Opinions on radar guns vs. GPS

[Basstronics]

Whats more accurate?

How good are the radar guns?

Im leaning towards the commonly found Bushnell gun. I dont have room in my Blizzard rigger for a GPS. Not a chance of it... I have another smaller rigger too about to be done. Again GPS wont fit.

I let my Eaglee Tree go awhile back, but given most of my setups now would of been pushing it on it anyhow...

So what have you?

[keithbradley]

Hobby king just released a GPS that plugs into the rx. It's tiny, and will fit in anything. I have been waiting for mine to show up, so I can't verify it's accuracy, but if it works well it would be perfect for you.

I would avoid radar guns. Running boats/cars/ect. at yourself is poor practice, and that's the only way radar is accurate.

[dana]

i feel like running gps if great. you can take several readings to get an overall. depends how accurate you want to be?

[Basstronics]

Thanks for the info on that HK one Keith. I think that will work and will be on my next order. Seems a bit costly for HK item though...

I guess the radar gun wouldnt be fun running a boat right at you... Especially if it dont make the turn, lol.

[G1ST]

Keith
Do you have a link for the HK GPS?
Greg

[keithbradley]

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=23137

[G1ST]

Very cool
Thanks Keith
Let us know how you like it
Greg

[keithbradley]

Very cool
Thanks Keith
Let us know how you like it
Greg

I will. I plan on running it in a boat along with a garmin for at least a run or two to get verification of accuracy.

[banixj]

i use garmin geko: it's so accurate.....
you can find an used one for about 30-40usd... half then hk gps and will be useful for trekking, biking or car uses too...

[TheShaughnessy]

A couple of really fast guys were using a radar gun at the Fe nationals and it was working for them. They were just running laps and clocking it on the front straight. You do need a buddy to use the gun though. It was a rigger and I'm sure space was limited.

[Fluid]

i use garmin geko: it's so accurate........

So I guess I can believe this Geko reading I obtained a few weeks ago from my P-LOS boat?

MeanMachine P-LOS.jpg

J/K. Any measuring device can give a bad reading now and again. Several years ago I used radar, and found it seriously lacking. Unless the boat was running directly at you the speed was not accurate. Back then boats were smaller and perhaps the available radars were less sensitive than those today, but to get good readings the boat had to be less than 150 feet away. Safety and convenience were not good. IME the GPS is a better device overall but all it gives is maximum speed. If you are wondering what the speed is on a particular part of the course, then a radar may be the best way to obtain that.


.

[keithbradley]

So I guess I can believe this Geko reading I obtained a few weeks ago from my P-LOS boat?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]80015[/ATTACH]

J/K. Any measuring device can give a bad reading now and again. Several years ago I used radar, and found it seriously lacking. Unless the boat was running directly at you the speed was not accurate. Back then boats were smaller and perhaps the available radars were less sensitive than those today, but to get good readings the boat had to be less than 150 feet away. Safety and convenience were not good. IME the GPS is a better device overall but all it gives is maximum speed. If you are wondering what the speed is on a particular part of the course, then a radar may be the best way to obtain that.


.

Jay is 100% right. People like to discredit or credit different ways of measurement, but the reality is that everything is capable of a mis reading once in a while. This includes speed traps, radar, and GPS. That's why in so many forms of racing, you have to make a back up pass within a certain percentage for your run to count. If you get a reading of 100mph and can only get 80mph after that, it's obvious it was an inaccurate reading.

[Basstronics]

Any updates Keith?

I would like to include this in my next HK order but would like to know how well it works first.

[keithbradley]

Any updates Keith?

I would like to include this in my next HK order but would like to know how well it works first.

I have it here but haven't used it on a boat yet. It's definitely nice and small. I will post when I use it but I've been very busy with builds lately and haven't had the time to mess with my own stuff.

[kclements]

Basstronics,

I have the same thing as the HK GPS it just has a different name on it (I forgot what the name is at the moment) Mine actually cost about $40 more but I bought it before HK started selling theirs. I used it for the first time yesterday and it worked flawlessly. I also purchased a HK GPS when I noticed they started selling them but I haven't used it yet. When I get to the shop later I will take some pics of the 2 of them and post them.

Regards,

Kevin Clements
DPI Hobby USA

https://www.dpihobbyusa.com