James,
Yes, they stopped making the 440. The replaced it with the Prostaff 550. I have one, but can't say that it is an improvement. However, the Forestry 550 is a different kettle of fish. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Parton" <[email protected]> To: "ENTSTrees" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, April 7, 2009 8:53:46 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [ENTS] Re: Nikon Forestry 550- Sweet! Bob, I think Nikon has already stopped making the 440. It is nice to see that they have a worthwhile replacement in the Forestry 550. James Parton On Apr 7, 12:47 pm, [email protected] wrote: > ENTS, > > My brand new Nikon Forestry 550 arrived this morning and I just completed > going through all its features. I give the instrument two solid thumbs up. It > is a real hypsometer that c an compete with the LaserTech TruPulse 200 for > half the price. The 550 doesn't compete with the TruPulse 360, which has > added functionality . > > I am thrilled to report that t he Forestry 550 does the math right. It > has a single point mode and a double point mode. In the single point mode, > you shoot a target and the 550 returns the linear distance of the point, > vertical distance (height) of the point, horizontal distance of the point, > and angle of the point. The double point mode measures the full height of the > target tree. You shoot the crown an then t he base (or vice versa) and the > 550 returns the full height (vertical separation of the two points) and > several other returns and shows them in an external LED that is easy to read. > > The 550 has two target acquisition modes: 1st target accessed > and fartherest target accessed. The latter mode is appropriate to shooting to > the top of a tree with a cluster of branches. It is easy to switch between > the modes. > > Distances can be displayed in yards, meters, or feet. Angles are always > in degrees. Sweet! This is the instrument for measurers who don't want to > fuss with the math, but who want the internal process to produce the right > answer in contrast the manufacters who mindlessly program in the tangent > method for tree height determination, when they could have just as easily > done it right . > > I'll provide more information over the next few days, but as of this > point my $350.00 hypsometer is a very, very good buy. Nikon or their Chinese > manufacturers must have been paying attention to ENTS. Better late than > never. > > Bob --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
