Brand | Sun Company |
---|---|
Specific Uses For Product | Altitude, Barometric Pressure |
Power Source | Battery Powered |
Special Feature | Thermometer, Barometer |
Material | Plastic |
Style | Modern |
Color | Black |
Included Components | Instruction Manual, Case |
Are Batteries Included | No |
Item Weight | 0.15 Pounds |
Shape | Rectangular |
Item Package Dimensions L x W x H | 6.97 x 3.82 x 1.22 inches |
Package Weight | 0.12 Kilograms |
Item Dimensions LxWxH | 2.3 x 1 x 1.5 inches |
Brand Name | Sun Company |
Suggested Users | unisex-adult |
Number of Items | 1 |
Manufacturer | Sun Company |
Part Number | 203-F |
To see product details, add this item to your cart.
FREE Returns
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns. How to return the item? - Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: Sun Co.
To see product details, add this item to your cart.
FREE Returns
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns. How to return the item? - Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: Sun Co.
Other Sellers on Amazon
- VIDEO
Image Unavailable
Color:
-
-
-
- To view this video download Flash Player
Sun Company Altimeter 203 - Battery-Free Altimeter and Barometer | Weather-Trend Indicator with Rugged ABS Case and Lanyard | Reads Altitude from 0 to 15,000 Feet
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns.- Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns.- Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns.- Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Purchase options and add-ons
Brand | Sun Company |
Specific Uses For Product | Altitude, Barometric Pressure |
Power Source | Battery Powered |
Special Feature | Thermometer, Barometer |
Material | Plastic |
Style | Modern |
Color | Black |
Included Components | Instruction Manual, Case |
Are Batteries Included | No |
Item Weight | 0.15 Pounds |
About this item
- Rugged ABS Housing - Durable, hand-held ABS plastic case keeps the Altimeter 203 gauge protected. Lanyard is included and helps keep the altimeter portable for any hiker, backpacker, or camper.
- Accurate Readings - Adjustable dial lets you account for high or low pressure systems so that you get the most accurate reading possible. The perfect tactical pocket altimeter for hiking, camping, backpacking, or fishing.
- Battery-Free - This analog altimeter is battery-free and simply adjusts based on the surrounding barometric pressure. More reliable than the more expensive digital watch alternatives. Pair your Altimeter 203 with a Sun Company compass and thermometer for a fully-analog weather/GPS loadout.
- Easy-to-Read Scale - Easily measure altitude up to 15,000 feet. Barometric pressure is measured in inches of Mercury (Hg). Keep it in your car, truck, or vehicle to keep track of altitude changes while driving.
- Full Instructions Included - Easy step-by-step instructions help you learn how to set and adjust your Sun Company altimeters/barometers.
Additional Details
Frequently bought together
Similar items that may ship from close to you
- Sun Company AltiLINQ - Dashboard Altimeter and Barometer | Altimeter for Car and Truck | Reads Altitude from 0 to 15,000 FeetFREE Shipping by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
- Sun Company AltiTilt - Dashboard Altimeter Inclinometer for Off-Road Vehicles | Read Altitude, Barometric Pressure, and TiltAmazon's Choicein Automotive CompassesFREE Shipping by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
- Jolly Logic AltimeterTwoAmazon's Choicein AltimetersFREE Shipping by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
- AOSLSI Watch Compass, Altimeter Barometer Thermometer Temperature, Pedometer Watch, Military Army Waterproof Outdoors Sport Digital Watch for MenFREE Shipping by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
- Sun Company ProSight Sighting Map Compass with Adjustable Declination - Lightweight Orienteering Baseplate Compass for Hiking, Backpacking, and Survival Navigation | Professional Grade CompassAmazon's Choicein CompassesFREE Shipping by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
- SUUNTO MC-2 Compass: Top-of-The-line Compass for Professionals & serious HikersFREE Shipping by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
Product Description
|
|
|
---|---|---|
|
|
|
About Sun Company
Since 1971, Sun Company has been family-owned and operated with the goal of making the outdoors safer, and more accessible for all. For over 50 years, we have been designing and building "simply intelligent" outdoor tools and instruments from our headquarters in Colorado.
Altimeter 203 - Highly Accurate Altimeter and Barometer for Hiking, Climbing, Orienteering
with ABS Protective Case and Lanyard
Measure the altitude wherever you go with this packable, lightweight altimeter. Hardside housing and a built-in lanyard keep the Altimeter 203 safe when you’re out and about. Get accurate altitude and barometric readings up to 15,000 feet as you trek through the mountains, valleys, or anywhere else life takes you.
- Adjustable dial for highly accurate readings
- Reliable, battery-free design
- Rugged ABS case keeps altimeter protected
- Full instruction booklet included
Altimeter 203 | Altimeter 202 | Ascent Altimeter | AltiLINQ | AltiTilt | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Customer Reviews |
4.4 out of 5 stars
169
|
4.3 out of 5 stars
146
|
3.8 out of 5 stars
22
|
4.4 out of 5 stars
249
|
4.2 out of 5 stars
97
|
Reads Altitude up to 15,000 Feet | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Reads Barometric Pressure | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Personal Altimeter | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
Vehicle Altimeter | ✓ | ✓ | |||
Leather Case | ✓ | ||||
ABS Plastic Case | ✓ | ||||
Aluminum Case | ✓ |
Product information
Technical Details
Additional Information
ASIN | B0012A8UYK |
---|---|
Customer Reviews |
4.4 out of 5 stars |
Best Sellers Rank | #143,677 in Sports & Outdoors (See Top 100 in Sports & Outdoors) #6 in Altimeters |
Date First Available | June 8, 2005 |
Feedback
Videos
Videos for this product
0:30
Click to play video
Sun Company Altimeter 203 Product Video
Sun Co.
Looking for specific info?
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers like the performance, accuracy, ease of use, and sturdiness of the weather station. For example, they mention it works well, is easy to calibrate, and is built to last. That said, opinions are mixed on quality and size.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers like the performance of the weather station. They mention that it works well, has no problems so far, and is a great device. Some say that it comes in perfect working order and will keep functioning indefinitely.
"...i highly recommend this over any electronic altimeter because it always works and doesn't have all the bells and whistles i didn't need." Read more
"Works fine. Don't overthink the fine markings for accuracy!..." Read more
"The sun 203 altimeter works great! It took a little understand of principles, and be sure and read the enclosed instruction...." Read more
"Really works well. Simple to use. Very accurate" Read more
Customers like the accuracy of the weather station. They mention that it is a precision instrument, easy to calibrate, and consistent. They also say that the barometer looks close to correct.
"absolutely love this altimeter. no batteries all mechanical and very accurate, light weight and easy to read, fits in the palm of your hand...." Read more
"...Sturdy construction-- Seems accurate, as much as a small mechanical altimeter can be..." Read more
"Hey, this unit is clear, easy to use, and darned accurate. We live in the mountains, and got tired of everyone telling us what the altitude was...." Read more
"...The barometer looks close to correct too." Read more
Customers find the weather station easy to use. They say it's intuitive, simple, and clear. Some mention that the altimeter gets easier to read accurately with a quick glance while in full.
"...This Sun unit is much easier to use." Read more
"...no batteries all mechanical and very accurate, light weight and easy to read, fits in the palm of your hand...." Read more
"...and as I become more familiar with the instrument, it gets easier to read accurately with a quick glance while in full stride...." Read more
"Hey, this unit is clear, easy to use, and darned accurate. We live in the mountains, and got tired of everyone telling us what the altitude was...." Read more
Customers are satisfied with the sturdiness of the weather station. Some mention that it's well built, reliable, and accurate. That said, some complain about the high maintenance and difficulty in hacking.
"...Sturdy construction-- Seems accurate, as much as a small mechanical altimeter can be..." Read more
"...The instrument is robustly constructed from a molded polymer that looks like ABS, and it is not petite: It is 2 5/8" wide by 3 1/4" tall by..." Read more
"...devices, is require no-or few specialized batteries, potentially high maintenance, and very difficult to "hack" possibly giving one's location and..." Read more
"It seems priced a bit high but its durable accurate and easy to use.But you must calibrate it and check it against know elevations aoap." Read more
Customers are satisfied with the battery of the weather station. They mention that it is very lightweight, needs no batteries, and is easy to adjust. Some say that the product is battery-free and does not require electronic connectivity.
"...This altimeter is very lightweight, needs no batteries, is easy to adjust, and tells me what I want to know...." Read more
"absolutely love this altimeter. no batteries all mechanical and very accurate, light weight and easy to read, fits in the palm of your hand...." Read more
"...thing about many Analog/purely Mechanical devices, is require no-or few specialized batteries, potentially high maintenance, and very difficult to "..." Read more
"...No batteries to replace.It tracked well with known elevations on our last couple of trips, within 100 ft or so. Good enough...." Read more
Customers appreciate the value of the weather station. They mention it's accurate enough for the price and relatively cheap.
"Accurate enough for the price." Read more
"...Sure, it is relatively cheap, but I would pay three times the price for an item that actually works!" Read more
"...All in all this was worth the money, very happy with it." Read more
"Works great for my minimal needs at a great value. It is somewhat difficult to read the small print and to adjust but it meets my expectations...." Read more
Customers are mixed about the quality of the weather station. Some mention it's a really nice altimeter, good barometer, and first class traditional altimeters at a reasonable price. However, others say that it'd be impossible to calculate differences of altitude of less than about 50 feet, it'll be difficult to keep altitude calibration from shifting, and the instructions are somewhat useless.
"Great little altimeter. Purchased for hiking in Washington's Cascade Range, as my old altimeter had died.-- Sturdy construction--..." Read more
"...What needs to be understood in all this is that the altimeter is not like a digital watch or a calculator...." Read more
"Great complement to the compass for those steampunks who like to keep it analog. With this, a compass, and a map, I never have any trouble." Read more
"This is a good basic altimeter, which has the benefits of being an old-school analog device...." Read more
Customers are mixed about the size of the weather station. Some mention that it works great and is small enough to fit in the palm of an open hand, while others say that it has issues, is larger than they had hoped, and is slightly large for backpacking. The barometric scale is small and difficult to read, and the spacing between 100-foot increments is tiny.
"...problem with this altimeter is that the spacing between 100-foot increments is so tiny that, assuming it is accurate, it is impossible to calculate..." Read more
"...and very accurate, light weight and easy to read, fits in the palm of your hand...." Read more
"...Lightweight for backpacking and climbing, but a bit bulky...." Read more
"...The dial is large enough for me to read while wearing my distant vision glasses, and as I become more familiar with the instrument, it gets easier..." Read more
-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
I use it to track elevation during hikes, particularly during steep ascents or descents. It's good for my morale to know how much more up or down is left to go. It's easy to use for that purpose. It's only readable at best to 50 foot increments (the markings are 100 feet, so you can interpolate in between), but that's enough precision for me.
I have found the calibration ring to be stable, meaning that it doesn't slip or slide when I take the altimeter in or out of a pocket. I set the altimeter at the trailhead, with known elevation, and then it's fine throughout the hike.
I previously used a $300 Suunto hiking watch/altimeter. The batteries would periodically run out, and then they were a pain to replace. This Sun unit is much easier to use.
-- Sturdy construction
-- Seems accurate, as much as a small mechanical altimeter can be
These things are actually barometers, with a moveable dial for converting barometric pressure to altitude. You calibrate this by turning the moveable dial when at a known altitude, such as a landmark whose altitude can be read from your map.
Slight problem with this unit is the moveable dial moves around when the unit is in your pocket or pack, so you lose your altitude calibration. The old one's moveable dial was just about impossible to move by bumping the unit. I compensated with a piece of Gorilla Tape on the body, holding the dial, but this was less than a perfect solution.
Unit was also slightly larger and heavier than I'd guessed from the Amazon page.
It does the trick though, and I anticipate carrying it on hikes for years to come.
Post mortem analysis made it clear that I had made the swing to the west at least 150' too low. This got me to thinking that knowing how high I was might have kept me better oriented. I researched the use of altimeters in hiking and discovered that others held similar beliefs.
I looked at altimeter watches first, but they seemed ridiculously pricey and did all kinds of extra foo-foo stuff that was of no interest to me. Plus a lot of people seemed to have trouble getting reliable readings from any that had a sticker price under $300 -- and from some that cost considerably more. Plus, the watches all had to have a battery to power the display. In some models the batteries weren't even changeable by the owner. At one site a purchaser titled his product review, "Great for picking up chicks."
I decided I needed something more fundamental, and a modest amount of research turned up the Sun Altimeter 203. I decided to give it a try. It has turned out to be just what I needed.
The Sun 203 is a simple pressure altimeter with an analog dial calibrated in 100' increments from 0 to 15,000'. I feel like I can interpolate the pointer position and get a value within plus or minus 10' or so -- plenty good enough for orienteering purposes during mountain hikes. The instrument is robustly constructed from a molded polymer that looks like ABS, and it is not petite: It is 2 5/8" wide by 3 1/4" tall by 1" thick. It comes with an attached lanyard that I wear around my neck. The dial is large enough for me to read while wearing my distant vision glasses, and as I become more familiar with the instrument, it gets easier to read accurately with a quick glance while in full stride. Since I'm doing hikes with 3000' or more of elevation gain, I find it, if not helpful, at least comforting to know exactly how I am doing with the vert without stopping to look at the topo map.
A pressure altimeter is basically a barometer with delusions of grandeur. It is really good at accurately sensing changes in atmospheric pressure, but the conversion of these pressure changes into actual altitudes is subject to two principal kinds of errors. On type of error is caused by changes in atmospheric pressure due to weather systems. You can sit in your living room and watch your altimeter tell you you are going down while a high-pressure cold front passes through. The second type of error is caused by significant changes in temperature. You can sit on your camp stool and take an altimeter reading at sunrise when it is 30°F, while away the day at the same spot until it is 75° that afternoon at which time the altimeter will tell you that you have ascended maybe a hundred feet or more. What you do about this is learn to understand thoroughly how these phenomena operate and re-calibrate your altimeter during the day whenever you are at a physical location where the altitude is known. Google "The use of altimeters in height measurement" for an excellent article about the use of altimeters while hiking in Scotland where both temperature and pressure are subject to considerable change on any given day.
I've been hiking in the mountains of Southern California where the macro air mass has been quite stable and temperature changes have been moderate, and the Sun 203 has seemed to be just about spot on at every point of known elevation. My environment has been much kinder to altimeter accuracy than Scotland. What needs to be understood in all this is that the altimeter is not like a digital watch or a calculator. To get accurate information from an altimeter under every circumstance you may encounter while hiking you have to know a few things and make a few adjustments when circumstances warrant.
I'm finding that having an altimeter along while hiking adds to my enjoyment. Maybe someday it will help me solve a knotty navigation problem like the one I bonked in March.
Three more things you ought to know. First, The Sun 203 costs one fifth as much as the cheapest altimeter watch worth considering. Second, you can't change the batteries in the Sun 203 because it doesn't have any. It is 100% powered by atmospheric pressure forever. Guaranteed. And, last but not least, if a Suunto altimeter watch helps you pick up chicks, you won't be able to handle all the action you will get with a Sun 203.
Top reviews from other countries
nice product