How it works
Tachyon V3.2 features an on-board contact microphone to measure sound vibrations from any objects it's touching. Regular sound waves
from nearby objects, such as different airsoft guns are not picked up and ignored.
There are 3 different detection modes to choose from:
- Infrared detection - Fired BBs are detected using an IR barrel-mounted sensor
- Sound detection - Shots are detected through sound only
- Combined mode - Shots are counted using IR while the sound detection system is used to detect misfires
Limitations
For both Sound detection mode and Combined mode:
- Automatic battery measurement is disabled. The battery level readout only updates when you press SELECT or RELOAD buttons
- Bumps or impacts to the weapon can sometimes be detected as shots (Sound det. mode) or misfires (Combined mode)
For Sound detection mode only:
- Misfires and empty shots are counted as well, since there is no way of determining if a BB actually was fired or not
- ROF / Delay measurement function cannot be used
The quality of sound detection can be different on every individual airsoft gun. Loud and full-metal guns work best. Every time the device is mounted to a different gun (or even to a different place on the same one), the setup procedure must be performed to properly configure the detection system.
Manual setup & adjustment
Navigate to Settings>Detection>SD Test/Man. setup. When a shot is fired, the sound waveform is printed on-screen. Press LEFT or RIGHT to cycle through adjustable parameters and press SELECT to edit a parameter
To register a shot, a sound wave must be above (Threshold) for exactly (Window ± Window tolerance) number of samples and enough time (Dead time) must have already passed since last detected shot.
Parameters
- Threshold (THR): intensity level above which the sound wave must be to make a detection. This setting controls the baseline
sensitivity - determines which sound waves are even considered as potential shots.
- Window (WIND): exact number of samples (length of time) for which the sound wave must stay above threshold to make a detection (no more, no less).
- Window tolerance (WnT): Tolerance to window value. When set, the number of samples above threshold can be higher or lower
than set by the Window setting and still make a detection.
This, along with the Window setting controls the final sensitivity - which sound waves are finally registered as shots.
- Dead time (DT): time in milliseconds for which the detection system will stay inactive after a shot is detected,
to prevent making multiple detections from a single shot. Setting this to '0' disables the dead time function.
Sampling rate control
The sampling rate can be regulated by adjusting the sample length setting (Settings>Detection>SD Sample length). Decreasing sample
length increases sampling rate and makes the detector more sensitive to high frequency vibrations. Increasing sample length
decreases sampling rate and has the opposite effect.
Whether a higher or lower sampling rate is beneficial can be very subjective. Most of the time, this setting does not need to be
changed at all, but if you want to adjust the sampling rate, it is best to try both a high and low value to see which one works best.
Whenever this setting is modified, the setup procedure must be repeated.