Kestrel 4500NV User Manual

I NS TR UC TI ON M AN UA L

AVAILABLE WITH

Wireless Data Transfer

Your Kestrel Ballistics Weather Meter is designed to provide accurate measurement

CAUTION

of current conditions only. Depending on your location and environment,

Rapid temperature and humidity changes (i.e., moving your meter from indoors to outdoors) may cause inaccurate readings of temperature and humidity as well as all readings that rely on either of these values. Before relying on a Kestrel Ballistics Weather Meter readings, use care to either a) force air ow over the sensors by waving or slinging your meter through the air; or b) wait until your unit’s readings have stabilized, indicating it has equilibrated to its new environment.

To maximize the accuracy and reliability of your readings:

• Ensure that your Kestrel Ballistics Weather Meter is in good repair and within factory calibration.

• Take readings frequently and carefully according to the guidelines above.

• Allow your meter’s readings to stabilize after signicant changes in temperature or humidity (i.e., changing location from indoors to outdoors).

• Allow a margin of safety for changing conditions and reading errors (2-3% of reading is recommended).

Use extra care and good judgment when referring to your Kestrel Ballistics Weather Meter to make

any decisions regarding safety, health or property protection.

conditions may change rapidly.

OVERVI EW

Features & Options .............................................. 4

Getting to Know Your Kestrel ............................ 5

Battery Installation .............................................. 6

Compass Calibration and Setup ....................... 7

Barometric Pressure & Altitude Setup ............. 9

AB MODE

Basic Navigation and Getting Started .............10

Gun Selection .......................................................11

Gun Library & Information Screen ................... 12

Target Screen ........................................................15

Environment Screen............................................ 17

Range Card Screen ..............................................18

Ballistics Screen ................................................... 19

Calibration & Custom Drag Curves ...................19

Bluetooth Setup ................................................... 20

Quick Keys ............................................................. 21

*for BLUETOOTH®-enabled models ONLY

WEATHER MODE

Setup and Options .............................................. 22

Screen Navigation ...............................................25

Impeller Replacement ........................................ 26

Using the Bootloader ......................................... 27

Glossary of Terms.................................................28

Ballistic & Environmental Quick Ref ................. 29

Full Range Card Data Sample ............................ 31

Specications .......................................................33

Choosing & Using Batteries ............................... 35

Warranty ................................................................ 37

NK, manufacturer of Kestrel brand Ballistics Weather Meters is available to answer questions and provide support. Contact NK by phone: 610.447.1555; fax: 610.447.1577; email: info@NKhome.com; or web: NKhome.com

FEATURES & OPTIONS

Measurement/ Uni ts of Measure Icon 4500

Wind Dire ction (Cardinal Po ints, Degrees)

Wind Spe ed | Air Speed (mph | fp m | Bft | m/s | km/h | kt )

Crosswin d Calculation (mph | f pm | Bft | m/s | km/h | k t)

Headwin d | Ta ilwind (mph | fpm | Bf t | m/s | km/h | kt)

Temperatur e* (˚F | ˚C)

Wind Chill ( ˚F | ˚C)

Relative H umidity (Gpp | G/kg)

Heat Stress I ndex (˚F | ˚C)

Dewpoi nt Te mp (˚F | ˚C)

Wet Bulb Temp (˚F | ˚C)

Barome tric Pressure (inHg | hPA | psi | mb)

Altitud e, m | ft

Densit y Altitude, m | ft

Pressure Trend

Backli t Display

Data Stora ge Points 2900

BLUETOOTH ®

NV Backl ight

Standard • | Optional

w/Applied Ba llistics

. . . . .

. .

. . . .

GETT ING TO KNOW YOUR KESTREL

FRONT

REPLACEABLE

HUMIDITY

SENSOR

MANUAL MEMORY

BUTTON

POWER / SETUP

BUTTON

Even when the Kestrel display is o, the unit will still automati-

cally collect and store data at the dened rate (see “Memory Options” ). To completely power down the unit, you must remove the batteries (and lose time / date and other settings)

IMPELLER

BACKLIGHT BUTTON

NAVIGATION BUTTONS

SELECT / EXIT BUTTON

DATA UPLOAD

OPTICAL COUPLER

* All Kestrel Meters with

temperature measurement allow you to measure air, water and snow temperature.

BACK

AMBIENT TEMPERATURE SENSOR

SERIAL NUMBER

WIDE RANGE PRESSURE SENSOR

AAA BATTERIES (2)

(Lithium recommended)

STABILIZING BATTERY ORIENTATION SHIM

BATTERY INS TALLATION

• Insert batteries into bottom of Kestrel unit as shown on battery door.

• Snap door closed.

Turning ON an d OFF

to turn on the meter.

• Press

• Hold for 3 seconds to turn o the meter.

You can also select “O” on th e Main Setup M enu options.

Date & Tim e

to enter the Main Setup

• Press

Menu.

• Use

or to highlight Date

& Time.

• Press to enter the Date & Time

Screen.

or to change each value.

• Press

KESTREL 4500:

AAA batteries have a magnetic signature strong enough to aect the Kestrel 4500’s compass readings. Please follow this extra step to ensure the batteries stay in proper orientation.

Before closing the door, push the plastic shim (provided with unit) between batteries and place clear ring on end over positive battery “bump.”

When replacing batteries in the Kestrel 4500, always keep

the shim and re-insert with new batteries as described.

COMPASS CALIBRATION AND SETUP

In addition to Wind Speed and Wind Chill, the Kestrel with Applied Ballistics Software also measures

Direction, Headwind/Tailwind and Crosswind.

Digit al Compass Cali bration

The Kestrel meter's digital compass must be calibrated

to correct for the AAA batteries’ magnetic eld. It must be re-calibrated every time the battery door is opened, and it will not display or log any direction values until calibration is complete.

**Impeller should be removed during calibration for best results.

• Remove the impeller by pressing the edges to pop it out (reinsert after calibration is complete).

To Calibrate :

• In Main Setup Menu, use “System”, then press

to highlight “Compass Cal”, then press .

• Press

Follow the prompts on screen:

to start.

• Press

• Slowly spin the upright meter around three (3) full times.

• Each rotation should take approximately 10 seconds.

• When calibration is nished, the screen will read “Cal Complete”.

to exit to Main Menu.

• Press

To verify the digital compass’ accuracy, test it against a

or to highlight

compass; the Kestrel meter readings should be within ±5° of the reference compass or better. If readings appear incorrect, simply run the calibration routine again. Unit should be held vertically with the back facing the direction being measured.

Calibr ation Error Me ssages

There are three error messages that the meter may display during calibration. Press screen and run the calibration again.

• Magnetic Batteries: The magnetic eld of the Kestrel’s batteries is interfering with calibration. Try opening the battery door, rotate one or both batteries, and run the calibration again. If error persists, try using a dierent brand of battery.

• Too Slow: The unit was spun too slowly during calibration.

• Too Fast: The unit was spun too quickly during

calibration.

Figure 1

to exit the error

COMPASS CALIBRATION AND SETUP CONT.

Measur ing Direct ion

The Kestrel 4500’s digital compass must be vertical to achieve accurate readings. Keep the unit positioned as close to vertical as possible when using any compassrelated feature. After opening the battery door, you must re-run the calibration routine or readings will not register. For maximum accuracy, the impeller should be spinning while measuring to eliminate its magnetic pull.

True Nort h vs. Magnetic N orth Readi ngs

The Kestrel 4500's default Direction display mode is Magnetic North.

To view Direction in True North mode:

• Go to weather mode in the Direction screen, press or to choose your mode.

• Use

• If you choose True North, use

tion”, then use location.

To measure Di rection:

• Hold the unit vertically and point the BACK of the unit

toward the direction you want to measure.

• The unit will display the cardinal direction and degrees.

The Direction measurement does not record Max and Average and will display N/A on that mode screen.

or to input the Variation for your

to highlight “Varia-

Measur ing Headwind /Tailwind & Cros swind

The Kestrel 4500 automatically calculates Headwind and Crosswind with respec t to a runway or target direction. You must rst set the “Heading” to view these measurements:

while on the Headwind or Crosswind screen.

• Press or to choose “Auto Set” or “Manual Set”,

• Use

then press

In Auto Set: Point the unit down the runway or target, then press

In Manual Set: Use or target heading, and press

Both screens will always display the Magnetic Nor th heading at the top (even if the Direction screen is set to True North mode).

• After setting the heading, scroll to the desired

parameter and orient the Kestrel so the wind blows directly through the impeller.

Info for Wind Speed & Direction of re for ballistic solutions can be found on pg 16.

to automatically set the heading.

or to enter the known runway

to save.

BAROME TRIC PRESSU RE & ALTITUDE SETUP

Setting Barometric Pressure & Altitude

The Kestrel meter measures “station pressure”, which changes in response to both changes in altitude and changes in atmosphere. Barometric pressure is a measurement of the air pressure adjusted to sea level.

Station pressure is displayed if the reference altitude is set to zero. This is needed for ballistics solutions as well.

Be sure to adjust your reference measurements for altitude and/or barometric pressure when you change your location or when there have been dramatic changes in weather conditions.

Obtaining Station Pressure

• In the Main Setup Menu, use or to highlight “Weather Mode”, then press .

• Use or to scroll to highlight the “BARO” screen

• Press to enter the “REF BARO” screen

• Set the reference altitude to zero for station pressure. Set it to your current altitude if you want barometric pressure

Baro—Displays current Barometric Pressure Ref Alt—Use Sync Alt—Use or to switch “On” and sync the Baro

reading to the “Altitude” screen

When “Sync Alt” is turned “On,” the current

“Density Altitude” screen data is calculated from the

absolute values of station pressure, relative humidit y and temp., and is not aected by the reference values entered in the “Baro” and “Altitude” screens.

to set the known Altitude

Barometric Pressure data is automatically used as a reference for Altitude, and both screens will show accurate readings.

REF ALT

Alt 877 Ref.Baro 30.97

SyncBaro On

adjust exit

Setting Altitude

• In the Main Setup Menu, use or to highlight “Weather Mode”, then press .

• Use or to highlight the “Baro” screen

• Press to enter the “REF ALT” screen

• Set the reference altitude to your current altitude.

When “Sync Baro” is turned “On,” the current Altitude data is automatically used as a reference for Barometric Pressure, and both screens will show accurate readings.

REF BARO

Baro 30.15 Ref.Alt 115

SyncAlt On

adjust exit

syncs

REF BARO

Baro

Ref.Alt 877

SyncAlt

adjust exit

REF ALT

Alt

Ref.Baro 30.15

SyncBaro

adjust exit

BASIC NAVIGATION & GET TING STARTED

THE KES TREL HAS SEV EN NAVIGATION KEYS:

Capture

Left-Arrow

Power On/ Escape Key

Quick Tips:

Your Shooter's Weather Meter with Applied Ballistics (AB) can operate in Weather mode or AB mode. For instructions related to Weather Mode, see page 23.

Compass must be calibrated in order for directional features to work in AB mode. Compass calibration can be done from the main menu screen. See page 7.

Pressing When a ballistics parameter is underlined, this indicates

that the value cannot be changed manually on the current screen. This is either because it is a calculated value or determined by the sensors. Press and hold for 2 seconds to power down the Kestrel regardless of current

Up-Arrow

Down-Arrow

Backlight

Right-Arrow

Center Key

will allow you to exit out of a particular screen.

screen. Press twice in rapid succession to instantly change between Weather mode and AB mode. Any changes in information are automatically saved upon exiting the current screen. There are four exceptions to this rule where an “accept” screen appears upon exiting: the Target Range estimator, the Target Speed estimator, and the MV and DSF Calibration screens.

Getting started with AB Mode

The three main data input groups are gun, target and environment. The aiming solutions for Elevation, Windage and Coriolis are displayed on the Main AB screen.

1. Gun Information 2. Target

GUN Laru308

MV 2550FPS

DC G1

BC 0.475

BW 175gr

BD 0.308in

BL 1.240in

ZR 100m

BH 2.75in

RT 11.25in

RTd Right

EUNIT mil

Eclck n/a

Wunit mil

Wclck n/a

Cal MV

Cal DSF

View DSF

Clear DSF

TARGET

Active

DoF

Ide

Icos

WS1

WS2

A box indicates amount of data shown on display.

Data below box indicates additional information available by pressing .

*Note: Please see p. 28 for abbreviation glossary.

1.000º

0mph

5mph

10mph

Yes

1000

000º

0˚

L-R

12oc

GUN SELECTION

3. Environment

ENVIRONMENT

Lat

Temp

Dalt

store up to 16 guns. A user-created gun is dened as a gun that has been modied for one or more parameter values of the New Gun or any of the precongured guns. A precongured gun is any gun loaded onto the Kestrel using the AB Gun Loader software.

When a New Gun is modied, the name instantly changes to UserGunX (where X is a number sux to ensure the name is unique). If a precongured gun (whose name ends in a letter) is modied, a number will appear at the end to create a unique name. If a precongured gun (whose name ends in a number) is modied, a letter will appear at the end to create a unique name.

• Turn on the unit. From the Main AB screen, press to access the Main Setup Menu.

These three main data groups

determine an accurate ring

42˚

solution. The rst step in getting a

75˚F

ring solution is selecting your gun.

29.48inHg

50%

Gun Selection

1729ft

The Gun Selection screen allows you

Yes

to choose a precongured gun or

Onetgt

build your own. You may create and

• Press to highlight “Gun Selection.”

• Press to enter Gun Selection Screen. Here, you may choose a precongured

exit

gun or build your own.

To Choose a Precongured Gun:

• Press or to scroll through the dierent guns.

• Press to turn your selected gun “on” or “o.” “On” means the gun is available to be selected in AB mode. “O” means the gun is not available to be selected. For example, setting multiple guns to “On” allows you to quickly switch gun congurations without going back to the Main Setup Menu.

Laru308

User Gun2 User Gun 300WinMag2

• Use to highlight New Gun and press .

• This will take you to the gun information screen where you may adjust all gun parameters. Press up or down to highlight the gun parameters.

MaruGun308 AR15a 300WinMag1

New Gun

GUN New Gun

11 Gun select

• Pressing on a gun gives you the option to edit or delete this gun.

To Build A G un:

You can build and name your gun on the gun selection screen.

• Use and to adjust each

11 Gun select

value.

• To name your gun, scroll up to highlight “Gun” and press .

• You will see a cursor appear under the rst letter of New Gun.

• Use the and buttons to scroll through the alphabet

2900f

and numbers 0-9 and several symbols. Pressing inserts a

0.533

space between characters. You

190

can choose between upper and lowercase letters.

GUN LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCREEN

• Once you’re on the desired letter, use to move the cursor to the next space in the gun name. Continue until the gun name is complete.

• When gun name is complete, press button to save. (Gun will also automatically save upon exiting screen.)

• Press to exit from the current screen.

Gun Library

There is room in the Kestrel for up to 16 guns. While it is possible to copy a precongured gun to your Kestrel and modify the parameter, you should use New Gun and input all the parameters to ensure MV and DSF Cal are accurately inputted. You can build a gun library on a computer using the AB Gun Loader software, and download the new gun library to the Kestrel (either via Bluetooth® connection or the Kestrel wired interface). Downloading a new gun library will automatically overwrite the previous guns in the Kestrel.

*Note: You should upload any user-created guns to the AB Gun Loader software that you want to save before downloading new guns. The new guns will overwrite current stored Kestrel guns.

Gun Information Screen

Once you have selected your gun, you’re now ready to enter or modify all relevant parameters pertaining to the set-up of your rie. These parameters include muzzle velocity, drag curve, ballistic coecient, bullet weight, bullet diameter, bullet length, zero range, zero height, zero oset, bore height, rie twist, rie twist direction and sight adjustment (click).

• On the Gun Information screen, use buttons to

highlight the gun parameters.

• Use and to adjust the value.

• Press to enter the highlighted parameter’s screen. Here you are also able to adjust the parameter’s value as well as the unit of measure. (For example, meters per second to feet per second.)

• Press to exit to Main AB screen once all values are correct.

See below for more information on Muzzle Velocity, Drag Curves and Calibration.

Muzzle Velocity

• Use and to highlight “MV.”

• Press to enter MV screen.

• Use and to adjust the value.

Notes on Muzzle Velocity

• When a bullet is in the transonic range, a small dot will appear to the left of the muzzle velocity value (gure 1).

• When a bullet is in the subsonic range, a larger dot will appear to the left of the muzzle velocity value (gure 2).

GUN Laru308

• In cases where the bullet is supersonic, there are no dots

Figure 1 Figure 2

next to the muzzle velocity value.

•

1360fps

0.470

175

GUN Laru308

1103fps

•

0.470

175

+ 28 hidden pages