specialty outdoor gear

I bought a sherpa a little over a year ago. I have not been able to get the altimeter to work, I have followed the instructions exactly and all it will do when i set it is jump around, it goes from 1510 to 18190 to -320 to 1948 to 6070 etc. its never the same. I have had other people try and use it, and they have had the same problem. I was wondering if i was doing something wrong,or if there might be something wrong with the instrument.I need an instrument like this to read elevation. This is the perfect tool for my needs. I'm installing 200 miles of pipe lines and i have got to know if the water lines are going down hill,and how much they are dropping,so we don't build to much pressure. I was in California this summer right on the coast,I set it there at sea level,and tried to get to work and it did the same thing. Would you(please)help me with my problem. If i'm doing something wrong let me know, if you think there is something wrong with the instrument let me know what to do.I need something that will work. Thank You Lonnie PLEASE HELP!

I have been using Sherpa for the last 1 1/2 years. Now I have to replace the batteries for the first time and decided to report my experience with the device.
My buying decision was based on the altimeter function (as I do live in Brasil, I need metric units), as there is no other competitor, even analog, with similar product. This is lightweight, very adequate for outdoor. But I consider that the precision for elevation is not very good. 1% in a 1,300 meter peak means 13 meters, wich makes some difference, but is acceptable.
What is not very good is the calibration of the elevation, as the setup is very slow and has to be frequent.
The barometer is excelent, as you can record the history, but maybe it was interesting to the same function for the elevation or temperature.
Overall, it worths the expensive price asked.

As a novice weather watcher, I recently bought a Brunton Sherpa Atmospheric Data Center and after receiving it, it is one cool tool. The Sherpa measures barometric pressure, altitude, windspeed, temperature and windchill and it has really changed the way I look at things. I have taken it along with me for some time now, checking the information it gives me, and it has made me more aware of the weather and has even allowed me to do some forecasting of my own.

Although not necessarily connected to weather, one of the features I like best is the altimeter function. I recently took a trip to the mountains and it was very interesting to see how high I was and I kept my eye on it to see how fast we were rising or descending.

It was also very interesting to follow how the barometric pressure was changing, which is why I bought this unit. It records changes in the pressure over a period of time, showing the barometer menu, it's quite obvious if the pressure has been falling or rising. One thing, I never realized is how the barometric pressure is directly connected to elevation.

The Sherpa can also read temperature, which I find pretty helpful when I want to know what the temperature is. As well, the Sherpa's wind gauge is very interesting. I can hold the Sherpa up to the wind and see how strong its blowing. The wind gauge records the current wind speed, average speed as well as the highest gust. If your using the wind gauge, the Sherpa also automatically calculates the windchill, since it shows the wind speed and temperature. This has been a good feature for determining just how cold it really is.

All in all, I give the sherpa a good rating. It does what it says it will do, it is easy to use and to understand. For anyone interested in weather, it really enhanced my knowledge about my surroundings.