Sun Company Altimeter 203 - Battery-Free Altimeter and Barometer | Weather-Trend Indicator with Rugged ABS Case and Lanyard | Reads Altitude from 0 to 15,000 Feet

Otrws Accurate Primary or Backup Device Consider. This is an excellent product that can be used as a primary or secondary measurement device. back to normal weather and altitude- It was used to calibrate a Kestrel digital wind gauge, as well as an altitude and barometric pressure device. which can be found on Amazon. com is another option. (Could also be used to fine tune/calibrate this device using a Kestrel or similar digital device?)br>br>Only gave 4- Stars because the dial is difficult to read in bright light, especially for those who wear prescription glasses, the dial does not glow in the dark, and even though it is anti-glare, the dial does not glow in the dark. If dropped or compressed, such as in a rucksack, survey bag, or jacket, the ballistic case should be "rubberized. " pocket on cargo pants Furthermore, the dial is a little difficult to manipulate due to the fact that fingers are squeezed into an anti-clockwise position. a case of ballistics Either extending the dial through the ballistic casing or using a small toggle would have been a better design. Regardless of the foregoing, as far as one can tell, highly accurate, and serious users such as the US Military, back-ups are available. Mountain climbers and hikers- Hunters and trekkers. and those who live in a Van Life-RV lifestyle should seriously consider it as a "survival" tool in the event that they lose all communication, become lost, or something similar. Those conducting activities in different parts of the world may find that the weather changes quickly and dramatically. Many Analog/purely Mechanical devices have the advantage of requiring no or few specialized batteries, potentially high maintenance, and being extremely difficult to "hack," potentially revealing one's location and other sensitive information if this is not explicitly desired! They're also notoriously difficult to tamper with from afar!.

Adelynn Pittman

| Aug 09, 2021

Now that I've had this altimeter for a summer's worth of hiking, it's time to give it another look. This altimeter is extremely light, requires no batteries, is simple to adjust, and provides me with the information I require. br>br>I use it to keep track of elevation while hiking, especially on steep ascents or descents. Knowing how much further up or down I have to go boosts my morale. It's simple to put to that use. It's only readable in 50-foot increments at best (the markings are 100 feet, so you can interpolate in between), but for me, that's plenty of precision. br>br>I've found the calibration ring to be very stable, which means it doesn't slip or slide around when I put the altimeter in or out of my pocket. I set the altimeter with known elevation at the trailhead, and it works fine the rest of the hike. br>br>Previously, I used a $300 Suunto hiking watch/altimeter. When the batteries ran out, it was a pain to replace them. This Sun device is far more user-friendly.

Bennett LORD

| Apr 22, 2021

Keeping altitude calibration from shifting is a bit of a challenge. This is a fantastic little altimeter. My old altimeter had died, so I bought this to use while hiking in Washington's Cascade Range.

- Construction is sturdybr>- These are actually barometers with a moveable dial for converting barometric pressure to altitude. br>br>They appear to be accurate, as far as a small mechanical altimeter can be. br>br>These things are actually barometers with a moveable dial for converting barometric pressure to altitude. When you're at a known altitude, like a landmark whose altitude can be read from your map, you calibrate this by turning the moveable dial. br>br>A minor flaw with this unit is that the moveable dial moves around in your pocket or pack, causing you to lose your altitude calibration. By bumping the unit, the old one's moveable dial was nearly impossible to move. I made do with a piece of Gorilla Tape on the body to hold the dial in place, but it wasn't ideal. br>br>The unit was also a little bigger and heavier than I'd expected based on the Amazon page. br>br>However, it does the job, and I plan to use it on hikes for many years.

Julian Gross

| Mar 22, 2021

In March, I attempted a hike in the San Emigdio Mountains of Southern California from Mount Pios to Grouse Mountain. I was surprised to find a lot more snow than I had anticipated. The trail was 99% ice and snow with possibly 1% bare earth in between. The footing was fine with MicroSpikes, but once I got past the footprints approaching Sawmill Mountain, I couldn't find the trail, despite having hiked it several times. With a compass and a topo map, I was able to locate Mt. Pios was clearly visible, but I was unable to locate the trail. In a fit of rash overconfidence, I took off across virgin snow on what appeared to be the trail's continuation - I got lost in the woods for 15 minutes before realizing I was in the wrong place. On a Tuesday morning, at 8500 feet, on a snowy day, I was alone. a forested, covered mountainside off the beaten path I felt like a complete moron as I threw the last of my 2-pound bag of chips into the fire. IQ, I turned around and returned the same way I had come. br>br>Analysis of the post-mortem revealed that I had set the swing to the west at least 150' too low. This made me wonder if knowing how high I was would have helped me stay on track. When I looked into the use of altimeters while hiking, I discovered that others shared my viewpoint. br>br>Altimeter watches were my first choice, but they were prohibitively expensive and did a slew of extras. I didn't care about that kind of stuff. Furthermore, many people appeared to have difficulty getting reliable readings from any device that cost less than $300 - and from others who charge a lot more. A battery was also required to power the display on all of the watches. Some models didn't even allow the owner to change the batteries. "Great for picking up chicks," one customer wrote in his product review on one site. "br>br>I realized I needed something more fundamental, and after a little digging, I discovered the Sun Altimeter 203. I made the decision to try it. It has proven to be exactly what I was looking for. br>br>The Sun 203 is a basic pressure altimeter with an analog dial that ranges from 0 to 15,000 feet in 100-foot increments. I believe I can interpolate the pointer position and obtain a value within 10' or so - For orienteering during mountain hikes, it's more than adequate. The instrument is made of a tough molded polymer that resembles ABS, and it isn't small: it measures 2 5/8" wide by 3 1/4" tall by 1" thick. It has a lanyard attached to it, which I wear around my neck. The dial is large enough for me to read while wearing my distance vision glasses, and as I become more familiar with the instrument, it becomes easier to read accurately with a quick glance while in full stride. Since I'm doing hikes with 3000' or more of elevation gain, knowing exactly how I'm doing with the vert without stopping to look at the topo map is, if not helpful, at least comforting. br>br>A pressure altimeter is essentially a barometer with grandiose delusions. It is extremely accurate at sensing changes in atmospheric pressure, but there are two types of errors when converting these pressure changes into actual altitudes. Changes in atmospheric pressure as a result of weather systems cause this type of error. You can sit in your living room and watch your altimeter tell you that you're falling, while a high-speed train is speeding past you. A cold front with high pressure moves through the area. Significant temperature changes are the source of the second type of error. You can sit on your camp stool and take an altimeter reading at sunrise when the temperature is 30°F, then spend the rest of the day there until the temperature reaches 75° in the afternoon, at which point the altimeter will tell you that you have climbed perhaps a hundred feet or more. What you can do about it is learn everything there is to know about how these phenomena work and then re-create them. When you're at a physical location with a known altitude, calibrate your altimeter during the day. Google "the use of altimeters in height measurement" for a great article about using altimeters while hiking in Scotland, where temperature and pressure can change dramatically from day to day. br>br>I've been hiking in the Southern California mountains, where the macro air mass has been relatively stable and temperature changes have been moderate, and the Sun 203 has seemed to be nearly spot on at every known elevation. My environment has been much friendlier to altimeter accuracy than Scotland's, but it's important to remember that an altimeter is not the same as a digital watch or a calculator. To get accurate data from an altimeter in any situation you might encounter while hiking, you'll need to know a few things and make some adjustments as needed. br>br>I've discovered that having an altimeter with me while hiking increases my enjoyment. Perhaps it will one day assist me in resolving a difficult navigation problem, such as the one I encountered in March. br>br>There are three more things you should be aware of. First and foremost, The Sun 203 is a fifth of the price of the cheapest altimeter watch worth considering. Second, the Sun 203 does not have any batteries, so you can't replace them. It will always be 100 powered by atmospheric pressure. You can count on it. Finally, if a Suunto altimeter watch helps you pick up chicks, you won't be able to handle the amount of action that a Sun 203 will provide.

Lorenzo Mercado

| Dec 22, 2020