Computer to monitor air for two divers

[Snoweman]

My experience is 5 feet which is a nice close buddy pair. It works well. When I want to get a reading I wander closer and communicate a little love or share a thought and get a reading at the same time without her having to change her focus to satisfy my curiosity. I like it but when we dive sidemount that goes out the window.

Do you both have the Perdix? Do you use two different colored transmitters (one black, one yellow) between the two of you? The manual says that two of the same transmitters in the same proximity can cause problems.

 

[swimlikethefish]

I was told by a Huish sales reps on Saturday that the new Suunto Eon Core with the new transmitters have a range of 18 feet. He said the older model the Eon Steel was only 5 feet. And the new Eon Core will accept 10 transmitters at once. I checked Leisure and the product description matches what he had told me.

I have no verified experience on this computer, I am just reiterating what I was told. Ymmv.

 

[rsingler]

I use the Scubapro Luna for exactly that purpose. In the Full mode (max data display), your buddy's gas is continuously displayed down in the bottom left corner, and your own pressure is in its usual prominent position. Yes, the range is around 5 feet, but that's easily accomplished as you swim along together, and is far less embarrassing for a young daughter than having Dad grab her gauge to check on her.
You can either mount a transmitter on her second HP port and let her carry a standard gauge set, or she can wear a Luna (a little big) or one of the smaller Scubapro computers, as both computers can monitor a single transmitter.

 

[rsingler]

Lol!
Hard to tell from your thread whether or not you have a teenage daughter.
1) You don't need to ALWAYS be within 5 feet. Swim alongside like a regular buddy until the computer picks up the signal, and then go back to whatever your usual distance was.
2) "Dad! Why do you keep asking me my tank pressure?! I'm perfectly capable of tracking my OWN air use. Humph!" (And that's the last time you get to be within 5 feet of her.)

I'm not trying to start a fight over appropriate father/daughter behavior. I'm jes' saying that the OP's initial question was a legitimate one, and this is one solution.

 

[ScubaMarc]

Add a second large face analog gauge to her kit. Then you can look at it from a few feet away without bothering your daughter.

 

[doctormike]

I went through something like this with my younger son, when he was a teenager. Lots of those issues, been there, done that.

If the dad feels the need for a piece of gear to let him continuously monitor his daughter's gas pressure, then she shouldn't be scuba diving.

What's going to happen if they get separated, or if he has an emergency? I don't know how experienced the dad is, but adding a second gas pressure to monitor on a single instrument isn't a great thing for many relatively new divers. This is the classic gear solution to a skills (or teenage attitude) problem.

And for what it's worth, EVERY buddy team should be aware of remaining tank pressure and communicate that at appropriate intervals. This doesn't need to be constant. They aren't monitoring PO2 on a CCR loop. A simple hand signal exchange a few times during the dive should be more than enough.

If the dad can't trust the daughter (who is also his buddy) to do that, to watch her tank pressure and to be situationally aware enough to never ever get anywhere near OOG, then she shouldn't be diving.

 

[rsingler]

I don't think looking for second monitoring capability is a sign of distrust. I think it's just a Dad being a Dad, and wanting to NOT interfere with his daughter's experience.
When I used it, I trusted my buddy, but knew that task saturation can lead to channeled thinking. Wouldn't it be nice for me to see gas being used rapidly and unnoticed by the primary diver, and at the right time "ask" for a pressure check? The unexpected arrival at reserve gas pressure serves as its own lesson for the young diver who might have not been keeping track.
And if the daughter is on top of her supply, then Dad gets to watch unobtrusively, be proud, and just relax. The whole question seems perfectly appropriate to me.

 

[doctormike]

I don't think looking for second monitoring capability is a sign of distrust. I think it's just a Dad being a Dad, and wanting to NOT interfere with his daughter's experience.

When I used it, I trusted my buddy, but knew that task saturation can lead to channeled thinking. Wouldn't it be nice for me to see gas being used rapidly and unnoticed by the primary diver, and at the right time "ask" for a pressure check? The unexpected arrival at reserve gas pressure serves as its own lesson for the young diver who might have not been keeping track.
And if the daughter is on top of her supply, then Dad gets to watch unobtrusively, be proud, and just relax. The whole question seems perfectly appropriate to me.

You are an instructor, I'm not, so I'll defer to your experience with new divers. But seriously, think about this. Such a device is really playing into the soft bigotry of low expectations.

I'm a dad. I know how terrifying it is to dive with your kids, and wonder if they will be able to handle the awesome responsibility of keeping themselves alive. But if you can't accept that they are capable of doing that, they shouldn't be diving with the crutch of you watching their air supply.

Do you feel that all new divers should have their tank pressure continuously monitored by an instructor? If not, why not? Aren't their lives just as precious? If a diver's monitoring of their own gas supply results in too much task saturation, then that diver shouldn't have been given an OW card. That and "keep breathing" is literally the most basic thing that any new diver has to do.

Even if we are talking about some sort of "trust me" discover diving thing, ask them for their gas supply by hand signals. Do it often if necessary, so that they get a sense of how quickly the gas is going, and of how communication and situational awareness is suppose to work. Once every 5-10 minutes or so is fine in the beginning, there is no need for "continuous" monitoring.

But if we are talking about a certified diver, there is no excuse for not being totally, 100% on top of their remaining gas reserves. If your teenage kid gives you attitude about asking them their tank pressure, then tell them that they can pay for their own diving once they are 18.

Setting the bar so low doesn't make you a better diver, a better mentor, or a better dad.

 

[rsingler]

Mike, I don't disagree with a single thing you've said when it comes to the kid. But I think parents always worry, even when they trust. If a guy wants to reassure himself about his daughter's maturity in a way that doesn't insult her, I think that's fine. If we assume that the diver is good to go, then we're really just helping the Dad here. And if the Dad is honest enough about his hovering to ask for a way to do it unobtrusively, I think we can credit him for that too.
If one or both of these descriptions is inaccurate; if either the child is too immature, or the Dad is a helicopter parent, then I agree - one or both of them maybe shouldn't be diving.

A good discussion!

 

[doctormike]

Yup, absolutely, and I really do defer to you in this area - one of the reasons that I never became an instructor was that new divers terrify me! .

I do think that this is a teaching opportunity for the dad, however. Let him know that asking your buddy for their gas pressure isn't an insult. If anything, it's a sign of respect. By becoming his daughter's buddy, he is letting her be his equal. She is responsible for him just like he is responsible for her.

If I ask my buddy for a pressure check, that's because that piece of data is important for the team, and for the plan. And if they are developing as a team together, then getting an idea of each other's SAC rates by a few extra pressure checks is always going to be helpful.