Mark, it's funny you should mention that, because I see pictures of people welding things at arms length and I always wondered if it was just me or if it was complete bull. I like to be as close as possible so that I can see what the puddle is doing. It makes for a bit of an uncomfortable position at times, but at least I can see what I am doing and make a nice weld.

My helmet is the solar only model with two sensors; one on either side of the solar cell.
I purchased it maybe 4-6 years ago.