SCATT comparison - USB versus MX-02

[Trentham3269]

Hi all,

I'm in the market for a SCATT and need some advice on which of the above models would best suit my needs. From the many posts here it seems that the MX-02's camera is an improvement in terms of being less susceptible to changes in POI, but it also provides traces 'longer' than previous models due to higher sampling rates/resolution. Given that I have friends with the USB model and would like to be able to compare metrics and traces with them as much as possible, would it be best to go with the older version/technology? Also, I plan to use this is in an indoor/outdoor area of the house which during the day is lit by natural light - can this cause problems and/or should it influence my choice?

Thanks in advance for your insights.

[Erud]

One thing that might be worth considering is the surface you will be shooting over, and what type of shooting you will be practicing. In my house, I have fairly glossy hardwood floors that cause problems with reflection on the infrared SCATT models, basically making them unusable for prone practice. Standing worked ok, being farther off the floor, but prone shooting required a complicated system of rugs and boxes placed at strategic distances to try to break up the reflection, and I could still only get it to work reliably maybe 75% of the time. Luckily, my home state association has several SCATT USB's available for member use, so I was able to try it out before committing to buy one. The MX02 isn't cheap, but for my application it is really the only viable solution for what I need to do. Very easy to set up, and not having to run a cable down the hallway is a big plus. Seems sort of silly to me that you still have to have a USB cable from the camera to the computer instead of a bluetooth connection, but it does work well.

Good luck,
Erik

[KennyB]

Also, I plan to use this is in an indoor/outdoor area of the house which during the day is lit by natural light - can this cause problems and/or should it influence my choice?

Going by my experience with my USB - YES, IT WILL DEFINITELY CAUSE PROBLEMS.

I used to use my USB with the target in the conservatory and the rifle in the hall - this gave about 5m between target and sensor. All was fine once the sun had gone down but during daylight, when the sun came out the POA could shift into the 7 ring and back into the bull when it clouded over again. I ended up trying to mask out the stray Infra-Red with curtains hung in between but it became too much hassle.

I also have wood floors but I put down a strategically placed towel in between and that seemed to kill the reflections for me.

If you set the F-coefficient to about 3/4 the value your friends are using, the percentages should be roughly comparable EXCEPT the "L" value which you will have to calculate yourself by dividing by 3/4 (i.e. if they are getting "L" values of 30 with USB and you are getting "L" values of 40 with MX-02 then that's roughly the same length).

The MX-02 also has about half the random "jitter" that the USB does. If you bench the rifle with the USB attached you will see about 12+mm of L, with the MX-02 it's about 6-7mm of "noise".

You can live fire with the MX-02 and while you can also do this with the USB, you don't get any useful data about recoil because the muzzle blast "confuses" the sensor.

K.

[mtncwru]

I have attempted to use a SCATT USB previously both outdoors and in a house that had tons of natural light. My advice to you is don't even bother, just go straight for the MX-02. I found that if any portion of the path between the frame and the sensor had direct sunlight, I got so much interference it was unusable. If the entire path between sensor and frame is in complete shade it will work (one of the juniors in my club uses his inside a two-car-deep garage without issue), but otherwise you're just going to be frustrated.

Good luck!

[Trentham3269]

Thank you all for the replies, I think the need for the MX-02 in my situation is pretty clear!

[mtncwru]

http://www.accurateshooter.com/gear-rev ... c-trainer/

In case you need further prodding :-)

I think Tony mentions somewhere in there that, if you don't already have a SCATT, the versatility that the MX-02 offers makes it well worth the price. He also goes over some of the practical differences between the classic USB and the MX-02.

Good luck!

[efoleyjr]

Also, I plan to use this is in an indoor/outdoor area of the house which during the day is lit by natural light - can this cause problems and/or should it influence my choice?

Going by my experience with my USB - YES, IT WILL DEFINITELY CAUSE PROBLEMS.

I used to use my USB with the target in the conservatory and the rifle in the hall - this gave about 5m between target and sensor. All was fine once the sun had gone down but during daylight, when the sun came out the POA could shift into the 7 ring and back into the bull when it clouded over again. I ended up trying to mask out the stray Infra-Red with curtains hung in between but it became too much hassle.

I also have wood floors but I put down a strategically placed towel in between and that seemed to kill the reflections for me.

If you set the F-coefficient to about 3/4 the value your friends are using, the percentages should be roughly comparable EXCEPT the "L" value which you will have to calculate yourself by dividing by 3/4 (i.e. if they are getting "L" values of 30 with USB and you are getting "L" values of 40 with MX-02 then that's roughly the same length).

The MX-02 also has about half the random "jitter" that the USB does. If you bench the rifle with the USB attached you will see about 12+mm of L, with the MX-02 it's about 6-7mm of "noise".

You can live fire with the MX-02 and while you can also do this with the USB, you don't get any useful data about recoil because the muzzle blast "confuses" the sensor.

K.

Ken,
Did you mean that if you are using an MX 02 and set the "F" value to 30 that the "L" value needs to be factored by 0.75 to equal the value you would see on a USB with a "F" value of 40? Thanks

Ed

[KennyB]

That's my estimate. My traces seem to be about 1.33 times longer with the MX-02 compared to what I used to get with the USB SCATT.

Ken.