Make sure the area you are using the moving target over has NO high grass at all. Ours hung up several times on high grass that was previously stomped down. We are going to raise the cable from approximately 5 foot to about six foot height.
Testing the range of the controller to the unit, we got a little over 225 yards max. This was the "400 meter" model we purchased, not the original one. I was standing on a slight hill top and my son held the unit first at 300 yards and then he kept moving forward till the unit activated finally at about 225 yards. Holding the unit over his head and me holding the controller above my head trying to get a little more range. Absolutely positively line of sight between the two.
Be sure to use the safety carabiner if using the unit on 1/8 aircraft cable. We played with various levels of tension on the cable trying to find the right tension. The safety carabiner saved the unit one time it fell off the cable.
At 100 yards the controls seem slow- push the +5 forward and.......................... then it starts moving. Once it's started adding more changes (+5, -10, etc.) seemed to keep it in motion. But initial get the unit moving seemed fairly slow. If using it for any scenario/gaming type thing I would have the unit start behind a fence panel or something, giving it a yard or so to pick up speed before "appearing."
All in all, a great unit. Will try it again at farther distances as well, but both unit and controller batteries were new and only used for a short period of time.