Kestrel 4500 Bluetooth connection options

[pburtman]

My old Motorola turbo 2 went down and I got a Google pixel as a replacement but now I can't connect with my Kestrel 4500 BT. What is the best option for connection? Kestrel suggests selling the 4500 on eBay and buying a new model. On Every Day Sniper Frank was talking about getting a cheap windows phone for running ballistic apps. Help and opinions would be appreciated.

 

[Kestrel Ballistics]

What firmware is on your 4500? When you start up the unit, there is an "Iss 4.xx" number shown by the battery %. Let me know what that is. There was a change with Android Bluetooth protocol and your unit might just need a firmware update to connect to the Pixel.

 

[pburtman]

4.85. Thanks for the help.

 

[Kestrel Ballistics]

So 4.83 had the fix for the Android in it, so you should be ok with 4.85. When you scan for Bluetooth devices with the Pixel, does the Kestrel not even show up?

 

[pburtman]

It shows up as an available device but it won't connect

 

[Kestrel Ballistics]

It shows up as an available device but it won't connect

Do you ever get prompted for the PIN? You may want to try a soft reset on the Kestrel. Take the battery out, hold down the power button for 30 seconds and then put the battery back in. Also make sure Range is on High.

 

[pburtman]

I enter the PIN and it pairs with the phone but it fails when I try to connect. I did the soft reset but it didn't help.

 

[DocUSMCRetired]

The Google Pixel phones have known Bluetooth issues. This is across the board, for many consumer products. The first generation was exceptionally bad. This could be a product of your phone.

 

[pburtman]

So my best option short of using a different device would be to enter the numbers from my kestrel directly into my applied ballistics app?

 

[Kestrel Ballistics]

So my best option short of using a different device would be to enter the numbers from my kestrel directly into my applied ballistics app?

It appears so. If you wanted to send in the Kestrel just to see if there are Bluetooth issues with it, we can do that as well.