Computers - do beginners need them?

[JDostal]

Another problem I have using the rdp...if I go down to 150 on a dive....well, I'm done diving for the day according to the RDP. I do that regularly. Heck, even if I go down to only 130 for a few minutes I'm done diving for at least 6 hours!!

I can not effectively use the tables for the diving I like to do...so...hence the computers.

 

[Spectre]

AaronBBrown once bubbled...
I meant that were I doing a multilevel dive that had 2 minutes at 61 feet, the NDL tables tell me that my entire dive was at 70 feet.

I rarely 'dive my computer', but I do on occasion when shore diving, since the profiles often look like: 20 minute decent to 71 fsw, 10 minutes at 71, 20 minute ascent...

 

[King Kong Matt]

Like Aaron, I also studied (past tense) music for quite some time. Yes, you do practice with the metronome, but you do so so that you can begin to innately feel the rhythm of the piece.

I try to dive with the computer the same way. When I see that I am ascending at a certain rate, I try to freeze that picture in my head (bubble rate, etc) so that next time, a proper ascent is a matter of muscle memory...no one (he said naively), if they really thought about it, would agree to put their health and their safety exclusively in the hands of a machine that is prone to break like any other machine. That having been said, if there is a tool out there that will make me a better diver, a more self-reliant diver, a more aware diver...then shoot, I'm gonna use it.

It's all in the understanding of what purpose you are using the computer for.

Plus...they're just cool.

 

[raxafarian]

Spectre once bubbled...


I rarely 'dive my computer', but I do on occasion when shore diving, since the profiles often look like: 20 minute decent to 71 fsw, 10 minutes at 71, 20 minute ascent...

I think that is the whole point... you are thinking about your profiles, and not just blindly following the computer.

 

[Spectre]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
As for the Stinger... that is what I use and it is great because it can be set in gauge mode only... and when you get to doing stops it can be used as a deco timer....

Uncle Pug,
Can you embellish a little more on this one? What do you mean by guage mode with your stinger [free dive mode?]. Also, does it still record the profiles for download later?

[I love my computer for SAC rate calculations...]

 

[jonnythan]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
BTW:
Even if these dives had been a square profile (which they obviously were not since we were practicing ascents and stops) and considered as one contiuous dive... at NO point did they cross over into a deco obligation.

That's pretty cool.. can you tell us how you planned these dives and figured that they incur no deco obligation? What tables did you use?

 

[The Chairman]

I love to dive... yes I do. I make it a practice to do AT LEAST one ascent for every descent attempt. I figure that I should keep them kinda even. When I descend, I go quick (unless I am with students) 120 fpm or faster if I can without losing buddies.

When I ascend... I like to do it S-L-O-W... 30 fpm MAX!!! My Cobra has a nice little bar graph that lets me know just how fast I am ascending... at a glance! Now I gets to check out my buddy more (especially if she's good lookin') and other parts of my dive. Look for particulate crapola in the water??? Don't think so homie! I got better things to look at than fish poo... did I mention a good lookin' dive buddy yet? (One reason I haven't dove with UP yet... )

There are four segments to this graph... I like to keep the first two dark! I calculated that this is about 15-20 fpm. So, unless I am doing a deep dive (with deep stops) that a new diver just has no business dealing with, that works GREAT!!!

Computers free your brain to concentrate on other (more worthwhile) things. You might just notice that herd of jelly fish you are about to enter... or might not miss that Marlin swimming by. Maybe you will realise just how fast you really are ascending... like I did when I first got my computer. Jeez, Louise! When I first downloaded my profiles I was SHOCKED. But I know I did a three minute safety... but where is it on this durned computer! Hmnnnn, a far wiser and better informed NetDoc hit the suds after that, and I have seen my ascents slow, and my safety stops lengthen. Sometimes it's good to have a standard that records depth... so you don't have to worry about upwellings or downwellings while surfacing.

An experiment... next time DON'T use your speedometer when you drive... nope, just count the light poles as you whiz by, and justify them by timing between sign posts with mileage on them. Use that to argue with the cop who used his "computer driven" infrared "speed buster" to clock you going 90 mph in a 65 mph zone. You don't need no stinkin' speedometer (which are computer driven now) to figure out how fast you are going. Nope, guage it by the debris in the road (I couldn't reckon whether that was a flat coon or a flat pole cat, sos I better slow down a bit)... heck it'll just rot your brain :tease:

 

[Soggy]

NetDoc, I whole heartedly agree with you...

 

[raxafarian]

Spectre once bubbled...


Uncle Pug,
Can you embellish a little more on this one? What do you mean by guage mode with your stinger [free dive mode?]. Also, does it still record the profiles for download later?

[I love my computer for SAC rate calculations...]

gauge mode keeps the computer from tracking your nitrogen... shows depth, temp, time, etc.... everything but NDL. That way if you are diving deco, or profiles that would upset it , it won't get mad and lock out... I think it still allows downloads... I got a crappy computer that doesn't have gauge mode, so I'll probably opt for a bottom timer, and use the computer I have for more "rec. type " diving.

 

[Soggy]

I think I'll wait a little while before I start doing deco dives. Besides, I usually use up my air before I have to even worry about NDL (my computer's NDLs, not the tables).