Diver Indicted in 2003 GBR mishap

[stiebs]

Mike solved the computer/battery puzzle.

Gabe had an air integrated computer. The transmitter had the battery in upside down. This allowed his computer to keep depth, but it started beeping to indicate it wasn't getting a signal. So they went back to the boat and put the battery back in the right way and continued the dive.

That doesn't make him innocent. But that more than adequately explains why his computer beeped even though a battery was in upside down. He was talking about the transmitter battery.

I don't have an air-integrated computer, and have never looked very closely at them. But he apparently borrowed a coin (IIRC) to remove the battery cover. I know that many computer batteries can be replaced with a coin, but the transmitters that I've seen seem to require a screwdriver or spanner.

 

[bubba105]

Press 'M-Quote' if you want to quote more than one post at a time and then select 'Reply' when you are ready to make your post. Your reply screen will be populated by all the posts you selected with 'M-Quote'. If you want to quote the one person multiple times just type (quote="Saspotato") text of quote (/quote) but use brackets like this [ ] instead of (). And put that around each bit of text you want to use.

There is also a button on the text box you type your reply in that looks like a speech bubble with text on it. You can press that then put the quote in between the (quote) and (/quote). If you want to add the person's name to it, just modify the first bit to (quote="Saspotato").

Hope that makes sense!

Unbelievable as this may seem, I think I understand. I'm going to have to play with this but I think I can handle this. Thanks a lot for your help. I never would have gotten this myself, not a chance.

 

[Dadvocate]

Bubba

Nice try, but, no, we have a guy who admitted to the police, on tape, that he went back to the boat to fix his computer battery, the fix being reversing the polarity. This statement was made after he had stated that his computer read 3500 psi, both halves working to give him this reading. No one made him say this. The police tested & found the computer did not operate with the battery backwards.

I admit that I haven’t read all of the transcripts, and after going through all of the pages in this thread, I can’t say I want to go back to find this particular reference. So I’ll just ask this question because someone will know the answer.

Did he get the 3500 psi from the computer reading or is this being assumed?

Perhaps he got that reading from his “low tech” gauge. Most people I know who dive with computers that have these electronic bells and whistles still dive using traditional gauges as well. In fact most (all?) of us who do dive with computers have the option of reading our depth from both the gauge and the computer. I like to see if they are both the same every now and then.

That being the case, the knowledge of his air reading at 3500 psi does not necessarily equate to a lie if he got that information from his gauge and then “mistakenly” said it was from his computer after several hours of interrogation.

As many astute people have said, the explanations are more than likely to be forthcoming, and a good defense attorney will be at the ready to point this out to a potentially non-diving jury (no slight to my antipodean friends… the woman I love is an Aussie).

Cheers!

 

[bowlofpetunias]

From the transcript:
he said you know there not, he said that um, the people that are doing ‘Natrox’ after we ate to meet him on the diving deck and the people using their computers to hang around and meet in the, in the room where we were eating breakfast. Ah, so probably I don’t know ten fifteen minutes till around eight o’clock I believe ah we went, we went back downstairs um, think we went back down to the room maybe for a few minutes, I’m not really sure, oh and then probably cause we we, we weren’t using either onewe were using all our stuff so, you know we weren’t meeting at either place ah so I think. You know we may have gone back down to the room or something or we may have gone out on the dive deck and you know started, finished getting our stuff ready.

I took this to mean they both had their own computers. Apparently, the boat loans computers to those who do not have computers.

Just for information purposes Some Australian dive operators will not allow divers to dive off their boats without computers. A number of Australian dive sites you have to dive with a computer. I've only dived in three countries so I am not sure how common this requirement is. That would be why there was a meeting about the computers, so those who didn't have computers would get the loaners and showed how to use them. Both Gabe and Tina would have had to have computers.

 

[Crimson Ghost]

OK folks, as usual too many posts to get caught up on.

I read the transcripts. I dive an Uwatec hoseless AI computer (love it BTW) as does the Mrs. Anywho - the batter lasts (supposedly) for many thousands of dives, so the battery can not be changed. I wish they would say what kind of computer he had.

He said that she had 3200 PSI (going from memory so the number might be off) and he had 3500 psi -- I recall reading the 3500 since I was thinking that I had never seen anything above 3300. If the transmitter battery was the issue - how did he get his PSI ?

He then said he dove in the water and had no reading and went deeper as that usually gets it going...that's redicules. If you do not have a reading you hold the computer by the transmitter - but whatever, we all do stupid things. I think the battery story is still not going to hold in court, but shouldn't matter since the guy on the boat can testify that he did get back ont he boat and did ask for a coin to open it and play with it. So I suppose it becomes slightly irrelevant, unless the prosecutor wants to use it as his means of separating them from the group so he can be alone to do the deed....

 

[Crimson Ghost]

I don't have an air-integrated computer, and have never looked very closely at them. But he apparently borrowed a coin (IIRC) to remove the battery cover. I know that many computer batteries can be replaced with a coin, but the transmitters that I've seen seem to require a screwdriver or spanner.

I know I just posted, but I am spot reading to get caught up a little. It really wouldn't matter - coin/screw-driver ect. He asked the person on the boat for the coin, so he has a wittness to back up the story. It still wouldn't have given him his psi before the first attempt in the water.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Wow, then why bother posting here if you aren't even going to make an attempt to understand the legal system in which this case will be heard?

I included that for those who have accused some of us of attacking the Autralian legal system. My point was that I'm not.

As far as your theories Mike, and the same with the theories other people have posted on the opposing side to you, you really have *no idea* so why not sit back and relax until the court case is heard?

I'm very relaxed.

 

[Crimson Ghost]

Anyone wonder if someone posting on this thread is Gabe? Or if he is reading it or others like it on different sites ? If anything I suppose he would be a reader and not a poster.

Hey Mike - I too am relaxed, just opinionated...my opinion is he needs to rot in hell....and I hope he reads that.

Oh yeah.....whoever posted that you MUST have a computer to dive in Australia -- that's a damn good rule that should pretty much be world wide. I have dived the caribbean and US so far all the dive shops required them.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Nice try, but, no, we have a guy who admitted to the police, on tape, that he went back to the boat to fix his computer battery, the fix being reversing the polarity. This statement was made after he had stated that his computer read 3500 psi, both halves working to give him this reading. No one made him say this.

Maybe. Or maybe we have someone who had, or thought they had, a computer problem and went back to the boat to fiddle with it and after fiddling it worked?

The police tested & found the computer did not operate with the battery backwards.

Yes but we don't know if they checked to see if the computer logged any kind of warning. A computer warning is the reason he gave for aborting the dive.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Oh yeah.....whoever posted that you MUST have a computer to dive in Australia -- that's a damn good rule that should pretty much be world wide. I have dived the caribbean and US so far all the dive shops required them.

Wow, that's off topic but why do you feel that you need a dive shop to tell you how to dive? I don't dive with a dive computer.