Gerald Cardew 'Pellet spy' Chrono!

[johnbaz]

Hi all

I presume some folk will remember these early Chronoscopes that were made by the airgun tech guru Gerald Cardew??

He also made the Cardew Ballistic pendulum which gave an idea of muzzle energy too..

This Chrono was offered on a lesser known forum that I frequent and was offered for sale with all the appropriate paperwork, the conversion charts that are used in conjunction with the readout on the unit..

The unit was made to take a PP9 battery which I found difficult to locate outside of China so I made a cable up to take two PP3 batteries in parallel, I then found two brand new sealed sealed PP9s at the bootsale for a couple of quid!!







Does anyone else have one??


Cheers, John

[Certus]

Hello John,

What a smashing bit of kit and very collectable in its own right. I have always wanted to own a Chronograph that could be used indoors without the fitting of additional lamps etc. The nearest to my requirements was a SKAN which retails at around £200 so was a bit hard to justify. The answer was to form a syndicate of a few similarly minded shooters which meant the cost was justifiable for the limited use each of us would require. So far it has proved to be a very useful tool for pellet selection and more importantly, a means of ensuring power that our rifles remain within the legal limits.

Regards

Brian

[pmh]

An excellent find.

The ballistic pendulums are quite dangerous, as some of the pellet strike is reflected back and I have known of people who have got quite a whack on the eye ball.

I built a similar unit, back in the 1980s, which uses the same principle. The chart is needed stud device merely counts clock pulses. The frequency of the clock determines the resolution of the unit, and the number of pulses at a known frequency can be converted into time via the chart.

I also have a Skan, a Chrony, and a Combro too.

The Chronys can give false readings, dependant upon light, whereas the Skan had performed flawlessly regardless. A bit pricey, but you'll only ever buy one, and you should get most of your money back if you hold onto it for a few years.

Kind regards,



Phil

[johnbaz]

Hi

I have a Chrony F1 but accidentally shot and fatally wounded it within 24 hours of buying it new!!
I've managed to source a couple of replacement LCD panels but haven't got around to unsoldering then resoldering the 40 pins to connect it!!

I also bought a Combro and er.... shot that too!! I used a cleaning rod to align with the bore but forgot to tighten the thumbscrew! Most of it went down the garden!!

I sent it off to Robin with a cheque for £7 and it came back as good as new!!

I don't really want to try the Pellet Spy with my track record



John

[pmh]

Robin charges ridiculously cheap prices for spares, which is good for the consumer and proves he isn't out to make a quick profit.

Quite refreshing really, especially in this day and age.

Kind regards,



Phil

[I.J.]

I remember Dennis Hiller having one of these chronos set up at his shop near Chorley. He also took it with him to arms fairs and the like, and charged a small amount to test your rifle. I well remember one young lad turning up with a rifle (Meteor?) wanting his gun to be tested and asking "Do I have to put a pellet in it?"

ATB
Ian

[Certus]

Out of interest there is a Cardew Ballistic Pendulum currently up for sale on that well known internet auction site starting at £99.



Regards

Brian

[pmh]

It's only for Webleys and BSA though!

Kind regards,



Phil