Analog Gauges and you

[spectrum]

Absolutely!

As a new diver you should not have any need for a dive computer. Tables will serve you will for any diving you are likely to be doing, with one caveat...

If you are heading out on that big dive trip with lots of repetetive diving, day after day you will want a computer to maximize your vacation dollar. The alternative will be very restrictive table diving.

I'm at 79 dives, all analaog and have not missed having a computer. Most of what we do around here does not even tease the NDL. The times when we saw the posibility we planned with tables. We have a dive trip coming up and I expact to own computers for my wife and I by then. If I can't make up my mind by then renting is the fallback. I have no intentions of giving up my analog gauges meanwhile. Analog gauges offer reliability that underwater electronics cannot come close to.

Pete

 

[skierbri10]

Absolutely!

As a new diver you should not have any need for a dive computer. Tables will serve you will for any diving you are likely to be doing, with one caveat...

If you are heading out on that big dive trip with lots of repetetive diving, day after day you will want a computer to maximize your vacation dollar. The alternative will be very restrictive table diving.

I'm at 79 dives, all analaog and have not missed having a computer. Most of what we do around here does not even tease the NDL. The times when we saw the posibility we planned with tables. We have a dive trip coming up and I expact to own computers for my wife and I by then. If I can't make up my mind by then renting is the fallback. I have no intentions of giving up my analog gauges meanwhile. Analog gauges offer reliability that underwater electronics cannot come close to.

Pete

Cool, thanks for the advice. Luckily I won't need to be on vacation to be in a good dive location.
Some of the dives that I want to do, eventually are about 80-120 feet. By the time I am able to do those I expect to have quite a few dives under my belt.
Once I have the ability to do the deeper dives I will have a computer. Thanks again for putting into perspective.
Brian

 

[loosebits]

I've always thought that analog instruments are best for displaying information on a continnum, like depth, time, and pressure, and that digital instruments are best for displaying discrete information like temperature, what number the deli is serving next, what day of the week it is, or what phone number you just missed a call from.

From the standpoint of reliability and intuitive understanding, you can't go wrong with good analog gauges. There's a tradeoff as you know though, in that digital dive computers are able to calculate your NDLs on the fly, download your dive profiles to your computer, and present much of the information you need on a single display.

Personally, I started out analog, and got a computer only once I was comfortable diving with tables. I'm glad I did.

Right, because temperature isn't a continuum, there is nothing between 69 and 70 deg.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

I dive with a Nitek3 and my old Vyper that I use as a backup depth guage/BT along with the tables in my pocket should my Nitek die on me. I use a brass SPG for my pressure, AI just isn't worth the cost for me and the only thing it gives me that I want is having my pressure on my wrist but considering the problems some people have with synch issues (especially on properly routed regs on doubles), I'm perfectly happy with my $80 SPG.

One thing to note, if relying on tables as a backup, you probably ought to practice using them occasionally less you forget.

 

[TSandM]

Automobile manufacturers have actually done some studies and found that the human brain processes analog information faster than digital (no reference, unfortunately). That's why almost all speedometers are analog.

I really LIKE my analog SPG. I like it better than the AI Cobra it replaced. I can glance at it and know exactly how much gas I have left. With the Cobra, I had to get enough light and get it close enough that I could read the numbers. With the gauge, I just have to be able to see where the needle is pointing.

I have a feeling I'm eventually going to invest in a dive watch -- an analog dive watch. I bought a digital dive watch and find it to be marginally useful. Again, watching the second hand move is a faster perception/interpretation than trying to get the watch where I can see the numbers.

This may be a function of being of a "visually challenged" age, or maybe not.

 

[garyfotodiver]

... I have a feeling I'm eventually going to invest in a dive watch -- an analog dive watch. I bought a digital dive watch and find it to be marginally useful. Again, watching the second hand move is a faster perception/interpretation than trying to get the watch where I can see the numbers.

This may be a function of being of a "visually challenged" age, or maybe not.

I have owned dive watches for 40+ years. They have ALL been analog. I need a new one and it will be a self-winding Seiko with a bracelet, not a strap.

The KISS principle. Follow it.