Diving Computer for work

[wojtar]

Hi !
Let me first tell you my situation, i am working as a diver on fishfarm near Malta, i make daily 2-3 dives on air, on max deep 30 m. Sometimes we dive deeper Till 50m. Mostly decompression dives. Iam loking for good heavy duty computer, till now i use old uwatec aladin, guys from work using vypers an similiar computers but many of them have some issues couse multiple dives or dirty water which dirt the sensor and damage computer. I need computer whicj i can use for years. So i ask you guys for advice. Is it worth it buy DC like vr3 ? For this kind of job ?

 

[616fun]

Shearwater Petrel. Do a search on the boards for Shearwater feedback. No other deco computer is close to Shearwater's product.

http://www.shearwater.com/products/petrel-sa/

 

[ajduplessis]

+1 on Shearwater Petrel

 

[Dr. Lecter]

I'd say a used Predator rather than a Petrel since size is less of an issue for your application and a beat up looking unit that's $300 cheaper than a new Petrel won't matter since you'll beat it up anyway... but the Predator only eats Saft Lithium AA batteries. If that's available to you, cool. If not, the Petrel eats any old AA battery you can find.

 

[Colson]

I disagree with the recommendation to use a Shearwater dive computer for this application. Are you using open circuit dive equipment or are you on surface-supplied air? The Shearwater is a great computer, but in reality a work computer is going to see more abuse than it would recreationally.

I think a better option is to choose a less expensive computer that can be thrown away after enough abuse. "Hockey puck" computers like the Oceanic Veo 2.0 are great for this, and you can purchase three for the price of one Shearwater. Good luck with whatever you decide to purchase.

 

[kotik]

I disagree with the recommendation to use a Shearwater dive computer for this application. Are you using open circuit dive equipment or are you on surface-supplied air? The Shearwater is a great computer, but in reality a work computer is going to see more abuse than it would recreationally.

I think a better option is to choose a less expensive computer that can be thrown away after enough abuse. "Hockey puck" computers like the Oceanic Veo 2.0 are great for this, and you can purchase three for the price of one Shearwater. Good luck with whatever you decide to purchase.

I'm kind of thinking along the same lines. If all of your dives are on air, decompressing on air, with no gas switching, then a Petrel or other high-end technical computer seems like overkill. You could buy two recreational computers for less than the price of one of these, and then you'd have redundancy which really could come in handy.

That's on the assumption that you don't use O2 to speed up your deco. If that's not the case, then a computer that handles gas switches can be handy.

 

[BabyDuck]

i disagree with the previous two recommendations (though i totally understand from a money point of view!) and say go with the predator/petrel.

three deco dives a day are going to be waaaay past a puck's happy place. the deco obligation one will give you on dive 3 will keep you in the water until you are 80.

 

[crls]

Hi !
Let me first tell you my situation, i am working as a diver on fishfarm near Malta, i make daily 2-3 dives on air, on max deep 30 m. Sometimes we dive deeper Till 50m. Mostly decompression dives. Iam loking for good heavy duty computer, till now i use old uwatec aladin, guys from work using vypers an similiar computers but many of them have some issues couse multiple dives or dirty water which dirt the sensor and damage computer. I need computer whicj i can use for years. So i ask you guys for advice. Is it worth it buy DC like vr3 ? For this kind of job ?

In my opinion and please don't make this an issue, I'll recommend you a EMC-20H from Cochran with 2 OC mix. Why? This is by far a computer that you can abuse, never lockup use size N batteries that you can find anywhere and last for ever and has a liberal algorithm that you can manipulate.

 

[andibk]

I myself would recommend the Cochran EM20H. I have owned two of them since 2006. I keep one in the PI and one here in Thailand. I use these computers on all my cave expeditions, trimix dives down to 125m and wreck dives. I had scratched up the faces on both of them where you can hardly read the numbers. Cochran had replaced these screens and they keep on working. I do not baby me equipment but I do not totally abuse them either. Cochran has given me good support to my needs over the years. Bruce

 

[Dive Cochran LarryE]

Harry Truitt LightDiving Seattle/Lynnwood Washington told me Recently : Puget Sound commercial divers that are High liners harvesting (Geoducks ) have found out that if you're not using Cochran your losing money. Harry's recommendation to all the harvest dives is the EMC 20 H by Cochran.

And no a geoduck is not a mallard duck with diarrhea.