Cactus load tuning challenge..............

[Don]

For those interested and following the atmospheric conditions as they pertain to this years Cactus classic and tournament tuning, yesterdays conditions;

Density Altitude DA reading= at 8am was at 1618 feet and transitioned to 3212 feet by 4pm in the afternoon.

Temperature= 53 degree F. to 75 degree F., 8am to 4pm.

Humidity=44 percent to 23 percent, 8am to 4pm.

Windspeeds for the day= 10 mph or less

If these daily general atmospheric condition changes hold for the next couple of days and thru the tournament weekend, than atmospheric tuning should play a big part in determining the eventual winners. Powder measures are going to have to be spun and barrel tuners cranked, with 20 degree temperature changes, doubling of DA, and humidity in the 20 percent range, it should be interesting.

Most interesting to me, will be to see if the competitors shooting N133, are able to hold their tune as humidity ranges from 44 percent in the morning to 23 percent at the end of the day..............this is usually not a good sign for N133 powder users at the Cactus with such borderline to low humidity ranges, and where the 8208 users can come to the forefront.

We shall see.....................Don

 

[wolf gray]

Cactus

Don,
We appreciate the info. Keep us posted !

Best,

Dan Batko

 

[eww1350]

Dan...

Tell them how to adjust their tuners for 30-45mph winds..

 

[RL Weikart]

Don

Which airport parameters were you using to get your readings for calculations?

 

[Don]

Which airport parameters were you using to get your readings for calculations?

Hi Bob, I am using the Weatherunderground station at the Carefree Crossing, which I believe is about 1 mile from the Ben Avery range, and the parameters used for the Wahiduddin calculator, see below;.............Don

http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KAZPHOEN66&month=2&day=27&year=2008

http://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_da_rh.htm

 

[Pete Wass]

Question about the process

As one is going through the day monitoring the DA does the Barometric Pressure have to be changed or does the measuring device do it automatically. My experience is from Aircraft Altimiters and I can remember having to dial them in to the pressure at the location one is at. Thanks, Pete

 

[JerrySharrett]

As one is going through the day monitoring the DA does the Barometric Pressure have to be changed or does the measuring device do it automatically. My experience is from Aircraft Altimiters and I can remember having to dial them in to the pressure at the location one is at. Thanks, Pete

Pete, most shooters that are monitoring DA use a Kestrel 4000. They ain't real cheap, about $225-$330. (MSRP is $329 but some places like Amazon.com sell them for less). The good feature of this device is that it runs all the time and records all the time.

Each register, wind, wind chill, rel humidity, wet bulb, heat index, baro pressure, altitude, density altitude, etc (I don't have one in front of me) is allowed 200 data points. You can set the data point registers to be updated every minute, 2 minuted half hour, etc. So, I set mine to record every half hour. That gives me 2 1/2 days of data I can go back to look at. The new software version stores 2000 points in each register.

Other than being a gadget that may be useful, for example, coming back home from the Super Shoot on I-77, I can go back and look in the altitude register and see every mountain, graphically. More to the point, I can look back for 2 1/2 days during a shoot to see, for example, what the temp and DA were at 8AM, 11:30AM, 2PM, etc., yesterday and the day before.
http://www.nkhome.com/ww/4000.html

As to setting the baro or altitude, yes, they have to be corrected periodically. What I do is, in my log book, I have the altitude of each range I shoot. When I get there I can set the altitude on the Kestrel, then on that screen it also displays the baro. Then I go to the baro screen and set it to the baro I just read and I am good to go.

 

[wolf gray]

Tuners

Eddie,
You sit in the car,tune in Led Zepplin, and wish the bullets downrange. It's a lot less dusty that way !
Dan

 

[eww1350]

Oh..!

I thought you turned the tuner counterclockwise for a right to left wind...and clockwise for a left to right wind...
Just turn it more for winds at a higher velocity...

Man I would love to see some national level shooters try our winds at SAGC....I shot some today after 2pm, and the winds were switching from 4 oclock all the way to 8 oclock every 20-30 seconds and gusting up to 12 mph during the switches...
Just wastin' bullets...

 

[RL Weikart]

Don

Thanks for the info. That is the same calculator to find the DA that I have been using for my calculations. The underground web site is very much appreciated.

Bob