My wife had a sinus procedure yesterday, so my 3 year old is with my parents, this way my wife can get some rest. He loves hanging with the grand parents. However this is the first time he has stayed two nights with them. It has been different to say the least. So, I have some time on my hands to make a small app. It has been a year since I last released an app for myself to Apples app store, so I thought I might try to put something together today. My idea was to make a chronograph for archery. Anyway. I wrote it today, it seems to work well. I won't know for sure until I get to shoot next to the app. The idea is simple and straight forward. 1. The app records the audio of your shot. 2. You listen to the audio and mark 2 points, shot fired and target hit. 3. Enter shot distance. Ie 20 yards. voila - there's your feet per second. It is almost done. As far as I can tell it should work just fine. The key being the phone has to hear the shot as well as hitting the target. Any thoughts??? Good idea, bad idea, you would never use it! Mike Sent from my iPhone
Sounds good we be even great if you could call and access the program from any phone. An app like that could have a several applications as well as being at a gun range.
It seems like you may run into a problem with having to hear both the shot and the impact. I'm not so sure the iPhone would pick up a sound at 20 yards especially outside. Just my .02.
couple things I was thinking...if you do have a mic pickup sensitive enough to get the sound at 20 yds away it is also going to hear everything close to it(and other back ground noises) - from arrow on rest at drawback to gravel crunch underfoot and maybe even breathing. So would have to set phone at mid pt and account for speed of sound(to be truly precise) or is it possible to get app to only recognize certain sounds. BUT the advantage it could have is you will know how quiet your equipment really is as well as how much sound you actually make when hunting/taking the shot.
@The Amatuer - the only other device I would put it on would be Android. Sorry. The initial test went well this morning. I can see a few changes I will have to make, but nothing major. The background noise was not an issue for my iPhone 4 and neither was hearing the target being struck at 20 yards. The cumbersome thing is trying to shoot quickly, so there is less audio to listen to. This is not a major issue due to frame rate increasing or scrubbing/moving the slider to where you want to listen. I think the biggest changes will come with cosmetics, increasing the size of certain buttons, while making others smaller. Not bad for a fun little weekend project. I do feel a second person manning the phone would make for a quicker audio snapshot. Any other thoughts or ideas? Thanks. Mike Sent from my iPhone
I'd be interested in its accuracy. Is the user selecting the noise times? If so, is it at full speed? It would seem like a large margin of error, especially at 20 yards.
You will have frame rate control, so full speed is an option but not necessary. I am heading to church now, so I can't implement my new design until this evening. I have solved every problem that I have thought of so far. The next test awaits. Mike Sent from my iPhone
Will be waiting on the results. Last week met an ex-bodybuilder and wife team in the gym that made a simple application for strength conditioning. He in-turn sold that ideal to "Tony Little" 2 years ago. They expect for it to go to market in 3 months. He said his ideal has been around for close to 60 years and only one person applied it to physical fitness, but never sought a patent to it. And we've all done it before as kids so as you work out the kinks consider patenting your app. Look into patent laws. Just a thought.
Does the shot have to be at 20 yards to measure FPS? I've used the ones that attach to my bow or the ones you only stand a few feet away from. Guess you need some distance in order for the phone to distinguish between the shot fired and target hit.
It does not have to be 20 yards. Like you said, you need to be able to distinguish between the shot and the target being hit. I just tried it from 20, 30, and 40 yards. All distances worked well. Surprisingly, the phone did a great job picking up the sound at 40 yards. I did not go down to 15, although it should have been fine. I need to hit the bow shop and compare it to a real chrono prior to wasting any more time. I might stop by tomorrow and see how it works. I will post a video of it in action if all goes ok. How many of you have been shooting at home and wanted to know what your bow was getting as far as fps? I know I have, especially after making a few minor changes or buying new arrows. Sent from my iPhone
A quick update on the app. I have decided to add a few other features to the app, so it is taking longer to finish. Plus work is getting g in my way. We have T-Ball practice tonight, so I doubt I finish it tonight. You guys are going to like it! Mike Sent from my iPhone
We've always been able to determine speed without a chrony. Arrow Speeds Without a Chronograph (Field Test) 1. Start by shooting a group with your bow at a target from 20 yards using your 20 yard pin. 2. Mark the center of your group. 3. Next, shoot from 40 yards , still using your 20 yard pin and aiming at the same point on the target as before. 4. Mark the center of this group. 5. Finally, measure the distance between the two marks. 6.Refer to the numbers below for your arrow speed. Approximate Arrow Speed (fps) Spread between 20 & 40 yard groups (inches) 220 = 28.7 inches 240 = 24.2 inches 260 = 20.6 inches 280 = 17.7 inches 300 = 15.5 inches 320 = 13.6 inches 330 = 12.8 inches I don't need an APP to shoot a bow or kill a deer. LOL
I'm no physicist but wouldn't the way you have it set up calculate average speed over the distance the arrow traveled? Just like a bullet, wouldn't fps be faster closer to the bow same as a bullet is traveling faster at the muzzle? If my logic is right then the farther the distance from bow to target the lower the fps would be and vice versa for a closer target. So essentially you could then get a bunch of different numbers all from the same exact set up just from being maybe a yard or two off couldn't you? This may just be the ramblings of a crazy man and carry no weight at all, but its just what my noggin came up with.
PCOutfitters, you may be right, I just don't know until I get time to head to Gander Mountain to test it. I don't think this will be as accurate as a chrono, just because of the human variable. We need to be accurate in how the arrow tip must be exactly the distance you put in for your yardage. You can see a graph as well as hear the shot an target hit. There is a countdown that tells you when to shoot. Anyway, here is a quick screenshot of the nuts and bolts of the app. Thoughts? Mike Sent from my iPhone
So I got to gander mountain last night. I drove all the way there to find out the chrono was broke. It wasn't a wasted trip though. I did shoot and test out the app. It was registering my shots around 311 fps. This is around what I thought it should be. The bow manufacturer says up to 320+. Prior to releasing it to the app store, I need to test it with a chrono and fix one tiny bug I found last night. More to come. Mike Sent from my iPhone
I may do it for android as well. I guess it all depends on how many people download it. ;-) Mike Sent from my iPhone
