Hand Held Ballistic Calculator

[BCMAG2]

So I'm using my 4G smart phone to run my Applied Ballistics program, and it works fine. But a smart phone isn't designed for the abuse and elements encountered on a hunting trip. Would like to find a rugged waterproof hand held unit to run my AB program....suggestions?

 

[bigngreen]

I got my phone in the heavy Otter cover and it protects my phone from every thing short of a long swim and tractor tires, hunting was no problem. You could always get a cheap ebay phone or pad and use it only for app.

 

[bruce_ventura]

Otterboxes are pretty rugged. My wife loves hers. Lifetime warranty - Otterbox replaced hers once already just because the silicone skin wore out. Fully waterproof covers are also available for the 4G.

Then there is the issue of battery life. You might want to go on airplane mode and turn down the display brightness.

 

[BCMAG2]

Yep, I got an otter for my phone too.

Also just bought a $79 "tablet" at Walmart. It has wifi so I should have no trouble downloading the Applied Ballistics app. No phone so no phone plan to worry about. 7" screen should be interesting and easier to work with the program.

With the cell phone and tablet as a backup, I'm no longer worried about being without scope dope on a hunting trip.

 

[Black Sheep]

I've got a Droid Razr Maxx with the otterbox protector/cover on it. A buddy of mine had an otterbox small waterproof box on his desk, and just for fun I put my phone in it, and it fit perfectly! So, I bought an otterbox 2000 off of ebay for $15, and my phone will be in it for hunting. It should protect it from cold, rain, or me falling on my butt!!!

 

[rinodods]

Be careful you may find that some apps will not install if the device doesn't meet certain requirements. For instance my wife has an android based Nook that has access to the google play store which sells applied ballistics. The app does not show as available for it. Haven't really looked into what exactly is missing but for one thing the Nook has no GPS module which the app can use for several functions.This could all just be a fluke with the way the store works. As I said I haven't dug into it. But some of these places do only allow you to buy or install an app if they determine your hardware is compatible.

 

[BCMAG2]

Yep, I just learned that lesson the hard way....bought an android tablet at Walmart that had the Google play station and GPS built in, but Applied Ballistics wouldn't load, saying the device was incompatible. So I returned it and went to Office Max and got a Nextbook tablet with android, and that experience was even worse. AB says "you have no device" when I tried to download it. Ditto that for Google Earth. And I told the salesman exactly why I was buying it and how the Walmart tablet didn't work, and he said this one would for sure. I'm afraid that perhaps there is no cheap way to get a device just for running the AB program (don't want a second phone and plan to pay for). If anyone has had luck with a specific inexpensive tablet or other non-phone plan device for running the AB program, please let us know the particulars.

 

[rinodods]

AB itself says you don't need GPS or data connection to run calcs but it sure seems like the stores are forcing something besides the Android 2.2 or higher requirement.

 

[Browninglover1]

Why don't you just buy an old phone? I bought an iPhone 3GS for $50 that runs Shooter just fine. i would think you could find a similar deal on some Android based phone and just use it as a ballistics calculator.

 

[BCMAG2]

Thanks. That's the next option I will be looking into.
I was hoping for the larger screen option of a 7 inch tablet so I could also view Google Earth better while in hunting camp. Plus, my wife seems to think that on a phone, the wifi won't work unless you buy a phone plan, but that doesn't make much sense to me. Going to the phone shop to ask Monday morning.

 

[Browninglover1]

Wifi works just fine on an old phone without a plan, but you obviously don't have access to cellular data without one. Supposedly even GPS apps will work without a phone plan but I've never verified that.

 

[BCMAG2]

My wife, who like most wives knows everything, insists that while a deactivated cell phone will still have operational Wifi, you can't download apps from the net without a data plan. I'm heading to the phone shop for a second opinion on that from another woman.

But from my experience of 3 different new tablets, all with wifi, android 4.0 or higher, and Google Play Store, they just don't work with Applied Ballistics for some reason. "Device incompatible" is the message that I keep getting whenever I attempt to download AB.

Has anyone been able to download AB on a tablet?

 

[BCMAG2]

For anyone else who might be interested in running Applied Ballistics on a tablet, after 3 failed purchases, I have finally found one that works perfectly.

The highly reviewed new Google Nexus 7 Gen2 has 2 GB of ram and 16 GB of memory. The app loaded like a charm and works perfectly, along with Google Earth. The 7" screen makes things very easy to see and operate as compared to a cell phone, for those of us with fat fingers and/or aging eyes. For $229 at Walmart right now, it was a bit more than I was hoping to spend, but it is very high quality for the cost, and also gives shot angle and compass direction for Coriollis effect. When connected to WiFi, it gives altitude and baro as well, but that has no use in the field where Wifi is not available of course.

The reviews say that you can also use it to download and watch movies in HD, as well as take high quality photos and video with it, but that's not what I bought it for, so mine will likely only see use for running ballistic calculations and browsing the web at times. Hopefully this information helps others.

 

[rinodods]

Awesome. Glad to hear you got one to work. Thanks for reporting back.gun) Throw an otterbox defender case on that thing and have some fun.