CED M2 Chronograph Review By Bryan Chatwell

[Alan Griffith]

I'm taking a chance here due to the fact that Charles Hardy, CEO of CED has promised me a refund several times over in a 4-5 week period and it's still not here.

I purchased my Oehler M33 about 1980-81 and used it successfully until it finally died about 1-1/2 years back. At the time Oehler, to my knowledge, no longer had repair parts for the M33. I bit the bullet and bought a CED M2. I was impressed with it for about the first 8 months. It quit working. I called CED's CS and they had me run their "flashlight test". It failed. Over the next several months, I ended up sending in first the main unit, then one skyscreen and then the next, paying for shipping each time. They kept replacing parts until I basically had a new one. Mr. Hardy even called me from Hong Kong while on a business trip. After 1/2 hr phone call he even told me he suspected I didn't know how to properly chronograph but changed his mind and told me I did, in deed, know what I was doing. Once I had all the new parts, I was able to start chronographing for a few brief weeks. It got to the point that I could tell the time of day by the time the chronograph quit working; about 10:30 am. It didn't matter what direction I shot, the unit just quit working. I tell you, I got tired of wasting my whole summer, going out to shoot and not being able to get any velocity numbers. I also got tired of dealing with the CS folks, as polite as they were. I finally had enough. I wrote a somewhat terse email to CED. Hardy replied himself and things just went down hill from there with him accusing me of not knowing what I was doing and that it was all my fault. I demanded a refund. He obliged but demanded I return all the items with their receipts. I did just that. It arrived and a return email arrived stating the unit was broken and that they would only be able to return a portion of the full refund. At this point, I was fed up, tired and full of regret for even dealing with CED. I accepted their offer. It has yet to come and I'm sure Hardy will get wind of this post and some how refuse to pay me as promised.

On another note, I ordered my Oehler M35p in July and it arrived last month. What a wonderful piece of engineering. It simply works and works and works, even under the exact same conditions the CED failed.

Like optics, pay once and cry once; buy the Oehler 35p!

Alan

 

[Siggy32]

I had at first thought of the inputs being wrong, But I can tell you after messing with this in everyway possible, new batteries, New sensor sent to me after sending mine back & Customers Service telling me they were fine. Like Allen, I have been through all the CS & spoke with Mr. Hardy, his wife. It all came back to being told the unit actually is made to test speeds at shooting events to make sure they are legal for the competition. That I needed to build a coffin box to put it in.

It evidently (thier own words) is not built to shoot your reloads through checkig for accuracy at the same time as speeds. Pretty discusted at this point & to the point it is an effort to take it out & try again.

I had bought this unit as all the Talk was it was the best on the market & Ohler at that time was no longer available & the used ones I found they wanted $600 - $700. I am glad to see that they evidently are making Ohlers again. Oehler Model 35P Chronograph with Built-In Printer, 3 Type 3 Skycreens, 3 Detectors and 2' Mounting Rail - MidwayUSA

I wish I had my money back from the CED M2 so I could apply it toward the new Ohler. I get the feeling that is not an easy thing to get, a refund.

 

[Alan Griffith]

Whoops

 

[Alan Griffith]

I will report that a check for $74.82 arrived on Friday, nearly two weeks after my last email from Mr. Hardy.

I too did review the DVD. It seems to me their device will "best" work in a black box. Yeah right! Black box my ***! I need to keep my stuff portable, as in 4-door sedan. I also shoot in various locations, directions, type of guns TBD, etc. I can't haul around a box.

Alan

 

[Pdvdh]

Like optics, pay once and cry once; buy the Oehler 35p!

Alan

10-4. I'm still using an long-lived Oehler 33. I also purchased an Oehler 35P this summer too, so I run it also.

Now that the Oehler 35P is available for $350 through Midway, the cost premium isn't all that terrible compared to the CED unit. And no need to build a coffin (black box) to bury it in if it doesn't work. Sorry to hear about your problems and the hassle involved.

They refunded $75 for a ~$200 unit?

 

[mike06]

I have had the CED M1 for along time and recently I had to add infared sky screens to make it work because there is too much shade at the 100 yard lane for my unit to work early in the morning when I shoot. If I go to the 200 yard range which is more open no problem with even with my old screens. But I did find out yesterday with my 223 that it worked the best at about 6 feet from the muzzle. I sure hate to hear of all the problems and no service that is happening with the M2 unit. I know that I and many others on this site rely on the experence that others have with items before we buy anything. Seems like a retailer would focus on these problems and make things right. Oh well well will just have to wait and see how sales are.

 

[Siggy32]

Its not like this is a new unit which just came out last week. It has been around for a few years at least as I bought mine for my own Christmas gift 2 years ago. Sell a product that takes an add (infra red kit) to make it work, but maybe that was the plan or ended up being the fix.

Mr. Hardy also asked if the velocity seemed to be in the correct range, even though I recieved an ERROR Code. Just ignore the Error if it give you a velocity which seems in the range. That is basically what I get most of the time Error with a velocity, but a lot of the time no velocity. Mine seems to work better when cloudy then direct sunlight. I built a screen to put over it (screen door screen) hoping to shade the sensors to a consistant light. The direct light seems to light up the glass in the sensor, vs. it being in the shadow. Thus why the post earlier said his quit working at 10:30 in the morning.

Looked at Midways reviews the glowing ones at the top of page but if you go to the bottom of the reviews there are the 1 star people.

This has renewed my interest in trying to resolve, send back or something. I hate to sell to someone knowing what trouble I have had with it. IF anyone wants one I would consider selling it to him. $175.00 shipped to you.

 

[Siggy32]

Crap, I just looked at the Midway USA I posted earlier about the Ohler 35, it says discontinued by manufacturer. So are they making Ohlers again or still out of luck?

Sig

 

[Pdvdh]

Crap, I just looked at the Midway USA I posted earlier about the Ohler 35, it says discontinued by manufacturer. So are they making Ohlers again or still out of luck?

Sig

Oehler was making them this year, as I and many others purchased one. But it was a complete setup with tripods and carrying case that cost ~$575 directly from Oehler. Google search Oehler and contact them directly. Let us know what they have to say?

 

[Alan Griffith]

10-4. I'm still using an long-lived Oehler 33. I also purchased an Oehler 35P this summer too, so I run it also.


They refunded $75 for a ~$200 unit?

Phorwath,

If you're insterested I might have some M33 stuff laying around, that I don't need anymore. Might be like gold someday.

Yes, $74.82 is what I got. I should have received more but 1) the main unit arrived damaged and Mr. Hardy declined to offer me any money for it. At this time in the sequence of events I was tired of dealing with him and gladly accepted his refund offer instead of trying to lay blame or refuse blame for the broken main unit. Also, I somehow missed packing one sidearm ($4.00). I basically got nickel and dime'd on the refund.

And, I did order a Oehler 35P back in July. It was delivered about 3rd week of Oct. It has worked flawlessly in numerous weather conditions. Today was snow on the ground, 30 deg F with little hoar frost floating around, sun from my 12. Peak of perfection!
Alan

 

[timeless61]

wow, I did not realize that hardy was the CEO, his customer service was terrible, he was the first person that I spoke with when I had a faulty sensor, he tried to blame it on me first, and then had me do tests so we could turn it around quicker, and it was the sensor completely faulty, and then he told me I would have it for that weekend, and it never showed up then the following week he was "unavailable".

on the chronograph, bottom line seems to be that you need the infrared set for it to be at all useful.

I would love to just get an Oehler, but I do not need a chronograph much, I only own 3 calibers, and only really need the chrony for one of them so once I have my load dialed and then new lots of powder is the only time I use it.

 

[Alan Griffith]

wow, I did not realize that hardy was the CEO, his customer service was terrible, he was the first person that I spoke with when I had a faulty sensor, he tried to blame it on me first, and then had me do tests so we could turn it around quicker, and it was the sensor completely faulty, and then he told me I would have it for that weekend, and it never showed up then the following week he was "unavailable".

on the chronograph, bottom line seems to be that you need the infrared set for it to be at all useful.

I would love to just get an Oehler, but I do not need a chronograph much, I only own 3 calibers, and only really need the chrony for one of them so once I have my load dialed and then new lots of powder is the only time I use it.

The CS person, I always talked to had an oriental accent/name. Maybe his wife? The signature on the check to me seemed oriental. And since he called me from Hong Kong, on a business trip, it makes me think the electronics are made "over there". Just a guess.

It seems to me that if you want more reliable service from the unit, I too think the infrared set would/could make that happen.

You only own 3 calibers? Well, think about this. A quality unit like an Oehler will last you decades. What are the chances you'll buy more guns/calibers over the next 2-3 decades and wish you had a solid unit like the 35P?lightbulb

Alan

 

[timeless61]

The CS person, I always talked to had an oriental accent/name. Maybe his wife? The signature on the check to me seemed oriental. And since he called me from Hong Kong, on a business trip, it makes me think the electronics are made "over there". Just a guess.

It seems to me that if you want more reliable service from the unit, I too think the infrared set would/could make that happen.

You only own 3 calibers? Well, think about this. A quality unit like an Oehler will last you decades. What are the chances you'll buy more guns/calibers over the next 2-3 decades and wish you had a solid unit like the 35P?lightbulb

Alan

I wish I could just get the Oehler, but I have money into chronographs right now, and another $600 is just too much for me right now. that is the main trouble. I will say that I have been having better luck with the infrared screens. the velocity does seem to read low without the infrared screens.

mine seemed to read almost 100 fps low, and where it is reading with the infrared screens makes much more sense than without them.

also, when i first bought a ced m2 last year, it worked pretty well for me, but this year i started to have problems with it, now 3 units later, and it seems to be okay with the infrared screens but i will be testing more, and if it does not work out i will probably have to return it and order the oehler, I should probably do that anyway, but like i said just the additional $300 is bad for me right this second.


oh another thing I found interesting, I am on my third unit now, from Midway, the boxes are all in ok but not great shape, and all of the rails that have been in with the kits are used. they are not new, you can see where someone else used it and tightened the sensors down, everything is resealed and packaged, but the units seem to be used. one that i received had a physically broken sensor that was packaged, but was just broken, and was not broken in shipping.

 

[Terminalor]

I have a CED M2. Problem 1 - I live in the Seattle area(cloudy a lot) and was having trouble with errors. So I bought the infered set with battery pack. Still have a lot of error readings sunny or not. Problem 2 - Tried to chrono my bow. Usually got error reading and when I finally did get a reading it would be 5000+ fps. Now I can shoot a bow with the best of them but pretty sure my bow is no where near 5000 fps. Called CED and they sent me a couple articles on plans for builing a black box to house the units. Sure does away with the simplicity sales pitch doesn't it? Problem 3 - Was working up a load for my gun, increasing each 3 shot group by one grain. 5 different groups all reading aprox 3050 with no increase for the increasing powder charges. To sum it all up - Buy the Oehler 35P and live happily ever after. PS anyone want to buy a good CED M2?