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Lu Abel wrote:
> I would be interested in learning if any (reasonably priced) wristwatches have a hack feature.

My Timex Expedition is easy to hack. When you activate time set mode,
the watch continues to run, but now the buttons give you the power to
select any field on the display (indicated by flashing digits) and
modify it. If seconds are selected, pushing the upper right button
resets them to zero without stopping the count. In all other fields
(minutes, etc.) the upper right button increments the value. Hold the
button to fast forward.

So you can zeroize the seconds to a time signal, then modify the other
fields as needed without losing the hack. To change to a different time
zone, just modify the hours. This implementation is vastly superior to
others I've used, where the watch stops when you go into time set mode,
and you set it to some future time, then "wait for the bus to come by".

A good feature for a navigator is the second time zone on the
Expedition. You can select AM/PM or 24 hour format independently of the
main time zone. It even has its own date readout. Either zone can be
selected for continuous display. A button lets you peek at the one
that's not displayed. The minutes and seconds of the second time zone
are slaved to the main time, so half hour offsets aren't possible.

My watch gains .46 - .56 s per day, varying with seasonal temperature
changes. With correction for rate, in my monthly checks it's rarely off
more than .6 s from the expected error. The daily rate has increased
about .1 s since the watch was new in 2000, but I think stability is a
little better now. It 2010 it needed a new battery for the first time.
That increased the daily rate by .1 s from what I'd been getting with
the old battery.

Timex no longer sells the exact model I have, but the current
Expeditions are similar. Instruction sheets are available at the Timex
site. The time set implementation seems to have improved a little, with
the ability to decrement as well as increment a value. Can't tell if an
integer hour offset for the second time zone is still mandatory.

http://www.timex.com/b/2238021011

(This is only part of the Expedition line, and even so there are several
categories on the page. Chrono / Alarm / Timer is the type I have.)

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