I concur with the others—I also use
a Suunto and it works great. The vario isn’t terribly useful, but
you can easily judge your vertical speed just by looking at the rate of change
on the altitude display. I’ve had mine for several years and, other
than replacing the battery, it hasn’t needed a thing. I have the
slightly more expensive X-Lander (http://www.suunto.com/suunto/main/product_short.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673939656&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723697223384&bmUID=1174085405328),
which is more durable than the Vector since the case is metal rather than
plastic. The back of the X-Lander is made from carbon fiber. I
purchased mine on eBay very inexpensively. The X-Lander and the Vector
are functionally identical, except the X-Lander lacks the leveling bubble on its
crystal which makes its compass less accurate. As well, Suunto users may
be interested in the (apparently top-secret) barometric calibration
instructions for these watches:
Barometric Calibration:
·
Select [Time] mode
·
Press the [Mode] and [Select] buttons simultaneously and
hold for 3 seconds. Field 1 will display “SET” momentarily
and then display “UNI.”
·
Press the [Select] button. Field 1 will display
“SNR.”
·
Press the [Select] button and hold for 2 seconds.
The barometric pressure will begin to flash.
·
Press the [+] and [-] buttons to adjust the current
barometric pressure.
·
Press the [Mode] button to accept the changes.
Press the [Mode] button again to return to the main time mode.
Regards,
David Tanzer
Charlotte, Vermont USA
From:
private e-mail address [mailto:private e-mail address] On Behalf Of Kelley Morgan
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 12:38
PM
To: private e-mail address
Subject: [balloon-makers] Suunto,
Avocet or other wrist altimeter?
Anyone use a wrist-mounted digital altimeter/vario?
Which should I buy Suunto, Avocet, or other?
What model is best for ballooning?
Thanks guys!
Kelley