Kestel 2500NV

[backcountryguide]

I just bought a new Kestrel to use with the Shooter app on my phone. I have a couple questions involving the setup and use of the Kestrel. First do i need to calibrate the Kestrel to a known alltitude so the baro pressure is correct or should it be good to go as is? Second after reading through the articles in this forum I should be using the station pressure option on the Shooter app to obtain accurate drop figures. Is this correct? I usually use a corrected pressure for my current altitude and go from there but wanted more accurated drops so I bought the Kestrel. Any help you guys can give on the subject would be great.

[shawnb]

I have the same kestrel. I left the baro pressure reference at 0ft and plug the pressure it gives me into my Ballistic AE program. I leave the altitude at 0 feet and simply plug the corrected pressure in. I have noticed that the kestrel is a little ways off of what the baro charts for elevation are. Im at 3300 ft and the charts say 26.82 i think and my kestrel shows 26.35 most of the time. Not much of a diff but i trust my kestrel and program and it puts me spot on.

I would like to hear from someone else that has a better knowledge of kestrels than I to chime in.

[BrentM]

Interesting I have the unit and use my gps and google earth to verify a elevation. Set the baro and altitude and use that for shooter. I also have a Leica 1200b that I can get absolute from. Both seem to be very close so I tend to use the Leica for quick reference. I will compare the two and see how far apart they are for absolute.

[shawnb]

There is also a good right up in here somewhere from shawn carlock about setting up a kestrel. He describes in detail how to set your reference pressure to get your altitude dialed in. But i dont think it tells much about setting your refernece altitude for your absolute pressure.

I hope i described that well enough to make sense. I have changed it so it shows my altitude pretty close but im just wondering if you should change your altitude for your pressure?

[BrentM]

So to compare the kestrel and the Leica 27.29 vs 29.26. Very close.

[BrentM]

I was thinking about this a bit more. I think in the instructions it says to calibrate the kestrel each time. I might be wrong. I calibrate the unit for that day and set the altitude via the baro pressure. Once that is in I can leave the baro section set to zero altitude and then have the correct elevation and absolute baro on the kestrel.

I have still not worked out a great system yet for all this as I have a GPS, kestrel, and Leica with me at all times. Realistically I do not need the GPS anymore for elevation referencing. In fact, all I need the kestrel for is windage now. If I range the target with the leica I can get horizontal distance and absolute. The kestrel will give me wind. If I do this right I can simply range the target, turn the turrent, hold for wind, and shoot. I plan to order a G7 knob for my Night Force. For now I just need a chart for 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, with MOA zeros from 300 yards to whatever.

[BrentM]

I have played with the kestrel and the Leica now for a couple of weeks. As suggested I set reference elevation at 0 and it gives absolute barometric pressure. The kestrel given number is usually very close to the number given on the Leica. I do believe the absolute number on both units is good enough to use in the shooter program with accurate results. My last test was at 1050 yards, both came up with numbers quite close and that number produced a dead on accurate shot placement for the distance. I am pretty convinced that all I need is 4 numbers now. Temp, absolute, distance, and wind. Elevation is not needed. To help myself out I input the baro and the best temp I can, it usually makes little difference until you exceed a 20 degree change, before I start my hunting trek. Then all I need is wind, distance, and baro check. If I start low and climb up I take .5 off the baro number and input it. For a super quick calculation I can just input range and wind. Adjust and shoot.