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With the introduction of the Kestrel Sportsman LINK, the company has delivered professional grade technology to the long range shooting enthusiast and hunter. Check it out!
With the introduction of the Kestrel Sportsman LINK, the company has delivered professional grade technology to the long range shooting enthusiast and hunter. Check it out!
With the introduction of the Kestrel Sportsman LINK, the company has delivered professional grade technology to the long range shooting enthusiast and hunter. Check it out!
Copyright 2016, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.
Kestrel Sportsman and Kestrel Link Ballistics
2016
Kestrel Sportsman and Kestrel Link Ballistics Your entry
to accurate long range shooting By: Sal Palma Long range shooters confront four challenges: the shooter himself, the weapon system, ammunition and the environment. With exception of shooter related factors, the degree to which the shooter has control over the successful shot is limited. Of the four obstacles to precision shooting, environmental variables are by far the more difficult. For that reason, industry developed tools that allow the shooter to collect real-time accurate environmental data upon which to calculate a reasonable firing solution. Enter the weather meter.
Military and Police snipers are no strangers to
the challenges of accurate long range shooting. The more notable of these are the often unpredictable and continuously changing environmental conditions. Forgetting for a moment the variability inherent in ammunition loads, ammunition temperatures, bullet seating depth and how the shooter was holding his tongue at the time the trigger was pulled, the reality of long range shooting is that once the bullet leaves the muzzle, everything is out of your control. So as proficient marksmen we collect data and make an estimate of the proper elevation and windage needed to have a projectile strike an 18 inch target at 800 to 1000 meters (the generally accepted outside range for the 7.62 x 51mm round.)
When first introduced to the tactical precision
shooting community, the weather meter only performed the limited functions of an anemometer, barometer and thermometer. The shooter was then required use the data points to approximate proper windage and elevation. It certainly was no trifle benefit, and before snipers started carrying weather meters they either had to close the target or make a best guess estimate of what atmospheric conditions were. They also had to pour through a dope book to determine the firing solution. Later renditions of the weather meter would include a digital compass which provided the shooter with an accurate wind direction; however, all this required the shooter to keep relying on his dope book and experience to arrive at a firing solution. Industry responded by incorporating ballistics software in the weather meters architecture; resulting in a system that provides Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
Kestrel Sportsman and Kestrel Link Ballistics
the shooter with elevation and windage
adjustments calculated using real time environmental data. For sentimental reason or in the interest of redundancy, it may never replace the venerable dope book but it certainly has accelerated its demise. The next step in the development process was to introduce an r.f. communications link back to a smart device so that the meter calculated ballistics solution and environmental data could be displayed remotely on the shooters smart device. Enter the Kestrel Sportsman LINK and Kestrel Link Ballistics app. In this review, Ill be taking you through the system starting with the Sportsman LINK, a brief background on Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) and concluding with the Kestrel Link Ballistics app., but first Ill quickly run through the financials. To gain access to the latest technology, youll need to invest just north of $1,000 on a meter, smart device and tripod. You may already have some of these components and if thats the case you are in Fat City. If you own or are considering an Android device, which I strongly recommend for a variety of reasons unrelated to this review, youll want to make sure that youre at Android OS 4.3 or higher. Getting back to the financial decision, is the investment worth it? I guess the answer to that depends on your shooting skills, and I am not opposed to someone learning or sharpening Kentucky windage skills, but even professional precision shooters achieve more consistent hits when using a weather meter and ballistic calculator. If you are limiting your horizons to hitting a target out to 300 meters you may want to rethink plunking down a grand; however if you can see
2016
yourself exploiting the limits of your rifle and
caliber to the their full operational range then a ballistic computer and weather meter are indispensable. Lets take a look at one example. Your target is 600 meters out and you have a 12 o clock 13 mph wind, do you use your dope book data of 3.7 mills, do you decrease elevation or do you add elevation? While youre at it, what effect does temperature and barometric pressure have on your firing solution? The answer to my question is add elevation in a headwind, but by how much? I think you can see that making an accurate long range shot is a little more involved than looking through the sights and squeezing the trigger, and looking through a dope book trying to find a firing solution that approximates current conditions is not practical and very time consuming. Your $1,000 investment now begins to make more sense. The Kestrel Sportsman LINK is a member of the 5000 series line of Kestrel wind meters designated the 5700. The meter integrates ballistics calculation with environmental functions that include all of the meteorological data like station pressure, temperature, wind speed and wind direction, pressure altitude, density altitude, etc., etc. The ballistics function is handled internal to the meter using Applied Ballistics software optimized specifically for the Kestrel weather meter1. Weather or Ballistic modes are selectable via the options/exit button on the front of the meter, and selecting one mode, or the other, does not disable the unselected modes functionality. Everything is still there, including
The Kestrel Sportsman can also be used with external
ballistics apps like Strelok Pro version 3.1.3 and higher. Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
Kestrel Sportsman and Kestrel Link Ballistics
your ballistic solution; you simply wont see it
on the meters display. On the ballistics side, Kestrel added spin drift correction in the 5700 Sportsman. Spindrift is a gyroscopic effect imparted to the bullet as it travels through the air. Its a directional point of impact shift caused by the bullet spin applied as it moves through the bores rifling. Right hand rifling imparts right spin drift and left hand rifling imparts left spin drift; however, spin drift is the least of your concerns unless youre shooting 800 meters and beyond. However, it is there and becomes increasingly more significant as range to the target increases. The Applied Ballistics software in the Sportsman makes accounting for Spin Drift very easy. Simply scroll to the Environment submenu and set Spin Drift to Yes. The software will then correct for spin drift when calculating your firing solution. Very nice to have, just set it to yes and never think about spin drift again. Unless you just enjoy worrying!
Continuing on with the ballistics package, the,
with Applied Ballistics software, supports both G1 and G7 drag functions. I prefer using the G7 drag function because it is the military standard
2016
for all the traditional military calibers but
beyond that it produces a consistently better drag curve with correspondently better results. When using G7, youll notice a lower ballistic coefficient for your bullet, which in my opinion is probably closer to what the true aerodynamic performance of the bullet in flight is. One very nice feature included in the Sportsman is the flexibility to independently display wind and elevation corrections in mils, TMOA, SMOA or clicks. As much as I like this feature, one area where I would like to see a small change is in how the firing solution is displayed. Taking a look at the picture below, the ballistic solution displayed as 9.43U 0.97L (Wind 1) and 0.89R (Wind 2) I happen to know that my elevation value is expressed in mils and my wind in clicks, but what if you forget what you defined it as. A nice addition to the next firmware revision could be something like subscripting the units being displayed; for example, 9.43Um and 0.97Lc to indicate 9.43 mils up and 0.97 clicks left.
At the current software revision, v 1.05, if you
select to display the firing solution in clicks, the software displays the value in two significant digits, for example 0.97L as you can see above. Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
Kestrel Sportsman and Kestrel Link Ballistics
I would like to see Kestrel implement rounding
so rather than showing 0.97L, the software displays 1L. Ive never encountered a magnified optic capable of a fractional click value. In its latest Sportsman, Kestrel made a couple of physical changes that merit naming. The meter is now powered by a single AA battery instead of the familiar 2 AAAs. They also moved the battery compartment to the rear of the meter isolating it from the mother board. The change protects the motherboard from a leaking battery. The display screen was also improved to provide a higher resolution and improved visibility in bright light. The Sportsman features Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) which Kestrel markets as Bluetooth Smart, you may also here it called Version 4.0+. This version of the Bluetooth specification offers two relevant features for the precision shooter. First, the extremely low peak, average and idle mode power consumption significantly extends battery life. Second, it allows for some of the tightest security in the industry with 128bit AES data encryption. Bluetooth LE offers other benefits that software developers should consider but are beyond the scope of this writing. The Sportsmans LINK opens the door to interfacing with external devices and sensors like Bushnells ELITE CONX laser range finder. To take full advantage of the Kestrel LINK technology, the company developed an Android app that I had the opportunity to beta test last year. The Kestrel Link Ballistics application puts the full
2016
power of the Kestrel Sportsman LINK at the
shooters finger tips via a remote smart device. The app has a number of very useful features; for example, using the application a user has the ability to create several bullet/gun profiles.
Using the screen above, the shooter can supply
the app bullet data, gun data, scope data and muzzle velocity / temperature table data. The shooter enters parameters like bullet weight, ballistic coefficient, muzzle velocity, scope elevation and wind units. I like to use mils for elevation and clicks for wind, but the app will support TMOA and SMOA also. Additionally, the shooter can collect muzzle velocity and temperature data that will be used in the ballistic calculations. Once a shooter has created the profile, he can save it to the smart device and upload it to the Sportsman meter. The end result is a database containing all of the bullet / gun profiles you intend to use.
Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
Kestrel Sportsman and Kestrel Link Ballistics
2016
well worth its cost. Using this arrangement, you
can mount the meter on a tripod and continuously capture wind data (speed and direction.)
The Sportsman meter will store 3 bullet/gun
profiles and the Sportsman Elite will hold 16 bullet gun profiles. Although you can build profiles in the app and store them on the smart device, the user must select the active profile on the meter itself. Id like to see that changed in future releases of the Kestrel Link Ballistics app so that the operator has full control of directly from the smart device without having to interact directly with the meter. Nielsen Kellerman markets the Sportsman meter in three configurations
Coyote Brown: $419 (No Bluetooth LE)
Coyote Brown with LiNK only: $519 Coyote Brown with LiNK and Vane Mount: $559
I strongly suggest that you purchase the
Sportsman with LINK (Bluetooth LE) and the Vane. Itll set you back an extra $140 but it is
The firing solution is presented with the screen
shown above. Here youll find elevation and wind corrections for real-time environmental data. In this scenario I have some light wind from the 3:30 direction. The wind corrections displayed also includes the spin drift correction. Here the user can also adjust range by swiping the screen or using the designated + or controls. Range adjustments can be fine or coarse. The range steps are selected through the settings screen, under range swipe, and the shooter can select a variety of adjustment steps. I used 1 to achieve the finest possible control. Lastly, if you purchased the LINK version of the Sportsman the App if free! Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
Kestrel Sportsman and Kestrel Link Ballistics
2016
What's new with the Kestrel Sportsman Weather
Meter with Applied Ballistics over the previous Kestrel 4500 Sportsman series:
Bluetooth LINK to Smartphones / Mobiel / Android / IOS
Spin Drift - this was not on the 4500 Sportsman Takes 1 AA battery (instead of 2 AAA) Battery door is in the back, sealed away from the motherboard, should your battery leak as was common with all the 4000 series
Improved high resolution screen for any lighting (even sunlight) and easy on your eyes.
Intuitive user-interface screen navigation
Multiple Languages: English, French, German, Spanish Scratch and breakage-resistant window All meters include both options of Red (NV - Night Vision) & White backlights.
Slightly bigger, not really noticeable difference. Fits same cases.
Roughly 10,000 data points.
Kestrel Sportsman Weather Meter with Applied
Ballistics Features
Nielsen Kellerman (NK) has come a long way
since introducing the wind meter into the tactical and military space. With the integration of ballistic software with traditional environmental functions, NK has ratcheted the benefits available to a precision marksman. With the introduction of LINK technology theyve added still another layer of performance. On the aggregate, NKs developers have effectively shortened the kill chain and measurably improved shooter accuracy. With its Sportsman line, NK makes professional grade technology available to long range enthusiasts and hunters. If your target resides beyond 300 meters or if you want the ultimate in precision, youll want to give serious consideration to the Kestrel Sportsman LINK. Check it out! -SP Manufacturer Specifications
Employs the enhanced Applied Ballistics G1/G7 solver, including
Aerodynamic Jump, Spin Drift and Coriolis corrections to achieve accurate long-range shots.
Muzzle Velocity Truing allows for accurate measurement of bullet
speed without a chronograph.
Optional LiNK connectivity powered by Bluetooth Smart provides
wireless communication to mobile devices and computers. and integration with LiNK compatible laser range finders for improved speed and accuracy.
Choice of solution units (Mils, MOA, or clicks)- works with any gun or targeting scope.
Weather mode offers the full environmental measurements, storage
and charting capabilities of the Kestrel 5500 Weather Meter, including wind speed, direction, crosswind, temperature, humidity, pressure and altitude.
Large, hi-res, hi-contrast, graphic display is perfectly readable in the
brightest sunlight. Includes both bright white and night-visionpreserving red backlight.
Kestrel LiNK for Ballistics app on iOS and Android provides
convenient gun management and backup.
Rugged (drop tested to MIL-STD-810G standards), waterproof
(sealed to IP67 standards) and floats.
Protective pouch, neck lanyard and Lithium AA battery included.
5-year warranty
Copyright 2016, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
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