PIREP: Casio Pathfinder PAW1200

This is a report on the Casio Pathfinder PAW1200 and its application
in the cockpit of a small aircraft.

The PAW1200 has it all: R/C time reception from all atomic clock
signals (US, Japan, Germany, and Britain), solar powered, barometer,
altimeter, thermometer, compass, alarms, stopwatch, countdown timer,
alternate (world) time display, auto backlight, and so on. But it's
surprisingly easy to learn and use. It's a huge watch to contain all
these gizmos (photos and dimensions at
http://esnips.com/web/BobFrysPhotos) but the mildly ludicrous
proportions of the PAW1200 line are part of its appeal.

My test of an R/C (atomic) watch reception is to pitch it into a desk
drawer with other watches and see if it can get a signal from Colorado
to Northern California. This one usually did, and simply set on top
of the desk it got the signal 100% of the time on the first try.
Without the signal it's still accurate, mine gaining about 2 or 3
seconds over 10 days. I turned off the power saving mode as
unnecessary, because kept in the drawer with occasional daytime use is
enough to keep it fully charged.

The "justification" for this, apart from the geek factor, was that it
might be useful in an airplane should the whiskey compass or altimeter
go tango-uniform. Sure. But seriously, would the PAW1200 be useful
as a backup? The answer is maybe.

The PAW1200 senses barometric pressure and reports the raw figure as
well as an altitude estimate, using standard atmosphere data.
Unfortunately you can't set the baro pressure to an airport reading,
so to make use of the altimeter you have to remember to set the base
altitude to your airport elevation before takeoff. Doing so, I found
the watch altitude was within 50-100 feet of the airplane altimeter up
to 8000 feet, as high as I went on that test. It could definitely
help in a pinch if the altimeter quit working, provided you set the
base altimeter correctly *and* atmospheric pressure hasn't changed
much. Or you can check your differential-corrected GPS altimeter
which most aviation handheld GPSs use these days.

The magnetic compass in the PAW1200 also proved accurate, though it
needed a few seconds to stabilize. You have to hold your arm so as to
point the 12 o'clock position on the watch in the direction you want
to read, and it displays the digital compass heading for several
seconds. It agreed with the whiskey compass within reading error.

Though I didn't try it in the airplane, the stopwatch could also be
useful and is not hard to get to.

It can be used at night with its backlight (either manual or auto),
but since the light only lasts 2.5 seconds you have to look quick.

So do its features really make it a valuable addition in a cockpit?
Probably not, but then personally I don't find any watch *that*
useful. Consider it more as a fun piece of hardware to play with.


Another review:
http://www.watchreport.com/2006/03/review_of_the_m.html

Other photos:
http://cantrell.typepad.com/photos/w...200/index.html

Casio website:
http://www.casio.com/products/Timepi...inder/PAW1200/

Best price I can find:
http://www.4-watches.com/casio/pathfinder.html