Blast from the Past

[drjd]

Originally Posted by jswinden

That is really cool! Well it would have been when I could have actually seen the dials back in the 1970s. Now a days I would have to use a powerful magnifying glass to read the dials!

It was a dream gadget of most of us boys during 70's. But it remained a costly affair to own one those days. Now I would definitely need a microscope if I want to play with it.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by jswinden

That is really cool! Well it would have been when I could have actually seen the dials back in the 1970s. Now a days I would have to use a powerful magnifying glass to read the dials!

Originally Posted by drjd

It was a dream gadget of most of us boys during 70's. But it remained a costly affair to own one those days. Now I would definitely need a microscope if I want to play with it.

I should dig it out and see how well it keeps time these days, though I'll need a quick refresher on how to use the C and D scales. It's been decades since I've played with a slide rule.

I bought mine for a real cheap price when I was stationed in Korea. I've always loved tech and had to have this. When calculator watches became an affordable reality, I retired my trusty Seiko.

My taste in watches is analog, though I prefer wearing a Casio G-Shock when doing the outdoors bit.

Originally Posted by drjd

It was a dream gadget of most of us boys during 70's. But it remained a costly affair to own one those days. Now I would definitely need a microscope if I want to play with it.

Seikos are great watches. I have two dress Seikos, or whatever you call the nicer looking ones. One was given to me 20+ years ago by my now deceased oldest brother, and the other I inherited from my dad so it is closer to 40 years old. Both still work and both still look great.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I should dig it out and see how well it keeps time these days, though I'll need a quick refresher on how to use the C and D scales. It's been decades since I've played with a slide rule.

I bought mine for a real cheap price when I was stationed in Korea. I've always loved tech and had to have this. When calculator watches became an affordable reality, I retired my trusty Seiko.

My taste in watches is analog, though I prefer wearing a Casio G-Shock when doing the outdoors bit.

Yep, I would have to brush up on slide rule use too as it has been 40+ years since I routinely used one in school. Now that smartphones can have scientific calculator apps, I would have to search my junk boxes to find my old calculators.

Definitely love my Cassio G-Shock watches. I've had several over the years. But they are difficult to read. They are large, but the readable part is small. I finally found a non-G-Shock Cassio with analog hands, solar power, and waveceptor radio (atomic clock capability) that is easy to see and stylish too. And yes, the waveceptor radio properly positions the analog hands. It isn't tough like the G-Shocks, but I love it for every day use. I switched to a G-Shock when doing outdoors stuff or handyman stuff around the house.

[drjd]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Definitely love my Cassio G-Shock watches. I've had several over the years. But they are difficult to read. They are large, but the readable part is small. I finally found a non-G-Shock Cassio with analog hands, solar power, and waveceptor radio (atomic clock capability) that is easy to see and stylish too. And yes, the waveceptor radio properly positions the analog hands. It isn't tough like the G-Shocks, but I love it for every day use. I switched to a G-Shock when doing outdoors stuff or handyman stuff around the house.

Agreed. Casio has produced many good innovative watches over the time. G-Shock watches were a genius product in the line. Another good product from Casio was their BP-100 Blood Pressure Monitor watch.



(Sorry for the poor image quality as my room lighting is not good today). I bought this BP-100 BP monitor watch in early 1980's and gifted it to my dad. He was suffering from irregular blood pressure levels then, and needed to visit the doctor frequently. After few trials and errors, he was able to monitor his BP with this watch on a regular basis, keep track of it and report it to the doc every fortnight. Even the doctor was surprised and happy to see the functions of this watch and he recommended this gadget to many of his inquisitive patients.

I have kept the watch in my collection after the death of my father in 1995 as a memento. I change its battery every few years, and as you can see in the image, the watch is still fully functional. I off course do not wear it, despite myself being a BP patient now , as many more advanced devices for BP measurement are available to us now.

Some real tough products were made that time!

Originally Posted by drjd

Agreed. Casio has produced many good innovative watches over the time. G-Shock watches were a genius product in the line. Another good product from Casio was their BP-100 Blood Pressure Monitor watch.



(Sorry for the poor image quality as my room lighting is not good today). I bought this BP-100 BP monitor watch in early 1980's and gifted it to my dad. He was suffering from irregular blood pressure levels then, and needed to visit the doctor frequently. After few trials and errors, he was able to monitor his BP with this watch on a regular basis, keep track of it and report it to the doc every fortnight. Even the doctor was surprised and happy to see the functions of this watch and he recommended this gadget to many of his inquisitive patients.

I have kept the watch in my collection after the death of my father in 1995 as a memento. I change its battery every few years, and as you can see in the image, the watch is still fully functional. I off course do not wear it, despite myself being a BP patient now , as many more advanced devices for BP measurement are available to us now.

Some real tough products were made that time!

Cool watch! I am taking a boat load of BP meds so I periodically have to check my BP. I use a wrist model I've had for about 12 years. A watch version, if it was accurate, would be nice. Fortunately I don't have to monitor my BP everyday though, only when I feel bad.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Cool watch! I am taking a boat load of BP meds so I periodically have to check my BP. I use a wrist model I've had for about 12 years. A watch version, if it was accurate, would be nice. Fortunately I don't have to monitor my BP everyday though, only when I feel bad.

Does anybody make something like that today? I'm on BP and heart meds, and could stand to measure the BP more often than I do. It is always well controlled, so I don't bother. But if it were that easy (and not dreadfully expensive) it might be worth it.

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Does anybody make something like that today? I'm on BP and heart meds, and could stand to measure the BP more often than I do. It is always well controlled, so I don't bother. But if it were that easy (and not dreadfully expensive) it might be worth it.

A quick search on Amazon turned up a few. Most of the ones I saw don't seem to have good ratings. I think these are mostly Chinese watches, so who knows how reliable they are. I use a BP wrist monitor which is only worn at the time of checking the BP. I had my doctors office verify its accuracy. Not sure I would want to rely on a Chinese watch when companies like Apple haven't even added that feature. The wrist BP monitor automatically swells up around my wrist just like the ones the doctors use. I cannot see how the watches would do that based on the photos they show.

[drjd]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Does anybody make something like that today? I'm on BP and heart meds, and could stand to measure the BP more often than I do. It is always well controlled, so I don't bother. But if it were that easy (and not dreadfully expensive) it might be worth it.

Not sure about the performance and reliability of various inexpensive Chinese BP wristbands available in the market, but I'm following this Project Zero BP6000 blood pressure monitor & smartwatch / fitness tracker by Omron, which was supposed to be launched by the end of 2016, but got delayed for few months awaiting FDA approvals. It is expected to be below $200 and Omron enjoys a good reputation in the BP measuring devices market.

Originally Posted by drjd

Not sure about the performance and reliability of various inexpensive Chinese BP wristbands available in the market, but I'm following this Project Zero BP6000 blood pressure monitor & smartwatch / fitness tracker by Omron, which was supposed to be launched by the end of 2016, but got delayed for few months awaiting FDA approvals. It is expected to be below $200 and Omron enjoys a good reputation in the BP measuring devices market.

My wrist-worn BP monitor is an Omron HEM-608, and I can vouch for its reliability and accuracy. It is 12 years old now, but still works VERY well.

[FizzyWater]

For what it's worth, my doctor told me the reputable versions of wrist BP monitors were okay, but only tended to be accurate at the lower ranges. So if you're well regulated or don't need meds, it's probably work. But if your measurements are at the higher ranges or your meds don't work well, so you have sporadic ups and downs, it's probably not for you. At the time, my measurements were high and I wasn't taking meds. What she told me seemed to fit. When I was doing well, I got consistent scores. But when the measurements were high, I couldn't get the machine to give me the same score twice in a row.

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

For what it's worth, my doctor told me the reputable versions of wrist BP monitors were okay, but only tended to be accurate at the lower ranges. So if you're well regulated or don't need meds, it's probably work. But if your measurements are at the higher ranges or your meds don't work well, so you have sporadic ups and downs, it's probably not for you. At the time, my measurements were high and I wasn't taking meds. What she told me seemed to fit. When I was doing well, I got consistent scores. But when the measurements were high, I couldn't get the machine to give me the same score twice in a row.

I had a little incident a few nights ago, and need to start monitoring my BP on a regular basis several times a day. My Omron wrist BP monitor is old, and I started using it again in the last few days, but I do notice that it is wildly sporadic in its readings. I can take the BP several times back to back and numbers vary substantially. It use to work really well, or so I thought. At any rate, I did some research today and found that the Mayo Clinic suggests using the upper-arm band type instead. The wrist type requires that you hold the device at heart level, but even when you do it can read inaccurately, and it tends to read a BP that is higher than what you actually have. So I decided to retire the old wrist type and get a new Omron 10 Series Wireless Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitor with Cuff (BP786/BP786N) with Bluetooth Smart Connectivity. It seems to have good ratings from various sources. The Mayo Clinic states that even the upper arm type can be innaccurate to a degree, but since your blood vessels are larger in your upper arm than in your wrist, they are more reliable. I like the idea that it will record the readings and allow me to transfer them to my iPhone and computer. That makes it easier to show the doctors, and I don't need to keep a manual list.

[tubemonkey]

[cromag]

I used to watch Crusader Rabbit when I was very young. The local (New York City) CBS affiliate played one episode per afternoon, right before the afternoon movie. This was probably 1959-1960. Jay Ward later went on to Bullwinkle and Rocky.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusader_Rabbit

[drjd]

Honey, Your Coffee is Undrinkable!

[tubemonkey]