|
| Home | Guest - Not logged in | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
» Register
» Login
Gear Reviews
Documents
Tools
» Contact
|
Reviews > Electronic Devices > Watches > Origo Rendezvous Peak > Test Report by Gail StaisilOrigoRendezvous Peak Watch Test
Series by:
Gail Staisil, Marquette, Michigan
For
the last 19
years, backpacking has become a passion. I am a four-season backpacker
and an off-trail navigator. Although
I do take yearly trips to the American West or Southwest, the majority
of my trips are in Michigan and Canada.
My pack weight varies considerably but my base weight is below 18 lb
(8 kg). I am primarily a tarp camper who averages more than 50 nights a
year backpacking in a huge variety of weather conditions including
relentless rain, wet snow and sub-zero temps.Page Contents: Initial Report: September 12, 2009 Tester Information Name: Gail Staisil Age: 57 Gender: Female Height: 5' 9" (1.75 m) Weight: 145 lb (66 kg) Location: Marquette, Michigan USA Email: woodswoman 2001 AT yahoo DOT com Product Information
Initial Impressions and Product Description  The Origo Rendezvous Peak Watch arrived in the color of black with a reverse display as requested. It arrived with an extra battery (CR2032) and an approximately (2 in/5 cm X 3 in/7.6 cm) 35-page instruction manual (very portable). I was surprised to see that the time on the watch was set for my time zone and was correct down to the minute. The day of the week and the date were also correct. The other readable feature on the face of the watch was the temperature that was given in Celsius. The manufacturer markets the watch as having many functions in a "small sleek timepiece". It is probably smaller than many on the market but as expected it is much larger than simple watches I ordinarily wear. Realistically the ones I wear have about zero function other than time. However my homemade wrist compass that I wear while bushwhacking is similar in size. I tried on the watch and found that the wristband has tons of holes to accommodate almost any size wrist. I have a very small wrist (6.25 in/15.88 cm) but there were still two smaller holes on the band itself. The rubber-like band of the watch is a bit stiff so hopefully it will get softer with use. I normally prefer bands with Velcro closures for in the field use so this will definitely be different. The Origo Rendezvous Peak is a multi-sensor watch that has a number of functions but they can be simplified into six categories: altimeter, barometer, digital compass, weather forecast, lap memory and temperature. The complete list from the manufacturer's website is listed below:
The Rendezvous Peak has two large buttons on each side of the face of the watch to work the functions of the watch. I started pressing buttons but couldn't make out exactly how to use the options so it was time to look at the manual. Each button or key clearly has a purpose that is written in small letters near each button on the outside ring of the watch face. On the right side of the watch the top button is to start and stop a function and the lower button is to reset. On the left side the top button is for adjusting or using the back light. The lower left button is for selecting the mode. There is a sensor located between the two large buttons on the right side. The face of the watch also shows a battery indicator. The Rendezvous that I am testing has a black reverse display so that the numbers and letters and such are in light gray and the background is black. It is easy to read except for the forecast weather icon and the unit display (such as ft or m) which I can barely make out while wearing my script glasses. I don't wear glasses in the field so it will be interesting to see if I can actually use the forecast function. There are nine main operational modes for the Rendezvous that are in sequence. However there is a quicker way to access the compass bearing and altitude from the time mode. For the compass bearing, I just simply hit Start/Stop and for the altitude I press the Reset button. Both functions will stay for 10 seconds before reverting back to the time mode. If I want to use the digital compass for a longer period of time I press the compass mode (which is the first mode after time) and it will stay for 90 seconds. It can be rejuvenated again by hitting the start/stop button. What is neat about the digital compass is that it has four pointers that appear along the face to indicate magnetic north, south, east and west. Each one is represented by a single mark or segment with the exception of magnetic north which has five marks or segments. Using the Mode Settings So far, I have tried out what I consider to be the more difficult-to-learn functions (based on multiple pages of instructions for those modes). I've found that a few practice attempts definitely helped after following the directions. However I am sure that the small manual will be packed with my gear for easy access until everything becomes intuitive. Since I love to navigate off trail, I immediately recalibrated the COMP (compass) and set the compass for the local declination to see if the directional display looked correct as compared to my baseplate compass. The cardinal points lined up well. The next day I checked the compass again but as it had been in a car for a few miles the direction was off significantly. I re-calculated it and everything was fine. The manufacturer does recommend frequent re-calculation at new trailheads as well as after changing a battery or being near a magnetic field. An extra mode within the Compass Mode is called the Bearing Mode. After setting the bearing the desired bearing will show up in degrees on the top line of the watch face. The current bearing is shown in degrees on the middle line. The segments or markers on the perimeter of the watch face light up and are correlated to how close they are to the desired bearing. For instance each marker equals 6 degrees of accuracy so if there are two markers lit up the current bearing is 12 degrees off the desired bearing. The BARO (barometer) Mode was a bit more confusing to me as it uses millibars or mbars for air pressure readings. The barometer setting also has a weather forecaster which should be set to the current weather with an icon (sunny, sunny with clouds, cloudy or chance of precipitation/rainy). Those forecast icons should change if there are changes in barometric pressure. The next step is to adjust the sea level pressure according to the local weather report. Since millibars or mbars are not used for pressure readings in the United States I had to find a conversion table for converting the known pressure using inHG to millibars. The current pressure was at 30.17 inHG so that converted to 1022 mbars. At this point I feel that periodically changing the pressure will likely be an inconvenience as I doubt I would have a conversion table with me in the field. Also since I am used to reading the barometer in inHG I am familiar with the numbers and their consequences. I have no experience for reference with the millibars.The final step is to note the barometric pressure graph that is located at the top row of the watch in this mode. Pressure changes are mapped for the previous 30 hours and are refreshed when the sea level pressure is reset. The ALT1 Mode features an altimeter reading that is directly related to the barometric pressure. The manufacturer recommends that a reference altitude should be set before a hike to insure a higher degree of accuracy. An altitude graph is located at the top of the display in this mode. It shows the altitude history for the last hour. It will continue to update no matter what mode is currently being used. Each column in the graph represents a reading every two minutes. The Altimeter DATA Mode records the maximum altitude and accumulated altitude. I cleared the data that was already on the watch as the actual amount was significant. The rest of the mode functions were easy to use. Even though the TIME Mode was accurately set when I received the watch, I went through the motions and the only number I really had to change was the temperature unit which had been in Celsius. There is also a key lock which can be activated to prevent going into another mode while in the Time Mode. The remaining functions were CHRO (Chronograph) for measuring elapsed time, split times and two finishes, DATA (Chronograph Data) which records data for 99 runs, ALRM (Alarm) Mode (two alarms), and the TIMR (Countdown Timer) Mode which is just that. As the months progress I'm sure I will use every function for some part of my trips. I also plan to use this for other sports such as trail running and more. Pros So Far
Tester Remarks Thanks to North American Gear, LLC and BackpackGearTest for this opportunity to test the Origo Rendezvous Peak Watch. This concludes my Initial Report. The Field Report will be appended to this report in approximately two months from the date of this report. Please check back then for more information. Top Picture Courtesy of: North American Gear, LLC Top of Page Read more reviews of Origo gear Read more gear reviews by Gail Staisil Reviews > Electronic Devices > Watches > Origo Rendezvous Peak > Test Report by Gail Staisil | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
