Pretty rude of me to ask a question and then vanish.
Fact is, I was very busy at the time, then completely forgot I posted the question.
Anyway, thanks for your feedback Iain, Ian, and Jon.
I eventually went with a Polar FS-2 which I bought off eBay as "New, old stock". The battery was dead and I had to take it to a watch repair shop to get it changed, but it's been working fine ever since. I think the FS-2 is what I used in 2010 before I started using the Suunto (but maybe that was the FS-1, I can't remember). It displays real-time HR and, after the workout, average HR and max HR. It should pair with the C2, but I haven't tried that yet.
I use it mainly for hiking. If it is hot or humid, I cap my heart rate at 130.
What have I been doing? Plans and objectives?
The whole pandemic thing really hit me hard (like everyone else, I imagine), and it's taken me a while to get my act together. I've been hiking for about a year, slowly building up to 2x per week (each hike is 6-15 mi, with 2,000'-4,500' elevation gain). About 6 months ago I added balance and flexibility training, and about 6 weeks ago I added in strength training.
The most disheartening thing about being 60 is that it takes so long to recover from any sort of workout. Long gone are the days when I could do a weight session in the morning and then a cardio session in the evening! Even so, I would like to get in some intervals and I've been toying with the idea of dusting off the C2. My wife has even expressed some interest.
January's CTC looks like a good place to start: go as slow as you can for 250 meters. Should be right up my alley!
Cheers,
zoot
Jon - the T6C came with a specialty cable that had a three prong thingy (that clipped to contacts on the T6C) on one side and a USB-A connector on the other. I can't remember if Suunto provided software because I always Firstbeat Athlete software to download/analyze.