Best Kestrel for Shooters

[mildot1960]

Hi Everyone, I'm writing this Post because as some of you may know that I have been foolin with different Ballistic Programs and this has led me to Buying YET another Kestrel because of some of the Apps/Programs require more Data,

Well after buying the K2500NV and now the K4000NV it appears that there is alot more messing around when it comes to setting up the 4000NV as you would expect, But as some Well Versed Members have said when you want to know the actual Baro Pressure of where you are you just set the Altitude to ZERO and YES they are right, But this only works on the 2000/2500 and the 3500 models, If you try this with the 4000 series it does not give you the correct Barometric pressure for the area that you are AT.

With the K4000NV I have set the Baro ref ALT to 0 and I have change the Altimeter Ref baro along with UN syncing the Baro to the Alt and Vice Versa and I have found that Nothing no matter what I do will Give me the correct UN-corrected Barometric Pressure of where I am which is what we depend on for shooting, as most people Know we climb a hill/mountain Zero the kestrels Barometric ALT Ref and we then get the correct reading for that that Altitude But if you buy the 4000 series you will have to mess around phoning up weather stations or by getting a rough Idea of your Altitude from maps or try and average your Altitude that your GPS give which as we all know can go up and down Like A Bride's Nighty (nightdress),

So seeing as we depend on Actual (RealTime) Pressure, I have come to the conclusion that for getting UnBiased readings from a Kestrel the Best models for this Purpose are in fact the 2000s/2500s and the 3500s, Because unless you have access to the actual weather details of that area (actual location)when you are 150+ miles out in the Bush then you are only guessing the Barometric pressure

If anyone has any other answers on this issue please jump in as this might be the reason why some folks fail to understand these things

Thanks, John

 

[R.Morehouse]

No Answers....Just a quick thank's for putting this out there. I am just about to pull the trigger on my 1st Kestral and would like to be sure to get it right. I already have ATRAG in a PDA. gun)

 

[WyoElk2Hunt]

I use the Kestrel 4500NV with Horus Atrag and reall do like it.

 

[mildot1960]

No Answers....Just a quick thank's for putting this out there. I am just about to pull the trigger on my 1st Kestral and would like to be sure to get it right. I already have ATRAG in a PDA. gun)

Well I have read threads on here By some of our very clever people that Stated the the 2500 and the 3500 are the way to go and the fact is their success proves this point

good luck and have fun,

John

 

[C.O. Shooter]

I have been eyeballing the 3500 NV!

 

[mildot1960]

I use the Kestrel 4500NV with Horus Atrag and reall do like it.

Yes that is Nigh On the best there is, but the issue I have with these is that although you can enter a zero altitude It messes with the baro and if you change the Baro it messes with the Altitude, Why dont they give you an Un-adjusted settng, because no matter how High or low a person is the only true Pressure that matters is where they are hunting, with my watch I have ALT, and an unadjusted Baro plus I can set the sea level or the ALT, the 4000 series you have to enter something and if you dont then your stuff, and I am of the mind to send it back because I bought so it would tell me whats what, Not for me to tell it, and if you have two of these things and you set them both to Zero you will not get the Same Barometer readings

I think Shawn is right about which models work with what we need to make a Shot count,

John

 

[mildot1960]

Yes that is Nigh On the best there is, but the issue I have with these is that although you can enter a zero altitude It messes with the baro and if you change the Baro it messes with the Altitude, Why dont they give you an Un-adjusted settng, because no matter how High or low a person is the only true Pressure that matters is where they are hunting, with my watch I have ALT, and an unadjusted Baro plus I can set the sea level or the ALT, the 4000 series you have to enter something and if you dont then your stuff, and I am of the mind to send it back because I bought so it would tell me whats what, Not for me to tell it, and if you have two of these things and you set them both to Zero you will not get the Same Barometer readings

I think Shawn is right about which models work with what we need to make a Shot count,

John

The reason that I am quoting myself is because the accuracy of these can be +/- 2.5mbar OR +/- 0.07inhg So if you have one reading -2.5 and the other +2,5 thats a spread of 5.0mbar OR 0.14inhg which does'nt look like much but over 1200yds can put your shot out about 3" depending what caliber Rifle you are using and the fact is that 3" could be either way so it would pay to check your kestrel by a known source and if it is out ask Kestrel to sort it out for you because if you run the known differance on you Ballistic data it might bring you actual Bullet drops even closer to match you software/Apps

thanks again, John

 

[mildot1960]

Hi Everyone, I'm writing this Post because as some of you may know that I have been foolin with different Ballistic Programs and this has led me to Buying YET another Kestrel because of some of the Apps/Programs require more Data,

Well after buying the K2500NV and now the K4000NV it appears that there is alot more messing around when it comes to setting up the 4000NV as you would expect, But as some Well Versed Members have said when you want to know the actual Baro Pressure of where you are you just set the Altitude to ZERO and YES they are right, But this only works on the 2000/2500 and the 3500 models,

With the K4000NV I have set the Baro ref ALT to 0 and I have change the Altimeter Ref baro along with UN syncing the Baro to the Alt and Vice Versa and I have found that Nothing no matter what I do will Give me the correct UN-corrected Barometric Pressure of where I am which is what we depend on for shooting,

So seeing as we depend on Actual (RealTime) Pressure, I have come to the conclusion that for getting UnBiased readings from a Kestrel the Best models for this Purpose are in fact the 2000s/2500s and the 3500s, Because unless you have access to the actual weather details of that area (actual location)when you are 150+ miles out in the Bush then you are only guessing the Barometric pressure

So after Editing My first I have just worked out that My New Kestrel is out according the Barometric Pressure and to correct it I have to ADD 57ft to the 0(Zero) of the Altimeter in order to get the right BP

john

 

[Edward Ronald]

What type of Ballistic Programs you were using? I have used K4000NV, its much better from others. I suggest you to watch some videos to know about K4000NV in deep. Youtube is better option for it.

 

[mildot1960]

What type of Ballistic Programs you were using? I have used K4000NV, its much better from others. I suggest you to watch some videos to know about K4000NV in deep. Youtube is better option for it.

Well I have spent many Hours using these Kestrel (100s) and I have been on to many weather oragisation, and also the Royal Meteorlogical Society and I spoke to the head of the Dept and she told me what the problem was,

Anyway the Kestrel 4000nv was/is correct so the company who I bought them from also sent me a 3500 and it Turns out that my 2500nv is 157ft out with its calibration and the 3500nv is well within the companies tollerances,

With the 4000nv I have found that Kestrel claim that the Accuracey should be within a MAX of 2.4mbar/0.07inhg and a Average of 1.5mbar/0.04inhg and the truth is they are mostly alot better than they claim and Who ever made my K4000NV is the reason Why that Company is So Great because it is Accurite to 0.005inhg.

The easist way to check the 4000 Series is to go in to the Baro Page and turn off the Sync and then go to the ALT page and see that it is Turned off there to (which it should be), because of the Sync function, Now In the Baro page Just for the purpose of checking how close it is set the Units to mbar and set the Baro Alt to zero feet, Keep your fingers away from EVERY BUTTON because even just brushing your finger on them will cause it to change (because they are that good)

Now read the Baro reading off the Baro screen (ie) sea level 1013.2mbar, Now go and Type that in to the ALT screen REF Baro setting now on the ALT screen you should get a reading of 0 feet and both screens should read the same as in Baro screen 1013.2 and ref Alt =0, and the ALT screen 0 ft ref Baro=1013.2,

Please note that these two pages must not be Synced and the 4000/4500 series are the Only ones that you can Manually turn it off, where as the 2/3000 series are off all the time,

Im am including some Links that you can use to Check your Kestrels By Typing in you what your readings, But please give your Kestrels a Chance and let them settle down by not handling them because your body temp, humidity GRIP etc can change everything, and if you are checking the 3500/4000 and 4500 also note that it may take you a few attemps to get EVERY reading in before one of the readings change on your Kestrel and it only takes a 00.1 on the temp screen to throw the Dens Alt reading out, and make sure you use the inhg setting and NOT leave it in the mbar settings

This one would be better suited to the 2/3000 Series, maybe 3500,

Air Pressure

This one is better suited to the 3500,4000 and 4500 series

Engine Tuning Calculator - using absolute pressure

hope this helps, John

 

[mildot1960]

What type of Ballistic Programs you were using? I have used K4000NV, its much better from others. I suggest you to watch some videos to know about K4000NV in deep. Youtube is better option for it.

Sorry Edward, I did not answer your question re Ballistic Programs,

The 4 (yes four) I'm messing with are Strelok+, Bullet Flight, PFM Ballistics, and Laupa Balistics

Plus I am using Winchester Ballistics, Fusion 2013 Ammunition, and Sierra's Ballistic program and a few others that I have been trying out,

The Best one for straight forward use is Strelok+, where as Bullet Flight seems to have hidden variables that something always is never Quite right

STRELOK is within 0.02 MOA of Bushnells G-Force/ARC, Ballistic Program and someone on here gave me the correct BC's for a certain Load and they were Spot On when I checked with the RangeFinder and then put them into the Software, So the bottom line is if you are using a Bushnell RangeFinder Use Strelok/Strelok+.

hope this helps, John

 

[Edward Ronald]

What type of Ballistic Programs you were using? I have used K4000NV, its much better from others. I suggest you to watch some videos to know about K4000NV in deep. Youtube is better option for it.

Its Ok Mildot, Your ideas of Winchester Ballistics, Fusion 2013 Ammunition, and Sierra's Ballistic program are nice and appreciable. Best of luck.