Ideal watch?

1) Analog hands and second hand for timing things
2) Digital clock set to Zulu time so I don't have to bother my small brain
with those pesky conversions
3) Backlight so I can see it when I'm flying at night
4) Vibrating alarm so I remember to do routine things like switch tanks.
5) Nifty E6B ring around the outside that I really can't see, but really
impresses the chicks at the bar

I agree with what you're looking for in a watch. I even thought that I had
finally found the "almost perfect" flying watch in the Casio "Data Bank"
line. It does everything but #4 and #5 (I don't need a watch to pick up
chicks anymore.... :-). It even "projects" the digital display onto the
glass in front of the analog face, eliminating the need for a separate
"window" in the back of the watch -- which makes for a nice, compact sized
watch. It was even cheap, at around thirty bucks.

Unfortunately:

1. Under the store's bright lights, the display was clearly visible. Under
average lighting conditions, however, the "glass" that displays the
projected digital information is too dark, and obscures the hands of the
analog watch. As a result, to see what time it is indoors I usually have to
push the backlight button. This is unacceptable.
2. The menus are absurdly complex, and require WAY too much futzing around
to use the timers and time zones. Thus, I don't use them.
3. The control buttons are too similar and are thus easily confused.

So, I'm back in the search. You wouldn't think it would be so hard to make
a watch with those four (or five) features, but it has eluded me for many
years.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I got a $30 timex at Target that has features 1 - 3. It also has a
stopwatch which is useful for timing a trip, but isn't be so great for
timing holds in IFR. It has a big digital display behind the analog
hands, so it's easy to read from a distance. It has a molded-on band,
which I'm not crazy about, and I think the watch is a bit ugly, but
it's definitely useful.



1) Analog hands and second hand for timing things
2) Digital clock set to Zulu time so I don't have to bother my small brain
with those pesky conversions
3) Backlight so I can see it when I'm flying at night
4) Vibrating alarm so I remember to do routine things like switch tanks.
5) Nifty E6B ring around the outside that I really can't see, but really
impresses the chicks at the bar

What say you?

Chris

On 17-Dec-2003, "Michael 182" wrote:

How does an electronic altimeter work? Is there some kind of pressure
sensor?


Yes. The sensing element is in essence a solid-state strain gauge that
detects atmospheric pressure. This is similar to the mechanisms used in
many blind encoders. The Casio watch and similar electronic altimeters
include means for correcting for variations in barometric pressure.
(However, in the case of the Casio the adjustment is unfortunately not in
terms of sea level pressure but is rather just a means to adjust the
altitude readout. For aviation use you set it on the ground to the airport
elevation and adjust it in flight by setting it against the airplane's
altimeter.

While there are some very sophisticated piezoelectric pressure sensors that
allow for an electronic altimeter to be as sensitive as the good old
expanding bellows mechanical kind, the inexpensive strain gauge mechanism is
not quite as good. Adequate for blind encoding or an altitude watch where
required resolution is on the order of 50-100 feet, but not good enough for
use on an instrument approach to low minimums.
______
Elliott Drucker

wrote in message
Of course, it won't work in a
pressurized airplane.


I've always been curious about this: Wouldn't the altimeter still read an
increase/decrease in altitude? No, the altitude would not be correct but
for a backup to keeping the shiny side up in IMC it would have some value,
right?

--
Jim Fisher

Jim Fisher wrote:

I've always been curious about this: Wouldn't the altimeter still read an
increase/decrease in altitude? No, the altitude would not be correct but
for a backup to keeping the shiny side up in IMC it would have some value,
right?

It will show the altitude you've pressurized your cabin to -- nothing to do
with what's going on outside.


All the best,


David

Brinks wrote:
I've been off looking for a good aviation watch. I've looked at Citizen
Skyhawk watches, which look cool, but they don't have a backlight, which I
thought would be bad (good?) for flying at night. And I've seen some
others that are all digital, but I like having the hands for a timer. And I
found one that vibrates, which I thought would be really handy for switching
tanks and things, but it didn't have hands. So, I was wondering, what would
everyone like to see as a minimum set of features in an ideal watch? Here's
my list -

I haven't worn a watch for many years (including when I flew IFR), but..

1) Analog hands and second hand for timing things
2) Digital clock set to Zulu time so I don't have to bother my small brain
with those pesky conversions
3) Backlight so I can see it when I'm flying at night

You can get a fairly inexpensive Timex with these three features.

4) Vibrating alarm so I remember to do routine things like switch tanks.

I seriously doubt you'd feel it vibrate. I know I've forgotten to turn
my cell phone off in the air, and I couldn't feel it when it started
vibrating.

-- Jay


__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino/ ! ! !

Checkout http://www.oc-adolfos.com/
for the best Italian food in Ocean City, MD and...
Checkout http://www.brolow.com/ for authentic Blues music on Delmarva

Jim Fisher wrote:

wrote in message
Of course, it won't work in a

pressurized airplane.



I've always been curious about this: Wouldn't the altimeter still read an
increase/decrease in altitude? No, the altitude would not be correct but
for a backup to keeping the shiny side up in IMC it would have some value,
right?


My wife gave me one of these watches for my birthday. Its altitude is
pretty much dead one if I set it right in a non-pressurized airplane.

I took it on a B737 business trip, figuring that since airlineres are
pressurized to 8000 feet it should work up to 8000 feet, and it's at
those lower altitudes that I really wanna know how high we are since
that's when theymake you turn off GPS receivers and such. I naively
thought that the cabin was not pressurized until 8000 and then the
pressurization was turned on at that point to keep it constant.

Imagine my disappointment when on takeoff roll our "altitude" dropped
over 100 feet and stayed there until we were several thousand feet up,
only gradually easing up to 8000. Learn something new every day about
how airlines work.

Jay Masino wrote:
Brinks wrote:

I've been off looking for a good aviation watch. I've looked at Citizen
Skyhawk watches, which look cool, but they don't have a backlight, which I
thought would be bad (good?) for flying at night. And I've seen some
others that are all digital, but I like having the hands for a timer. And I
found one that vibrates, which I thought would be really handy for switching
tanks and things, but it didn't have hands. So, I was wondering, what would
everyone like to see as a minimum set of features in an ideal watch? Here's
my list -


I haven't worn a watch for many years (including when I flew IFR), but..


1) Analog hands and second hand for timing things
2) Digital clock set to Zulu time so I don't have to bother my small brain
with those pesky conversions
3) Backlight so I can see it when I'm flying at night


You can get a fairly inexpensive Timex with these three features.


4) Vibrating alarm so I remember to do routine things like switch tanks.


I seriously doubt you'd feel it vibrate. I know I've forgotten to turn
my cell phone off in the air, and I couldn't feel it when it started
vibrating.

-- Jay


__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino/ ! ! !

Checkout http://www.oc-adolfos.com/
for the best Italian food in Ocean City, MD and...
Checkout http://www.brolow.com/ for authentic Blues music on Delmarva

Why did they not put vg's on the full length of the wing? Can you now
get a much greater angle of attack before stalling ?

Thanks

Look at the Citizen Navitach watches. They do almost everything you
need (no vibrating) and look nicer than your average $30 timex. They
usually go for less then $100 on eBay. If you can find one of the
Citizen "Wingman" watches, they are the same as the Navitach but add
an E6B to the bezel (but I think the Wingman looks a bit clunky).


Chris



On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 19:30:47 -0600, "Brinks"
wrote:

I've been off looking for a good aviation watch. I've looked at Citizen
Skyhawk watches, which look cool, but they don't have a backlight, which I
thought would be bad (good?) for flying at night. And I've seen some
others that are all digital, but I like having the hands for a timer. And I
found one that vibrates, which I thought would be really handy for switching
tanks and things, but it didn't have hands. So, I was wondering, what would
everyone like to see as a minimum set of features in an ideal watch? Here's
my list -

1) Analog hands and second hand for timing things
2) Digital clock set to Zulu time so I don't have to bother my small brain
with those pesky conversions
3) Backlight so I can see it when I'm flying at night
4) Vibrating alarm so I remember to do routine things like switch tanks.
5) Nifty E6B ring around the outside that I really can't see, but really
impresses the chicks at the bar

What say you?

Chris

"smf" wrote in message news:WZ9Eb.13862$HQ.12885@okepread02...
snip
I have a Atomic clock at home to keep it
accurate. Although I can get a little "Anal" with the atomic clock.

You have an atomic clock at home?!? Very impressive. I always
wanted an atomic clock of my very own, but could never find an
affordable supply of Cesium 133

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)