THE KESTREL 4500 NV METER REVIEW
negligible, yes - but often not! Shooting in the wind is a about a lot more than just numbers.
An optional docking cradle is available to connect the Kestrel up to your home PC with Horus software. Alternatively, the unit itself is available with ‘bluetooth’ so it can be done wirelessly.
Once your ballistic data is entered, you then move onto a ‘target’ screen into which you program the direction of fire (DOF). This is done by pointing the unit at your target from your firing position and pressing `Capture` to log it. This sets the compass bearing of your shot direction to correlate later with the wind direction. The distance to and angle of the target above or below horizontal must be entered manually. Strange, as the unit has so many sensors, I would have thought an inclinometer would have been incorporated as it is on the iPhone for example. Of course, a cosine indicator on a riflescope can also be used for an accurate reading, if one is fitted. If you are playing with this kind of gear, you are certainly more than likely to have access to a laser range-finder, as the distance to target is critical.
The next step is wind direction. This is the one area where human-error can certainly come into play and of course, ‘nature’ likes to mix things around. The unit is pointed into the prevailing wind direction, chosen by you, and `Capture` pressed to set the compass bearing. Two of the optional accessories available for the unit should almost be considered as a ‘must- have’ for serious users to get this step spot-on - a miniature tripod mount with the rotating base and wind vane. When the Kestrel is mounted on this, it will automatically rotate into the prevailing wind although at some point, the unit must be held firm for the Capture button to be pressed. I managed to test this – see ‘accessories’ at the end of this article.
Now we enter the wind speeds. This again, can be done either manually, entering a high and low value as you might with a normal anemometer or automatically using the inbuilt software. Now the magic starts.
If you run the unit on full automatic settings, the Horus software will immediately calculate your windage
and elevation setting for this specific shot scenario, constantly updating your firing solution as long as the unit remains facing into the wind. This is where I find my only real criticism of the Kestrel - if the wind is blowing from a 5 o’clock direction for example, how do you follow the readings when you can’t look directly at it whilst controlling a gun? This leads me to the conclusion that this is aimed more at the two- man team market. To be fair, I’m sure design features could have been incorporated to iron out these
The Kestrel easily slips into a cheek-pack
discrepancies but at what price? This is already what I would term an expensive, luxury item.
None of this detracts from the fact that while you are busy concentrating on your shot/target, the Horus software is quietly monitoring virtually every other variable that affects the firing solution. Some may remain virtually constant such as Coriolis and spin- drift corrections although these are mainly based on your geographical location and ‘range to target’ but certainly for a professional user, the ‘wait’ for a target may take hours or even days, at which point air temperature, pressure and humidity may alter vastly, with a corresponding effect on what may be a long shot at a target that appears only briefly - say no more. All these calculations can be simultaneously running on two separate targets by the way.
I tested the Kestrel on several occasions but its most impressive day was in a light, 3-8mph, 2 o’clock wind when shooting static clay pigeons at 500 yards. A 90mm diameter target represented a challenging target without wind. The Horus software gave me a constant readout of the required sight corrections,
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