#3 Terje Haakonsen Riseman

Photo credit: Oakley.

Terje Haakonsen is a world famous snowboarder. He rides for Burton Snowboards and was the initiator of the Oackley Arctic Challence.
The official Burton Snowboards website starts his bio:

"What can be said about Terje that hasn’t been said already? Right when you think the guy has set to simmer, he reappears, guns blazing. Need proof? Then check out “It’s Always Snowing Somewhere,” Burton’s latest team video. Co-founder of The Arctic Challenge and all around versatile bloke, Terje secret just may be the healthy, organic lifestyle that he promotes. Fueled by a constant flow of Omega-3’s, Terje’s off snow time (which is ample when you consider that he only rode a handful of days last season) is spent chilling with his family, growing veggies, surfing, playing soccer, and kneading dough in his organic bakery/café. Not too shabby for dude who was born in a taxi."
Photo credit: Burton Snowboards

In 1993, 1995 and 1997 Terje won the I.S.F. World Championship half-pipe and won a lot of other prices. In 2007 he set the highest air (9.80 m) during a qualification doing a backside 360.




In January 1998 Casio honored Terje by releasing a signature series series of 5 DW-004BD X-Treme models (X-Treme is the Japanese variant of the G-Lide series). In January 1999 a new Terje Haakonsen signature series was released. This time Casio used the Master of G for Altitude, the Riseman. Not less than 4 different versions were released.
To be complete, in 2000 a Terje Haakonsen Wademan was released. It might be a confusing model, since it says Haaken on the watchband and his signature (saying Haakon) in the EL backlight. Haakonsen means "Son of Haakon, which might explain this.
The Terje Haakonsen version is different from the basic version. Where the basic version has straps made of leather and parachute cloth, this model has a high comfortable rubber strap. The longest end seems longer than normal, probably made to fit over your jacket in the snow. The green parts of the strap are translucent, so that light can play with it. The crystal is a little sphered, which makes it, like the Raysman, harder to make good photo's with no reflections. In my opinion these reflections do not affect reading the display under normal outdoor and indoor circumstances.
I have two of the Terje Haakonsen Riseman. My first one is an unworn red version, this one is a worn grey/green version. The exact model number is DW-9100BD-8AT.
The module number of this Riseman is 1664. This is the Japanese Riseman module, that cannot switch to imperial units.
A nice touch from Casio are the metal buttons. I actually suspect these are metallic plastic buttons, but they look very real. Although this watch has been worn quite a lot, there seems no trace of wear on the butttons.
A returning theme on this Riseman are cats. Snow leopards to be more precise. There are paws on the end of the strap and the strap keeper is a cat's face.
Even funnier, if you look at the back, there is even a funny cat's tail (nice detail).
The snow leopard also comes back in EL backlight of 3 of the 4 models (the red version shows Terje in one of his jumps).
The Riseman has two sensors. The most important (if you want to call yourself a Riseman) is the barometer sensor. The other sensor is the Thermometer sensor. The barometer sensor is very accurate and because of this accuracy, it can be used to measure altitude differences.
This sounds pretty awesome, but there are two "buts". First a barometric sensor is not only air pressure dependent, but also temperature dependent. Well, Casio solved that problem easy. It has also a thermometer on board. I hope it can operate in Terje's habitat, the minimum working temperature of the watch is -20ºC. Second, if you want a accurate reading of your Altitude, you need to set your altitude. If the weather is stable, you can use the Altimeter function for many hours. Since air pressure always changes, your altitude readings change too if you do not set it for a long time. Still barometric altimeters are the most reliable, though GPS based altimeters can be an alternative.
The Riseman also has a recorder function on board, which can store 50 time-altitude-temperature datasets. When the recorder is activated, a sample is taken every 15 minutes, so you can maximal record 12.5 hour trips.
The basic functions on the Riseman are in fact sober. Just one alarm and a 24h Stopwatch.I bought this watch from a good friend and a colleague teacher. I think I paid around $100.- - $125.- (shipped) for this watch, which is in my opinion a good price.
As you can see on the back, you can understand why this series is called the Terje Haakonsen signature series. His signature is engraved on the titanium backplate. The 4 small bulbs on the back protector are probably there for ventilation.
There it is again, the snow leopard. The returning cat theme is a wink to Terje's amazing high jumps. Like a cat falling from hight, he always returns on his "feet" (board).

Intermezzo #3: Battetry change on a DW-9100 Riseman

I got this beautiful Riseman in last week. Neil from G-Shock Nation had it for sale. A bummer I broke my left arm, so I could not replace the battery when it came in. Well, most of the pain has gone now and I got a little strength in the fingers of my left hand. Time to try the battery changed. I want to see the EL backlight of this one BAD!Well, most of the G-Shocks is standard stuff, but the case of the good old Riseman is a little different , so I make a little topic.It isn't harder than a normal G-Shock battery change, not harder at all. Just a little different.First of all, remove the 5 screws on the sides. Once the screws are removed, you can lift off the protection ring on the back.Well, That looks more familiar, is't it? Just open the case like on a regular G-Shock.
I have marked in the following three photo's where the battery lock release is located with a red circle. Just put your sharp point tweezers in the small hole between the metal clip and the plastic of the module. Pull the clip forward (in the direction of "do not turn) and the lock easily pops loose. Never force a battery lock!
Now replace the battery and reset the module, like it is shown above. One leg of the tweezer on the AC contact, the other leg on the positive side of the battery.
Well, it's time to assemble the Riseman again. If needed, re-grease the gasket with silicon grease, so the watch remains water resistant after closing the back. The rubber module protector must be placed so, that the metal lips are sticking through. This way they make contact with the back.
Yeah! Finally I can see the pather backlight! Note that the band loop is inside out. I will put it right if I have two working hands again.

#19 Apportez-moi à la fin du monde.

I will publish articles I have written on my vacation in Cadenet in south France in the last two weeks of May and the first two weeks in June.. Of course I (and occasionally Bram and Eva) have shot photo’s on location. Probably some photo's will not be as sharp or clear as I wished, but I think they captured the feeling of the moment. The second article puts a spot on the "Gritstone, the yellow basic model of the DW-9100 Riseman.

Since 2002, the first holiday with Bram, and also the first holiday after I started collecting Gs, I take a small assortment of G-Shocks with me on a holiday.

In 2002 we went to a camping near Champignelles, a small village in the north of Bourgogne. It was a small farm camping, the farmer bred horses.

During day time it was nice warm, around 30°C. At night there was no light at all and it became very, very cold. We slept in a tent and in the morning most people on the camping who were sleeping in tents talked about this cold at night.

This brought me on an idea. My DW-9100 Riseman had a small recorder function on board. Every 15 minutes it samples the current altitude and temperature until the 50 data sets are full (12.25 hours, as the start time holds 1st position).

When the topic about the cold nights were discussed again, I agreed. "The temperature even dropped to 6.2°C at 6:15!". You must have seen the faces when I showed my recorded data. Since then I always have a Riseman with me when camping.

The watch I used then was my first Riseman. It was one of the basic versions, in Germany called "Skytramp". It's the version with the red lettering. The model featured today is the version with yellow lettering and accents, the "Gridstone". I actually wanted to feature the Skytramp, but I simply couldn't find when I was packing my vacation stuff and I didn't have much time to find it.

I got this Riseman from a good friend in Australia. He found the yellow accents a bit too much outstanding. He later bought a Men In Black (MIB) version, which is mainly black with a little white lettering. My Gridstone itself is in great condition, but fortunately the back of the band show much wear. I sometimes think about to buy new straps for it, but it still feels very comfortable.

The case of the Riseman is pretty unique shaped. Someone once wrote that it looks a bit like the parachute packs of Japanese parachutists. On the left side you'll find the sensors. The Riseman has a thermo sensor and a barometric sensor. On the back you will find Icarus in flight engraved.

On a good watch with a barometric function, you will always find a thermometer function. Barometric sensors are very accurate, but they show temperature drift. This means that the sensor output does not only change with air pressure, but also react on temperature changes. If the temperature is known, temperature drift can be eliminated.

The Riseman has an Altimeter function. The altimeter function is actually a barometric function. If you ascent, the air pressure decreases and vice versa. The barometric changes are very small, but with a very accurate temperature compensated barometric sensor, the altitude changes can be calculated. The accuracy of the Riseman is +/- 5m. You can debate if a higher accuracy is needed, but someone who seriously uses an altimeter, does climb a lot more than a few meters. The higher you ascent, the higher the relative accuracy.

Note that you always have to set your altimeter to the correct altitude before use. As the air pressure changes with weather, the altimeter will give different readings after weather changes. If the current altitude is not known, you can set a relative altitude, so you always know how much you ascent or descent. It might be clear now that the altimeter is more accurate at nice sunny weather, than in rough weather. If you get into a thunderstorm, the altimeter could go wrong for over 100m or more. There you go with your temperature compensated 5m accuracy.

Sensor watches (and electronic altimeters) consume more energy than "just" a digital watch. I use also Cateye altimeters. I have them build in some of my bike computers, and also have a specialized altimeter, that I often use on vacation in the car (see also picture in #18, "Jammin' dans le Soleil"). It's an AT-110. It can be used for hiking, skiing and paragliding (Fly mode). I need to change batteries before we go on vacation, because else they are empty while using, though it carries the big CR2032 battery. In the most accurate mode (Fly mode) this altimeter constantly samples the air pressure, and even gives alarms when the rise or fall speed is over 2 meters per second. In this mode my altimeter will only work for several days.

The Riseman is made for hiking. In altimeter mode, the first minutes the display is updated every minute, but soon it goes over to one refreshment in 15 minutes. I actually use the recorder function too when traveling to a country with mountains. I happen to live in a country where most parts are as flat as a pancake.

The Riseman came in Europe in three versions. The red version only had red lettering, the yellow version (as featured here) has also yellow buttons and the blue version has blue lettering and a blue strap. The strap is actually also unique. The upper part is made of parachute fabric. This might indicate you can use the watch for parachuting, but with the 15 minute sample frequency, I won’t recommend that.

The basic Riseman uses the 1664 module. This module has the ability to switch between meters and feet and also between °C and °F. Special models, like those of the "Men In ..." series, were made for the Japanese home market. These have the 1663 module, that only can display meters and °C. Actually I have no idea why two different modules are used (this is actually also the case with the DW-6700 Skyforce, the predecessor of the Riseman).

Since this watch is packed with features, I think we must be glad there is also a stopwatch function on board. I have a PRG-50 Protrek, which does not even have this function. It lacks the usual countdown timer function.

I think the Riseman was a great watch, ahead of it's time when it was released (and what to think of the DW-6700!). Nowadays the features are probably passed by the latest atomic ProTrek models and the also very popular Suunto and Nike AB(C) watches. I think it's still an great looking watch. I frequenty wear three models on rotation. One of the nicest model I own is the red translucent Terje Haakonsen Riseman.

Lately (as also featured in the Japanese magazine "G-Shock, The Complete Reader", March 2008) Casio announcced that the Riseman will evolve into a next generation Master of G. In August Casio will release the first 6 band Atomic G-Shock, the GW-9200 Riseman.

Casio claimes this watch is the most accurate they have ever made. New is that it also can use the public transmitter in China to adjust for atomic time.

The design of the GW-9200 follows that of the new Master of G models, the G-9000 Mudman and G-9100 Gulfman, but it also features the assymetry of the sensor, like on the good old one.