Will Air Integration in dive computers replace the SPG?

[CT-Rich]

Hold on! What is all this about interface? The question was whether AI would supplant ye olde SPG. You can make the interface look like a Micky Mouse clock if you want. Or you can make it scroll through like Facebook. The question is will the tech get cheap, reliable and widely dispersed to the point that New divers will just buy what their shop tells them is standard by the day's standards.

It doesn't mean that you can't drive your '46 ford with the manual transmission and choke to the dive shop and strap on your tank fitted with a SPG and horse collar BC on and go go for a splash. The question is, are you going to be in the majority?

By the way anyone under 40 know what a car choke is?

 

[Kevrumbo]

The approximate calculation should be intuitive, and only a fool allows gas to drop anyway near rock bottom. I can effortlessly determine gas usage and safe dive duration as a factor of depth, available gas, and current/expected activity, in my head.

You misunderstand terminology --by definition, Rock Bottom Reserve is that amount of gas remaining that is enough to get you and a Buddy safely to the surface in an emergency gas-sharing contingency. Reaching expected Rock Bottom nominally during a dive without an emergent gas-sharing contingency simply indicates that you and your Buddy are low on reserve gas and must begin normally ascending toward your safety stop and/or the surface. . .

My normal pressure Surface Consumption Rate is 2bar/min for an AL80/11L Cylinder; for an AL80/11L twinset, my SCR obviously becomes 1bar/min. Clearly, I don't need the function of an Air Integrated Computer (and with experience, most Scuba divers should not need it beyond a "training wheel aid" if at all. . .)

 

[agilis]

Let's not get confused by abbreviated jargon. Rock bottom means one thing and rock bottom reserve means something entirely different. The term that was used and to which I responded was "rock bottom". Confusing the terms is dangerous.

 

[DevonDiver]

By the way anyone under 40 know what a car choke is?

Or the need/ability to double de-clutch... LOL

Hold on! What is all this about interface? The question was whether AI would supplant ye olde SPG. You can make the interface look like a Micky Mouse clock if you want. Or you can make it scroll through like Facebook. The question is will the tech get cheap, reliable and widely dispersed to the point that New divers will just buy what their shop tells them is standard by the day's standards.

Ok... to add something new (as this goes around and around... and those that have posted already expressed their opinions admirably)...

If AI reached a stage where the reliability (frequency of (any kind of) failure) was proven equal to analogue SPGs.... and the transmitters were on a size comparable to button gauges, and hard-sealed to eliminate risk of gas loss (comparable to port plugs).... and cost ~$25 each... then I'd consider it. There'd be little need... but if some benefit could be derived from clever software application.... there could be future application for that tech,

As it is... AI is nothing new. My first computer was a hosed AI computer (Suunto Eon) and wireless AI has been around for years. Other than digital dive logging, I see no advances in AI functionality than existed 20 years ago. I assume reliability, especially in wireless connection/sync, has improved; but there's no hard facts or figures to support this.... only anecdotal opinions by a limited demographic.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Let's not get confused by abbreviated jargon. Rock bottom means one thing and rock bottom reserve means something entirely different. The term that was used and to which I responded was "rock bottom". Confusing the terms is dangerous.

Sorry about your confusion --but Rock Bottom NEVER implied "Out-of-Gas", and that's how most divers except yourself for some reason, understand the term. . . (Also the context used was "final surfacing Rock Bottom" from the post above -so where is the confusion?)

 

[agilis]

Sorry about your confusion --but Rock Bottom NEVER implied "Out-of-Gas", and that's how most divers except yourself for some reason, understand the term. . .

Rock bottom is a widely used term. Its meaning is clear. It means completely depleted, the lowest possible level. There is no confusion about the term's meaning.

If it has become shorthand for reduction to a safe reserve, to the term you used-"rock bottom reserve"- this is unfortunately sloppy use of language, something to be avoided.

 

[agilis]

Rock bottom is a widely used term. Its meaning is clear and has been for more than a century. It means completely depleted, the lowest possible level. There is no confusion about the term's meaning.

If it has become shorthand for reduction to a safe reserve, to the term you used-"rock bottom reserve"- this is unfortunately sloppy use of language, something to be avoided.

 

[DevonDiver]

Rock bottom is a widely used term. Its meaning is clear. It means completely depleted, the lowest possible level. There is no confusion about the term's meaning.

Rock Bottom
HARD Bottom
Hard RESERVE

In non--diving parlance, it means absolute lowest possible. It might be used to describe retail sale prices.... i.e. "Rock Bottom Prices! You Won't Find Cheaper!"

When negotiating prices/deals.... someone might ask "what is your rock bottom costing?" This would be the, no BS, minimum feasible costing.

Note: it doesn't mean depleted... or else a 'rock bottom price' would mean the item is free!

In diving, the phrase may have been used generally, but a specific definition has stemmed from the concept of 'Rock Bottom Gas Management'. GUE introduced this term, but it's usage has spread wider.

In the context of gas management, the phrase means the absolute, hard, unequivocal, reserve gas that must be carried by the diver to support their contingency needs.

For recreational diving, that is commonly (but not always) defined as being sufficient gas to allow 2 divers (air-sharing) to conduct a normal ascent and stops from a given depth.

 

[lowviz]

In a feeble attempt to not further derail a trainwreck, could we all maybe agree to start here?

http://blog.scriptkiddie.org/2010/0...for-recreational-divers/#sthash.hY07US5D.dpbs

 

[agilis]

I understand. I think it's an unwise use of a term that means something absolutely different in every other context.

I've never encountered it, but then how would I have? I don't do technical diving, generally dive solo, and have not been exposed to current trends in dive training, which is where I would guess the unfortunate misuse of the term originated. My approach is an antique one, I'll readily admit, but it has served me well for half a century. I basically follow the rule of thirds.