I am in Costa Rica and have recently acquired a '94 80 Series which has a "sub-tank gauge and altimeter" mounted in the same cluster. Everything seems to be functioning, but I don't understand how to set and utilize the altimeter. There is no reference to it in my manual. I realize an altimeter doesn't require power to work, although there is a button for the light on/off as part of the cluster. Can anyone tell me how to use this thing? We do have mountains here in Costa Rica, some big ones, and it would be helpful to have a working altimeter.
1994 80 Altimeter - How Does it Work? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter talegate
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Been awhile since I saw a pic of how this looks on an 80. There should be an adjuster somewhere on the altimeter. When you are at a known height, you adjust the altimeter to read that altitude. Then you let it do it's thing. That's all there is on most of them.
Does the light button maybe act as an adjuster, if there is no other visible way to do so?
The reason an adjustment is needed is because barometric pressure varies with the weather. A reading one day that gives a certain altitude could change overnight to read a different altitude. So, depending on the weather and your need for accuracy, then you reset it either daily or whenever you have reference to a known altitude to set it to. I don't bother with ours (an old stand-alone altimter I first bought to install in my FJ55) much in the great Midwest, but when we go to Colorado, it is reset daily or even more often to keep up with vastly changing altitudes and changeable weather.
If you're at sea level. you can just set it to 0.
Does the light button maybe act as an adjuster, if there is no other visible way to do so?
The reason an adjustment is needed is because barometric pressure varies with the weather. A reading one day that gives a certain altitude could change overnight to read a different altitude. So, depending on the weather and your need for accuracy, then you reset it either daily or whenever you have reference to a known altitude to set it to. I don't bother with ours (an old stand-alone altimter I first bought to install in my FJ55) much in the great Midwest, but when we go to Colorado, it is reset daily or even more often to keep up with vastly changing altitudes and changeable weather.
If you're at sea level. you can just set it to 0.
- Thread starter
- #4
I just went out and looked. It has an on/off for the lights that works, and a separate knob you can turn that changes the altitude that you're currently at. It's very similar to the handheld unit I have back in NC. I'm sure everything is working. I just need to go someplace with some altitude differences, and get to a spot where the altitude is a "known". Thanks so much. It helped
Almost all airports have a measured altitude, you should be able to find out what your local one is and set it while you're parked there.
Get a GPS find out what your altitude is at your house and set it to that. That way as the weather and pressure changes you can just spin the dial to compensate.
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- #8
Great ideas. SJO airport is at 3022' and my home in Orosi is about 4300'. Thanks again.
