Calypso - Quantum - kestrel - HUD Bluetooth Hokey Pokey

unclemoak

unclemoak

d.wilson mfg
Supporter
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 13, 2008
277
768
Englewood, CO
www.dwilsonmfg.com
#1
I recently switched to pairing a Calypso Mini AB to Quantum as a means to more accurately predict and manage wind calls for ELR and PRS type matches.

It seems like a Bluetooth nightmare to:

1. Pair the calypso to quantum to get your wind and update your range card (sector)

2. Disconnect the calypso and pair the kestrel 5700 to export the range card

3. Disconnect your phone, then pair with the HUD to update the range card on the gun.

4. Do it all over again for the next stage.


Is there a better way to do this? Seems like the ability to go straight from Quantum to the HUD would be ideal or at least the ability to connect to multiple devices at the same time like you can in GeoBallistics.

View attachment IMG_9595.jpeg
 
#5
I truly love AB Quantum. It is by far the best ballistics solver I have used bar none. My complaint is with the ecosystem, the same ecosystem that originally pulled me into the AB world. The 1 at a time connection to AB Q is a massive bottleneck and makes the entire system a pain in the ass.

I get that originally there was a Kestrel and a Range Finder and they both connected to a Garmin Foretrex. The technical and shooting world has progressed very far beyond that now. Only having 1 device connected to the phone is a limitation that is obviously causing problems. Bluetooth can have dozens of simultaneous connections. In this case, AB is enforcing that bottleneck. Not the phone or technology.

I REALLY hope the 10+ year old view of 1 connection at a time is revisited by AB.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chiroz, TBK, TrevK and 3 others
#6
When ABQ first came out, I thought it would be the central hub—the brain—while all other devices would act as peripherals, just feeding data into ABQ, which would handle the solving. But that’s not how it turned out. And like you said, it’s not a tech limitation—it’s policy. I get it though—if ABQ became the hub, it could make Kestrel obsolete, and the folks at AB and Kestrel are probably all shooting buddies
Maybe it’s time to explore app development.
 
#7
That is exactly how it SHOULD work. I mean you can connect an LRF and a Kestrel to a Garmin device at the same time. There is literally zero reason you shouldn’t be able to do the same thing on a phone.

As I said, I love AB Q, but there are a number of very simple things that you can’t do. Quick example is you can’t rename a device in the app. But since you can only have one freaking thing connected at once, I guess it ultimately doesn’t matter.
 
#8
vanrichten said:
That is exactly how it SHOULD work. I mean you can connect an LRF and a Kestrel to a Garmin device at the same time. There is literally zero reason you shouldn’t be able to do the same thing on a phone.

As I said, I love AB Q, but there are a number of very simple things that you can’t do. Quick example is you can’t rename a device in the app. But since you can only have one freaking thing connected at once, I guess it ultimately doesn’t matter.
Click to expand...
It is actually pretty complex to get something like this working on a phone. It's not as easy as a day of coding.
 
#9
DocUSMCRetired said:
It is actually pretty complex to get something like this working on a phone. It's not as easy as a day of coding.
Click to expand...
Coming from the IT world, I fully understand it's not a super easy process. But as an end user, having the same capabilities on the phone as exists on the Garmin is highly desirable. Having all of the devices at once is a super nice to have, but having at the very least the weather/kestrel/calypso along with whatever range finder connected at the same time is almost mandatory.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Creedmoor7, TrevK, evergreenfrenzy and 2 others
#10
vanrichten said:
Coming from the IT world, I fully understand it's not a super easy process. But as an end user, having the same capabilities on the phone as exists on the Garmin is highly desirable. Having all of the devices at once is a super nice to have, but having at the very least the weather/kestrel/calypso along with whatever range finder connected at the same time is almost mandatory.
Click to expand...

I agree. While I can understand it’s tons of work to get there, I think it should be the end goal.

For casual long range shooting, peeking at your phone seems reasonable, but I think in an ELR / PRS stage situation, having everything update in real time on your gun mounted HUD would be awesome.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BoldCorrections and lash
#11
I wish I saw this thread before I invested thousands in the AB "ecosystem" buying a specific LRF and the mini because they are part of the "ecosystem".. The "ecosystem" is marketing bullshit as far as I am concerned. Having the app be able to connect to multiple devices, but only one at a time, is less than useless. It is a huge time and money waste.
 
#13
vanrichten said:
@DocUSMCRetired this is yet another person having issues because AB Q is limited to 1 connection at a time. At this point, it seems like addressing this is more important than adding support for other devices that can only be connected one at a time.
Click to expand...
This is something we are looking at possibly implementing in 2026.
 
  • Like
Reactions: D1rtyHobo
#14
vanrichten said:
@DocUSMCRetired this is yet another person having issues because AB Q is limited to 1 connection at a time. At this point, it seems like addressing this is more important than adding support for other devices that can only be connected one at a time.
Click to expand...
+1 for this request, being able to connect multiple devices to ABQ will make it much more usable in my opinion.
 
#15
DocUSMCRetired said:
This is something we are looking at possibly implementing in 2026.
Click to expand...
Getting at the least the same functionality with the phone as a Garmin is a must at this point. I understand that the entire system started with using a Garmin and even having a phone was not even really considered. Time has moved on and tech has evolved at this point. Outside of .mil I would imagine that a phone is going to be FAR more common than a Garmin.
 
#16
vanrichten said:
Getting at the least the same functionality with the phone as a Garmin is a must at this point. I understand that the entire system started with using a Garmin and even having a phone was not even really considered. Time has moved on and tech has evolved at this point. Outside of .mil I would imagine that a phone is going to be FAR more common than a Garmin.
Click to expand...
All I can really say is that it is something we are carefully researching, and have on our road map later in 2026.
 
#17
evergreenfrenzy said:
+1 for this request, being able to connect multiple devices to ABQ will make it much more usable in my opinion.
Click to expand...

As much as I hate to say it, I think Geoballistics does a good job at this. I think using GB was a huge downside to me with the Impact 4000, but I will say that did a few things right with the architecture.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chiroz and TBK
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

DocUSMCRetired
AB Quantum Major Update 3.3 + Calypso AB Mini
Replies
84
Views
4K
TBK
TBK
DocUSMCRetired
AB Quantum 3.4.4 Vector X, Max Ord, Max Ord Range, Trace & Dialed Elevation Tool.
Replies
26
Views
845
DocUSMCRetired
DocUSMCRetired
DocUSMCRetired
AB Quantum Major Update 3.4
Replies
20
Views
1K
DocUSMCRetired
DocUSMCRetired
RenoBravo
AB Elite devices are not synchronizing
Replies
7
Views
206
sidetoss20
sidetoss20
DocUSMCRetired
New Applied Ballistics® Quantum™ APP! - & It's Free!
Replies
417
Views
26K
DocUSMCRetired
DocUSMCRetired
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Merch
Alerts