#49 Glowing Fan

Past Monday I was unhappily surprised by frozen fog on the road to school. Long story sort, I broke my radius in my elbow. Determent as I am, I was immediately thinking at my 49th post. I already had the model and the big lines in my head, but typing is very hard. Also it was hard to take good pictures. With one hand it's pretty hard to make steady photo's, so I apologize for some of my photo qualities. In the end I managed (accompanied with some strong words) to get my camera mount on the tripod for the EL-shots. The new in box model needed a new battery. I changed with one hand too.I already had a DW-003 with BPM-counter as one of my first Gs. It was more a gadget watch than an accurate tool. It had an accuracy of 5 BPM, which is pretty much useless for any DJ or musician.
The function is actually a nice show-off gadget. I wore it at " I Love Techno 2000". I impressed quite some people with those "accurate" BPM's on that DW-003.
I think Casio realized that BPM-counters need to be more accurate. The DW-9501HH Toughlabel Beat & BPM models were released in February 1999 (the Japanese versions were released as DW-9500HH models in November 1998 in the same colours). They are equipped with BPM counters with an accuracy of 1 BPM. Now, that's where I can live with. A trained finger has an accuracy of about +/- 2 BPM.
I think the look of the display is very cool. The upper display is negative and the eye is divided in 30 small segments. It looks real nice when the EL is activated. It gives nice animations in different modes too.
My favourite model is called "Glowing Fan". There was always one hanging around in the studio (way before you had virtual mixers that even sync and start your next record automatically). I was fond of using breakeats or filtered Disco in my music. If I had good loops in my sampler or computer, I needed to know the rhythm pace, so I could sync it with the sequencer or time-stretch it to fit a song's pace tempo.
I actually have three of the, because I was very fond of the color and they were pretty easy to find around 2002. In the box of this new one I found the receipt. It says €35.- for the watch, inclusive shipping from Augsburg, Germany. I see I bought it of my good friend Peter Porschen. I was one of his good customers in those days.
This watch needed a new battery. No surprise after 6 years. A good occasion to have a closer look inside the guts of this G.
As you can see, the module looks very basic like the DW-004 and DW-9000 models. It uses the most common type battery Casio uses on non-solar G-Shocks, the CR2016. I use Maxell batteries. I buy those in bulk. Mostly 50 at a time.
The DW-9501HH, as the number of this model is, came in three varieties. Of course this cherry red model, a golden brown model and a light blue model. The first two colours can be considered pretty unique.
Back to the BPM -function. The 1 BPM accuracy is good enough for a 4 beat sample. Maybe an 8 beat sample needs some shaving, but it is even easier and even more creative to cut in 2 or more parts.
In design the BPM input on the 1540 module is very easy, although I would have rather seen it only work in the BPM modes. The beats are entered with the 5th "G" button, the button that is usually used for the EL backlight.
So a week ago, a friend asked me on stage what time it was (I assist a VJ as camera man), minutes before the show started. I only saw a short flash. I realized it was the wrong button. When I found the right button (top right, as on most 4 button models), the screen showed 163 BPM.
The fifth button is actually general used as start and stop button on this module. In time mode the "G" button immediately starts with BPM-counting. If 5 beats are counted, an average is shown.
If you press the "MODE" button one time from the BPM measuring mode, you get into the "BEAT" mode. You can use it as a sort of metronome. It shows the last measured BPM, but the metronome is also programmable from 60 to 200 BPM, which are also the tempo limits of the BPM-counter.
Starting and stopping is done with the "G" button. You can change between beeps and light flashes by pressing the lower right button.
I made a small video to show this BPM-counter function in action.

I noticed the flashes were too short to be filmed by my camera. Probably the sampling rate is to low. now only random flashes are shown.

The DW-9501 has an unique pre-programmed programmable COUNTDOWN TIMER function. The timer is pre-programmed with useful times 60, 74, 90,120 and 180 minutes. These times correspond with tape lengths of audio and video tapes (released in 1999, I bet a lot of kids nowadays do not know what an audio cassette is).
The pre-programmed time of 74 minutes is for the maximal recording time of a CD (there were probably no 80 minutes CD-R's yet around that time).

By holding down the ADJUST button for three seconds, you can change the programmed time between 1 and 180 minutes. Do I complain a lot about the 60 minute timers, I can live with the 3 hour maximum. I usually set my timers between 1 and 3 hours on the lab.
Further this watch has a 24 hour stopwatch on board and a simple alarm function (with hourly chime).
The double Velcro watchband is very comfortable. The lower part is black unstretchable fabric with a Velcro layer. The upper part is cherry red and also made of the same fabric. A kind of tribal pattern is stamped in it.

#48 Watch for a tough guy

The G-3110D was part of the winter 2001/2002 collection. The same model came out in Japan, though as G-3100 November 2001).

In Germany the name "Tough Guy" was given to this model. I think that's a good name. It is a pretty big and heavy model.
The G-3110D has a feature which was found on other G-3000 series watches from that time, a Duplex display.Except for black liquid crystal, other colors were used in a second or even a third layer.
The G-3110 has two black and a red layer. The watch allows you to choose between 12 color schemes. The eyes and the lower display can be switched between a positive display and a negative display with red digits.
Wouldn't it be a great feature on a G-Shock if you could switch between a positive and negative display. I don't think this will happen, switching the polarity of a full screen would probably use a lot more energy than simply turning the polarity of the film by 90°.
If you choose for red digits, the digits are accented with black lines. It sure improves the readability, but I am very curious how the screen would have looked without these accents.
Funny is that the red digits look translucent, but totally block the EL-backlight. If the backlight is used in the dark, the digits look black, but if you use the backlight in light circumstances, you keep seeing red digits.
The bottom display changes into a positive version, if you have chosen the negative option, when you activate the backlight. Else you probably would only see a black line.

Not only the duplex display is an eyecatcher. When you see the watch for the first time, you probably notice the big screen protectors, that stick out of the case like bull bars.
These protectors, coming out the metal bezel, were later seen on many Cockpit Series models. When I bought this watch I actually thought it was a G-Lide model, as these models often had the screen protectors.
Although there are G-3110 models with resin straps, I think a full metal bracelet looks best. The bracelet is very good adjustable. In the three fold clasp with lock you can adjust the bracelet by one third of a link.
The back of the case has a nice ergonomic back protector keeping the watch on it's place. It probably also is part of the shock absorbing structure.
You get surprisingly a lot of functions with this watch. The Telememo function is probably nowadays a useless function since almost everyone has a mobile phone, or a portable computer with build in camera, internet and phone function. I can't remember models with Telememo released the past 5 years.
The watch has 4 normal alarms and a snooze alarm on board.
In stead of Worldtime, the G-3110 has dual time. The time can be changed in steps of 30 minutes. I think there is something to say for this function. With all different DST settings in the world, it might be interesting if you just can change the dual time into the timezone you wish. As we say in the Netherlands: "You can't walk in seven ditches at a time".Further this watch holds a Stopwatch and a 24h Countdown Timer. For those who like this function, the current time is shown in all modes, except the Telememo mode (all digits are needed to show the name and telephone number.I think Casio gave the right name for this fellow. To be a Tough Guy is of course up to you, but the heavy feel and sturdy appearance of this watch helps you a lot on the way. The rest is up to you.
Special thanks to Bram and Azra.

#47 Twisted Metal

Only three G-Shocks left before I get reach my goal. I thought I would never make it...

In November 1999 Casio released the first MT-G model, the GS-2000. The name of this series expresses the fusion of resin and metal used in these Gs.
There were 8 different models released between November 1999 and June 2000. I think this yellow GS-2000Y-1A9JF was the most striking of the bunch. It was released in May 2000.

I had seen photo's of GS-2000's before and always wanted to have one of these (the GS-2000-1A or this one). I'm glad I found one. Opening the small box I got it in was a special moment. I had waited long to see this model in real.
It was worth waiting for and I am so glad it is the yellow dial version. the basic black version looks good too, but the yellow dial gives a little more spice to the watch.
Eye catching are the resin parts of the links in the bracelet. The black rubberish parts look very nice on the strap.
These mix of resin and metal parts in the bracelet has brought back in the recent MTG-1000 models. For some time I think Casio lost it's way in the MT-G series. Specially when the first generation atomic models were released it looked like GW- and MTG- suffixes were used randomly.
The retail price of this model was 24000 yen, which makes it not a cheap watch, though not as expensive as the MR-G series.I think the new MTG-1000 and Giez models are now in the price range of this older MTG.

I can't say much about the functions of the watch. I do not think the 1799 module needs a manual. The only function this watch has is displaying analog time.
The seconds hand moves in 1 second increments. It gives funny results in long exposure photo's, like the one above. It is a 6 seconds exposure shot, so you see about 6 second hands if you look closely.
The crown is screwed in the case. You need to unscrew and pull out to set time. the crown is protected by two resin parts.
The dial shows a diagram. It probably shows the forces that apply on the watch at impact, which are absorbed by the shock absorbing structure.
The text "Water resist 20 Bar suspect this is a Japanese model. I am actually not sure if this model was released outside Japan. The only ones I have seen is the basic black (but also good looking) GS-2000-1A. For people who really can't live withoutd igital features, Casio released in June 2000 the MTG-5000. This was a similar looking model, but with a ana-digi module.
The lume on this watch may look great on my pictures, but I have to admit I used very long exposure times and a very bright light to load the luminescent paint. It would be really nice if Casio would use the same kind of paint as on my Seiko Orange monster. I don't need to read a book with it, but a little more lume would be perfect.