Altimeters

‘Ladies and gentlemen! You are cruising at 10,000 meters’. You hear this often when you are flying. But have you ever wondered, how on earth do the pilots know this? Well, it is not as if the plane is like a car, where you can easily keep track of far its wheels have rolled. How then, does a pilot measure the height of the plane in the air? Simple! Using the handy altimeters. Let us take a look at these smart gadgets and how they work.

With altimeters, you can measure the vertical distance of an object concerning a reference level. For example, in the case of aeroplanes, you can measure the altitude of the land surface above sea level. For this reason, these altimeters are an essential gadget in planes. However, there are many different applications of altimeters. Therefore, they also come in diverse types. However, understanding this alone doesn’t guarantee you a good buy. You have to go in-depth to understand its various aspects too. Luckily, in this article, we have covered almost everything you need to know about the gadget. Moreover, we’ve also listed out a few tips to make your buying process an easy task. Keep reading to find them out.

All you need to know about altimeters

It is now evident that altimeters are an essential gadget that is used in many ways. But, like all other devices, these too had their humble beginnings. The very first model of Altimeter was developed by a French physicist named Louis Paul Cailletet. However, it is Paul Kollsman, a German-American inventor who changed the world of aviation with the altimeters invented in 1928. Since then, the altimeters have been developing, and today you’ll find a plethora of them. This is also one of the reasons why it is hard to pinpoint the one that is perfect. Below we’ve compiled the essential things you need to know about the altimeters that’ll simplify your buying process.

The working principle of barometric altimeters

The conventional altimeters that you find in aircraft’s work by measuring the atmospheric pressure at the flight’s altitude. The device then compares these atmospheric pressure readings to a pre-set value. Technically speaking, you’ll find three aneroid wafers inside the casing of the meter. They expand and contract. That is, if the outside static pressure is lower than 29.92Hg, the wafers expand. Whereas, a higher static pressure outside causes the wafers to contract. This increase and decrease of the pressure trigger the altimeter needle. This, in turn, shows you the corresponding reading. You can use digital as well as analogue displays to check these readings.

The various types of altimeters

Of course, like any other gadget, these too have many different types. However, we shall look at the major ones for now. The Three-pointer altimeter is one of the most common types of instrument used in general aviation. Like the name, it utilizes a three-pointer to display the current altitude. Among the three-pointers, one displays 100ft increments while the second and third show 1000ft and 10,000ft increments respectively. However, there is a meter that utilizes a single-pointer and a drum. You call them counter drum meters. Here the rotating drums show the ten thousand and one thousand foot increments. Apart from this, you’ll also find encoding altimeter, blind and altimeter watches.

The difference between analogue and digital altimeters

Typically, you’ll find two different types of meters, the analogue and their digital counterpart. Both of them have their pros and cons. However, one of the most important differences between the two is going to be their batteries. The digital meters may use up more batteries than the analogue. But, digital meters come with a lot of fantastic features. It tracks your elevation ascent and descent rates and warns you immediately when a potential storm is rolling in. And, the best part, you can do this all without having a GPS. This means you need not reset the meter every time to know elevations frequently. But, the analogue display gives you the visual picture. This makes it a lot easier and quicker for your brain to interpret the readings.

The best altimeter watch on trend right now

A quality altimeter watch is a worthy addition to your gear if you are a mountaineer or hiker. Moreover, you popularly refer to them as the acronym ABC (Altimeter, barometer and compass). These watches offer the most vital information for backcountry adventures. Apart from that, these watches come in distinct looks with durable, scratch-resistant faces and large screens. Out of all the watches, the Casio altimeter watch is one of the most popular and high-quality ones. For instance, Casio’s Pro Trek line is one such altimeter watch that has delivered tough performance. Apart from these, you’ll also find some useful Samsung altimeter and Fitbit altimeters too.