watches...

“what do you all think of this watch

Price is great and I wanted something where I can measure altitude and temps with. The watches I can use as a compass cost over $200. can't afford that right now.”

“Let your feelings be your guide.
Good luck.”

“Well, it looks like it does what you want. You probably would prefer a separate compass anyway.”

“My 15 year old watch broke and I am looking for a watch with a stop watch capability and waterproofness that isn't a big guy watch.”

“I have a Silva model 33 compass that I bought in 1974 and so I don't need a compass-watch. As far as a barometre goes - they can be handy if you are a (very) serious mountaineer and you have a multi-channel GPS and wireless communications with the outside world - otherwise it's pretty much useless.

This is because to know the barometric pressure you must know your exact altitude. To determine your altitude, you must know the exact barometric pressure WHERE YOU ARE. This is why that information is given by the tower before you take off. Without this exact information the instrument is useless. I have a buddy with that watch and the problem is setting it at least twice a day - as I said - useless.”

“Yes... the old Rubber Ruler conundrum.”

“You don't absolutely need to know the barometric pressure. You can set the altimeter at a known elevation point and work off that. Also, you reset it in the morning to the elevation you had the previous night. But you can also work off a lightweight NOAA Weather Radio if you can get a signal (can't always do it, but can from mountaintops). They give the sea level barometric pressure. I forget the steps, off the top of my head, to calculate for where you are (perhaps need to know the elevation, which takes you back to my first steps).

As for the watch Gemini, it's a great price. I prefer my Silva Ranger compass, but for general work you don't always need all that accuracy.”

“LMAO, Tilt, :-).”

“Geo,

You still need to know your exact altitude, right?”

“I had one of the casio ones a while ago, until somebody lost it for me. They work well, but I wouldn't want to rely on it make anything but the simplest navigation. Having said that for that price I'd snap it up as a good watch to have.”

“You silly people need to get a TerraQuest and be done with it...”

“gremlin, I have never used an altimeter but...

I think what hikers really want to know is primarily elevation gain and loss--relative elevation. Knowing the absolute elevation isn't that important. From the maps you can often get a pretty good guess of the elevation at a particular point, esp. for a summit, and set the altimeter to that.”

“The point is that to use the barometre to judge weather you have to know exactly how high you are. If you're moving in the mountains you are necessarily going up and down and will not always be able to count contour lines from the nearest benchmark. If you are moving and the weather is changeable, well the magnifies the problem. I think that observing the sky is a lot more practical. Just MHO.”

“Gremlin,

With any altimeter that is within out means, you are not going to know the exact elevation in any event. Further, since barometric pressure changes during the course of the day, you need to keep a weather eye out on how fast it may be changing in order to get an idea of where you are.

For example, barometric pressure dropped so fast one day it said I was at 4,000 feet when I was supposed to be at 3,000 feet. I readjusted. An hour later it said I was at 5,000 feet when I knew I was at 4,000 feet.

There are always times when I am out backpacking or hiking when I pass either a benchmark or a location with a known elevation. These are good reality checks.

An altimeter is a relative tool. If you need to know exact elevation, I suspect a GPS would be preferable by far. It will be some time before I get around to procuring a GPS, assuming I ever do. An altimeter is, in the final analysis, only as good as the brain of the person using it. You really need to think about what the weather is doing and whether the barometer is rising, falling, or standing steady. If you are not aware of these things, the altimeter is a useless toy. Again, an altimeter should be used in conjunction with a NOAA Weather Radio so you can be aware of barometric pressure and what it's doing.”

“An altimeter is a relative tool. If you need to know exact elevation, I suspect a GPS would be preferable by far
Geobeet
11:11:04 AM
06/18/03

Yep, a decent 12-channel GPS with a decent view of the sky will give you a three-dimensional location within a few meters, including altitude.

Some GPS's include a barometric altimeter; one of the Garmin Etrex units and I think the forthcoming Geko 301 both do this.

I'm really tempted by the 3.1 oz $115 Geko 201 but haven't quite found reason enough to justify it yet...”

“hmmm, where did you see it for $115?”

“I recently picked up a timex ironman -- relatively inexpensive, $39 i think. pretty reliable. has stopwatch, chronometer, timer, alarm, two time zone capability and is waterproof. for a cheapy i think it's a good deal. it is also easy to operate.”

“"hmmm, where did you see it for $115?"
ynamiynami
11:23:54 AM
06/18/03

Check it out here: GPS City

$117 plus shipping.

Good folks, I've ordered from them before and been very happy.”

“see, I don't know if some of you remember, but I wanted to get into mountaineering. Well, not right now, but hopefully pretty soon. At least wanted to give it a try. Thought that watch would be a good starter watch.

with my brain i will forget to set it though, so I guess I'll see.”

“Hey MH thanks for the info, it sounds good. Where did you pick that up?”

“Do all these fancy calculations and numbers shorten the trail?

Or lighten the weight in the pack?


Sign me: Struggling to get there.”

“Everytime this issue comes up, you GPS folks make me wonder if I was ever where I thought I was in all those 30 years of backpacking. How the heII did I ever find my way without it?

You can make map and compass work for you quite well. Even if you use GPS, you ought to invest in the time it takes to learn map and compass in case the batteries run out and the damn thing doesn't work.”

“I only ever use mine to check where I am, I never track where I've gone, just switch it on and get a grid reference. I had a lovely fog come down on me on dartmore a few years ago and it was great to be able to find my way back to the car through it. It wouldn't have been too much of an issue handrailing my way back but I like the idea of being able to check if I have any doubts. And now for 3ozs it seems silly not to have it. Oh and I also love maps and gadgets, so a map gadget is fantastic.”

“And in other news it appears my wife has found my watch :o)”

“Be careful in casting aspersions... not everyone who knows something about GPS's is deficient in orienteering skills.

I tend not to use a GPS on trail(*) as the little screen just doesn't give the "big picture" like a map & compass does. On the other hand, although you can triangulate your location from visible landmarks using map & compass, it can be difficult to pinpoint just where you are if your view is limited. Should you come upon a situation where medical help needs to be called in, it can be a little more helpful to give 'em a set of GPS coords instead of saying "I think he was somewhere around here..."

With all that said, a GPS is merely another tool and in some cases can be a nice supplement to a good map & compass PROVIDED the user has the skills needed to make use of his/her tools.”

“Was it on her wrist, ynami? lol...”

“I meant to add with the (*) that I own a GPS V which I tend to use in motorcycling. It's helpful in riding preplanned routes, and also very handy or to record where I've been -- there's nothing like finding a really cool route or restaurant or somesuch and then not remembering how to get back there. :)”

“lol, wouldn't surprise me. She's running a marathon in, errmmmm October I think, and she borrowed it for the stopwatch to train with. Then she announced she'd lost it last week, and after buying herself a replacement has now found it again. I will now take it and hide it from her!”

“Maybe it's just because I'm paranoid, but I think you've been had, ynami...lol...”

“LOL!!!!”

“It wouldn't be the first time ;o)”

“and to be honest I'm not too upset as it stops her breaking my one :o)”

“There ya go!”

“a TerraQuest, ha!!”

“I have the older version of this watch. The bells and whistles are are a lot of fun. Although the altimeter isn't exact, it's still measures within a couple-hundred feet of the topo--worse case.

I have several stored hikes that reflect the altitude and temperature...kind of nice to reflect upon while at home.

If you do get it, try not to wear it on your wrist when you hike, else the thermometer can be skewed by body heat. (I keep it on my pack.) I've actually verified the thermometer with some calibrated equipment at work--very impressive temperature response!

Overall, it is a bit bulky, but this looks like a pretty good deal.

Oh yea, remember to recalibrate after you've worn it on an aircraft!

Cheers!”

“The only watches I wear are Casios. Awesome brand. None better, IMO.

I have a Casio with an altimeter and barometer. Great watch, and as long as there isn't a big chance in barometric pressure, the altimeter is relatively accurate.”

“I have a $200 Suunto. The barometer and elevation are instantaneous. I would hate to wait two minutes for every elevation reading or 5 minutes for the thermometer to read. The price of the Casio looks good.

My GPS is not nearly as accurate as my barometer altimeter. Some gps units have a barometric sensor included. Most do not.”

“I ordered the watch.I think the price is really good and I can't go wrong. More a toy then anything. I can check the temperature, altitude and all this good stuff while I am solo hiking. Come on, that's fun. ;)”

“Don't like Casio watches. I bought a bunch of $$$$ casio watches & data bases and didn't like any of them. I occasionally use a Casio altimeter watch/temp/bar and even when set is usually off. The light is unusable at night also. I (personnally) wouldn't buy another Casio watch. I would consider another brand for these items. An altimeter is very handy in the woods and I carry multiple compasses & a GPS.”

“I have the pathfinder, had it for years has done me well. indiglow sp? lighting works just fine for me.”

“I got it at Kohl's. I'm sure you can find them at most every department store. Forgot to mention, it also has indiglo... (fancy word for backlight, in case you didn't know) so you can see it at night.”

“I quite like my Casio, like everyone said before it's tough to keep the altimeter working, but it's fun watching it on a skilift. Barometer is a nice weather indicator too. The light works fine too. Thermometer doesn't work when it's on your wrist as your body heat throws it off, but attach it to your pack and it's good.”

“Good. I was going to Kohls today anyway (need to find some teacher gifts).”

“So, is this the Official Gadget Thread at the moment?



CNET | Digital Dispatch
A trio of new PDAs
June 19, 2003
Vol. 9, No. 25


If you're in the market for a new handheld but are bored with
your options, get ready for a new, exciting crop to choose from.
This week, Sony unveiled two upcoming multimedia CLIEs: the NX73V
and the NX80V. The $499 NX73V runs Palm OS 5.0 and packs a speedy
200MHz processor, 16MB of RAM, and a VGA camera. For $100 more,
the NX80V carries more memory (32MB) and a higher-res camera (1.3
megapixels). Also, Handspring showed off its Treo 600, which
dumps the flip style for a compact, candy-bar shape and includes
an SD card slot, a built-in camera, and a new QWERTY
minikeyboard. To top it all off, next Monday, Microsoft will
launch its Pocket PC 2003 OS with a slew of new PDAs behind it.
Look for our coverage of that debut on Monday. We'll have full
reviews of both CLIEs in the coming weeks, as well as one of the
Treo 600 when it's available.

--Janice Chen, editor in chief, CNET Reviews


Sony CLIE NX73V
http://cl.com.com/Click?q=c8-2lRnQWOJMbS96ikznoAKTrl9ho-p

Sony CLIE NX80V
http://cl.com.com/Click?q=de-7tYkQMWtgxVXv2C3AGKaNBpjH2AI

Handpring Treo 600
http://cl.com.com/Click?q=f3-Lj_gQJOV8dqxzJg-ONtDKqejm27Z

CNET News.com on Pocket PC 2003
http://cl.com.com/Click?q=08-IF5QIRjlZPnSn8DHFcAoQCJGis-a”

“My grandma died a few months ago and when we were emptying out her condo (bought for $40K in Marina del Rey in the early 60s and now valued around a million), I came across my grandfather's old watch that she had shown me once when I was a negligent kid and apparently decided better on passing it down to me then. Or, maybe she just wanted to keep one of the last things he had with him when he died (autoimmune disease in 1960). I never knew him since he died when my mother was 12.

Anyway, I took it to a watchmaker and had it rebuilt. It's Swiss made, a brand called Aureole. Nothing fancy, a simple manual winder. It does have 17 jewels which is considered the optimum number for a quality time-keeping piece. Interestingly, the watchmaker told me the manual winders are coming back into vogue. He told me almost all of his rebuilds these days are for manual wind watches, for the very reason I brought it to him: people want to keep an old watch going because of a personal connection.

I liked the idea of wearing something that belonged to man whose actions led to my life, and now I can look down on the same hour, minute and second hands that he did over 40 years ago, a dozen years before I was even born.

So, don't trash those old watches.”