Anybody diving a Uwatec Galileo SOL?
- Thread starter Web Monkey
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
The following text is from a review of the Galileo Sol that I wrote a few months ago after my first two dives with it. After about 50 dives and no problems, I am still very happy with my purchase:
I don't often openly endorse a dive product but, mainly because I am very impressed and partly because I have to justify the price of my new diving toy, I thought that I would post a brief review of my recent experience on my first two dives using a brand new Galileo Sol dive computer from Uwatec.
Apparently, for the time being, these new dive computers have been released only in Asia Pacific. I had read about the Galileo Sol and was interested because my old dive computer was looking a bit ragged. I was thinking of moving from a console design to a wrist model, simply because I thought it would be easier to see when handling an underwater video housing.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I was wondering around the Thai Dive Expo in Bangkok and the local Uwatec distributor had a Galileo Sol on display. Expecting a negative response, I asked if it was for sale. The nice young lady told me that they had only received two and the other one was being held for the company owner but, if I wanted it, I could buy the one on display. Given the price was nudging $2,000 USD (import duties and taxes in Thailand are high), this had to be a fast impulse buy or I would talk myself out of it. So, I quickly slammed down a credit card and became the first owner of a Galileo Sol in Thailand.
Do I regret my impulse buy? Not one little bit.
I spent a few days playing with the settings and reading the comprehensive, yet understandable, manual. I used the included SmartTrak software to adjust some of the settings and to personalise it. It now displays my name at startup and contains several text messages that I entered (more about these below).
I did my first 2 dives with it last Sunday.
Preparing for the dive was easy. The initial pairing with the tank transmitter was painless. Setting the Nitrox percentage was easy. During the dive I was very happy with the display of data. The screen is large and easy-to-read, even for my 50 year-old eyes. The only warning message I received during these two dives was when my tank reached 100 bar. Even this warning, like all the warnings, is customisable. The warning text was clear, concise and the sound appropriate (my previous dive computer made intense panic-inducing alarm sounds even for low level warnings). I love the safety stop countdown timer that automatically starts when you reach the safety stop depth.
Switching to the inbuilt compass was easy and worked well. The compass works even with the computer tilted off level. The backlight is bright, although I rarely needed it because the big characters on the screen are always easy to see, even from an angle.
The Galileo Sol features a heart rate monitor and uses this in its tissue gas take-up formula. If you are working harder, your heart is pumping harder, and more N2 is being absorbed by the tissues. This is more accurate than the breathing rate monitor used in earlier dive computers. The Galileo Sol monitors both heart and breathing rate and allows the user to select which one or both (best or worse case) should be used in the formula. To monitor your heart rate, you have to strap a thin plastic monitor device (made by Polar) around your chest. It is comfortable and once on, you forget it is there. Of course it does attract some stares and questions on the dive boat. And I did come in for some "ribbing" when I unzipped the back of my wetsuit after the dive. Until you peel down the suit and the whole monitor becomes visible, from the back it looks like you are wearing a black bikini top...
The Galileo Sol should be a big hit with all underwater photographers and videographers. With its large, easy-to-read screen and logical layout of all your diving data in one place, it enables you to check your dive status while still shooting. Because the screen can be read at almost any angle, you can keep your hand steady on the housing's arm while glancing over to read the computer.
As mentioned above, I have also found that the "text input" feature under personalization has an extra benefit for underwater videographers. I put in a series of "directions", (e.g. "wait here for 20 seconds then follow me", "do not look at the camera", etc). Underwater, I just scrolled to the appropriate text and showed it to the actor. Fantastic.
The SmartTrak software is used to personalise the Galileo Sol. It is also used to upload dive data for display, analysis and historical log book records. My one tiny grumble about the Galileo Sol is that, while Uwatec have fully updated SmartTrak for the extra features of the Galileo Sol, the Mac OS X and Palm OS versions (JTrak and TravelTrak) have lagged behind. But, I have heard directly from Uwatec that the updates to these are in the pipeline and should be available as free downloads in a few weeks.
Oh, and two other great improvements in the Galileo Sol over previous dive computers: user replaceable batteries and downloadable firmware updates. If Uwatec find a problem in the onboard software, or, if they add some new features to the onboard software, there is no need to send it back. Via the SmartTrak software, you can download the new firmware version over the internet and upload it to the Galileo Sol, in the comfort of your own home, as they say.
Another neat feature is the strap. Dive computer manufacturers need to make the strap long enough for the largest wrist and the thickest wetsuit. This usually means a lot of excess strap flapping all over the place. not so with the Galileo Sol. Its excess strap slots neatly under the unit out of the way.
In conclusion, I am very impressed with the Galileo Sol. It's price may scare away some people, but, IMHO, the Galileo Sol is "state-of-the-art" and the future direction for dive computers.
Regards
Peter
I don't often openly endorse a dive product but, mainly because I am very impressed and partly because I have to justify the price of my new diving toy, I thought that I would post a brief review of my recent experience on my first two dives using a brand new Galileo Sol dive computer from Uwatec.
Apparently, for the time being, these new dive computers have been released only in Asia Pacific. I had read about the Galileo Sol and was interested because my old dive computer was looking a bit ragged. I was thinking of moving from a console design to a wrist model, simply because I thought it would be easier to see when handling an underwater video housing.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I was wondering around the Thai Dive Expo in Bangkok and the local Uwatec distributor had a Galileo Sol on display. Expecting a negative response, I asked if it was for sale. The nice young lady told me that they had only received two and the other one was being held for the company owner but, if I wanted it, I could buy the one on display. Given the price was nudging $2,000 USD (import duties and taxes in Thailand are high), this had to be a fast impulse buy or I would talk myself out of it. So, I quickly slammed down a credit card and became the first owner of a Galileo Sol in Thailand.
Do I regret my impulse buy? Not one little bit.
I spent a few days playing with the settings and reading the comprehensive, yet understandable, manual. I used the included SmartTrak software to adjust some of the settings and to personalise it. It now displays my name at startup and contains several text messages that I entered (more about these below).
I did my first 2 dives with it last Sunday.
Preparing for the dive was easy. The initial pairing with the tank transmitter was painless. Setting the Nitrox percentage was easy. During the dive I was very happy with the display of data. The screen is large and easy-to-read, even for my 50 year-old eyes. The only warning message I received during these two dives was when my tank reached 100 bar. Even this warning, like all the warnings, is customisable. The warning text was clear, concise and the sound appropriate (my previous dive computer made intense panic-inducing alarm sounds even for low level warnings). I love the safety stop countdown timer that automatically starts when you reach the safety stop depth.
Switching to the inbuilt compass was easy and worked well. The compass works even with the computer tilted off level. The backlight is bright, although I rarely needed it because the big characters on the screen are always easy to see, even from an angle.
The Galileo Sol features a heart rate monitor and uses this in its tissue gas take-up formula. If you are working harder, your heart is pumping harder, and more N2 is being absorbed by the tissues. This is more accurate than the breathing rate monitor used in earlier dive computers. The Galileo Sol monitors both heart and breathing rate and allows the user to select which one or both (best or worse case) should be used in the formula. To monitor your heart rate, you have to strap a thin plastic monitor device (made by Polar) around your chest. It is comfortable and once on, you forget it is there. Of course it does attract some stares and questions on the dive boat. And I did come in for some "ribbing" when I unzipped the back of my wetsuit after the dive. Until you peel down the suit and the whole monitor becomes visible, from the back it looks like you are wearing a black bikini top...
The Galileo Sol should be a big hit with all underwater photographers and videographers. With its large, easy-to-read screen and logical layout of all your diving data in one place, it enables you to check your dive status while still shooting. Because the screen can be read at almost any angle, you can keep your hand steady on the housing's arm while glancing over to read the computer.
As mentioned above, I have also found that the "text input" feature under personalization has an extra benefit for underwater videographers. I put in a series of "directions", (e.g. "wait here for 20 seconds then follow me", "do not look at the camera", etc). Underwater, I just scrolled to the appropriate text and showed it to the actor. Fantastic.
The SmartTrak software is used to personalise the Galileo Sol. It is also used to upload dive data for display, analysis and historical log book records. My one tiny grumble about the Galileo Sol is that, while Uwatec have fully updated SmartTrak for the extra features of the Galileo Sol, the Mac OS X and Palm OS versions (JTrak and TravelTrak) have lagged behind. But, I have heard directly from Uwatec that the updates to these are in the pipeline and should be available as free downloads in a few weeks.
Oh, and two other great improvements in the Galileo Sol over previous dive computers: user replaceable batteries and downloadable firmware updates. If Uwatec find a problem in the onboard software, or, if they add some new features to the onboard software, there is no need to send it back. Via the SmartTrak software, you can download the new firmware version over the internet and upload it to the Galileo Sol, in the comfort of your own home, as they say.
Another neat feature is the strap. Dive computer manufacturers need to make the strap long enough for the largest wrist and the thickest wetsuit. This usually means a lot of excess strap flapping all over the place. not so with the Galileo Sol. Its excess strap slots neatly under the unit out of the way.
In conclusion, I am very impressed with the Galileo Sol. It's price may scare away some people, but, IMHO, the Galileo Sol is "state-of-the-art" and the future direction for dive computers.
Regards
Peter
I recently returned from a 3-day / 11-dive liveaboard trip to Chumphon, Koh Tao and Prachuap Kiri Khan in the Gulf of Thailand.
The Galileo Sol performed flawlessly. It's big screen and text warnings keep you up-to-date with your air and deco status with minimal distraction; a real plus when running the video camera.
Looking at the heart rate after the dive is interesting. About 20 minutes into a 25 meter dive at Chumphon Pinnacles, a group of 4 Bull Sharks showed up and started showing off for my video. They zoomed up and over the top of the Pinnacle right past the lens of my video camera 3 times. Before this event, the graph of my heart rate was a steady 90 bpm. Then it shot up to 125 bpm...
Regards
Peter
The Galileo Sol performed flawlessly. It's big screen and text warnings keep you up-to-date with your air and deco status with minimal distraction; a real plus when running the video camera.
Looking at the heart rate after the dive is interesting. About 20 minutes into a 25 meter dive at Chumphon Pinnacles, a group of 4 Bull Sharks showed up and started showing off for my video. They zoomed up and over the top of the Pinnacle right past the lens of my video camera 3 times. Before this event, the graph of my heart rate was a steady 90 bpm. Then it shot up to 125 bpm...
Regards
Peter
KarliP:Cool! Hopefully we are able to see some Whalesharks on our trip to Thailand in November. Then it would be interesting to look at my heartrate...
Greetings
Karl-Heinz
Just don't spend the whole dive playing with the Galileo Sol. Then you wont even see the whale sharks...
My log book entry for my first dive with my new Galileo Sol goes like this:
First dive with new computer. Played with various computer functions. Text display option will be useful for video dives. Compass is great. Maybe saw a fish or two.
Blacthorn
Contributor
Do we have any ideas as to when the Sol will be released into the wilds of North America yet? I just got a new scope on my credit card and want to go a huntin....
My LDS has had a rep in their shop showing it off, and were told it would be here this year. I've heard "Late 2007" pretty consistently for some time, so while there's no saying if it will be later this month or Dec 31, it seems clear the wait won't be too much longer.Blacthorn:
I must have been sleeping or lost in the dark ages but I just heard about this computer today at the LDS. Then lo and behold, I open my latest magazine tonight and not only is there an ad for it, but a review as well. Between all that and reading about it here, I WANT IT NOW!!! Bad news - no where in the magazine does it say when it will be available in the states, and it did list the MSRP at $1980. Good news - LDS says it should be here in 30-60 days?
"Happy birthday to me (6-7 months in advace)...."
"Happy birthday to me (6-7 months in advace)...."
Some of the functions I like...it also tracks up to 3 buddies dive info if they have the same computer so you can see it without having to turn and use hand signals to ask, you can program (up to 20?) messages that you can pull up on the screen to "talk" to your buddies, you can program a map of the different dive sites, and the compass can be set to direct you back on course if you drift off in the current. Not excited about wearing a chest strap if wanting to take advantage of the heart monitor, but I'll live with it.
Similar threads
