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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 GENERAL INFORMATION

The Observer Wristop Computer is a reliable high precision electronic instrument, intended
for recreational use. The outdoor enthusiast who enjoys venturing in sports like skiing,
kayaking, mountain climbing, hiking and biking can rely on the Observer’s accuracy.

NOTE:

 The Observer should not be substituted for acquiring measurements that require

professional or industrial precision and should not be used to acquire measurements when
skydiving, hang gliding, paragliding, gyrocopter riding and flying small aircraft.
The Observer is available in three different material combinations:
Observer Sr with stainless steel housing and elastomer strap, Observer St with stainless
steel housing and stainless steel / elastomer bracelet and Observer Tt with Titanium housing
and Titanium / elastomer bracelets. All material versions have identical functions and
operation.

1.2 CARE AND MAINTENANCE

Perform only the procedures discussed in this manual.
Never attempt to disassemble or service the Observer.
Protect your Observer from shocks, extreme heat and prolonged exposure to direct sunlight.
If not in use, your Observer should be stored in a clean, dry environment at room temperature.
The Observer can be wiped clean with a lightly moistened (warm water) cloth. Applying a
mild soap to the area can clean stubborn stains or marks.
Avoid exposing the Observer to strong chemicals like gasoline, cleaning solvents, acetone,
alcohol, insect repellents, adhesives, and paint, as they will damage the unit’s seals, case
and finish.
Make sure the area around the sensors (located on the right of the instrument) is kept free of
dirt and sand. Never insert any objects into the sensor openings.

Summary of Contents for Observer

Page 1: ...Figure 2 1 a b c e d Figure 2 2 a b c d Figure 2 3 a b d c e Figure 2 4 a b Figure 2 5 a b c Figure 2 6 a b c Figure 2 7 a b c Figure 3 1 a b c d e Figure 3 2 ...

Page 2: ...2 a b c d Figure 5 1 a b c d Figure 5 2 a b c d Figure 5 3 Figure 5 4 Figure 5 5 Figure 5 6 Figure 5 7 Figure 3 3 Figure 3 4 Figure 3 5 Figure 3 6 Figure 3 7 Figure 3 8 Figure 3 9 Figure 4 1 a b c d Figure 3 10 ...

Page 3: ... 20 74 40 Suunto Web Site www suunto com Congratulations on the purchase of your Suunto Observer The Observer is designed to provide you with the most accurate information during your enjoyment of any outdoor activity you are engaged in Along with this product you will find a Warranty card and this User s Guide We wish you many unforgettable moments with your new Suunto Wristop Computer ...

Page 4: ...7 1 7 Button Functions 7 1 8 LCD Display 9 1 9 Measurements and Units 9 1 9 1 To Set or Check Unit of Measurement Settings 10 1 10 Pressure Sensor Calibration 10 1 11 Battery Replacement 10 CHAPTER 2 TIME MODE 12 2 1 Setting up the Time and Calendar 12 2 2 Chronometer Sub Mode 13 2 2 1 How to Use the Chronometer 13 2 2 2 To View the Chronometer Memory 14 2 3 Daily Alarm Sub Mode 16 2 3 1 Setting t...

Page 5: ...ory 24 3 6 Effect of Air Temperature on Altitude Measurement 24 CHAPTER 4 BAROMETER MODE 27 4 1 Setting the Sea Level Pressure 28 4 2 4 Day Memory Sub Mode 29 4 3 Barometric Trend Indicator 30 CHAPTER 5 COMPASS MODE 30 5 1 Bearing Tracking Sub Mode 31 5 2 Declination Adjustment Sub Mode 32 5 2 1 Setting the Local Declination 32 5 3 Calibrating the Compass 33 CHAPTER 6 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 34...

Page 6: ...tude Alarm Indicator Daily Alarm Indicator Mode Indicator AM PM Indicator 12h display Low Battery Indicator Use Indicator Chronometer Indicator a b c d e f SELECT QUICK MODE PRESSURE SENSOR ON OFF Figure 1 1 ...

Page 7: ... elastomer bracelet and Observer Tt with Titanium housing and Titanium elastomer bracelets All material versions have identical functions and operation 1 2 CARE AND MAINTENANCE Perform only the procedures discussed in this manual Never attempt to disassemble or service the Observer Protect your Observer from shocks extreme heat and prolonged exposure to direct sunlight If not in use your Observer ...

Page 8: ...cissors If you are unsure of the correct length cut the pieces one by one and test the length after cutting each piece Cut in turns from both sides of the bracelet to keep the sides equally long Be careful in order not to shorten the bracelet too much 4 Replace the spring bars into the last pin holes of both sides of the bracelet 5 Attach the buckle to the bracelet by placing the spring bars into ...

Page 9: ...o operate the backlight remains on 10 seconds from the last pressing 1 6 WATER RESISTANCE The Observer is water resistant up to 100m 330ft However it is not a diving instrument and therefore the buttons should not be operated put in use while underwater 1 7 BUTTON FUNCTIONS The Observer is operated with four buttons as shown in Fig 1 1 MODE ON OFF QUICK and SELECT The MODE Button Located on the to...

Page 10: ...ing the QUICK button causes the selected value to decrease In the TIME ALTIMETER or BAROMETRIC mode a short press quickly displays the cumulative information of the current logbook recording Refer to Chapter 3 Fast Cumu lative Features for more information For chronometer this button is used for lap times and zeroing In COMPASS mode a short press locks the bearing The SELECT Button Located on the ...

Page 11: ... half oblong shape located just below the bar indicates the mode you are viewing The half moon shape under the mode indicator indicates the Observer is being used as a barometer weather station or altimeter e The outer circumference of the LCD graphically tracks the units of measure based on the selected mode f On the top left an arrow shaped Barometric Trend Indicator provides a quick refer ence ...

Page 12: ...g unit The units are in the following order m ft m min ft min hPa inHg ºC ºF 4 Press the ON OFF or QUICK button to toggle between the metric and imperial settings 5 To confirm the setting s press the MODE button 6 To exit the setup process press the MODE button again 1 10 PRESSURE SENSOR CALIBRATION WARNING This is a FACTORY CALIBRATION SETTING Do not enter this mode If you enter this mode in erro...

Page 13: ...t located on the battery compartment cover 2 Turn the coin counterclockwise until it is aligned with the open position marker or even slightly further for easy opening 3 Remove the battery compartment cover Ensure the o ring and all surfaces are clean and dry Don t stretch the o ring 4 Remove the old battery carefully Avoid bending the side contacts 5 Place the new battery into the battery compart...

Page 14: ...ce every two seconds a new segment lights up until a full circle of segments 60 seconds is lit 2 1 SETTING THE TIME AND CALENDAR 1 In the main mode of the time function press the SELECT button for 2 seconds to begin the setup process In the bottom field seconds will begin to flash 2 Press the SELECT button to move to the field you want to change The order of fields is seconds minutes hours 12 24h ...

Page 15: ...ndent from the current time and does not effect the alarms or the memory functions These are dependent on the current local time in the main time mode 2 2 CHRONOMETER SUB MODE In the TIME mode press the SELECT button once to enter this sub mode The Observer chronometer feature Can record 1 99 split and lap times and Obtain a maximum range of one run timing event up to 24 00 00 Upon exceeding this ...

Page 16: ...er 4 Press the QUICK button to reset the chronometer to zero once the chronometer is stopped NOTE The timing of another event cannot start until the stopwatch has been zeroed NOTE Starting the timing of another event removes the data of the previous timing from the memory NOTE When the timing is going on the chronometer remains active in the background when you switch to other modes or sub modes A...

Page 17: ...s and tenths of seconds of the lap or split time in the top field b The hours and minutes of the lap or split time in the middle field and c The text MEM and the text L L Lap time number or SPL SPL split time in the bottom field The stopwatch icon appears on the right side The lap time will be viewed first and then the corresponding split time will follow automatically NOTE If a display is on for ...

Page 18: ...ly Alarm s 1 Press the ON OFF or the QUICK button to select alarm 1 2 or 3 2 Press the SELECT button for 2 seconds In the top field the ON or OFF will begin to flash 3 Press either the ON OFF or the QUICK button to toggle between ON and OFF 4 At the setting desired press the SELECT button to move to the next settings They follow in order hours minutes The field you can change is flashing 5 Press t...

Page 19: ...scent or descent rate in meters or feet per min b The current altitude in increments of 1 meters or 3 feet depending on the unit of meas ure selected c Altimeter mode and altimeter use indicator d The current time and e The outer circumference of the LCD graphically displays lit segments representing the altitude over a full thousand meters or feet one complete circle is equivalent to 1000 m or 10...

Page 20: ... being due to a change in the weather Measured changes will affect only the pressure reading displayed in the barometer mode Both sea level pressure and absolute pressure reading will change These changes won t affect the altitude reading in the altimeter mode while barometer use is activated The Observer leaves the factory set to be used as an altimeter 3 2 SETTING THE ALTIMETER In setting the Al...

Page 21: ...In the top field the text RE indicating reference altitude displays In the mid dle field the current altitude displays In the bottom field the half moon shaped use indi cator under the indicator bar will begin to flash Altimeter Barometer use feature and the text USE will appear 2 Press either the ON OFF or QUICK button to toggle the icon to the position under ALTI for altimeter use or BARO for ba...

Page 22: ...ry for this function to be set NOTE Setup mode will automatically be released if left idle for more than one minute 3 3 LOGBOOK SUB MODE 3 3 1 Starting and Stopping a Logbook Recording In the main altimeter mode a logbook recording starts by performing two short presses of the ON OFF button An ongoing recording is indicated with flashing LOG text in the bottom field To stop a logbook recording you...

Page 23: ... press the QUICK button to scroll down 2 The second screen Fig 3 3 shows the ascent information for the particular logbook that is being viewed The top field displays the average ascent rate during the event The middle field displays the total vertical ascent The bottom field displays the text ASC along with the text Log to the left NOTES The maximum asc dsc that can be shown in one logbook is 39 ...

Page 24: ...rs as well as number of runs of the current logbook while recording You can access this information by performing a short press of the QUICK button in any of the TIME ALTIMETER or BAROMETER main modes When activated three screens will appear and automatically rotate in intervals of four seconds as in the figures for steps 2 3 and 4 of the Logbook Mode The first screen shows the rate of ascent and ...

Page 25: ...ext HI The middle field displays the highest altitude recorded since the last date cleared and The bottom field displays the date when it was reached with the date and year alternat ing In the third screen Fig 3 9 The top field displays the text ASC and The middle and bottom fields display up to an 8 digit accumulative vertical ascent since the last reset The middle field is activated when the val...

Page 26: ...a higher altitude there is less air than at a lower altitude The principle of an altimeter is to measure the different air pressure between different altitudes The outside temperature affects the air weight Consequently the air pressure difference between two altitudes is also dependant on temperature The altitude calculation of the Observer is based on the air pressure at certain normal temperatu...

Page 27: ...3 7 56 7 400 1312 12 4 54 3 600 1969 11 1 52 0 800 2625 9 8 49 6 1000 3281 8 5 47 3 1200 3937 7 2 45 0 1400 4593 5 9 42 6 1600 5250 4 6 40 3 1800 5906 3 3 37 9 2000 6562 2 0 35 6 2400 7874 0 6 30 9 2800 9187 3 2 26 2 3000 9843 4 5 23 9 3400 11155 7 1 19 2 3800 12468 9 7 14 5 4000 13124 11 0 12 2 4500 14765 14 3 6 4 5000 16405 17 5 0 5 5500 18046 20 8 5 4 6000 19686 24 0 11 2 ...

Page 28: ... This means that at constant pressure the reading of the pressure sensor is always the same independent of the unit s own temperature However the air temperature can still effect the altitude readings as described above Table 2 Example using meters and Celsius Lower point Higher point Set reference altitude real altitude 1000 m Displayed altitude 3000 m Real outside temperature 17 5 ºC 6 5 ºC Norm...

Page 29: ...Hg range 8 90 to 32 40 A resolution of 1 hPa or 0 05 inHg A one hour interval measuring to estimate barometric trend An automatic 4 day memory of atmospheric pressure Temperature compensation temperature does not effect the pressure within the speci fied temperature range A temperature range 20º to 60ºC or 5º to 140ºF A temperature resolution of 1º C or F and An Altimeter Barometer use feature Ref...

Page 30: ...ssure is the corresponding pressure at sea level NOTE The absolute pressure is depending on current altitude and weather 4 1 SETTING THE SEA LEVEL PRESSURE Setting the sea level pressure can be used in setting the altitude measurement if the altitude is not known To set the sea level pressure 1 In the barometric main mode press the SELECT button for 2 seconds The top field displays the text SEA th...

Page 31: ...is sub mode This feature allows you to follow changes in pressure that will assist you in forecasting changes in weather condition i e storms In the 4 day memory mode the display fields are as shown in Fig 4 2 a The top field displays the day of the week b The middle field displays the sea level pressure c The bottom field displays the time corresponding to the pressure in the middle field and the...

Page 32: ...cate 9 different patterns in the barometric trend Examples Situation 6 3 hours ago Situation last 3 hours Dropped heavy 2 hPa 3hours Dropping heavy 2 hPa 3hours Remained stable Rising heavy 2 hPa 3hours Risen heavy 2 hPa 3hours Dropping heavy 2 hPa 3hours CHAPTER 5 COMPASS MODE The Compass provides you with A resolution of 1º for the bearing and 5º for North South direction A bearing tracking mode...

Page 33: ...al objects power lines loudspeakers electric motors etc This type of disturbances cause relatively often need to calibrate the compass Always take bearings in the open air not inside buildings tents caves or other shelters 5 1 BEARING TRACKING SUB MODE In the compass mode you can select to change from the cardinal point mode to the bearing track mode and utilize the bearing lock feature for tracki...

Page 34: ...e released if left idle for more than one minute 5 2 DECLINATION ADJUSTMENT SUB MODE The Observer allows you to compensate for the difference between true north and magnetic north by adjusting the compass declination In the Compass mode press the SELECT button once to enter this sub mode The display is shown in Fig 5 3 The top field displays the current declination direction where OFF no declinati...

Page 35: ... you leave for an extended outdoor activity To begin the calibration 1 Press the SELECT button twice when in the main compass mode The top field displays the text CMP and the bottom field displays the text CAL Fig 5 4 2 Press the SELECT button for 2 seconds In the middle field the text PUSH will begin to flash alternating with the sign Fig 5 5 This indicates the button QUICK 3 Press the QUICK butt...

Page 36: ...on is complete CHAPTER 6 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Can I swim with the Observer Yes the Observer is waterproof to a depth of 100 meters 330 ft However the Observer is NOT a diving device and the buttons should not be pressed underwater How long does the battery last The normal lifetime expectancy is 12 months Battery life depends mainly on how much the backlight the compass and the logbook are us...

Page 37: ... the maximum capacity of total vertical ascent or descent feet meters in the logbook history The maximum figure that can be shown on the display is 39 999 999 representing feet or meters depending on the unit of measurement set This should be enough for most users 39 999 999 meters is roughly three quarters around the globe What is the duration readout The duration readout tells you how many hours...

Page 38: ...your wrist or placed on a table it will in either case give you the proper altitude reading providing the weather conditions have not changed All Suunto Observers are temperature compensated within the range 5 to 140 F 20 to 60 C Refer to Chapter 3 Effect of Air Temperature on Altitude Measurement Why is the compass not working correctly It has been exposed to external electromagnetic disturbance ...

Page 39: ...re the segments on the circumference graphically show you the altitude over a full thousand In the Barometer mode one full circle equals 100 hPa or 1 inHg and the segments indicate the pressure over a full hundred hPa or over a full inHg In the main Compass mode the segments indicate the North and South one lit segment indicates North three lit segment indicate South If you have set the compass to...

Page 40: ...e prior written consent of Suunto Oy Suunto Wristop Computers and their logos are all registered or unregistered trademarks of Suunto Oy All rights are reserved While we have taken great care to ensure that information contained in this documentation is both comprehensive and accurate no warranty of accuracy is expressed or implied CE COMPLIANCE All Suunto Wristop Computers conform to the required...

Page 41: ...y this warranty There are no express warranties except as listed above The client can exercise the right to repair under the warranty by contacting our Customer Service department to obtain a repair authorization Suunto Oy Suunto Europe and Suunto USA Canada shall in no event be liable for any incidental or consequential damages arising from the use of or inability to use the product Suunto Oy doe...

Page 42: ...40 KEILI 4 02 2500 ...

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