Casio RANGEMAN GW9400

This document describes the operation and features of a CASIO watch, model 3410, which is equipped with sensors for measuring direction, barometric pressure, temperature, and altitude. It also includes radio-controlled atomic timekeeping, a stopwatch, countdown timer, alarms, and sunrise/sunset time display.

General Functions and Modes

The watch features 11 distinct modes, each serving a specific purpose. Users can navigate between these modes using the watch's buttons. A key feature is the ability to return to the Timekeeping Mode from any other mode by holding down a specific button for about two seconds. The watch also incorporates an auto-return feature, automatically reverting to the Timekeeping Mode if no button operations are performed for a set period, which varies by mode (e.g., 3 minutes for Sunrise/Sunset, Data Recall, Alarm, Receive, and Digital Compass modes; 1 hour minimum to 12 hours maximum for Altimeter mode; 1 hour for Barometer/Thermometer mode; and 3 minutes for setting screens with flashing digits).

The watch's display can show either dark figures on a light background or light figures on a dark background, with all examples in the manual illustrating the former. Button operations are clearly indicated by letters (A, B, C, D, E).

Power and Charging

The watch is powered by a solar panel on its face, which charges a built-in rechargeable battery when exposed to light. For optimal charging, it should be placed in direct sunlight. When worn, care should be taken to ensure the face is not blocked by clothing, as this can lead to a sleep state.

The battery power level is indicated by a three-level indicator (L, M, H).

Level 1 (H) and Level 2 (M): All functions are enabled.
Level 3 (L): Battery power is low, requiring charging. Auto and manual receive, illumination, beeper, and sensor operations are disabled.
Level 4 (CHG): Indicates charging is in progress. All functions and display indicators are disabled, except for the CHG indicator.
Level 5: Battery is dead, all functions stop, data is deleted, and settings revert to factory defaults.

A "Power Recovery Mode" is activated if multiple sensor, illumination, or beeper operations are performed in a short period, causing all battery power indicators to flash. During this mode, illumination, alarms, countdown timer alarms, hourly time signals, and sensor operations are disabled for about 15 minutes until power recovers. Frequent flashing of all indicators suggests low battery power, prompting the user to charge the watch.

The watch also has a "Power Saving" function, which automatically enters a sleep state in the dark. In "display sleep" (60-70 minutes in dark), the display is blank, but all functions are enabled. In "function sleep" (6-7 days in dark), the display is blank, and all functions are disabled, though timekeeping is maintained. The watch will not enter sleep between 6:00 AM and 9:59 PM, but if already in sleep, it will remain so. Power Saving is active only in Timekeeping Mode (Day of the Week screen) or World Time Mode. To recover from sleep, the watch can be moved to a well-lit area, any button pressed, or angled towards the face for reading.

Timekeeping and Radio-Controlled Atomic Timekeeping

The Timekeeping Mode allows users to set and view the current time and date. It can display the day of the week, month-day, hour-minutes-seconds, and a barometric pressure graph.

The watch receives time calibration signals to update its time settings automatically. This feature is available when the Home City is set to a city in Japan, North America, Europe, or China that supports signal reception.

Reception Ranges: The watch can receive signals from transmitters in Anthorn (England), Mainflingen (Germany), Shangqiu City (China), Fukushima (Japan), Fukuoka/Saga (Japan), and Fort Collins (United States).
Reception Conditions: Signal reception can be difficult or impossible due to geographic contours, structures, weather, time of year/day, and radio interference. Optimal reception is generally at night, with the watch positioned with its 12 o'clock side facing a window, away from metal objects.
Auto Receive: The watch automatically attempts to receive the calibration signal up to six times a day (five for the Chinese signal) between midnight and 5 a.m. If successful, subsequent attempts for that day are skipped.
Manual Receive: Users can manually initiate a receive operation in the Receive Mode. A signal level indicator (L1, L2, L3) appears during reception, and "GET" indicates success, while "ERR" indicates failure.
Reception Results: The latest reception results can be checked in the Receive Mode, showing the date and time of the last successful reception or "---" if all attempts failed.
Auto Receive On/Off: Auto receive can be toggled on or off in the Receive Mode settings.

Precautions for Radio-Controlled Atomic Timekeeping: Strong electrostatic charges can cause incorrect time settings. The watch is designed to update the date and day of the week automatically from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2099. Reception is disabled when battery power is low, in power recovery mode, during sensor operations, in function sleep, or during countdown timer operations.

Home City and Time Settings

Users can configure their Home City and select between standard time and daylight saving time (DST). The Home City setting affects UTC offsets for World Time Mode and proper time calibration signal reception. The watch also allows for manual adjustment of current time and date settings, including 12/24-hour format, seconds reset, hour/minute, and year/month/day. The full auto-calendar accounts for different month lengths and leap years.

Display Units

The watch allows users to specify display units for temperature, barometric pressure, and altitude.

Altitude: Meters (m) or feet (ft).
Barometric Pressure: Hectopascals (hPa) or inches of mercury (inHg).
Temperature: Celsius (°C) or Fahrenheit (°F). Note that when TYO (Tokyo) is selected as the Home City, these units are automatically set to meters, hectopascals, and Celsius, and cannot be changed.

Altimeter Mode

The Altimeter Mode uses a built-in pressure sensor to take altitude readings based on air pressure measurements.

Screen Formats: Two formats are available: "Altitude Tendency Graph" (showing current altitude and a graph of recent changes) and "Relative Altitude" (showing current altitude and a differential value from a specified start point).
Auto Reading Interval: Users can select between 0'05 (one-second intervals for 3 minutes, then every 5 seconds for 1 hour) or 2'00 (one-second intervals for 3 minutes, then every 2 minutes for 12 hours).
Taking Readings: Altitude readings are automatically started upon entering the Altimeter Mode and are displayed in 1-meter (5-foot) units. The measurement range is -700 to 10,000 meters (-2,300 to 32,800 feet).
Altitude Differential: This feature allows users to measure the change in altitude from a specified start point, useful for mountain climbing or hiking.
Reference Altitude: To improve accuracy, users can specify a reference altitude value based on external information (e.g., map data). This value can be set within -10,000 to 10,000 meters (-32,800 to 32,800 feet).
Auto Save Values: The watch automatically tracks and updates high altitude (MAX), low altitude (MIN), cumulative ascent (ASC), and cumulative descent (DSC) values during altimeter measurements. These values are retained even after exiting Altimeter Mode.
How the Altimeter Works: Altitude is estimated based on International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) values, which define relationships between altitude and air pressure. The watch expresses altitudes as relative altitude.
Altimeter Precautions: Altitude readings can vary due to changes in barometric pressure, atmospheric conditions, and elevation. The watch is not intended for professional precision or activities involving sudden altitude changes (e.g., sky diving).

Digital Compass Mode

The Digital Compass Mode allows users to take direction readings (north, south, east, west) and determine bearing to a destination.

2-point Calibration: This feature corrects for measurement errors caused by local magnetism. The watch must be kept level and away from strong magnetic sources during calibration.
Taking Direction Readings: Upon entering the Digital Compass Mode, readings automatically start and update every second for about 60 seconds, displaying direction and bearing.
Bearing Memory: Users can save a bearing to a particular destination and refer to it later to ensure they are headed in the correct direction.
Magnetic Declination Correction: This feature allows users to input a magnetic declination angle (difference between magnetic north and true north) to enable the watch to indicate true north.
Digital Compass Precautions: Readings can be inaccurate near strong magnetic sources (e.g., permanent magnets, metal concentrations, high tension wires, household appliances) or inside vehicles/buildings.

Barometer/Thermometer Mode

This mode uses a pressure sensor for barometric pressure and a temperature sensor for temperature.

Taking Readings: Readings automatically start upon entering the mode and update every five seconds for three minutes, then every two minutes thereafter.
Display Units: Barometric pressure is displayed in hPa or inHg, and temperature in °C or °F.
Barometric Pressure Graph: The watch automatically takes barometric pressure readings every two hours, displaying a chronological history of pressure changes. This graph can help predict weather changes.
Barometric Pressure Differential Pointer: This pointer indicates the relative difference between the most recent barometric pressure reading on the graph and the current barometric pressure value.
Barometric Pressure Change Indicator: The watch analyzes past readings and informs users of significant pressure changes (sudden fall/rise, sustained rise/fall) with an alert beep. This indicator can be enabled or disabled.
Sensor Calibration: The pressure and temperature sensors are factory-calibrated but can be re-calibrated by the user if significant errors are noticed, by comparing readings with another reliable device.
Barometer and Thermometer Precautions: Sudden temperature changes can affect pressure sensor readings. For accurate temperature readings, the watch should be removed from the wrist and allowed to stabilize in a well-ventilated area away from direct sunlight.

Memory Records

The watch can store up to 40 records of various types, including:

Date/Time Records: Current date and time.
Altitude Records: Manually saved altitude readings with date and time.
Historical Altitude Values: Automatically tracked high altitude, low altitude, cumulative ascent, and cumulative descent.
Direction Records: Current bearing readings with date and time.
Barometric Pressure and Temperature Records: Current readings with date and time.

When the memory is full, the oldest record is automatically deleted to make room for new data. Records can be viewed in the Data Recall Mode and specific records can be deleted.

Stopwatch

The Stopwatch Mode measures elapsed time, split times, and two finishes.

Measuring Capacity: Up to 999 hours, 59 minutes, 59.99 seconds.
Operations: Start, stop, resume, split, split release, and reset.
Direct Access: The stopwatch can be directly accessed from Timekeeping Mode by pressing a specific button.

Countdown Timer

The Countdown Timer Mode allows users to set a countdown start time and sounds an alarm when the countdown ends.

Countdown Range: Up to 24 hours.
Setting Unit: 1 minute.
Operations: Start, stop, restart, and reset.
Alarm: Sounds for ten seconds when the countdown reaches zero and automatically resets to the starting value.

Sunrise/Sunset Mode

This mode allows users to look up sunrise and sunset times for a particular date and location.

Location Settings: Users can specify a city code, latitude (65.0°S to 65.0°N), and longitude (179.9°W to 180.0°E) for accurate times.
Date Selection: Sunrise/sunset times can be viewed for any date between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2099.
Sea Level Times: The displayed times are for sea level and may differ at other altitudes.

Illumination

The watch display is illuminated for easy reading in the dark.

Manual Illumination: Pressing a button in any mode turns on illumination for 1.5 or 3 seconds, depending on the user's setting.
Auto Light Switch: When enabled, illumination automatically turns on when the wrist is positioned to angle the watch towards the face (more than 40 degrees tilt from parallel to the ground). This feature only operates when available light is below a certain level.
Illumination Duration: Can be set to 1.5 or 3 seconds.
Illumination Precautions: Frequent use runs down the battery. The auto light switch can be startling or distracting, especially when driving or cycling, and should be turned off in such situations.

Other Settings

Button Operation Tone: The tone that sounds when buttons are pressed can be turned on or off. Alarms, hourly time signals, barometric pressure change alerts, and countdown timer alarms operate normally regardless of this setting.
Power Saving: This function helps conserve battery life by entering a sleep state in the dark, as described in the "Power and Charging" section.

Troubleshooting

The manual provides solutions for common issues, such as:

Incorrect Time Setting: Checking Home City, DST settings, or manual adjustment.
Sensor Errors: "ERR" display during sensor operations, suggesting malfunction or improper contact.
Incorrect Altitude/Direction Readings: Due to calibration errors, strong magnetism, or environmental factors.
Charging Issues: Watch not resuming operation after exposure to light due to very low power.
Signal Reception Problems: "ERR" display, auto receive not working, or incorrect time/day after successful reception, often related to watch position, reception conditions, or Home City/DST settings.

This comprehensive guide ensures users can effectively utilize and maintain their CASIO watch, leveraging its advanced features for various outdoor activities and daily use.

Casio RANGEMAN GW9400 Specifications

General

Model	GW9400
Brand	Casio
Category	Watch
Water Resistance	200 meters
Triple Sensor	Yes
Tough Solar	Yes
Radio Controlled	Yes
Shock Resistant	Yes
Display Type	Digital
Case Material	Resin
Band Material	Resin
Weight	93 grams
Thermometer	Yes
World Time	Yes
Stopwatch	Yes
Countdown Timer	Yes
Alarm	Yes
Backlight	Yes
Mud Resistance	Yes
Atomic Timekeeping	Yes
Case Size	55.2 x 53.5 x 18.2 mm
Series	G-Shock
Battery Life	Approx. 7 months on full charge (without further exposure to light)