within the one (1) year warranty period? Did the company respond, and provide a refund or replacement? Or, did they fail to provide the warranty service they alleged? The answers to these questions would clearly benefit others.

m1963 wrote:After reading about your problems we searched the Elite Scorer website. Did you report these problems within the one (1) year warranty period? Did the company respond, and provide a refund or replacement? Or, did they fail to provide the warranty service they alleged? The answers to these questions would clearly benefit others.

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Correct. They did not honor the warranty. They provided support half way, including step by step real time instruction (I have to stay up in the middle of the night) on how to diagnose and open up the box. All work I have conducted were under their real time instruction and permission. When I showed them that the machine was poorly made when they asked me what I found, they suddenly stopped communications. This is simply a con artist run company.

I take apart this box under real time instruction and permission, staying up in the middle of the night due to timezone difference from India.
The Box Front and Mask taken off IR reader. The roller system at the front. This is the archilles heel of the system.
This is the roller frame - rollers - motor unit. It is poorly made with torn and strip screws. It is impossible to repair any part due to this problem so any repair means the entire unit needs to be replaced. This unit lasted less than two rolls of target paper!!

The information you have provided has incalculable value to others,... We had noticed that the US Elite Scorer distributor, 10pt9, currently sells left over accessories, but no longer sells the device. We are not aware of any other US based distributor for Elite Scorer products, at this time.

If we were you, we would demand either our money back or a replacement device.

m1963 wrote:
If we were you, we would demand either our money back or a replacement device.

You can't demand money if they continue to ignore your emails and communications.

Neither paypal nor credit card can recover the funds. Credit Card cannot refund after 120 days.

Bend over...apply lube.

Rover wrote:Bend over...apply lube.

I wonder how much lube 10pt9 has used then...

conradin wrote:

Rover wrote:Bend over...apply lube.

I wonder how much lube 10pt9 has used then...

I'm sorry, did you buy the system from 10.9? Talk to Larry if you did.

No, I did not buy it from him. I think at the time he also barely started the dealership, otherwise I would have gotten from him.

conradin wrote:No, I did not buy it from him. I think at the time he also barely started the dealership, otherwise I would have gotten from him.

Then why the sarcastic remark about 10.9? Please don't drag 10.9 into your problem because they have nothing to do with it. It's not Larry's fault that you purchased straight from India. I have dealt with Larry many times and I have never had a problem with 10.9.

TraLfaz wrote:

conradin wrote:No, I did not buy it from him. I think at the time he also barely started the dealership, otherwise I would have gotten from him.

Then why the sarcastic remark about 10.9? Please don't drag 10.9 into your problem because they have nothing to do with it. It's not Larry's fault that you purchased straight from India. I have dealt with Larry many times and I have never had a problem with 10.9.

Nothing to do with Larry. I bought things from Larry and he is a fine dealer. I am saying that he might have gotten worse off than me. He does not sell elite scorer anymore.

Suck it up, probably down to the end user

Conradin -

This really sucks. I had some hopes for this unit as a viable alternative to some of the really expensive units. Is there any chance that you can alter/repair the unit yourself? If Elite Scorer isn't answering your communication, then it appears that they obviously have no intentions of honoring their warranty.

The roller unit looks to be something out of any modern day inkjet printer? Stripped screws can be drilled out and replaced easily enough...