How fast?
I have often looked at the Tachymeter function on watches and wondered if it is at all useful? I am not at all sure how it works ! I did google it and after reading a few articles, or rather trying to read them, my brain hurt. My brain fade is pretty normal but thought I would ask the WC peoples a simple way of using this function?, and what they use it for?
Apologies if previously covered but searching through posts... I have already admitted to my mental difficulties.
18 comments
Sort by
Paul
From the UK, I am a watch nut, from the age of 18 been putting £5ish aside each week to fund my watch passion and never stopped.
Wirral - UK
Member since
Last active: 3 min ago
7.00” / 17.78 cm
Nope, it's just for decoration. I'd like one with the pulsometer marks, I can see that could be useful.
My understanding and I might be wrong is you start the timer when passing a mile marker then stop it at the next one and that will tell you how many mph you’re doing. Why you wouldn’t just look at your speedometer I don’t know.
My understanding and I might be wrong is you start the timer when passing a mile marker then stop it at the next one and that will tell you how many mph you’re doing. Why you wouldn’t just look at your speedometer I don’t know.
I think this is correct, and I think the answer is because one is in a yacht or horse and buggy or maybe a penny-farthing bicycle, which are contemporaneous to the usefulness of such a device.
It should be noted that they greatly diminish the beauty of any watch.
Speed = Distance/Time.
If you know the distance of the race, the tachymetre will tell you approximate speed.
I think this is correct, and I think the answer is because one is in a yacht or horse and buggy or maybe a penny-farthing bicycle, which are contemporaneous to the usefulness of such a device.
It should be noted that they greatly diminish the beauty of any watch.
Thanks I think I actually read this on WC. Good point about the older methods of transportation, I keep forgetting the history of some complications.
I kind of like the look of a tachymeter in some cases, like on my Mido I think it adds a bit of depth.
Of course I like a busy dial which helps.
A tachymeter is useful for calculating ANYTHING per hour - how many bows you can tie in an hour , how many cards you can sign in hour, how many miles or kilometers you can travel per hour. Time one event on the scale, and it shows you how many you can do in an hour (which is why “60” is at the 1 minute mark).
It's a conversation starter on your wrist because any real timing is done on a digital down to a 100th by any 20 dollar Casio digital. It's from your grandfather's era kinda like a slide rule. Most here will have to google that last one as it's so old.
A tachymeter is useful for calculating ANYTHING per hour - how many bows you can tie in an hour , how many cards you can sign in hour, how many miles or kilometers you can travel per hour. Time one event on the scale, and it shows you how many you can do in an hour (which is why “60” is at the 1 minute mark).
Exactly, the number on the scale tells you how many “insert what you want to measure” you can do in an hour.
It was particularly useful in race tracks, because they’re not straight, so the tachymetre tells you your average speed on one lap.
My understanding and I might be wrong is you start the timer when passing a mile marker then stop it at the next one and that will tell you how many mph you’re doing. Why you wouldn’t just look at your speedometer I don’t know.
Because you could tell your average speed on any track (give you know it’s length), the speedometer only tells you the speed you’re going at that particular moment.
Of course it’s now rendered obsolete, but back in the day it was very useful.
I think this is correct, and I think the answer is because one is in a yacht or horse and buggy or maybe a penny-farthing bicycle, which are contemporaneous to the usefulness of such a device.
It should be noted that they greatly diminish the beauty of any watch.
Doesn't
It can be used to measure speed and also distance. For giggles I even used it to calculate the average wait time for my customers at work and came up with an average of 28 customers per hour. Lol, I’m gonna try & hit 30 next time
Because you could tell your average speed on any track (give you know it’s length), the speedometer only tells you the speed you’re going at that particular moment.
Of course it’s now rendered obsolete, but back in the day it was very useful.
Hadn’t thought of that, but it makes a lot of sense. 👍
Well, at its most basic, it's for calculating the speed it takes to cover a certain length. I have no idea beyond that because I've never used it either.
That’s exactly what it’s used for, mainly.
It used to be useful when timing know distances, to calculate the speed of travel. I used to time the passage of electric utility post when I was traveling with my parents and this is how I discovered that either my father is a person who enjoy annoying those driving behind him (which to be honest he really is), or the dashboard speedometer is haplessly innacurate in a very optimist way.
I also used the telemeter function, which is the opposite scale and it allows you to calculate distances based on the time it takes for sound to travel. It's quite useful if you happen to be an artillery forward observer.
A tachymeter is useful for calculating ANYTHING per hour - how many bows you can tie in an hour , how many cards you can sign in hour, how many miles or kilometers you can travel per hour. Time one event on the scale, and it shows you how many you can do in an hour (which is why “60” is at the 1 minute mark).
Thanks for the explanation, I had worked it to 60, maths from school is returning to my brain after some time!
I have several chronographs, and although I use them to time all sorts of different things, I've never found a real use for any of the various scales (tachymeter, telemeter or pulsimeter). My preference would be for a chronometer with a bi-directional rotating bezel, since it can be used as an additional impromptu timer as well.