altimeters : digital vs analog

[agent_lead 0]

i was going to buy a skytrinix gfx alti as my first but i figured i should ask around to see what other more experianeced jumpers would recommend..

should i just get a regular one or should i go for the digital..

also..if anyone knows exactly how accurate digital alti's usually are..

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[shropshire 0]

In my opion... Go Analog.... like analog watches and instruments (car, aircraft etc..) they are quicker to read and get information from .... and in freefall, I suggest that faster is better!.

With digital.... you read them (oh I'm 4675 feet up..).... with analogue you look for patterns.... it's getting close to yellow.....

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[nitrox100 0]

After thousands of jumps with an analog I switched to digital and couldn't be happier. I have two Neptunes. One for audible swooping alerts that I keep in my helmet and the other on the hand for freefall. It is accurate as anything I have ever seen. Unlike the Suunto watches, the mode cannot be changed once in freefall and the numbers are huge and easy to read. It weighs about 1/10th what an analog does.

The feature of changing between freefall and canopy modes automatically is nice too.

Buy what you like but for me it is digital from now on.

[spoons 0]

so maybe that raises the question - what do you want from your altimeter...accuracy or 'patterns'.

For me, I like my neptune - however for someone who is just starting out jumping I can see how an analogue altimeter may be a better choice.

[flyangel2 2]

I have both kinds and switch back and forth depending on my mood. I don't have a problem reading either one.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[kelpdiver 2]

personal preference is a bit part here. I demo'd a Neptune (contact Lara) for a couple weeks and determined I prefer analog for the visual. Quicker for me to scan, and can read it in a track more easily. I might put the neptune in as an audible.

Accuracy shouldn't be an issue. While I prefer not relying on a battery, mechanicals have their own issues. For either, don't trust them over your eyes if the ground is looking big.

[nate_1979 9]

I've been jumping digital since about jump 40 or 50, I definately prefer the digital, only jumped the analog a couple of times (when I wanted my neptune in my helmet instead of on wrist, fixed this by buying another neptune) ... Big numbers are not hard to read at all, infact I think that it's quicker for me to read the huge "5.2" for 5200 feet on the neptune than it is to think about what the analog is pointing at, but that's just me.

FGF #???
I miss the sky...
There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.

[ScottyInAus 0]

Why not have the best of both worlds???

Aus Site in Aus $$$
http://www.terminalsports.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=169_172&products_id=622

Cheers,
Jason.

[Eule 0]

I guess I qualify as "more experienced", I've got twice as many jumps as you! (In other words: Caution,
low jump number here.)

I've always jumped with an analog altimeter. Different kinds - ones with the traditional clock face, and
one where the scale was compressed a little so the maximum was 13 and there was a little gap between
13 and 0. Needle straight down on those is like 6.5 to 7.

I've seen Neptunes and Digitudes working, both fooling around on the ground and on the climb up,
when the Neptunes are still in "little numbers" mode. I haven't tried to read a digital in free fall. I'd
like to jump a digital sometime, even if I only look at an analog one and just strap the digital to me
somewhere where I can't see it - I'd like to see all the numbers it generates as far as speed, freefall
time, etc.

I have been fooling around with electronics on a hobby basis for quite a while. There, you use a digital
voltmeter if you want to know *exactly* what the voltage is at a given moment. You use an analog
voltmeter if you want to see the trend of a slowly changing voltage. Some newer digital meters have
a bar graph under the numbers (like the Neptune) but it still isn't the same as watching a needle.

I make my money by being a computer geek and I also fool around with working on my own cars. From
these experiences, I have a hard time saying whether I trust a computer or a mechanism more. I sort
of like the idea of an analog mechanical altimeter, just because there are fewer states it can be in.

I read somewhere (on the Alti-2 site?) that the original Altimaster had the face it did because it was
felt that most people were familiar with reading analog clocks. That was probably true back in the day,
but now, most people are probably more familiar with reading digital clocks.

This doesn't really apply to altimeters, but one trick you can do with analog gauges on machinery is to
rotate them in their mounting so that when everything is nominal, the needles are all pointing straight
up, or straight down, or whatever. A quick glance tells you either everything is OK or that you need
to take a little more time to check one of the gauges. You can program a digital display to give some
indication that things are not right (flashing, turning on a separate red light), but scanning for "all
needles up" may be a bit faster.

I recently saw an ad for a digital altimeter with an analog face. Apparently it has all the usual logbook
and altitude-alert features of a digital altimeter, but it has a face with an electronically-driven hand for
the display. I think it was "coming soon" but it may be available now; I don't remember who makes it.

Eule

PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

Why not have the best of both worlds???

If only they'd ship the damn thing already. It will end up being at least 12 months from the announcement that the PIA in January.

[Tonto 1]

Analog is king when it comes to simplicity and how robust the unit is.
That's stood me in good stead for about 4000 dives.

Digital offers a LOT more. Backlights, logbook, freefall time and speeds. Reading is reading. Look at anything 4 or 5 times a skydive and multiply that by a few 1000 jumps and you'll get the hang of it.
Of course, the cost to this "lots more" is maintenance. Batteries, software updates etc. If you can deal with that stuff - and you're not crashing on landing - I think digital is king.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[schuey87 0]

Quote

I recently saw an ad for a digital altimeter with an analog face. Apparently it has all the usual logbook
and altitude-alert features of a digital altimeter, but it has a face with an electronically-driven hand for
the display. I think it was "coming soon" but it may be available now; I don't remember who makes it.

It's the altitrack from Larsen and Brusgaard (sp).... same people who make the protrack, I think it's basically got the same features as a protracka nd maybe a few more but with a digital face in an analogue style! It's not out in the UK yet, till after christmas I think but I don't know about the US.

[Mike111 0]

This is something I always debated with myself, cause I found it hard to read the dial on some smaller altimetersw and liked the idea of a large digital readout;

However I was advised on here to stick with what ive used so far, - analogue cause its cheaper and cause transition early on could cause problems.

analogues ive found are very easy to use when you get used to them.

[steveorino 7]

Old age made me switch to digital. Being 50, I have a problem reading fine print without reading glasses, including the anallog needle. With digital I can easily see the big numbers, especially at night when it is backlit.

steveOrino

[RevJim 0]

Of course, you could just remove it from your wrist (but not sight) totally...
http://www.alti-2.com/Titan/titan.htm
To be released....someday.

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[popsjumper 2]

Quote

...However I was advised on here to stick with what ive used so far, - analogue cause its cheaper and cause transition early on could cause problems.

I think this is sound advice...for your visual reference - keep it going..

I use both. Analog on my wrist for visual and digital in my helmet for the audible and logbook features...best of both worlds, you see?

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[damion75 0]

Any experienced jumper will have made up their own minds - mine says BOTH!
But for low number guys and students - particularly the latter as they have so much to think about while (for instance) learning FS, I would suggest that the analogue might be better.

Why? I have been doing a fair amount of FS coaching recently and I have noticed a lack of alti-awareness a couple of times - but on the video you can see the guy looking at his alti (a neptune). I think that he is looking at it (because I told him too between each exercise!) but not really seeing what it is telling him. Somehow the analogue face just seems to give the information faster when you just have time for a glance.

***************

Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

[nate_1979 9]

Quote

Why not have the best of both worlds???

Aus Site in Aus $$$
http://www.terminalsports.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=169_172&products_id=622

Not the best of both worlds IMO, I prefer the digital read out, not the analog one People also mention whether or not they trust the digital, well, I think I'd trust my digital read out electronic altimiter more than I would trust an electronic altimiter that has a analog readout (moving parts and electronics, they like to break) ... Atleast if my neptune breaks, I'll probably know (i.e. blank screen)

Besides, that thing looks like it is bigger than an analog altimiter, one thing I like about digital is that it is a little bit smaller.

FGF #???
I miss the sky...
There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.

[Jeff.Donohue 0]

When I started AFF, I bought an analog, and a couple of jumps in, I bought a digital (a Neptune). At one point, I was planning on using the audible feature as a backup and use the analog as my primary. That's still my ultimate goal, but it has yet to happen.

My instructors and coaches (see Eule's warning disclaimer, above) all recommended that I use just the analog, and not to use the audible until I have my A license. The thinking is that I shouldn't get lazy about altitude awareness. I trust their judgment: I've been putting the Neptune in my pocket for jumps, so it doesn't do anything but gives me interesting (if probably inaccurate) fall rate data and act as an additional log book of sorts.

I think I disagree, however, about the comment I've heard that analog is easier for the mind to "process" than digital. It depends on how you think.

I find gauges like the analog require me to (i) think about where the needle is, (ii) think where it is relative to the lines (which lines? 6? 5? 4?!?); (iii) translate relationship that into an altitude.

It would probably work better for me if my mind simply related a direction (straight down is OK, down and to the right is getting iffy, straight to the right is DANGER). But that's not the way my mind processes information. I added a big black mark to my digital altimeter so I knew where 4,500 was (I know that it's between 4,000 and 5,000, but I have to think about that).

Maybe it's because I grew up wearing a digital watch and only really learned how to tell time on an analog clock when my second grade teacher was mortified that I couldn't...

[riggerrob 643]

Analog or digital?
... depends upon how the brain is wired.

For example, I suffer from dyslexia and am "mathematically challenged." ergo, pure numbers are often gibberish to me.

On the other hand, reading analog altimeters is intuitive for me. I can glance at an analog dial and grasp "we are still a long way up", "we are getting close to opening altitude" and "We are in the red.! I really should be open by now!"
This worked great until I became a PFF Instructor and was expected to remember what the student did at which exact (how many feet?) altitude.

Some other people are better at reading angles. For example, have you ever noticed that automobile speedometers' needles are near horizontal at city speed limits, while their needles are near vertical at the highway speed limit? That is because most people can determine horizontal or vertical angles the quickest.

[sundevil777 102]

Even if you only use the audible to give you the last, siren pitch warning, I think it is worth putting it in your helmet. Of course you shouldn't need the thing to remind you of your hard deck, but you've already got the device, why not put it somewhere that it can remind you to save your life. No glory in not being device dependant if you're dead.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[Jeff.Donohue 0]

This is a really good point...

I think I'll modify my use of the device; being dead would totally mess up my plans.

[agent_lead 0]

hey.,..thanx for all the replies!

after speaking to a few exp skydivers i know personally ive decided to get both a digi and a analog...and wear both and see which one suits me better..

im thinking of the skytronix gfx thats on para-gear.com..anyone else use this alti?any suggestions?

i really want a full featured digi..the neptunes look nice too...

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[kallend 2,026]

Quote

so maybe that raises the question - what do you want from your altimeter...accuracy or 'patterns'.

For me, I like my neptune - however for someone who is just starting out jumping I can see how an analogue altimeter may be a better choice.

On the accuracy statement - just because a digital readout reads to the nearest foot does NOT imply that it's an accurate reading. Just like digital watches can be wrong, so can digital altimeters.

I don't understand the comments about difficulty reading numbers either - I'm 60 and can read my analog alti and my Protrack's digital read outs just fine, without my trifocals.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[agent_lead 0]

has there ever been a study on just how accurate both types of altimeters actually are?

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