Ok, so I owe everyone half an adult beverage. To be honest, I am afraid that if I'm in a panic, I may not be able to breath well enough to blow a whistle. I like the thought of pressing a button (although I have been know to do ok while under rocket attacks in the Middle East). I sent a note to the BuddyCall Customer Service and got a reply back right away!!! Heck, that alone was pretty amazing. Wayne sent me the following:
Hi Anne,
Thanks for letting me know about the heat that you’re taking on Scuba Board. Please let me know which group you’re in so that I can find the discussion and possibly join in.
Besides being a handy way of getting the attention of your dive buddies, it was designed for those emergency situations where someone might be in a panic, so you made the right choice.
The unit is meant for underwater use only. Having said that you should be able to hear it from about 30 -50 ft. out of the water, which means it can be used out of the water but it shouldn’t be relied upon as a above water signaling device.
The unit should be fairly loud, like a radio turned on to medium volume, but it was designed so it’s not so loud as to hurt your ears. Many of us wear it attached to our vests, and you don’t want it so loud as to hurt if wearing it high on your vest close to your ear. Like all sonic devices it’s effectiveness is reduced if wearing a hood. It works best while diving warm waters without a hood, it’s marginal in cold water with a hood on.
It doesn’t get louder underwater it just that you can hear it for up to +100 feet underwater, enough to get your attention over the sound of your breathing at 100 ft.
Try new batteries if you don’t think it’s loud enough, but we’ve never had a set of worn out batteries go out. May I ask where you purchased the unit. Was it over the Buddycall website or somewhere else? Does your unit have a plastic or brass battery cover? If you didn’t get it from our site and it has a brass cap let me know and I’ll send you an upgraded plastic one.
Hope this helps and enjoy using the Buddycall.
Good Diving,
Wayne
Wayne T Smith - Director
FlyGirl again - I got the BuddyCall from Leisure Pro, and not from the website. This could explain old batteries? The brass cap is a bit difficult to use, so I'll be happy to try the plastic one. Hey, so who else is brave enough to admit they also have tried out blindly a new diving toy that was around $40? At least this place has great customer service as well as is a great signaler for under water.