0
Ryanscottyyc

Digital Altimeter

Recommended Posts

In general, digital altimeters are not recommended to jumpers with little experience, because you actually have to read the number it shows instead of just looking at the position of the needle on an analog. This means that you need a far better awareness and it might take more time too. I would recommend you to keep using an analog altimeter till you got at least 100+ jumps, preferably more, then get a viso2, that's at least what i'm using and i love it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Absolut

In general, digital altimeters are not recommended to jumpers with little experience, because you actually have to read the number it shows instead of just looking at the position of the needle on an analog. This means that you need a far better awareness and it might take more time too. I would recommend you to keep using an analog altimeter till you got at least 100+ jumps, preferably more, then get a viso2, that's at least what i'm using and i love it.



I disagree. It's different for everyone. Try a viso2 out at your dz, and see if you like digital or analog. If you do then buy it. I was using mine before 38 jumps and I know of some DZs that were using them with their AFF students. Wasn't there an article in Parachutist (corrected to BlueSkies Mag) about it sometime in the last 2 years? I'd have to check my issues.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
rohicks

***In general, digital altimeters are not recommended to jumpers with little experience, because you actually have to read the number it shows instead of just looking at the position of the needle on an analog. This means that you need a far better awareness and it might take more time too. I would recommend you to keep using an analog altimeter till you got at least 100+ jumps, preferably more, then get a viso2, that's at least what i'm using and i love it.



I disagree. It's different for everyone. Try a viso2 out at your dz, and see if you like digital or analog. If you do then buy it. I was using mine before 38 jumps and I know of some DZs that were using them with their AFF students. Wasn't there an article in Parachutist about it sometime in the last 2 years? I'd have to check my issues.

I disagree with your disagreement! ;)

On your next jump, note someone close to you in the dive plan who is wearing a digital altimeter and note their altitude checks. In my limited research (as in limited to about 70 seconds each time), I have watched people take as long as 2~3 seconds to check their altitude as they totally defocus from the dive and basically go blind intensely focusing on their digital altimeter.

It's even more fun to watch on a casual Saturday 10 way belly jump with a few low time jumpers wearing digitals! :S

Yes, some jumpers with digitals are assuredly a little quicker than others but I have yet to see someone with an analog take more than a quarter (.25) to half (.5) a second to check their altitude. This is with a wrist mount or a chest mount. The chest mount is usually the quickest, especially if anchored over your chest strap buckle on the left side to prevent "flopping" in the wind. Also, it's a rather handy position come cutaway time for your next (or first) malfunction.

The added bonus of an analog altimeter is other people can see it too. It keeps them in the dive instead wrist flipping every few seconds.

Just my 2 cents. :)
____________________________________
I'm back in the USA!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

On your next jump, note someone close to you in the dive plan who is wearing a digital altimeter and note their altitude checks. In my limited research (as in limited to about 70 seconds each time), I have watched people take as long as 2~3 seconds to check their altitude as they totally defocus from the dive and basically go blind intensely focusing on their digital altimeter.

It's even more fun to watch on a casual Saturday 10 way belly jump with a few low time jumpers wearing digitals! Crazy

Yes, some jumpers with digitals are assuredly a little quicker than others but I have yet to see someone with an analog take more than a quarter (.25) to half (.5) a second to check their altitude. This is with a wrist mount or a chest mount. The chest mount is usually the quickest, especially if anchored over your chest strap buckle on the left side to prevent "flopping" in the wind. Also, it's a rather handy position come cutaway time for your next (or first) malfunction.

The added bonus of an analog altimeter is other people can see it too. It keeps them in the dive instead wrist flipping every few seconds.



+1
=========Shaun ==========


Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Ryanscottyyc

Hello everyone. I now have 38 jumps under my belt and I am looking at buying a Digital Altimeter. Any suggestions as to what make and model I should go for and why?

I love this sport. All the help would be much appreciated.



What motivates you to want a digital vs an analog face altimeter?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
zoobrothertom

******In general, digital altimeters are not recommended to jumpers with little experience, because you actually have to read the number it shows instead of just looking at the position of the needle on an analog. This means that you need a far better awareness and it might take more time too. I would recommend you to keep using an analog altimeter till you got at least 100+ jumps, preferably more, then get a viso2, that's at least what i'm using and i love it.



I disagree. It's different for everyone. Try a viso2 out at your dz, and see if you like digital or analog. If you do then buy it. I was using mine before 38 jumps and I know of some DZs that were using them with their AFF students. Wasn't there an article in Parachutist about it sometime in the last 2 years? I'd have to check my issues.

I disagree with your disagreement! ;)

On your next jump, note someone close to you in the dive plan who is wearing a digital altimeter and note their altitude checks. In my limited research (as in limited to about 70 seconds each time), I have watched people take as long as 2~3 seconds to check their altitude as they totally defocus from the dive and basically go blind intensely focusing on their digital altimeter.

It's even more fun to watch on a casual Saturday 10 way belly jump with a few low time jumpers wearing digitals! :S

Yes, some jumpers with digitals are assuredly a little quicker than others but I have yet to see someone with an analog take more than a quarter (.25) to half (.5) a second to check their altitude. This is with a wrist mount or a chest mount. The chest mount is usually the quickest, especially if anchored over your chest strap buckle on the left side to prevent "flopping" in the wind. Also, it's a rather handy position come cutaway time for your next (or first) malfunction.

The added bonus of an analog altimeter is other people can see it too. It keeps them in the dive instead wrist flipping every few seconds.

Just my 2 cents. :)
Was in BlueSkies mag not parachutist. My bad here is the link.

http://blueskiesmag.com/2013/04/02/digital-altimeters-for-students/

Quote

Conclusion: Digital altimeters can be used for students with great success. We see no particular reason to use only analog altimeters for students.



Try them both out and see what you like better. For me the digital was much easier to read, more accurate, and more convenient. I've seen a lot of fellow jumpers have their analog dials stick while climbing. Maybe I'm the minority of relatively new jumpers, but i check altitude pretty frequently. Most of the people I jump with around my jump experience and at my DZ seem to do the same. Only con about it for me is the batteries that VISO2 seems to eat up fast. Maybe mine is power hungry, but I believe I'm already on my 3rd set of batteries with around 60 jumps logged on this specific device. Easily avoidable if you keep on top of it; i keep a dozen batteries in my helmet bag at all times.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
So some people can't read it fast. I can read mine as I'm doing a head switch during a block move without interfering with our 4 way. Maybe some people are focused on getting the exact altitude? During 4 way and fun jumps, I check it really just to make sure the altitude starts with a 4 or higher, the same as making sure the needle is still in the white. I've had a digital since I got my A and it's easier to read for me than an analog.

But I understand how it could be different for others, especially if you have hundreds or thousands of jumps with an analog. Maybe for some, the extra precision offered makes them want to read the full altitude? Because 6.53 is so much higher than 6.something

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
rohicks

Only con about it for me is the batteries that VISO2 seems to eat up fast. Maybe mine is power hungry, but I believe I'm already on my 3rd set of batteries with around 60 jumps logged on this specific device. Easily avoidable if you keep on top of it; i keep a dozen batteries in my helmet bag at all times.



I'd contact L&B; this would be VERY odd. I have several VISO's, all on student rigs for wingsuiting. The batteries are changed once a year. Same with my Altitrack and Optima's. Battery life seems about equal on all three devices.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I like my VISO a lot and have never done a jump with anything but a digital. I used one in AFF so I am partial to it. With that said, I have noticed quite a few people at my DZ rocking duals (analog and digital) lately.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
grantunderland

So some people can't read it fast. I can read mine as I'm doing a head switch during a block move without interfering with our 4 way. Maybe some people are focused on getting the exact altitude? During 4 way and fun jumps, I check it really just to make sure the altitude starts with a 4 or higher, the same as making sure the needle is still in the white. I've had a digital since I got my A and it's easier to read for me than an analog.

But I understand how it could be different for others, especially if you have hundreds or thousands of jumps with an analog. Maybe for some, the extra precision offered makes them want to read the full altitude? Because 6.53 is so much higher than 6.something



Grant, thanks for the perspective.

I'm actually cool with either one as long as they stay in the dive. Blue Skies
____________________________________
I'm back in the USA!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
It's all about shape recognition. When I look at my VISO I don't think to my self, four thousand five hundred sixty, I see 4560 but really only 45, you see 45 you know where you are without turning it into a number. Yes 45, is a number but it is also a shape.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Now I feel like going back and watching video from when I was a lowtimer to see how long I stared at it. What felt like a split second could've been much longer. And I feel ya, especially if more than one person is "out of the dive" for a few seconds.

Thinking about it now, I really wouldn't be surprised if I did a "Wow, 9k feet and we're already done with the dive!" as I'm holding up the dive going to a second page as a lowtimer

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
It may depend on what kind of clocks the person might have grown up with. I only ever had digital clocks in my house growing up and grew up with computers, and I can read a digital altimeter or clock at a glance, but have to stare at an analog - and reading an analog clock takes me 30 seconds to decipher what time it is :-)

As for battery life on a Viso - mine has had flashing warning low battery for over 100 jumps now :-) I find I typically get 5-600 jumps per battery change..

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Absolut

In general, digital altimeters are not recommended to jumpers with little experience, because you actually have to read the number it shows instead of just looking at the position of the needle on an analog. This means that you need a far better awareness and it might take more time too. I would recommend you to keep using an analog altimeter till you got at least 100+ jumps, preferably more, then get a viso2, that's at least what i'm using and i love it.



Except we talk and think in terms of numbers, not dials. If we brief on breakoff altitude, it's going to be 1500m or maybe 1200m, not "when the arrow points here". So if I have a digital and it shows "2 and something", I don't need to read further to know I still have time, but if it's "1.6 and something", then I won't be able to do much more. Besides, no matter how sideways I glance and how much my alti is shaking, "1.6 and something" will always read as "1.6 and something". I won't see 1.9 there, nor will I see 1.3.

I've jumped a VisoII since my jump #15, and it was a huge relief to me because I process digital in a fraction of the time I need to decipher analogue. We have several people who've jumped digitals since #1, and they all turned out alright. Yes, it's prudent to go double for a couple jumps if you've learnt on analogue just to make sure you can read digital as well, but the whole theory about analogue being universally safer is suspect because skydiving is not a static activity where things never change. Every jump can and will at some point call for different altitudes than the previous one. If analogue works better for you, great. But it doesn't automatically make it better for everyone else.
"Skydivers are highly emotional people. They get all excited about their magical black box full of mysterious life saving forces."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I started in '80, and only 4 years ago tried a digital just out of curiosity. I was immediately sold on it. The assertion that people will take longer looking at it I think depends on the person and in part on practice. I contend that a person may also take a very long time looking at an analog alti - depending...

I first tried a Viso II, and it was good, but I found the larger, thinner stroke characters (and fewer characters) of the Neptune II to be much easier to read. The old Neptune II model can be found used for a reasonable price, just put the "armor" that is available for that model on it and treat it well. I've had mine for almost 4 years and no trouble at all. I think the price of the Neptune III is too high.
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

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
zoobrothertom

******In general, digital altimeters are not recommended to jumpers with little experience, because you actually have to read the number it shows instead of just looking at the position of the needle on an analog. This means that you need a far better awareness and it might take more time too. I would recommend you to keep using an analog altimeter till you got at least 100+ jumps, preferably more, then get a viso2, that's at least what i'm using and i love it.



I disagree. It's different for everyone. Try a viso2 out at your dz, and see if you like digital or analog. If you do then buy it. I was using mine before 38 jumps and I know of some DZs that were using them with their AFF students. Wasn't there an article in Parachutist about it sometime in the last 2 years? I'd have to check my issues.

I disagree with your disagreement! ;)

On your next jump, note someone close to you in the dive plan who is wearing a digital altimeter and note their altitude checks. In my limited research (as in limited to about 70 seconds each time), I have watched people take as long as 2~3 seconds to check their altitude as they totally defocus from the dive and basically go blind intensely focusing on their digital altimeter.

It's even more fun to watch on a casual Saturday 10 way belly jump with a few low time jumpers wearing digitals! :S

Yes, some jumpers with digitals are assuredly a little quicker than others but I have yet to see someone with an analog take more than a quarter (.25) to half (.5) a second to check their altitude. This is with a wrist mount or a chest mount. The chest mount is usually the quickest, especially if anchored over your chest strap buckle on the left side to prevent "flopping" in the wind. Also, it's a rather handy position come cutaway time for your next (or first) malfunction.

The added bonus of an analog altimeter is other people can see it too. It keeps them in the dive instead wrist flipping every few seconds.

Just my 2 cents. :)
Oh I'll bite.

Looks like neighborhood of half a second each time. The time I check it several times within a few seconds under canopy, I thought I might be in a thermal and was keeping an eye on my descent rate.
I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Unstable

Quote

On your next jump, note someone close to you in the dive plan who is wearing a digital altimeter and note their altitude checks. In my limited research (as in limited to about 70 seconds each time), I have watched people take as long as 2~3 seconds to check their altitude as they totally defocus from the dive and basically go blind intensely focusing on their digital altimeter.

It's even more fun to watch on a casual Saturday 10 way belly jump with a few low time jumpers wearing digitals! Crazy

Yes, some jumpers with digitals are assuredly a little quicker than others but I have yet to see someone with an analog take more than a quarter (.25) to half (.5) a second to check their altitude. This is with a wrist mount or a chest mount. The chest mount is usually the quickest, especially if anchored over your chest strap buckle on the left side to prevent "flopping" in the wind. Also, it's a rather handy position come cutaway time for your next (or first) malfunction.

The added bonus of an analog altimeter is other people can see it too. It keeps them in the dive instead wrist flipping every few seconds.



+1



US older guys work better with ANALOG because we were raised on clocks and watches.
The younger gen has had digital all their lives. for them analogue is more difficult as it's foreign
You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I've been using a Digitude since I started jumping, but pretty much everything I fly has analog gauges in the cockpit. I don't feel there is a significant difference in time to read either of them.

IMHO the big advantage of using a digital altimeter skydiving is how much more information it provides to help you fine tune your landing patterns. To be clear, one should never rely on any particular instrument -- your eyes come come first. But being able to check your numbers, e.g., "I planned on being 800 feet AGL across from the peas on downwind, I glance at my Digitude and see I'm actually at 900 ft" is really valuable training. Hard to get that level of detail from analog.
www.wci.nyc

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I love my Alti-2 N3. I have owned an Analog Galaxy and a VisoII digital. I know own 2 n3's one in my helmet and one on my arm in the elastic wrist band mount.

I love it because their products are much easier to read and use. L&B makes good stuff but the user interface is hard to understand! Alti-2 stuff is made in America, the log book can store 2500+ logs and can program 8 alarms 4 freefall and 4 canopy. I use it for Wingsuiting, FreeFly, belly, Coaching, AFF, Camera, canopy piloting and all around fun.

Try them both man before you buy and I think you will Love Alti-2's user interface and ease of use to access logs!

Just my 2 cents.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0