Kestrel 4000, 4000 NV Instruction Manual

1

Revised 09/07

Instruction Manual For Kestrel 4000 &

Kestrel 4000 NV Models

4000

Pocket Weather®Tracker

with Backlight

www.kestrelweather.com 800.784.4221

In a hurry?

Be sure to read pages

5-7 to ensure that

your Kestrel is setup

properly!

Kestrel® 4000 Pocket Weather® Tracker 3

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.

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 Sapphire jewel
bearings on a user­replaceable impeller.

IMPELLER COVER Swivel
cover protects impeller
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.

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

FRONT BACK

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 SET TINGS ....................................................................................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

Pouch and Lanyards

A neck lanyard and wrist and a small pouch have been provided. To install the lanyard,
feed the thin end of the lanyard around the metal post on the battery door (as shown
in diagram). Feed the thick end of the lanyard through the loop on the thin end. Using
tweezers can help.

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

and

Wind Speed

Temperature

Wind Chill

Humidity

Heat Index

Dew Point

Wet Bulb

Barometric Pressure

Altitude

Density Altitude

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.

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.)

HI

D

WB

DP

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 4000 NV is olive drab with a night-vision preserving backlight. The backlight
incorporates an optical lter to reduce overall brightness and minimize blue and green spectrum light to
preserve night vision of users such as military personnel, pilots and night shermen. (Note: This backlight
appears soft greyish pink, not “red”, and is still in the visible spectrum, so 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. This
unit’s backlight is also much dimmer than a standard backlight, making it more dicult to detect with the
naked eye in night operations.

Press the

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

enclosure and cause inaccurate readings.

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

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.