Bushnell PINSEEKER 1500 Laser Rangefinder Manual

Model: 20-5102/20-5103
LIT. #: 98-0524/01-05

Distance to the FLAG every time!

Congratulations on your purchase of the Bushnell® 1500 Laser Rangeﬁnder, Essential Gear for Golf.
The PINSEEKER® PINSEEKER® 1500 is a precision Laser Rangeﬁnding optical instrument designed to provide many years of enjoyment. This booklet will help you achieve optimum performance by explaining its adjustments and features as well as how to care for this precise laser rangeﬁnding optical instrument. To ensure optimal performance and longevity, please read these instructions before using your PINSEEKER® 1500.

INTRODUCTION

Your Bushnell ® PINSEEKER® 1500 is an advanced premium laser rangeﬁnder comprised of Digital Technology allowing range readings from 5-1500 yards / 5-1372 meters. Measuring 1.7 x 5.1 x 3.7 inches, the 10-ounce PINSEEKER® 1500 delivers superb and accurate range performance to +/- one yard. The PINSEEKER® 1500 features Selective Targeting™ Modes, Superb Optical Quality, 100% Waterproof Construction, and Bushnell’s
RainGuard® coating.

HOW OUR DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY WORKS

The PINSEEKER®1500 emits invisible, eye-safe, infrared energy pulses. The PINSEEKER®1500’s Advanced Digital microprocessor and ASIC chip (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) results in instantaneous and accurate readings every time. Sophisticated digital technology instantaneously calculates distances by measuring the time it takes for each pulse to travel from the rangefinder to the target, and back.

RANGING ACCURACY

The ranging accuracy of the PINSEEKER®1500 is plus or minus one yard/meter under most circumstances. The maximum range of the instrument depends on the reflectivity of the target. The maximum distance for most objects is 1000 yards / 914 meters while for highly reflective objects the maximum is 1500 yards / 1373 meters.
Note: You will get both longer and shorter maximum distances depending on the reflective properties of the particular target and the environmental conditions at the time the distance of an object is being measured.
The color, surface finish, size, and shape of the target all affect reflectivity and range. The brighter the color, the longer the range. Red is highly reflective, for example, and allows longer ranges than the color black, which is the least reflective color. A shiny finish provides more range than a dull one. A small target is more difficult to range than a larger target. The angle to the target also has an effect. Shooting to a target at a 90-degree angle (where the target surface is perpendicular to the flight path of the emitted energy pulses) provides good range while a steep angle, on the other hand, provides limited ranging. In addition, lighting conditions (e.g. the amount of sunlight) will affect the ranging capabilities of the unit. The less light (e.g. overcast skies) the farther the unit’s maximum range will be.
Conversely, very sunny days will decrease the unit’s maximum range.

GETTING STARTED

INSERTING THE BATTERY

Lift the flap near, then pull the flap to remove the battery door. Insert one 9-volt alkaline battery into the slot as indicated, then close the battery door. The battery slot was designed to only accept the battery in the correct position. Therefore, if you are not able to close the battery door, check to ensure that the battery has been installed correctly.
NOTE: Use only high-quality alkaline batteries. Do not use heavy-duty or lithium batteries. It is recommended that the battery be replaced at least once every 12 months.
Low Battery Indicator: If the Y (Yards) or M (Meters) indicator blinks continuously, the battery charge is getting low and the 9-volt alkaline battery should be replaced.

ADJUSTING THE EYEPIECE

Your PINSEEKER®1500 is constructed with a twist-up eyepiece designed for comfort and to exclude extraneous light. For users without eyeglasses, rotate the eyecup counterclockwise while pulling up until it locks into the fully “up” position. The PINSEEKER® 1500 provides extra-long eye relief. If you wear glasses, make sure the eyecup is in the down position as this will bring your eye closer to the eyepiece lens allowing you to see a full ﬁeld of view. To lower the eyecup from the full “up” position, rotate clockwise while pushing down slightly. It is also possible to set the eyecup to positions “in-between”, fully up and full down, which may suit some individuals better. The PINSEEKER® 1500 is also equipped with an adjustable eyepiece (+/- 2 Diopter Adjustment) that allows one to focus the LCD display relative to the image. Simply rotate the diopter setting until the LCD is in focus.

OPERATIONAL SUMMARY

While looking through the 7x eyepiece, depress the power button once to activate the in-view Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). Place the aiming circle (located in the center of the ﬁeld of view) upon a target at least 5 yards away, depress, and hold the power button down until the range reading is displayed near the bottom of the in-view display.
Crosshairs surrounding the aiming circle indicate that the laser is being transmitted. Once a range has been acquired, you can release the power button. The crosshairs surrounding the aiming circle will disappear once the power button has been released (i.e. the laser is no longer being transmitted).
Note: Once activated, the PINSEEKER® 1500’s LCD will remain active and display the last distance measurement for 30 seconds. You can depress the power button again
at any time to distance yourself to a new target. As with any laser device, it is not recommended to directly view the emissions for long periods of time with magniﬁed lenses. The maximum time the laser is transmitted (ﬁred) is 10 seconds. To re-ﬁre, press the button down again.

LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY (LCD) INDICATORS

Your PINSEEKER® 1500’s LCD incorporates illuminated indicators that advise the user unit of measure, when the laser is actively ﬁring, when a target has been acquired, and targeting modes. A summary of these features is presented below:

UNIT OF MEASURE OPTIONS

The PINSEEKER® 1500 can be used to measure distances in yards or meters. The unit of measure indicators are located in the lower right portion of the LCD. To select between yards and meters, quickly press and release the POWER button to turn on the unit (on top of the unit), look through the eyepiece, depress the “MODE” button (left side of the eyepiece), and hold it down for approximately 5 seconds. If you are changing from yards to meters, a change in unit of measure will be indicated by the illumination of the M for meter indicator while the Y for Yard indicator is turned off. If you are changing from meters to yards, the opposite will occur. The PINSEEKER® 1500 will return to the last unit of measure setting used each time the unit is turned on.

ACTIVE LASER

Crosshairs surrounding the aiming circle indicate that the laser is being transmitted. Once a range has been acquired, you can release the power button. The crosshairs surrounding the circle will disappear once the power button has been released (i.e. the laser is no longer being transmitted).

SELECTIVE TARGETING™ MODES

The PINSEEKER® 1500 was specially designed with golfers in mind. The selective targeting modes allow you to adjust the performance parameters of the unit to suit your speciﬁc situation and environment. To move from one mode to another, press the POWER button once to turn on the unit. While looking through the eyepiece, press the
MODE button and quickly release. The different targeting modes available and mode indicators are listed below:
PinSeeker (LCD Indicator – ) Ever have trouble getting the distance to the ﬂag? This advanced mode allows easy acquisition of the ﬂag without inadvertently getting distances to background targets (i.e. trees) that have stronger signal strength.
Once in this mode, press the POWER button to turn the unit on. Next, align the aiming circle reticle onto the ﬂag that you want distance to. Next, press and hold the POWER button and move the laser slowly over the ﬂag or desired object until a circle surrounds the ﬂag indicator. If the laser beam recognized more than one object (i.e. ﬂag and
background trees), a distance of the ﬂag will be displayed and a circle will surround the PinSeeker indicator informing the user that distance to the ﬂag (i.e. closer object) is being displayed in the LCD (as seen below). There may be times when only the laser beam only sees one object in its path. In this case, the distance will be displayed, but because more than one object was not acquired, a circle will not surround the ﬂag indicator.
TIP: While pressing the POWER button, you can move the device slowly from object to object and intentionally force the laser to hit multiple objects to ensure that you are only displaying the closest of the objects recognized by the laser.
Once the device has shut off, the unit will always default back to the PinSeeker mode.

PinSeeker with Slope +/-™ (LCD Indicator – ) This advanced mode will be found only on model 20-5103 (PinSeeker® 1500 with Slope +/-™). Model 20-5103 features a built-in accelerometer-based inclinometer that digitally displays the exact slope angle from -20 to +20 degrees of elevation and is +/- 1.0 degree accurate. The Slope +/-™ mode will automatically compute an angle compensated range based upon distance and slope angle determined by the laser rangeﬁnder and built-in inclinometer. This data is then combined with internal algorithmic formulas dealing with average club use and ball trajectories. The angle compensated range provides direction on how to play the shot (i.e. add distance if an incline, subtract distance if a decline).
How to use Slope +/-™
Once in this mode, you will see a “ ” in the ﬁeld of view informing you that you are in the Slope +/- Mode. Press the POWER button to obtain the distance to the ﬂag or other objects. Once the range is displayed, continue to hold the POWER button down for approximately 2 seconds while holding the aiming circle on the ﬂag and keeping the unit as steady as possible so as to allow the inclinometer enough time to measure slope. Then release the POWER button.
Once you have released the power button, a degree of angle and compensated range will be displayed beneath the standard distance as seen below.

In this example, the true distance is 162 yards, the slope is +4 degrees, and the compensated range is 173 yards. The “ ” symbol means “Play-As”, so instead of playing as 162 yards, “play-as” 173 yards.
The Advantage of Slope+/-™
The distance to ﬂag A in the drawing below is 162 yards. It is also 162 yards to ﬂag B although it is on a slope.
However, if you were to play this hole as 162 yards, the ball (X) would fall short of the hole/ﬂag because you did not take slope into account.
The Truth about Slopes
Trying to determine slope angle with the naked eye can be rather deceiving. Most are not well versed to accurately determine slope angle. For example, most golf courses average slope is approximately 4 degrees. A large slope at a golf course is generally no more than 8 degrees. Of course this can vary, and that is why this device will measure slope from -20 to 20 degrees.
Some real-world examples may help clarify. A moderate roof pitch is 6/12, which means that the roof rises six inches for every 12 inch horizontal distance. That equates to 26.5 degrees. You can scramble up this pitch when hanging
Christmas lights, but climbing that slope for the distance of a good golf shot on a course would be exhausting. To retrieve a 200 yards shot, you would climb 300 feet up!
Golf Example: Let’s say you are a strong golfer with a 300 yard shot. At a 20 degree slope the Pin would be 50 feet above you. In other words, you be driving the ball to the top of a 5 story building!!!
NOTE: For your convenience, the Slope +/-™ Mode also contains the PinSeeker® Mode/feature. If at any time you prefer not to use the Slope +/-™ Mode, simply press the MODE button to get to PinSeeker or Standard with Automatic SCAN Mode™.
Standard with Automatic SCAN: This setting allows most targets to be distanced up to 1500 yards. Used for moderately reﬂective targets that are typical of most distancing situations. The minimum distance in the standard model is 5 yards. To use the Automatic SCAN feature, simply hold down on the POWER button for approximately 3 seconds and SCAN the rangeﬁnder from object to object while leaving the POWER button depressed. Automatic SCAN will allow the range and display to be continuously updated very rapidly as multiple objects are targeted.

OPTICAL DESIGN

Magniﬁcation and Coatings
The PINSEEKER® 1500 features a powerful 7x magniﬁcation monocular for viewing your target. Optics are Fully Multi-Coated allowing maximum light transmission for optimum brightness, superb resolution and contrast for a clear vivid image even in low light conditions such as dusk or dawn. A liquid crystal display (LCD) is mounted within
the optical system and when activated, displays a reticle for targeting, yards/meters, and mode indicators. Inherent in the manufacturing process are small black spots that appear in the optical system. These are natural characteristics of the LCD and cannot be fully eliminated in the manufacturing process. They do not affect the distancing performance of the unit.
RainGuard®
The outer surfaces of the objective and eyepiece lenses are RainGuard®coated. RainGuard® is Bushnell’s permanent, patented, hydrophobic (water repellant) lens coating that prevents fogging by causing condensation from rain, sleet, snow, or even your own breath to bead up into much smaller droplets than on standard coatings. Smaller uniform droplets scatter less light which results in a clearer, brighter view.

TRIPOD MOUNT

Molded into the bottom of our PINSEEKER® 1500 is a threaded tripod mount that will allow you to attach a tripod for a more stable operation during long periods of use.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Dimensions: Measuring 1.7 x 5.1 x 3.7 inches
Weight: 10 oz.
Ranging Accuracy: +/- 1 yard
Range: 5-1500 Yards / 5-1372 Meters
Magniﬁcation: 7x
Objective Diameter: 26 mm
Optical Coatings: Fully Multi-Coated
Display: LCD
Power Source: 9-volt alkaline battery (user supplied)
Field Of View: 340 ft. @ 1000 yards
Extra Long Eye Relief: 19mm
Exit Pupil: 3.7 mm
100% Water Proof Construction
RainGuard Coating
Built-In Tripod Mount
Includes case and strap

CLEANING

Gently blow away any dust or debris on the lenses (or use a soft lens brush). To remove dirt or ﬁngerprints, clean with a soft cotton cloth, rubbing in a circular motion. Use of coarse cloth or unnecessary rubbing may scratch the lens surface and eventually cause permanent damage. For a more thorough cleaning, photographic lens tissue and photographic-type lens cleaning ﬂuid or isopropyl alcohol may be used. Always apply the ﬂuid to the cleaning cloth – never directly on the lens.

TWO-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY

Your Bushnell product is warranted to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for two years after the date of purchase. In the event of a defect under this warranty, we will, at our option, repair or replace the product, provided that you return the product postage prepaid. This warranty does not cover damages caused by misuse, improper handling, installation, or maintenance provided by someone other than a Bushnell Authorized Service Department.
Any return made under this warranty must be accompanied by the items listed below:

A check/money order in the amount of $10.00 to cover the cost of postage and handling
Name and address for product return
An explanation of the defect
Proof of Date Purchased
The product should be well packed in a sturdy outside shipping carton, to prevent damage in transit, with return postage prepaid to the address listed below:

IN U.S.A. Send To:
Bushnell Performance Optics
Attn.: Repairs
8500 Marshall Drive
Lenexa, Kansas 66214
IN CANADA Send To:
Bushnell Performance Optics
Attn.: Repairs
25A East Pearce Street, Unit 1
Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 2M9
For products purchased outside the United States or Canada please contact your local dealer for applicable warranty information. In Europe, you may also
contact Bushnell at BUSHNELL Performance Optics Gmbh
European Service Centre
MORSESTRASSE 4
D- 50769 KÖLN
GERMANY
Tél: +49 (0) 221 709 939 3
Fax: +49 (0) 221 709 939 8
This warranty gives you speciﬁc legal rights.
You may have other rights which vary from country to country.
©2005 Bushnell Performance Optics

TROUBLESHOOTING TABLE

If the unit does not turn on – the LCD does not illuminate:

Depress power button.
Check and if necessary, replace the battery.

If the unit does not respond to keypresses, replace the battery with a good quality 9-volt alkaline battery.
If unit powers down (display goes blank when attempting to power the laser):

The battery is either weak or low quality. Replace the battery with a good quality 9-volt alkaline battery.
Heavy Duty alkaline batteries are NOT recommended.

If target range cannot be obtained:

Make sure LCD is illuminated.
Make sure that the power button is being depressed.
Make sure that nothing, such as your hand or ﬁnger, is blocking the objective lenses (lenses closest to the target) that emit and receive the laser pulses.
Make sure the unit is held steady while depressing the power button.

NOTE: The last range reading does not need to be cleared before ranging another target. Simply aim at the new target using the LCD’s reticle, depress the power button, and hold until new range reading is displayed.
Speciﬁcations, instructions, and the operation of these products are subject to change without notice.

FCC NOTE

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.
Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

Shielded interface cable must be used with the equipment in order to comply with the limits for a digital device pursuant to Subpart B of Part 15 of FCC Rules.
Specifications and designs are subject to change without any notice or obligation on the part of the manufacturer.