bucko170 wrote:You get curious first, then you start wanting one
... and end up with best part of a 1000 watches, all bought for a reason off course. But its ok, the therapy is working, honest. I can handle it. No more than 1 a day. They are just watches
So, err, back to business. Did anyone see that mint working Heuer Chronosplit LED+LCD on ebay for $5k the other day ?!!
Seriously though, is there a reason for it or was it a case of "We have the technology to make it happen, so why not"?
Strange when you look back 30 years, with us all now living in the true digital age! Things were really cutting edge at the time.
I remember back in the day that the Hughes Message Watch was more a gimic handed out to Hughes employees in 1975 to sort of brag that sure they could do it, but more for the prestige of being able to show off a "luxury" LED with a unique feature, that got put to some very tactical uses when in comes to drunken office parties ...
I have been reading about LED watches with light sensors so sense whether it should make the LED's brighter during day light hours etc. This sounds like a great function and one that would probably save battery life as long as the sensor doesn't use much power in the first place!
The sensore dont use any power and they dont make decisions on 'daylight hours' as if powered by Win3.11 ! They usually use an LDR = light dependant resistors that simple vary/restrict the current to the LED driver transistors. A LED was always going to be difficult to read in bright daylight, but the red lens usually helped with contrast, however, if it was then the same daylight-brightness in a dark room it would be blindingly bright ! Generally the current use that I've measured ranges from 10/15MA, to 50/75ma - which is alot for a tiny battery. (this varies alot for many other reasons)
Quick question. If I need to change the batteries in the Compu Chron when it arrives, can it be opened easily enough without any special tools or would you recommend that I take it to a watch shop?
"yes", "not really" just be carefull, and "no". Jewellers charge stupid money to change a battery, eg, £5 for the cell, and £5-£10 for the 'skill'. Most cells can be purchased in bulk off ebay for less than 10p each, and the 'skill' is learnt in minutes and well worth it in the long run.