Kestrel 4000 User Manual

4000

Pocket Weather®Tracker

with Backlight

In a hurry?

Be sure to read pages

5-7 to ensure that

your Kestrel is setup

properly!

Instruction Manual For Kestrel 4000 &

Kestrel 4000 NV Models

1

www.kestrelweather.com 800.784.4221

Revised 07/27/10

Revised 09/07

Kestrel® 4000 Pocket Weather® Tracker 3

MANUAL MEMORY
BUTTON Press to manually
store current conditions
to memory.

MEASUREMENT BUTTONS
Press to scroll between
screens: Date/Time,
Measurements, User
Dened Screens.

POWER/SETUP BUTTON
Hold to turn power on or
o. Press to enter and exit
Main Setup Menu.

IMPELLER Zytec™
V-bearings on a user­replaceable impeller.

IMPELLER COVER Swivel
cover protects impeller

BACKLIGHT BUTTON Press
to activate backlight for
1 minute.

MODE BUTTONS
Press to change mode of
measurements: Current, Min/
Max/Avg, Chart.

COMMAND BUTTON In Chart
Screens, press to view data
points. In Setup Menus, press
to make selection.

when not in use.

DATA UPLOAD OPTICAL
COUPLER Software and
serial port interface
sold separately.

BATTERY DOOR
Sealed with o-ring to
keep product watertight.

FRONT BACK

TEMPERATURE SENSOR
Hermetically sealed precision
thermistor coiled to isolate from
case temperature.

HUMIDITY SENSOR Capacitive
sensor with secondary
thermistor to improve
accuracy and response.

SERIAL NUMBER

PRESSURE SENSOR Monolithic
silicon piezoresistive sensor.
Do NOT insert any objects
into this hole.

AAA BATTERIES

Kestrel® 4000 Pocket Weather® Tracker 5

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GETTING STARTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

NAVIGATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

SPECIAL FUNCTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

MAIN SETUP MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

APPLICATION EXAMPLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

MEMORY CAPABILITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

DEFAULT SETTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

CUSTOMER SERVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Congratulations on the purchase of your Kestrel 4000 Pocket Weather Tracker! The Kestrel 4000 is the next
generation of weather monitoring. Now, you can instantly measure EVERY major environmental condition
easily, accurately and right in the palm of your hand.

While the Kestrel 4000 is user-friendly and simple to use, reading the instruction manual is recommended in
order to use the Kestrel 4000 to its fullest potential.

NK, manufacturer of Kestrel Pocket Weather Meters, is available to answer questions and provide support.
Contact NK by phone: [phone], fax: [phone], email: [e-mail], or
web: www.nkhome.com.

GETTING STARTED

Battery Installation

Use only AAA batteries. Install batteries as indicated on the battery door. After installing the batteries, the
Kestrel 4000 will automatically start in the Date and Time Setting mode. (See Date and Time Setup below.)
Custom settings and chart data will be saved during a battery change; only the date/time and MMA values
will be lost.

Turning the Kestrel Meter ON and OFF

To turn the Kestrel Meter ON, press the button. To turn the Kestrel Meter OFF, hold the button for two
seconds. Or, press the button, then press the button with the word OFF highlighted. (Note: your unit
will continue to automatically store data when the power is turned o.) When rst turned on, the Kestrel
Meter will display a splash screen displaying the model number, the battery indicator, and the code version.
This battery indicator will indicate the percentage of battery life remaining, which is helpful in preventing
unexpected dead batteries.

Date and Time Setup

The rst time that you turn on your Kestrel Meter, as well as after a battery change, you
will need to set the date and time. The Introduction Screen will appear for 3 seconds,
followed by the Date/Time Setup Screen. Press the and buttons to scroll through
the settings. Press the and buttons to scroll through the setting options. After
entering the date and time, press the button to exit the Date/Time Setup. Then press
the button again to exit the Main Setup Menu.

Kestrel® 4000 Pocket Weather® Tracker 7

NAVIGATION

Measurements use

Wind Speed

Temperature

Wind Chill

Humidity

Heat Index

DP

Dew Point

WB

Wet Bulb

Barometric Pressure

Altitude

D

Density Altitude

and

The Kestrel 4000 is set up to display 10 Measurements (some are
calculations) in 3 Modes.

The Measurements are listed here with their corresponding screen
icon. In addition to these Measurements and Modes, there are also 3
User Screens, which simultaneously show 3 current measurements,
and the Date & Time Screen, which gives the current date and
time. Use the

and buttons to scroll through the various
Measurements, followed by the 3 User Screens and the Date/Time
Screen. Any of these screens can be turned o so that you can
customize your Kestrel Meter to show the screens that your application
requires. (See the Measurements section in the Main Menu.)

The Modes are displayed below. Use the and buttons to scroll
through the various Modes. From any mode, you may still scroll to a
dierent Measurement by pressing the and buttons.

   Current - Displays the instantaneous reading.

   Min/Max/Avg - Displays the Minimum/Maximum/Average readings

from stored data. If there is no stored data, the values will be
displayed as --.-.

   Chart - Displays a graphical representation of up to 2000 stored

data points for each measurement. If there is no stored data, the axis
will appear, but the chart will be blank. (See the following section
for information on Chart Navigation.)

Modes use

and

Navigation of Charts

The Kestrel 4000 is capable of storing up to 2000 data points for each measurement. To review the data,
press the button while viewing a chart. A cursor will appear on the most recent data point. Press the
and buttons to scroll through the data points. The date and time at which the data was stored will be
displayed at the bottom of the screen, and the data value will be displayed at the top of the screen. Hold
down the or button to scroll quickly through the data points.

Press the or button to review the data for the other measurements. Please note that the cursor will
remain at the same date and time. If new data is stored while viewing chart data, the entire chart will shift
left with the new data point charted on the right. The cursor will not shift with the chart.

Press the button to return to the Chart Mode.

Value

Chart

Cursor

Date & Time

Kestrel® 4000 Pocket Weather® Tracker 9

SPECIAL FUNCTIONS

User Screens

The Kestrel Meter has three User Screens that can be customized to display three current
measurements simultaneously. These screens can also be turned o. (See the Main Menu
section for setup instructions.)

Max/Avg for Wind Speed & Wind Chill

The Max/Avg values for the wind speed and wind chill values are measured independently from the stored
and charted data.

This allows the user to start and stop the averaging period in the most appropriate manner for their
application. Averaging on all wind-related values (Wind Speed and Wind Chill) will be started and
stopped together.

While viewing the Min/Max/Avg screen for any of these measurements, hold the unit into the wind, and
press the button when the screen displays “--average” to begin collecting data for all measurements, and
again when the screen displays “--stop” to stop collecting data and hold the values on the display. Press the

button when the screen displays “--clear” to clear the data. This routine will work simultaneously for all
measurements, regardless of which one is displayed while the routine is run. The Max/Avg for these wind
values will not aect any other Min/Max/Avg or stored data.

Manual Data Storage

To manually store data, press the button. One of the following will appear: Data Stored (data has been
captured and will appear on chart), Full (Overwrite is o and data log is full), or O (Manual Store button
has been disabled). (See the Main Setup Menu section for more information on memory.)

Backlight

The Kestrel Meter has a high-visibility green backlight, which makes the display easily read in low-light
conditions. The Kestrel 3500 NV has a night-vision preserving backlight which helps users to sustain natural
night vision. The NV’s backlight incorporates an optical lter to reduce overall brightness and minimize
blue and green spectrum light to preserve night vision. Additionally, the backlight is much dimmer than a
standard backlight, making it more dicult to detect with the naked eye in night operations. This backlight
appears soft greyish pink (not red) and is still in the visible spectrum, so it is not compatible with night­vision equipment.

It takes 30 to 45 minutes for the average eye to adapt to darkness and maximize night vision. Even a short
burst of white, yellow, green or blue light “bleaches out” the rod cell photoreceptors in the eye and causes
night blindness until the entire adaptation process can take place again. Light in the red spectrum does not
cause this “bleaching out”, preventing night blindness and night vision fatigue.

Press the
button within one minute to deactivate the light manually.

Relative Humidity

The Kestrel Meter is capable of measuring RH to a high accuracy: +/– 3% RH between 5 and 95%. To ensure
operation within these specications, please follow these recommendations:

• Avoid taking measurements in direct sunlight, which will heat the air inside the humidity sensor

• If your circumstances force you to expose the Kestrel Meter to a large temperature swing prior to taking

button to activate the backlight. The light will remain activated for one minute. Press the

enclosure and cause inaccurate readings.

a relative humidity reading (such as when taking a Kestrel Meter stored inside at 70° F outside to a
temperature of 40° F), you will need to take additional steps to ensure that the Kestrel Meter’s external
temperature sensor is in thermal equilibrium.

Kestrel® 4000 Pocket Weather® Tracker 11

• Ideally, provide an airow of at least 1 M/S (2.2 MPH), over the temperature sensor—point the
Kestrel Meter into the airow. If there is no airow, simply wave the unit back and forth so air
passes over the sensors. With airow over the temperature sensors and humidity chambers,
readings within specications will be provided within two to three minutes, even after a large
temperature shift.

• If no airow can be provided, you must allow sucient time for the RH value to stabilize. This can
take as long as 20 minutes—the greater the temperature change, the greater the time. You can
use the logging capability of the Kestrel Meter to conrm that the unit has stabilized to
a correct reading: Set the memory options to a relatively short logging interval (20 seconds
works well), select the graphical display of RH, and you can see when the value is no longer
changing signicantly. At that point, the RH value is stable and can be relied upon to be within the
accuracy specications.

Barometric Pressure and Altitude Adjustment

The Kestrel Meter measures “station” pressure—the actual air pressure in the measurement location—and
uses this value to calculate barometric pressure and altitude. Station pressure changes in response to
two things—changes in altitude and changes in the atmosphere. Because the Kestrel Meter is constantly
changing location and altitude, it is important to enter adjustments or “references” when accurate pressure
and altitude readings are needed.

Barometric pressure is station pressure corrected to sea level. In order to make the correction, the Kestrel
Meter needs an accurate reference altitude. Altitude is the height above sea level. In order to correctly
calculate altitude, the unit needs an accurate barometric pressure reference, also known as an “altimeter
setting”. Fortunately, you only need to know ONE of these values (current barometric pressure or current
altitude) in order to set your Kestrel Meter up to show accurate readings.

decrease the reference pressure. You will notice that the altitude will change with changes in the reference
pressure. Press the button to exit the adjustment mode. Set your Kestrel Meter down on a table and
allow the altitude reading to stabilize. (Note: very small changes in pressure generate noticeable changes
in altitude. In order to provide meaningful readings for activities where altitude changes quickly, the Kestrel
Meter features rapid altitude response. This is why the altitude readings tend to uctuate by a few feet.)
After obtaining a current altitude from the ALTITUDE screen, move to the BARO screen and enter this value
as your reference altitude by following the same procedure. Both readings will now be accurate.

to increase the reference altitude or the button to decrease the reference altitude. You will notice that
the barometric pressure will change with changes in the reference altitude. Press the button to exit the
adjustment mode. Again, allow the Kestrel Meter to stabilize, then enter the value from the BARO screen
as your reference pressure on the ALTITUDE screen by following the same procedure. Both readings are
nowaccurate.

When reviewing stored data, remember that changes in pressure AND changes in location/altitude will
aect the stored values. When tracking pressure changes relative to weather, set the reference altitude on
the BARO screen and keep the Kestrel Meter in one location. Your graph history will now show trends in

Starting with the known barometric pressure for your location: You can obtain your
current barometric pressure by checking an internet weather site for a nearby location,
or contacting a local airport. Set this value as your reference pressure on the ALTITUDE
screen to determine your correct altitude: Press the button to enter the reference
setting mode. Press the button to increase the reference pressure or the button to

Starting with a known altitude for your location:

topographical map or local landmark. Google Earth is an excellent free program that
provides the exact altitude for any given address: www.earth.google.com/. Set this
value as your reference altitude on the BARO screen to determine your barometric
pressure. Press the button to enter the reference setting

You can obtain your altitude from a

mode. Press the button