Best range finder app?

[Billy Bones]

Looking for a fairly simple app to judge distance while using an Android based phone. We don't need a full-on $200+ range finder just yet. Looking for something that can measure 25-200 yards.

Is anyone using an app for this? Thanks.

 

[Yoshi]

There are some "golf" range finders you can look into, but I think most utilize a subscription service. (No personal experience. Just hear from guys at work.) Best bet would be to learn how to range using your scope.

How accurate are you looking to get?

 

[Billy Bones]

Ballpark: 100 yards fairly accurately.

 

[smdub]

Cheap golf rangefinders use the (known) height of the flag pole to estimate range. Any sort of 'app' w/o a dedicated laser rangefinder has to have something of a known size. You have a golf flag beside your target?

 

[Yoshi]

Cheap golf rangefinders use the (known) height of the flag pole to estimate range. Any sort of 'app' w/o a dedicated laser rangefinder has to have something of a known size. You have a golf flag beside your target?

From what I've heard, some use a mapping tool and not the pole height.

 

[ObsceneJesster]

When you guys are talking about Golf Range finders, are you talking about the lasers or the GPS units?

If you're talking about the lasers then they should work just fine. I have one and I can bounce it off of any solid object getting a accurate measurement.


Here is one for $100 and it's good out to 400 yards.

http://shop.sportsmansguide.com/net...ferralID=fa3bd2ad-cc60-11e2-9389-001b2166c62d

You can also find decent Spotting scopes for less than $200.

 

[smdub]

No, OP is talking about an app for his phone. I don't know of any phone that has laser rangefinder hardware built in

 

[smdub]

From what I've heard, some use a mapping tool and not the pole height.

Unless you phone supports WAAS (and I don't know of any that do) any GPS map based system is going to be wrong most of the time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_Area_Augmentation_System

 

[ObsceneJesster]

No, OP is talking about an app for his phone. I don't know of any phone that has laser rangefinder hardware built in

Oh, lol....That would be pretty bad ass.

 

[ThatGuy179]

Isnipe is a ballistic calculator app. Not sure if it is Droid compatable but it has a range finder type function in it.

 

[lx1x]

Unless you phone supports WAAS (and I don't know of any that do) any GPS map based system is going to be wrong most of the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_Area_Augmentation_System

??

waas from I understand when I was checking on them long time ago is pretty much antenna based stations (like cell towers).

had a hand held garmin with waas capability. it only takes over when the gps satelittes are not found. it bounce signals from known waas station (for checks). when the waas takes over.. the garmin tells me how accurate my location is.. which is less accurate than if both gps and waas are active.

for range type.. cell phones with gps id say are within say 10-50' (can be less depends how many satellites are found) accuracy (depending how its setup.. walking vs driving).

 

[smdub]

WAAS is antenna based. It was developed "to augment the Global Positioning System (GPS), with the goal of improving its accuracy, integrity, and availability." GPS accuracy w/o WAAS was typ something like 50' iirc. W/ WAAS is much better. The OP was looking for 25-200yd distances, so that error could be a very big %. Now if he walks out to the target and takes another reading, the relative error should nearly match and will cancel out. But if the target location is based on a (correct) map coordinate, its going to suck I don't see many golfers walking down to the pin, taking a reading, then walking back to the tee to accurately estimate range

There is also a differential gps system to enhance accuracy that afaik doesn't take any additional hardware in your receiver. But it depends on having dgps receivers nearby (nearby is relative.) I've not seen a phone app that takes advantage of them but they have to be out there. I've never played w/ a dgps system.

 

[Billy Bones]

Thanks for the replies. Looking to get something cheaper, i.e. an app to use in the backyard or for shorter distances. Will check out the $100 one @ Sportsmanship guide though...