Anybody have LoadBase 2.0 Mobile (PDA version)?

[mattj]

Hi guys,

Been playing with LB2 mobile and so far think it's about the best thing going in terms of PocketPC ballistics apps.

There are however a couple of problems I've experienced which I have contacted the author about, and he claims is some issue with my particular PDA (not my model/OS in general, but MY pda specifically) on grounds that he hasn't heard about it from other users.

I'm somewhat of a "power user" and am pretty confident that my PDA is just fine, but I wanted to see if any of you guys are also running the software, and can chime in with whether you see the same problems -- either to help convince me that I do in fact have a problem with my PDA, or to help convince the author that there might be something to look at in his software.

I have an Axim x50v running Windows Mobile 5.0.

The two big annoyances are:

On the "Reticle Hold" screen, the reticle diagram is scrunched up into the top-left corer, taking up only about 1/4 of the available space, and the numbers don't overlay the diagram correctly, and overlap and such.

On all of the results tables, the columns all default such that all of the columns only take up half of the available space, and all cut off half of their contents. The columns have to be resized everytime in order to be readable.

If you have the software and have a moment to chime in on whether you get the same thing, I'd appreciate it. Your PocketPC model and Windows Mobile version would be helpfull too.

Thanks!

Update: Just got another email from the author -- seems it may be an issue with resolution -- mainly that he coded it for 320x240 (the dev environment makes you choose) and my resolution is double that. He's going to look into ways around that.

 

[MrButterpants]

I've got Loadbase and it just rocks my socks.....also the technical service/customer support is awesome. I've e-mailed that dude a pile of times about issues and small fixes to see them implemented with every update.

I run mine on a Dell Axim v30 w/ Windows mobile 2003 SE as the OS. No issues so far besides the one time I got stuck in Library mode and it wouldn't come out.....but a simple soft reset solved that.

There's a group buy currently going on over at the snipershide forums where you can score the desktop and pda versions both for a little over 100 dollars.

I've used everything from Exbal to Lex Talus's Field Firing solutions to Atrag and Loadbase pretty much stomps them all.....at least for the data conscious shooter.

 

[Eaglet]

Loadbase From Patagonia Ballistics is it!!!

SCREEN SHOTS FROM MY PDA

Think about being able to go from Mills to Moas and Clicks right there, you don't have to change screens; and one click away you can use your reticle holds as shown in the photo above. Great!

mattj,

Did you ever solve your situation? I'm a little late here but I just wanted to tell you that I once had a Axim x50v, I liked it a bunch but when I started reading about upgrading it from 2003 to windows 5.0 that there were many issues that most folks did not want to deal with. I never did upgrade it but I sure liked my Axim x50v. I replaced it with an ASUS A626
which has a slower procesor and though I like it, I'm not quite happy with it. I like it enough to keep it!

I fully agree with MrButterpants, Loadbase is the best I have ran so far, there is a very long list of all the ballistic programs I have played with and
Loadbase is the chosen one. The Lord willing, one of these days I would like to write a pretty in depth user report. We'll see.

Any long range shooter that has not used LoadBase from Patagonia Ballistis he owes it to himself. If he likes it not, at least you have something to say. I'm very pleased with it. Though Exbal is in my PDA and has been before LoadBase ever existed, I haven't been using it anymore.

 

[NDNorm]

I have an Axim x50v running
Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition
Version 4.21.1088 (Build 14260.2.0.5)

same things happen

On the "Reticle Hold" screen, the reticle diagram is scrunched up into the top-left corer, taking up only about 1/4 of the available space, and the numbers don't overlay the diagram correctly, and overlap and such.

On all of the results tables, the columns all default such that all of the columns only take up half of the available space, and all cut off half of their contents. The columns have to be resized everytime in order to be readable.

Norm

 

[mattj]

SCREEN SHOTS FROM MY PDA

Think about being able to go from Mills to Moas and Clicks right there, you don't have to change screens; and one click away you can use your reticle holds as shown in the photo above. Great!

mattj,

Did you ever solve your situation? I'm a little late here but I just wanted to tell you that I once had a Axim x50v, I liked it a bunch but when I started reading about upgrading it from 2003 to windows 5.0 that there were many issues that most folks did not want to deal with. I never did upgrade it but I sure liked my Axim x50v. I replaced it with an ASUS A626
which has a slower procesor and though I like it, I'm not quite happy with it. I like it enough to keep it!

I fully agree with MrButterpants, Loadbase is the best I have ran so far, there is a very long list of all the ballistic programs I have played with and
Loadbase is the chosen one. The Lord willing, one of these days I would like to write a pretty in depth user report. We'll see.

Any long range shooter that has not used LoadBase from Patagonia Ballistis he owes it to himself. If he likes it not, at least you have something to say. I'm very pleased with it. Though Exbal is in my PDA and has been before LoadBase ever existed, I haven't been using it anymore.

No fix yet. The author said he'd look into it, but didn't think it would be an easy fix -- basically said he couldn't promise anything soon. I might follow your guys' lead and get a second PDA with lower (320x200) resolution just for LoadBase.

 

[mattj]

I'd like to report that the issue with sizing on VGA screens has been fixed in the latest update. Everything looks great on my Axim X50v now!

 

[Eaglet]

Glad to hear that... to read that...

 

[Eaglet]

Reading my post here on from 2-29-08, I want to say that I do use Exbal when I need info for a friend's gun using factory ammo since Exbal has a library for that, and also when I have on-site Barometric Pressure and don't want to convert to std barometric preassure. My baby load is calculated with Loadbase and manipulate the numbers so Exbal gives me the same results. It's jus fun having both of them running.

 

[mattj]

Eaglet, out of curiosity, do you use the chrono-at-different-ranges feature to calculate the drag coefficient value? I love the idea of having the customized drag function, but trying to shoot over a chrono at extended ranges scares the **** out of me. I once asked the author whether he could implement a feature that would calculate the drag curves based on drops at various ranges -- but he said that basically because of the way the calculations are done, drop measurements just aren't accurate enough to get good data for that... but man I would kill for a feature like Exbal has to tune based on field data without having to resort to chrono measurements and extended ranges.

I suppose you could try to tweak the drag curve by hand and try to find a value that matches observed drop values at known ranges, but I haven't attempted that exercise yet.

 

[Eaglet]

I know what you mean. I have not done it but is something that I think a lot about doing. I will eventually do it one of these days.
Try this: Use the velocities given by let's say Exbal, after putting in all the pertinent information. Use the velocities obtained there for 0, 100, 200, 300 yards and put them in LoadBase's DRAG COEFF of ANALYZER and calculate a new drop table using the drag coefficiente and Bc calculated by LoadBase. My experience has been awesome... my results are much closer to real life and have done very little tweaking to match bullet drop at long ranges after about 400 yards. You'll see that the first 500 yards on both tables are pretty close, but as you get further away the difference gets to be more significant.

From JBM Small Arms Ballistics:

(Q) Why can't I calculate BC from bullet drop at different ranges?
(A) You can, but not very accurately. If you look at the bullet drop for two bullets, one with a BC of 0.5 and the other with a BC of 0.55, you'll find that the bullet drops at 300 yards with a muzzle velocity of 3000 f/s and a 100 yard zero, are -10.9" and -10.7" respectively. So if you can shoot groups less than 0.2" at 300 yards, have at it. Of course you'll still only know the BC within about 10% (the BC calculation CGI can be as accurate as 2%!).

 

[mattj]

Thanks for the tip Eaglet, I'll definitely give that a try