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faulknerwn

Digital altimeters versus analog - which is easier to read

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I'm in my mid-Forties, & prefer analog for a wrist Alti. To be honest, I've never tried a Viso, but think I wouldn't like it as much. They're awful small looking.
I grew up w/a mixture of digital & analog appliances. When I glance sideways @my Galaxy. I instantly recognize the alt. There is zero transposition needed. I suspect there would be a slight amount of extra thinking involved if I switched to a digital.

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I just can't deal with analog altimeters on any kind of regular basis. It always seemed like the needle was all over the place. IT may take a fraction of a second longer to read an interpret an 8 on a digital altimeter if everything was equal, but it isn't cause I spend a whole second trying to figure out which direction the thing is even pointing. I mean, I never really associated a direction to a number well.

For me it's like looking at one of those watches that doesn't have any numbers, just hands, I know it's kinda sorta around 2:15, but it could just as easily be 1:15.



I hope the car you drive is equipped with a digital
speedometer. ;)

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Years ago I was paid to do this research.
I do not have access the my report any more, so I cannot tell you what articles I used then.
What you need to do is do research on human factors and instrumentation.
I guarantee that there are many articles in this area.

.



I believe your studies probably showed that the user has to be familiar with the instrument, especially analog, for it to be better... With analog you learn that "at 3 o'clock I pull, at 6 o'clock I track..." But until you learn what the needle means, it probably takes most people longer to process the numbers and convert them to a number.

Today I was riding my motorcycle fast and I did a quick test on myself. In a blink of an eye I saw both the tach and spedo. The spedo is digital and I immediately knew my speed and how many MPH I was over the limit. The tach is analog. I immediately knew I was at about 1/4 of the way to redline... But I had no clue if it was at 4,000 or 8,000 RPM. I just knew it was 1/4 of the way...

Skydivers with analog alti I think learn what altitudes look like. Skydivers with digital I think learn how to count down from 12K to 0, where you need to pull around 3.5...

I like numeric countdowns to impact better than pictures of % of the way to impact, so I will always jump a digital. I also like the fact my fancy digital alti seems to know the difference between 500 and 0, where my fancy analog gives me much less precision under canopy.

Without reading your studies, it is honestly hard to know if they apply to skydiving alti... I have seen studies that show scanning a large group of instruments is easier when they are analog (such as in an aircraft)... But they have to be well designed otherwise they can be confusing.

But I think most people think of time in terms of digital numbers, considering digital stopwatches, clocks, cell phone clocks, etc are all in digital. In skydiving time = altitude, altitude = time.

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I believe your studies probably showed that the user has to be familiar with the instrument, especially analog, for it to be better... With analog you learn that "at 3 o'clock I pull, at 6 o'clock I track..." But until you learn what the needle means, it probably takes most people longer to process the numbers and convert them to a number.


I agree. Familiarity is the key point.

I find that, for me, with analogue I don't have to process and convert to numbers....it's just like the "at 3 o'clock I pull, at 6 o'clock I track" you mentioned. There's no need to get any more detailed than a digital would show you. Well, if the dive plan included track at 5,251 ft I might have a bit of a problem, eh?

For me, again, it's all about the analog clocks I grew up with.

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Today I was riding my motorcycle fast and I did a quick test on myself. In a blink of an eye I saw both the tach and spedo. The spedo is digital and I immediately knew my speed and how many MPH I was over the limit. The tach is analog. I immediately knew I was at about 1/4 of the way to redline... But I had no clue if it was at 4,000 or 8,000 RPM. I just knew it was 1/4 of the way...


Excellent comparison. It just so happens that you may not have enough experience with or didn't grow up with that tach knowing from day 1 that 1/4 way around was 4K rpm.

I like them both. For me the analog takes less time to process and understand.

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I also like the fact my fancy digital alti seems to know the difference between 500 and 0, where my fancy analog gives me much less precision under canopy.


Are you sure your digital is more precise or is it that those displayed numbers are easier to read than what an analog would show?

Yes, 0.8 is easier than "just a little below the 1".


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But I think most people think of time in terms of digital numbers, considering digital stopwatches, clocks, cell phone clocks, etc are all in digital.


Yeah, well, you young whippersnappers probably outnumber us by far these days.
:D:D:P
My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

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I immediately knew I was at about 1/4 of the way to redline... But I had no clue if it was at 4,000 or 8,000 RPM. I just knew it was 1/4 of the way...


Excellent comparison. It just so happens that you may not have enough experience with or didn't grow up with that tach knowing from day 1 that 1/4 way around was 4K rpm.


I actually have 8,000 miles in 2 years on that bike. It just is that I never have cared to learn where the numbers are, I just care about % of redline and I like to shift at 10 o'clock on that bike... Whereas with the spedo I do care about the numbers because the speed limit changes around town and I need to stay within 40 or 50 mph of it. :o

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Are you sure your digital is more precise or is it that those displayed numbers are easier to read than what an analog would show?

Yes, 0.8 is easier than "just a little below the 1".



Well, I like to check my alti a few times while setting up my landing to help determine if my eyes are telling me a correct site picture. I jumped my old analog on Saturday when I loaned my digital to a visitor. I wanted to pull on a front riser at about 480 feet. I got to what I saw was about 480 and looked at my analog and it looked like 0. Half of the problem is that an analog simply does not have enough gradation between 2000 and 0 for precise reading, and the other part is that I think analogs (especially non-electronic versions) tend to be off slightly, not enough to care in freefall, enough to care under canopy.

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Well, if the dive plan included track at 5,251 ft I might have a bit of a problem, eh?



Actually I was going to write in the first post, then decided not to... On AFF-I jumps I really like digital. I try to give the student every chance they deserve and want to offer my "assistance at pull time" when needed, not before. On level 1 and 2 AFFs, I am looking at my alti a lot around pull time to make split second decisions on how best to help. In this case I am not concerned about 5251 vs 5250, but I am concerned about 5200 vs 5100. Ya sure, aff instructors can still be good instructors with analog, I just like digital a lot...

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I suspect most of us prefer whatever we have right now. And everyone can be different and there is no correct choice for everyone.

My only statement on it is that whatever a student uses starting out, that they stick with that style all the way through (at least) the A or B license before changing.

just to keep it simple for them

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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This is an interesting topic for me since I jump with both a digital and analog - a digital Neptune 2 on my wrist and an analog on my chest-strap (plus an audible, but that's not a visual and doesn't apply so much here.)

I don't find myself having to process either longer than the other, although that may be partly because I regularly jump with both. For me a lot of it boils down to what orientation I'm in; when sit-flying the chest-mount is more convenient, while belly tends to see me using the wrist-mount digital more often.

Near deployment (tracking, the reach & pull, etc) my brain is able to process the digital a bit better. Similar to the experience of others, the analog seems to tell my brain "you're near 3k" instead of "you're at 3.2k and to pull at 3k you should stop your track now" - both take the same amount of time to process visually/mentally, but the digital seams to give me more useful information.

I'm mid-twenties, and I grew up with a mix of analog/digital clocks around the house, although a bit more to the digital side with wrist-watches and alarms.
--
Radio

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I'm 40 too, I normally wear an analog watch but I prefer the digital altimeter, especially for the landing pattern.
I just use the right tool that fits my needs!
However I found both analog and digital giving me the same level of awareness.
The mind is like a parachute: If you don't open it, it doesn't work.

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First few hundred jumps were on an analog. When I got my neptune I was the opposite at first. I would stare at the numbers and "convert" them to a needle position on an analog. Not too many jumps later it became a quick glance.
"Are you coming to the party?
Oh I'm coming, but I won't be there!"
Flying Hellfish #828
Dudist #52

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