ENTS, This morning I did some tests on the 550's ability to shoot through clutter relative to the tried and proven Prostaff 440. The table below shows shots through a little clutter in the first 8 trials and considerable clutter in the last 7. The R in the last column means I had to repeatedly shoot the target with the 550 to get the longest return comparable to the 440. The 440 is still the superior instrument when it comes to cutting through clutter. In conducting the tests, I used the 550 on single point mode to make the comparison. The single point mode allows me to repeatedly shoot the target and test for higher points. The double point mode locks in on what it sees as the target and requires the user to shoot the bottom of the tree to complete the full height routine. It then returns you to the point where you can shoot the crown again. This means you cana just point to the crown and shoot, point to the base and shoot and be confident that the retured height is based on the highest point. You have to probe for the highest point when clutter is in the way. My judgement is that the 550 is a very good and useful instrument, but in the hands of novice, lots of trees will be mismeasured. You have to work harder in clutter to get a reliable result.
440 550 180 181 91.5 91 115.5 115 124.5 127 R 120 120 142.5 144 R 129 128 117 116 130.5 132 R 139 139 R 84 84 R 114 114 R 141 140 R 141 144 R 63 64 R Bob --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
