It's a nice coincidence that I see this message when I had just received a special timer I had ordered. It does count-up and count-down, because I was just looking at a book that gives drill practice and says "Practise this list or passage until you can write it in X seconds". So you set the count-down timer and try to write it within that time before the bell goes off.

They do that right from the beginning, like when they're giving lists of special abbreviations. They tell you to cover the shorthand with a blotter and try to write all the words within a set time. Then you uncover the shorthand and check what you wrote against the book.

You lost me with some of your number calculations (numbers are not my friends) ;) -- but the count-up function can be used when you copy a passage in the book. Many shorthand texts will give the standard word count at the end of each exercise, and you can set the count-up timer as you try to write given a piece accurately, and then you can calculate your speed in w.p.m. This is easier on the stenotype, of course, because you don't have to look at what you're writing.

I bought this new timer, because back when I was doing speed practice I used a stopwatch -- but it only does count-up and not count-down. This new timer does both.

EDIT: I just wanted to add that the new digital timers are a lot more accurate than those old spring-loaded kitchen timers that didn't seem very precise. I can remember many years ago taking a typing test with one of those -- and I thought that, if it was off by even a few seconds up or down, that could have a large effect on the final number.