Kestrel Basic Series Vane Mount

Works great but I'm really confused about the AA battery comment in the description and even mentions that it comes with a battery in the box. This vane is not battery powered and my Kestrel 2700 runs on a single 2032 watch battery. Really like the live updates on wind direction and speed for shooting.

Item was as expected. Good product.

Easy to set up, greatly improves confidence in the wind speed and direction readings. I have a Kestrel 3500, which has 3 wind-speed metrics: instantaneous, average (over the time since the unit is turned on), and maximum (same time interval). Averaging while holding a meter in your hand has its downsides. As for wind direction, obviously this is better than other methods. The only direction readings you will get are the ones you make by eye, lining up a compass with the direction of the vane and rod. However, on one occasion wind was shifting so frequently I shot video of the vane spinning clockwise and counterclockwise. You're not going to get average direction so you have to pay attention. In my case the shifting wind just led to a comment in my field notes. More caveats re wind direction: You have to twist the vane so it's perfectly vertical, and I don't see a perfect way to do that - seems to me it has to be done by eye. Also, there's no way to lock the vane in place - it spins freely so shifting wind means the vane will shift, and you will get only an approximate wind direction. Mainly an issue if you are taking a heading in degrees. If all you need is "SSE" or "WNW" it's usually not an issue. But I would have liked to see some kind of direction lock so I can lock it up at the end of a monitoring period and come back to it later to read the heading. Sometimes when the clock stops I'm too busy to do anything but take the numeric readings (average and max), but whatever's happening I have to get out the compass at that moment too, don't put it off or the wind could shift. Another caveat: The carrying bag has no zipper and I fear one of these days the rod will just fall out and get lost. The product comes in three pieces - the vane, the rod, and the adapter mount (the adapter mount has a cradle that holds the Kestrel, has a hole to fit the rod, has a threaded hole to fit your tripod's camera shoe, has a thumbwheel to tighten the adapter mount onto the shoe, and has some kind of small bearing that lets the Kestrel and vane rotate freely with the wind). I don't have a Bluetooth-connected Kestrel. I think the ones that fit this unit (Kestrel 3550 series) will only take `snapshots' of the wind readings, not continuous readings. I don't think this unit is compatible with Kestrel 5000-series meters, which I think are all Bluetooth-enabled. They seem to be bigger than the 1000-3000 series, and I don't see how anything bigger will fit in the cradle. I imagine the wind vane for the 5000 series is a different product - don't get this one if you have a 5000. Finally, I have had to tell my research partner - no this product is not going to help you get a strip chart showing continuously changing wind speed. I am not so sure that Kestrel supports that kind of capability in a portable unit, considering the small battery and resulting limits to the functionality of Kestrel's Bluetooth-enabled units like 3550 and 5000-series meters.

Works well with Kestrel 2700 meter. Adds ability to see wind direction added to speed.

I didn’t realize how interesting wind speed and direction could be.

I made the mistake of thinking this was going to be compatible with my Kestrel 5700. It is not. Its made for the tiny kestrel.

I was pleasantly surprised that this Kestrel Van Mount Basic Kit included a nice bag\pouch with Kestrel logo and drawstrings. The components are high quality and well made

If you shoot intermediate to long range, this is a must have for your set up. This particular vane will work with the 2700 series Kestrel. If you run one of the 4000 or 5000 series Kestrels, buy the vane assembly designed for those models.

Très bon service , produit de qualité , très soucieux de répondre à nos problème . A 1 Merci.

Arrived missing most of the critical parts - returned.