Dive Computer with GPS

[Bri123]

I just returned from a dive vacation and I was looking at the Skymall catalog (yeah I was bored) and I noticed they have a dive mask with cell phone (search Skymall for Underwater Cell Phone System).

Anyway, as I was looking at this and thinking about a dive computer my son had just bought, I thought, wow, wouldn’t it be nice to have a GPS built into a dive computer to help you mark points of interest as you dive so that you could find them again.

So my question is “Does anyone know if there is a dive computer on the market with a GPS system built in?” Thanks.

 

[Peter_C]

GPS doesn't work underwater. You can use a positively buoyant container for a handheld GPS and send it to the surface, which works great.

There is a company working on a GPS kinda deal that is supposed to rough out your location underwater, but it is not released yet, and few seem excited by it.

 

[Doubler]

As Peter C stated GPS does not work underwater as the Satellite can't penetrate. There is a company coming out with a system that will use a base station on board the dive vessel and mount a repeater underwater. The repeater will talk to the divers computer and base station. I believe it has a range of 1/2 mile. I would think that like a radio signal it could fall out do to structure. The expensive will probably limit it to liveaboards as it tracks location of divers in the water.

 

[mselenaous]

Interesting. Note that like GPS, the cellphone itself does not work underwater either. It is on the surface in a float. The underwater communications system/full face mask it is wired to is similar to the one-way radio systems commercial divers are using.

 

[M_Bipartitus]

I've heard of one dive computer maker who is thinking of adding GPS that records the last point before you go under and/or the first point when you com up. However, GPS records could be a point of contention on some dive boats as some captains like to keep dive spots a secret.

 

[Scubahagel]

well I can see some practical applications to having GPS underwater. But it seems to me it would be more of a distraction and something else to go wrong. I don't think it would be something I would invest in, but will keep a tab on this info. Any good links?

 

[azchipka]

There are methods of doing this already on the market it involves putting three transmitters on the bottom of the boat with a transmitter from the diver. The boat triangulates the divers position and a computer on the boat coverts it to GPS data.

Its expensive and the floating a gps device is much cheaper.

 

[drbill]

I remember years back a professor wanted to map the underwater features of our dive park using GPS and asked me to get involved as I had a lot of topside GPS experience. She decided we would send floats to the surface from each underwater feature and they would take readings from a rowboat.

I asked her if she understood the error in GPS back then (selective availability was on at the time), but she wanted to proceed anyway. For some "strange" reason she never even shared the resulting data with us!

 

[dhuskins]

I remember years back a professor wanted to map the underwater features of our dive park using GPS and asked me to get involved as I had a lot of topside GPS experience. She decided we would send floats to the surface from each underwater feature and they would take readings from a rowboat.

I asked her if she understood the error in GPS back then (selective availability was on at the time), but she wanted to proceed anyway. For some "strange" reason she never even shared the resulting data with us!

Not to mention the impact current has on the line leading up to the surface.