The HC is a bit bigger than my old NK Speedcoach, but this may be because it does so much more. It doesn't look much bigger when its in the boat, but you notice it when you hang it round your neck.
The blurb says that the Coxmate is compatible with an NK mounting, which is just as well because NK wiring is built into my single and cannot be removed. It took moments to tape the minute Coxmate impeller to the hull, and within 10 minutes of taking the HC out of the box I was on the water.
The operating instructions come on a CD, not paper, which I didn't discover until I opened the box on the dockside. During my first outing without the benefit of the user manual I made the HC start, stop and reset but nothing else. It was very keen to show my heart rate but I didn't have a sensor for that with me. Even so, it was still showing me as much as I get from my Speedcoach. The time was spent getting used to reading the display on the water, as some things are in different parts of the screen. The rating in strokes/min. was shown to one decimal place, which I soon decided I like and which I would miss now.
The figures on the display are less easy to read than on the NK, mainly because there are more of them, but you soon get used to this.
Back home I was finally able to print out the instructions for use. The comprehensive though concise manual is actually more of a functional specification than a User Manual. Some important things are implicit but not clrearly stated. For instance, it took me a while to work out how to get the unit into Set-Up mode (double-click the Mode button), and a further period to realise how the Set-Up works. This was partly because the manual doesn't really explain it, but also because there are so many possibilities it is bound to be complicated. Once light dawned, however, everything fell into place and the logic became clear. During my second outing I was able happily to alter the display, choosing during my warm up to display the percentage of speed increase between catch and finish, and when I started doing pieces of work to show the average speed and distance.
The most impressive thing about the HC is the amount of information it displays. Although the screen has four data display sections it can show up to six different data. As well as the three constant displays (one of which can be configured to show either time or distance), the fourth display alternates every few seconds between any two out of a possible six options. In addition the alternating display is interrupted every 500m to announce this mark has been passed.
The HC has PACE and Workout modes. The Workout set-up is so complicated the instruction manual doesn't really try to explain how to do it, and advises you that this "is much easier using PC software".
The basic Coxmate comes with a remote start/stop button that could be very useful, but it is an integral part of the wiring kit. I was not able to try it out because my boat already has wires and sensors built-in,
During a subsequent outing I hit a branch. Not a great log like the one that had ripped the impeller and an acreage of paint off the bottom of my boat a few weeks before, but a modest fence-post type of thing. The mosquito buzz of the Coxmate impeller stopped and the screen froze. (Did I mention the whine of the tiny Coxmate impeller? It seemed to vibrate, even at low speeds, at around the resonant frequency of my shell). After the outing it became apparent that the impeller was still there, but a chunk had broken off and the screw would no longer turn. An old NK one was attached in its stead, the calibration on the HC changed accordingly (by now I was in tune enough with it not to need the manual), and all worked perfectly (but without the noise).
The verdict ? despite lacking some of the refinement of the NK, the HC offers a lot more than a Speedcoach and costs a lot less. I bought one.Rating:
[TEXT_OF_5_STARS]
This product was added to our catalog on Monday 08 September, 2008.
