Shearwater live streaming update July 23

[stuartv]

I have moved my wife to a button SPG to validate the transmitter as functional before going into the water and also at least some sort of a backup if the transmitter fails during a dive.

I used to have that same setup on my doubles regs. Then I was diving one day and a well-known, highly-respected (including by me!) GUE instructor was there and he was looking at my rig. In doubles, the regs are general sideways(-ish), so the button gauge was on the side pointing up. It was small. Nevertheless, he looked at it and said, "you don't feel like that's a bit of a snag hazard?" I thought about it, and decided he was right.

Plus, having it there meant that I could assemble my rig, turn on my gas, and do a basic sanity check to confirm that my tanks were full without having to find my computer and turn it on. Eventually, I realized that that meant I was creating the opportunity for myself to find out much too late that I either forgot to bring my computer, that the computer was dead, or that the transmitter was dead.

So, between those two things I took the button gauge off. Now, I am forced to find my computer and get it out to check my gas when I assemble my unit. Less convenient, but a better process, I think. Especially when I'm assembling my rig on a boat that is about to head way out offshore. Being forced to make sure I actually HAVE my computer, it is not dead, and the AI transmitter is not dead - all while the boat is still at the dock - seems like a good idea....

If I just need to check the pressure in a tank, I have a separate tank pressure checker gauge for that. No need to dig out a reg set and computer.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I've grown to love AI purely for the convenience. It's not a crutch nor is it a necessity but simply put it makes my dives easier and more enjoyable. I still have my brass and glass SPG clipped to my left harness D-ring if needed. I dive a standard Hog configuration so it's tucked away unobtrusively but available if needed.

Also I've never had a failure to connect in diving my Perdix AI over the last 2.5 years. Not one.

 

[stuartv]

So we need to ditch all this dangerous and failure prone stuff and go back to j-valves... Good grief.

Don't even need a J-valve.

My dad always likes to explain to me how much of a baby I am because back in his early years of diving (late 50s-early 60s), he was diving north FL caves and then deep dives in the Med (in the Navy) with no SPG, and not even a BCD. Just his 1/4" neoprene Farmer John wetsuit and his double steel 72s. His "SPG" was diving with one tank turned off. When he started to run out of gas, he would turn the one tank on, let it equalize pressure with the other tank, turn it back off, and continue his dive knowing he was now down to "Half". One more time and he was down to "One Quarter"...

I'm a total wuss with my BCD and my computer and my actual pressure gauge.... And, luxury of luxuries(!), a drysuit!

 

[stuartv]

I've grown to love AI purely for the convenience. It's not a crutch nor is it a necessity but simply put it makes my dives easier and more enjoyable. I still have my brass and glass SPG clipped to my left harness D-ring if needed. I dive a standard Hog configuration so it's tucked away unobtrusively but available if needed.

Also I've never had a failure to connect in diving my Perdix AI over the last 2.5 years. Not one.

Then why keep all those extra O-rings on your rig, just waiting to pop and start leaking gas?

I've had 2 spool O-ring failures on SPGs. I've used AI a LOT more than an SPG and yet I've never lost any gas because of an AI transmitter, and I've had 2 occasions of one dying. One, I killed the battery by leaving hooked up with the gas on, by accident, (on my CCR) for 2 months. And the other, when I put a replacement battery in the same transmitter and got in the water with it. The battery was a spare I'd been carrying around for quite a while and it worked for about 2 minutes and then died. Never lost any gas and never missed any diving because of AI.

And if my AI did die during a dive, I would be no worse off than if I was only using a single SPG and realized that it was broken or the needle stuck or something (which CAN happen).

 

[Still Kicking]

Then why keep all those extra O-rings on your rig, just waiting to pop and start leaking gas?

I've had 2 spool O-ring failures on SPGs. I've used AI a LOT more than an SPG and yet I've never lost any gas because of an AI transmitter, and I've had 2 occasions of one dying. One, I killed the battery by leaving hooked up with the gas on, by accident, (on my CCR) for 2 months. And the other, when I put a replacement battery in the same transmitter and got in the water with it. The battery was a spare I'd been carrying around for quite a while and it worked for about 2 minutes and then died. Never lost any gas and never missed any diving because of AI.

And if my AI did die during a dive, I would be no worse off than if I was only using a single SPG and realized that it was broken or the needle stuck or something (which CAN happen).

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Then why keep all those extra O-rings on your rig, just waiting to pop and start leaking gas?

I've had 2 spool O-ring failures on SPGs. I've used AI a LOT more than an SPG and yet I've never lost any gas because of an AI transmitter, and I've had 2 occasions of one dying. One, I killed the battery by leaving hooked up with the gas on, by accident, (on my CCR) for 2 months. And the other, when I put a replacement battery in the same transmitter and got in the water with it. The battery was a spare I'd been carrying around for quite a while and it worked for about 2 minutes and then died. Never lost any gas and never missed any diving because of AI.

And if my AI did die during a dive, I would be no worse off than if I was only using a single SPG and realized that it was broken or the needle stuck or something (which CAN happen).

Because I insist on a backup SPG ... for me. It’s that simple. I’ve had spool o-rings form a leak 2-3 times in 15 yrs. NEVER during a dive. Always when turning my rig on. When that happens I just replace them. I always have spares with me.

If you don’t want a backup SPG than don’t use one.

 

[scubadada]

I'm with @JimBlay

I've had two SPG spool leaks, both minor, in 18 years. I also carry extra spools, and simply replaced them

 

[Trailboss123]

I have not been reading all of the various threads on this topic and I have no idea what Shearwater is going to announce. But for me, I would love it if they came out with an AI compatible computer in the $300-$500 price range. My first AI dive computer was an Aeris Elite T3. It now serves as the backup to my primary Perdix AI. The Aeris has nearly 1,000 dives on it and has never had a hiccup. My wife has an Oceanic VT 4.0, (essentially the same computer as my Aeris); which is also AI and has never had a hiccup. The Aeris and Oceanic were in that sweet spot price range that seems to be an opportunity for someone to recapture.

 

[Still Kicking]

Nm

 

[runsongas]

where? link?