Originally published in “Shooting Sports News”
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We reviewed the Kestrel 4500 in 2008 as a useful for target shooters and hunters, but had not had the opportunity to take it into the mountains ourselves. That changed in February 2010, when I traveled to the Floridas Mountains of New Mexico on the Mexican border to hunt for Persian Ibex.

The Floridas are among the roughest mountains in the Rocky Mountain chain. They are simply large piles of disintegrating conglomerate rock, shale and cactus rising straight up from the desert s floor. No gentle slopes to gradually work your way up; all access are by goat trails at incredible angles.

The ibex is well suited to this terrain as their hooves have a soft inner area which is surrounded by the hard material of the outer hoof. In essence, they function like suction cups, allowing the critter to go anywhere they wish in the rocky terrain. Often, into areas that not even Spiderman could traverse. One of the guides remarked that Ibex are gyro- stabilized with flypaper feet, capable of walking on a six inch wide ledge at a 75 degree angle. Of course, humans are not.
I recorded the winds, air temperature and barometric pressure several times each day during our hunt. Although the skies were clear and the winds were mild (0-5mph), conditions can change drastically in those mountains. For six days, the weather was perfect and the K4500 indicated no changes were coming. On the afternoon of the seventh day, the winds abruptly increased to 25 mph. We were so high up and precariously perched on the ledge of a cliff that I asked my guide to take the wind reading. (I don t like the edges of cliffs when the winds are howling.) When he handed me the Kestrel back, I checked the barometric pressure and found it had dropped drastically in the past thirty minutes and so had the temperature (from 60 degrees down to 50).

Although I am not a meteorologist, I surmised that with those two parameters tanking, a major weather front was about to move it. There was still some time for hunting left, so we stayed put, but I monitored the K4500 every half hour.

Just before dark, I shot a nice Ibex with my Savage muzzle loader. After a brutal climb down to the Ibex, we began the process of dressing and caping. I checked the Kestrel again and the temperature was still dropping, from 50 degrees to 35 degrees, and the barometric pressure was even lower. I told my guide that we had better hurry up and get out of these mountains, NOW! We called in the other two guides to assist us in packing out the meat and headed down of the mountain.

We arrived at our base camp at 9:00 PM, having hiked for three hours in the dark. By now, the winds had died down and everyone was wondering if the K4500 had given us a false alarm. We had our answer by the next morning. Clouds had rolled in overnight and snow covered the mountains. By mid-morning, the winds quickly reached 45 mph at our base camp, creating a sandstorm that made it impossible to see the base of the mountains and it was cold as hell.

Bottom line, if we had been in those mountains when the storm hit, it would not have been good. It was obvious to everyone that the K4500 saved our party from a potentially disastrous situation. As I said in my original article, if you are going into the mountains, you should take a Kestrel. It is the cheapest insurance policy you can buy.

Originally published in “Guns and Shooting Online”
Author: Dr. Jim Clary

Originally published in “Farm and Dairy” Magazine
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If it seems like everyone and their mother is introducing a tablet PC, sometime this year and that’s because they are. Apple, Lenovo, and several others will be launching PC tablets in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors, but nothing that comes close to the Agiz7 ruggedized tablet from Handheld US of Corvallis, Oregon. Handheld’s little gem comes packed with a host of features in a package that meets or exceeds MIL-STD-810G for ruggedness.

The Algiz7 comes with an Intel Atom 1.6 GHz processor, 2 Gb of DDR2 RAM and a 64GB solid state HD all of which will be running under Microsoft Windows 7 Professional. This little hot rod has more computing power than the laptop this story was written on, but I am not done yet.

The Algiz also comes with Bluetooth, WLAN and GPS, a built in 2 mega-pixel camera with LED light, optional 3G cellular capability for high speed data transmission over GSM, UMTS and EVDO. This appliance is usable, anywhere in the world, because it is GobiTM 2000 ready, so it will operate on GSM and CDMA networks. Pick your frequency! The antennas are built in so there’s nothing to snag on or break.

The all-important display uses Handheld’s unique MaxViewTM screen technology, which is the latest in outdoor view ability, ensuring the user the best outdoor screen visibility available on the market. The Algiz 7 comes with a hot-swappable 2600 mAh dual battery pack that lets you change batteries without shutting down thus giving you the run time needed from your tablet. Finally for the icing on the cake, this little power house weighs a mere 2.4 pounds making it one of the lightest tablets available.

Because the platform is integrated under Windows 7, you can rest assured of having access to a million applications. It’s certainly not hard to imagine and Algiz 7 running a ballistic application that communicates with remote sensors using Bluetooth, like the new Kestrel 4000 series weather meter, to deliver precise long range shot placement; concurrently streaming data to command and control.

Battlefields are now truly net-centric and appliances like Handheld’s Algiz 7 are sharpening the tip of the spear!

Read the original article: www.soldiersystems.net

As we move from winter towards spring, the weather can change rapidly. Interesting weather can make for interesting photos, but in order to be prepared for what might be coming, it helps to be armed with as much data as you can. Kestrel handheld weather meters make this a breeze, if you’ll pardon the pun.
I really like gadgets. I’ve found that this tendency is not uncommon among photographers. A couple of years ago I came across Kestrel meters while searching the internet for something unrelated. Manufactured by Nielsen- Kellerman based out of Chester Pennsylvania, Kestrel meters pack some amazing technology in a package less than five inches long and weighing around three and a half ounces. Basically, these things are very capable weather stations that you can fit in your pocket.

There are a range of models with a corresponding range of features. I went with the Kestrel 4000 which can measure and record temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, dew point, heat index, wind chill and more. It even logs data at set intervals and produces graphs so I can track trends. It runs on two AA batteries that last forever. The unit starts up quickly and the controls are quite responsive. There’s a built-in backlight so you can read it in the dark without a flashlight. Its waterproof and it floats. Street price for the Kestrel 4000 is [$339], a bargain for what it offers.

When I’m travelling, I can sometimes check weather online if I can find a Wi- Fi access point, but with the Kestrel 4000 I can keep tabs on incoming fronts even in the most remote locations. I can hang it unobtrusively near where I’m camped and let it do its thing. If the wind shifts direction or it looks threatening I can review its logs to gauge what might be coming my way. If the weather is awful but the barometric pressure starts to rise sharply I can assume it’s going to clear up soon. You get the idea.

Barometric pressure depends on knowing your altitude. The Kestrel actually measures station pressure, the actual pressure the air is currently pressing down with at your location. To convert this to true barometric pressure it needs a reference altitude, something that can be easily obtained with a GPS, another handy gadget I carry with me when travelling.

The manufacturer tests each unit and includes a certificate of conformity certifying its accuracy. I have a real weather station at home (a Davis wireless Vantage Pro 2) and have compared the Kestrel readings against it as well as other published weather sources for the area and the Kestrel does a competent job indeed. They do sell kits to recalibrate the relative humidity when needed but so far I haven’t really found a need.

Nielsen-Kellerman recently announced new Bluetooth capable models that are supposed to start shipping by the end of this month. Personally, while Bluetooth does sound cool as someone who likes gadgets, but I’m not really sure it’s all that necessary in a handheld weather meter. I care more about current and recent weather rather than long term data storage. The Kestrel 4000 on its own has plenty of memory for my needs. Set to record new measurements every half hour, the unit can hold over 41 days of data. I am unlikely to need more than that. With a stated Bluetooth range of up to 30 feet I guess it would be nice to see what the Kestrel reads without ever even going outside, but since Bluetooth models go for about $100 more than equivalent non-Bluetooth models, it would be hard to justify, even if I didn’t already own a Kestrel.

Kestrel meters are highly recommended not just for outdoor photographers but for anyone who needs accurate weather information when out in the wild.

Read original article: www.earthboundlight.com

“My thought was how am I going to know how fast the wind’s blowing? I guess I’ll have to get one of those cool Kestrel Pocket Wind Meters.”

The Idaho Statesmen
March 21, 2010
Author: Pete Zimowsky

Read the whole article:  Download PDF (676 KB)

Kestrel 4300 Construction Weather Tracker

The Kestrel 4300 Construction Weather Tracker from Nielsen-Kellerman now has integrated Bluetooth technology for instant, continuous, on-site documentation. The Kestrel 4300 has been customized for construction professionals who place concrete. The rugged, waterproof tool measures and stores the evaporation rate; relative humidity; current, maximum and average wind speed; temperature; dewpoint; barometric pressure; heat stress index; wet bulb temperature; wind chill; altitude; and density altitude. It also allows for data charting.

Original article at: www.forconstructionpros.com