PennSteve
07-08-2020, 12:28 PM
This Fourth of July was my first time using a wireless firing system in a show, and I have to say... WOW. That was so much more enjoyable than hand-firing! I'm now a huge P1200 fan.
To put this into context, I'm an occasional, non-professional shooter. So while yeah, the Cobra systems look amazing, I wouldn't use one enough to justify the expense. That analysis really only works for me, personally, though; maybe someone else would use one even less than me but find it to be the best investment ever, and if so, good for you.
Back to the point: my experience communicating with Eric at Pyroboom was great, as he was helpful in selecting, and then adding to my setup. (In addition to the P1200 I now have seven P4 modules, and I definitely want to get more in the future.) When the stuff showed up, my first thought was "that's it?". All of these things are pretty light without the batteries in, which makes them feel a little cheap; and the P1200 was a smidge smaller than I expected it to be. But I didn't buy them for their heft, so let's not get too hung up on that. If there were one thing I am down on, it is the actual construction of the P4 firing modules, as the spring-loaded terminals feel fragile, and indeed I did have a spring pop out of one the first time I pushed the release to connect an e-match. Ten minutes later I had it back in, but only because I was fortunate enough to find it. Had I been outside, I'd be out one cue. If they could replace those terminals with something a little beefier, it'd be a really worthwhile improvement. Just remember, though: the P4 only costs something like 30 bucks.
So, on to performance: we did a range test with some e-match and some comets a few weeks ago just to make sure everything would work the way we expected for our show on the Fourth. Programming everything up to work was really easy and straightforward. Once everything was set up and turned on, I liked the green continuity check LED on the firing modules- a nice reassurance, particularly on such an inexpensive piece of hardware.
We tested from two ranges: 400 feet, and 1300 feet. The show was in a farm field, with the audience at the top of a slight hill, some of the show firing from the bottom (400' away), and the rest from a far hillside (1300'). I was skeptical the first time I pressed a button, but holy cow- right away I heard the poof! sound of the comet and saw it sailing out of the rack, 400 feet away. When I went to the full 1300 foot range I thought for sure it would struggle. Nope! Right away, poof! and there went the comet. The same thing happened on the Fourth: every time I hit a button, I heard the nearly-immediate thud of the gun, followed seconds later by a burst, and then me giggling. Every single shell went off, too, including the few pairs that I had hooked up in parallel. (You can still check continuity by hooking them up individually first.) What a good time!
One of these days we'll go out and try a max range test, and see how far away we can still reliably fire, just for fun.
I do have to agree with a comment that I've read elsewhere: lighted buttons would be really nice as well, especially if they went out after firing; and maybe add a reset button to turn them all back on or some such. (It'd also have to keep track of districts, which would require a bit more doing, and certainly cost more. Maybe a new "P2400" could include such updates some day...) Eric did include a clip-on light that attaches easily and allows you to see both the buttons and your script, if you have one, but I found it to be a bit bright for my taste, so I kept it off most of the time. Next time I might try using either a red glow stick or my headlamp on red light mode to preserve my night vision. If I can find some, I'll try wrapping some red theater gel around the clip-on light, too, which might wind up being just about perfect.
So if you've been thinking about moving up a notch and going this route, but were unsure of this particular product, there ya go. I hope this helps.
To put this into context, I'm an occasional, non-professional shooter. So while yeah, the Cobra systems look amazing, I wouldn't use one enough to justify the expense. That analysis really only works for me, personally, though; maybe someone else would use one even less than me but find it to be the best investment ever, and if so, good for you.
Back to the point: my experience communicating with Eric at Pyroboom was great, as he was helpful in selecting, and then adding to my setup. (In addition to the P1200 I now have seven P4 modules, and I definitely want to get more in the future.) When the stuff showed up, my first thought was "that's it?". All of these things are pretty light without the batteries in, which makes them feel a little cheap; and the P1200 was a smidge smaller than I expected it to be. But I didn't buy them for their heft, so let's not get too hung up on that. If there were one thing I am down on, it is the actual construction of the P4 firing modules, as the spring-loaded terminals feel fragile, and indeed I did have a spring pop out of one the first time I pushed the release to connect an e-match. Ten minutes later I had it back in, but only because I was fortunate enough to find it. Had I been outside, I'd be out one cue. If they could replace those terminals with something a little beefier, it'd be a really worthwhile improvement. Just remember, though: the P4 only costs something like 30 bucks.
So, on to performance: we did a range test with some e-match and some comets a few weeks ago just to make sure everything would work the way we expected for our show on the Fourth. Programming everything up to work was really easy and straightforward. Once everything was set up and turned on, I liked the green continuity check LED on the firing modules- a nice reassurance, particularly on such an inexpensive piece of hardware.
We tested from two ranges: 400 feet, and 1300 feet. The show was in a farm field, with the audience at the top of a slight hill, some of the show firing from the bottom (400' away), and the rest from a far hillside (1300'). I was skeptical the first time I pressed a button, but holy cow- right away I heard the poof! sound of the comet and saw it sailing out of the rack, 400 feet away. When I went to the full 1300 foot range I thought for sure it would struggle. Nope! Right away, poof! and there went the comet. The same thing happened on the Fourth: every time I hit a button, I heard the nearly-immediate thud of the gun, followed seconds later by a burst, and then me giggling. Every single shell went off, too, including the few pairs that I had hooked up in parallel. (You can still check continuity by hooking them up individually first.) What a good time!
One of these days we'll go out and try a max range test, and see how far away we can still reliably fire, just for fun.
I do have to agree with a comment that I've read elsewhere: lighted buttons would be really nice as well, especially if they went out after firing; and maybe add a reset button to turn them all back on or some such. (It'd also have to keep track of districts, which would require a bit more doing, and certainly cost more. Maybe a new "P2400" could include such updates some day...) Eric did include a clip-on light that attaches easily and allows you to see both the buttons and your script, if you have one, but I found it to be a bit bright for my taste, so I kept it off most of the time. Next time I might try using either a red glow stick or my headlamp on red light mode to preserve my night vision. If I can find some, I'll try wrapping some red theater gel around the clip-on light, too, which might wind up being just about perfect.
So if you've been thinking about moving up a notch and going this route, but were unsure of this particular product, there ya go. I hope this helps.