Three hundred and sixty kilometres later
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The Suunto 5 Peak and Suunto App

Byrichard
Reading Time: 4 minutes

A few weeks, or even months ago, I noticed that the Suunto and Sports Tracker apps play very nicely with the Apple watch, especially Sports Tracker. For this reason I spent quite a bit of time playing with the sports tracker app with the iphone. In fact it almost convinced me that I would get a new apple watch, to play with sports tracker.

Apple Watches are Expensive

The Series Four Apple Watch I have now is over four years old with a charge cycle every day of those four years. As a result of this the charge does not last as long as it used to. It barely survives the day now. It loses 25 percent when I’m sleeping with it on my wrist.

I considered replacing the Series Four with the SE because the SE is the cheapest apple watch available but it’s still over three hundred francs. The Garmin 45s is about 150 CHF and so is the Suunto Peak 5. The Garmin 45s is a speciality watch, focused mainly on running, and to give you VO2 max info. The battery lasts a day or two before it is desperate for a new charge.

Buyer’s Remorse with Garmin

Although I like the Garmin Instinct now I had problems with the Garmin Etrex 32, the Garmin Instinct, and was disappointed by the Garmin 45s. I wasn’t so happy with the strap, with battery life and with visible GPS mistakes. I am happy with the Etrex SE but it still feels a little limited, unless you love geocaching. If you like geocaching then this device is awesome. I am not yet a fan of geocaching.

The Suunto App

I have been tracking workouts with Sports Tracker, which was then bought by Suunto before becoming the Suunto App and they have recently used AI to provide a text based coach. It tells you how you’ve been sleeping, how you’ve been working out, what type of workout you’re doing and more. It also provides a heat map of your workouts for the previous month automatically, without paying a premium, since you already paid for their watch, via the Suunto app. The Sports Tracker does want payment for certain features.

The Suunto Peak 5

For a while I was sad to see that Suunto had dumped their watch os for Android’s watch OS instead and I expected them to fold and give up. It has been a few years since then and Suunto is still around and adding features, which is why I decided to plunge and revert to Suunto watches. The Suunto Peak 5 is the cheapest watch they sell, for 139 CHF if you’re not bothered by colour and looks.

I have now worn the watch for several days and worn it 24 hours a day for several days, with no wrist problems, skin problems, app problems or battery problems. It did nag me twice. It nagged me once for starting a workout without waiting for the wrist HR monitor to be ready, and a second time for not waiting for the GPS to be ready. Other than that it has been fine

What I’ve tracked

I have tracked at least two walks, two bike rides and more. I have also used it as a timer and alarm clock and these features worked fine too. It took a few days before I setup the sleep function but for two or three days my sleep has been tracked.

Compared to the Spartan Wrist HR Baro

Compared to the Suunto Spartan Wrist HR Baro it’s small and elegant. It fits nicely on the wrist. Instead of having a strap that has a think through which you thread the strap it has a button, like with the apple watch but for the end of the strap. It doesn’t flap around or get loose when you’re showering or doing sports. With the Garmin Instinct and other watches it’s easy for the strap to come lose and flap around.

No Buyer’s Remorse, So Far

The Suunto Peak 5 is not a new watch. It has been around for years. I didn’t get it because I was annoyed that Suunto had changed OS, but also because I felt that it was not an upgrade compared to the Suunto Spartan Wrist HR baro. It has fewer features but that can be used for fitness training. Due to the heatwave I haven’t been pushing as hard as I would with lower temperatures.

Amused by the Old Charger

One of the surprises when I opened the packaging was the charging cable. It’s the same as I had for the ambit 3 and other devices, rather than the spartan. The new cable is shorter though, so it’s nice that I can now choose between using the old charging cable when I need more reach, or the new one when I want to save on weight, or waste less energy on cable resistance.

The Case for Cheaper Watches

The range in price for Suunto watches is from 139 CHF for the Suunto Peak 5 to over 800 CHF for the Peak 9. The normal range is from 300 CHF upwards. In contrast the Apple Watch SE starts from 255 CHF upwards, but it has to be charged almost daily and it is fragile.

In my experience, and as you can read from certain reviews watches like the Peak 5 cost less but give the same user experience as the more expensive watches. Several reviews speak about how good the GPS is, and how light the watch is. They also speak about how good the battery is. It’s ideal for my use case.

And Finally

The Suunto 5 Peak, despite being a cheap watch provides a lot of functionality. The Garmin 45s is cheaper, lighter, and smaller, but it doesn’t feel as well finished and the GPS is more erratic. As I struggled with the conclusion to this blog post I checked the GPS track of my walk yesterday. I was geocaching at two points so I looked at the squiggles when I was under trees and a bridge and the tracks are crisp. I am using GPS and Galileo combined.

So far I am very happy with the Suunto 5 Peak. If you’re looking for a low cost tracker, to use daily, then it works well.

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Initial Thoughts on the Crosscall Core-S4

Byrichard

Not for FB or Twitter


Today I started to play with the Crosscall Core-S4 and my impressions of it so far is that the Facebook and Twitter apps are not optimal for this device. They do not consider that with a small screen you should prioritise text over images. For those reasons I think that FB and Twitter are a reason to avoid this phone. This might actually encourage you to buy this phone.


Good for E-mail, FM radio, Whatsapp etc.


The purpose of a phone is not necessarily to provide you with social media. Sometimes the aim of a phone is to check your e-mails, look for quick information, and communicate via whatsapp and other platforms. In this case the phone is fine. It also has an FM radio, which is nice, for when you want to listen to local, rather than international content.


Environmentally Friendly Packaging.


I like the packaging. It is brown cardboard with a simple diagram of phone phone, black print on brown cardboard. It is functional and environmentally sound. It emphasises that the box can and should be recycled. For some reason I can’t fix one box back into the other.


Dual Sim or Microsd and Sim


You can have either one sim and a microSD card (max 64Go) or you can have two sims running in parallel.


Repairable, by Screwing and Unscrewing


One of the unique selling points of this phone is the image that shows the component parts of this phone. It is adertised as repairable, with screws to loosen and tighten again, rather than glue and suction cups, like with iphones and other devices. It is meant to be durable and this is good for climbing, extreme conditions and more. You could fall in a river with this phone, or use it in the rain, without a decrease in usability.


When I read the manual it says that we cannot change the battery ourselves.


Long Standby


In theory the standby time on this phone is 240 hours, ten days. With many other phones the standby time is hours, especially with a user like me. This one is different. 240hrs of standby, 13-14hrs of talk time, and it has the old familiar keyboard that some of us spent our teens using. Typing on the keyboard is fast and easy. I found that the keys actually felt soft, rather than hard. It feels like phones used to feel.


Why This Phone Rather Than Others


In my experience you can buy expensive flagship phones and be dissapointed by a number of things. Either apps don’t run as well as they should, or they crash. Sometimes the phone is so slippery that you drop it once, get it fixed, drop it again, and get it fixed again, and eventually give up. New iphones and new Android phones are big and fragile, which means that they’re fragile. Fragile phones break and you need to replace front and back covers. If you don’t they may feel much farmer.


With cheap Android phones you may have problems with 3G or other antenna issues, you may get constant app crashes and you may get older versions of Android.


I was tempted by feature phones but they don’t have access to whatsapp and other essential communication tools of this day and age, so unless you call actual phones they are of no value. With KaiOS that problem is resolved. With devices starting at 80 CHF it is worth taking the risk.


Two Steps For It To Be A Viable Primary Phone


For this to be a viable primary phone it would need two things. The first of these is access to Signal. This is an app I use regularly, and if it had it then I could think about dropping the iphone. The second would be a better podcast app, and audible. With these three apps the phone would reduce my need for a second phone.


And Finally


If you want to develop for KaiOS you need knowledge of html, CSS and JavaScript. If you don’t find an app you want then you can write it yourself with a little bit of effort. This is great for those who feel like experimenting with a phone without developing for Android or iOS.

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I Haven’t Had a Proper Night’s Sleep in 85 Days

Byrichard

Since I left Switzerland after doing some work on the 21st of February I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep for 85 days. That’s a long time.

I wish there was a soundproof chamber into which I could go.

What if I designed and built a soundproof bed? Wouldn’t be that complicated.

Adult Thoughts on the Casio F-91W

Adult Thoughts on the Casio F-91W

Byrichard

I was born in the 80s and as I grew up so did the computer industry, the digital industry and more. As watches came out with new features I would desire the latest watch with the latest features, and when a newer watch would come out I would desire the newer, innovative watch. Eventually I lost interest in watches for a decade or two. I only recovered my interest in watches when I started scuba diving. That’s when diving watches became of interest.

As a child I owned simple Casio watches, at least one or two casio Databank watches, watches that had TV remotes that I used to prank teachers with and more. I also had watches with barometric pressure, weather, temperature and more. Usually I had to lose a watch before it was justified to get a new one so my list of owned watches was not short, but the list of actual watches was short.

The Suunto Vector re-awakened my desire for watches. This was a watch that I could use when climbing Via Ferrata. I then moved onto the Suunto D9 Diving watch before getting a Mares Icon HD. To be clear, the Mares icon HD is a dive computer that you wear for diving, not ordinary life. It’s huge. I also owned a Suunto Ambit 2, and then an Ambit 3, A Suunto Spartan Wrist HR Baro, and then an Apple Watch series 3, which broke when indoor climbing, an Apple Watch Series 4 that eventually became useless due to the battery being so old. That watch lasted for five years on my wrist before I swapped it for an Apple Watch SE 2.

If you’re wandering why the SE 2 rather than the more expensive watches the answer is simple. I don’t like Apple watches. I think they’re designed to get you addicted to the competitions and streaks, rather than to actual fitness training.

I also have a Garmin Instinc Solar which I think is a good watch, although because of various issues I was tempted to look elsewhere. The issue is that either the app or the watch would crash. More than once I lost workouts with this watch so I looked elsewhere but only because I began running. That’s where the 45s comes in. It’s the cheapest watch I could find for running. The GPS is mediocre on this watch and I think it’s sub-optimal.

Recently my interest in Casio watches was revived so I bought more than one. They’re cheap so you can afford to be curious, and at least one or two children have received watches that I chose not to keep. Even a step brother bought a Casio from me, so I replaced that one with the one I actually wanted to get when I saw that the price had gone down.

I really like the concept of Casio Watches. I like the idea that some have a battery life from 5-10 years, and that they can count steps, and use the phone to track walking routes and more. I also like that they send the data to Japan rather than the US for a change. Too many products are US based so it’s good to find European or Japanese brands.

That’s where the Casio F-91W watch comes in. At the time of writing this blog post it costs 19 CHF on Galaxus. In the age where digital watches all do the same thing, and feed the same apps, and expect us to get addicted to the quantified self the F-91w is refreshing. It gives you the time of day, an alarm clock, hourly signal, and the ability to change the time, date, month and that’s about it. It’s an absurdely simple digital watch but it does have one feature that really stands out. The display that gives you the time of day is really clear. Within milliseconds you know the date, day of the week and time.

And Finally

If you spend 20 CHF on a watch and it lasts on your writst for 7 years then the investment was a logical one. An Apple watch lasts 16hrs before needing a charge. At a time when innovation on watches is slowing down we can afford to change course, and return to simpler times.

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The Hubsan Nano Q4 H111 drone

Byrichard

The Hubsan Nano Q4 H111 drone is a tiny drone

The Hubsan Nano Q4 H111 drone is a tiny drone. It is not much more than a flying circuit board with four engines, a battery and a cowling. It is very light and fits easily on the screen of an iphone SE, along with it’s controller. Such a small drone requires practice to fly properly. This is because there are no flight assists. When you take off you need to apply just the right amount of thrust to hover and you need to make small adjustments to keep it from drifting. With practice you gain control of the quadcopter.

Constant adjustments

I found that when taking off it is good to get above the ground effect. This is because when it is within the ground effect zone it tends to skim in one direction or the other. Once you’re at 30 centimetres it becomes more stable. Keeping it at a specific height takes tiny thrust adjustements. As the battery depletes you need to give more thrust for it to stay at the same height or rise. Eventually it runs out of thrust and drifts to the ground.

When you turn the drone on the lights flash and when you turn the controller on the light on the controller flashes red for a few seconds. Once the controller and the drone are paired the light turns green. The thrust control does not spring back to neutral so if and when you feel that the drone is about to crash throttle to zero.

More demanding to fly than the Spark but a lot cheaper

Having a tiny drone like the Nano Qç H111 is fun to get to grips with flying a drone although it could be frustrating at first. With drones like the DJI spark you can get the drone to take off automatically and it keeps itself in place using GPS, onboard cameras, sensors and more. If you lose control with a spark you just let go of the controls. With the Q4 H111 you you have to compensate and counteract the issue.

 

At 30CHF you’re not taking a big financial risk and props are available if you break them.

 

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Watching clouds form as a 360 timelapse

Byrichard

Time-lapse videos are fun because we can see something happen faster or slower than real time. By watching this content we gain a better understanding of the world and how it works. For years I have been filming time-lapses and the results can be fun. In some cases we record time-lapses with video cameras and at other times we set an interval timer to take pictures every so many seconds. In this post you will be watching clouds form as a 360 timelapse.

I have chosen to share both the flat image and the spherical image. The reason for sharing both versions is to give you an overview of how objects move in both.

Spherical Version

With this version look to your right and you will be able to watch the clouds move through space. As they move you will see them grow thicker and then cover the sun. At this point everything gets darker. If you watch this video a few times you can watch the landscape change.

The next step would be to get a 360 camera somewhere high during a total eclipse of the sun by the moon. During such events you will see a grey mask cross over the landscape, you will see birds fly away and then everything will be dark. You can then turn around and watch totality, the corona and then the reverse process. The time is right for eclipse chasers to be at the right place to capture such an event as a 360 video.

Flat Version

With the flat version you can imagine where you would aim a standard camera. Would you try to get the clouds that are forming over the mast or would you prefer to look out towards La Dôle and watch as the large clouds form and float to block off the sun? In this image you can see from Villeneuve and Lausanne to Geneva and the Salève.

Having such a wide angle of view allows you to see everything that is going on in front of and behind the camera. The timelapse is a sequence of pictures rather than video so in future I hope to export the video in a higher resolution.

Experiments With Time Machine

Byrichard

Recently I was using a one terabyte drive to backup a half terabyte drive and it would take four and a half hours to backup and I think I may have figured out why the software was taking so long. It’s because it was never designed to be used as I am using it.


Time Machine is designed to work with a hard drive that is smaller or as big as the system it’s backing up. When you get a one terabyte disk to backup a half terabyte hard drive it has the opportunity to save many more files than are on the system and this is fine initially but over time the number of files that it has to check gets larger and larger until finally it takes hours, rather than minutes to backup.


We need a new feature in Time Machine so that it becomes archival software, rather than backup and version software. It should keep at least two log files. The first log file should be of all the changes on an hourly, weekly and monthly basis on both the system drive and the backup drive.


The purpose of these log files would be to be a quick place for Time Machine or other backup software to see what has changed between the most recent backup and the current file situation.


It should check what files have been changed since the last backup and sync those, but not bother with older files unless the directory says that something has been deleted. This feature could be added to spotlight as it is already indexing all the files.


The purpose would be to check one or two master log files, synchronise and then complete the task within minutes, whether the backup software has been run minutes or weeks ago.


For now I think that time machine checks every single file on the system, and then every file of every backup for however many months you have been backing up. In theory this comes to millions of files, so millions of checks.


The data that Time Machine had to backup was regularly ten or twenty gigabytes but it was taking four hours per backup, which is far too long, for something that is meant to take minutes. It would take that long on a daily basis.


In related news my 2007 licence for Superduper is still valid today, so I can use that to backup, now that my experimentation is coming to a close. With Superduper it keeps a current clone of the system disk so that if and when a drive fails you can switch to the backup drive within 30 seconds of a drive failure.


Now that I know what the issue is, I can act accordingly.

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