Eyesea Sonar Manual

[Diver Dude]

Doc....Thanks for the terrific insight on this unit.
I won't be getting into the water until late April or early May to try it out but I will keep you informed.
Bryan

 

[Doc Thomas]

Nice report, Doc, thanks. When I was visiting MA last May I did a charter dive out of Cape Ann. One of the divers had an EyeSea Sonar RX unit attached to his wrist (he was diving wet - in 41 degree water). He hung the TX unit over the side of the boat. I asked him how he liked it. He didn't complain about the batteries, but he said it lost him if he went over 150 feet away or so. Like you he always took a compass heading, and used it in conjunction with the unit. He was pretty pleased with it.

Hey Geraldp.... I dive a lot of deep man made lakes, and like to find the old home sites. The old family trash piles are treasure troves of old bottles, tools, and who knows what -- great fun. So, often I'll wander as far as 1,000 feet from the transmitter. I've not had a problem with the EyeSea misdirecting me -- yet! But, as I said earlier, it's mostly a novelty to me, and only a bit of a tool -- I simply don't trust it with my life. There's nothing like good navigation skills underwater, and one needs to constantly be practicing these. You never know when they're going to save your life. As for diving in 41 degree water in a wet suit -- well, that's asking for a nitrogen hit... unnecessary and unwise. Doc

 

[geraldp]

Hey Geraldp.... I dive a lot of deep man made lakes, and like to find the old home sites. The old family trash piles are treasure troves of old bottles, tools, and who knows what -- great fun. So, often I'll wander as far as 1,000 feet from the transmitter. I've not had a problem with the EyeSea misdirecting me -- yet! But, as I said earlier, it's mostly a novelty to me, and only a bit of a tool -- I simply don't trust it with my life. There's nothing like good navigation skills underwater, and one needs to constantly be practicing these. You never know when they're going to save your life. As for diving in 41 degree water in a wet suit -- well, that's asking for a nitrogen hit... unnecessary and unwise. Doc

Wow that sounds fun... diving on old homesites. I've heard rumors of an underwater homesite in the NW area, but nothing confirmed.

Well these guys in Cape Ann were hunting lobster in 40-45fsw, and they wanted the freedom of movement. Mine was the only drysuit on the charter, and I ribbed them all a little bit when they all came back half frozen

Jerry

 

[PhinneusTWhoopi]

hhhmmm.....

 

[Spoon]

Wow... best of luck. I think that company went out of business years ago... virtually every unit we had flooded. And the US distributor said they could not get them anymore, and could not get the flooded units replaced or credited.

If you have the manual in French on a page, you could use the yahoo translator - won't be perfect, but should let you figure it out.

talk about bad news and a major hassle

 

[Diver Dude]

Yeah...it was bad news but the story has a happy ending.
I have been using the Xios all summer, some dives down to 110 feet and the unit has not fllooded. I also got the original user guide. I'm glad I bought it.

 

[mectaz4]

Yeah...it was bad news but the story has a happy ending.
I have been using the Xios all summer, some dives down to 110 feet and the unit has not fllooded. I also got the original user guide. I'm glad I bought it.

I've been using mine for a couple of years without a problem. Also I get about 4 long dives for a set of batteries on the receiver and even more on the transmitter. Where I dive there is often limited viz (I dive out of Monterey Ca, USA) so the unit can come in handy. I remember the first time I used it, toward the end of the dive I started following it back to the boat. At one point the unit started switching where it was pointing back and forth and wouldn't settle down.... I thought it didn't work, then I also saw that the distance to the boat was less than my depth... I looked up and saw the outline of the boat! The reason the distance was less than my depth is because the transmitter was hanging 15 feet down from the surface.

It has always worked well for me. I really try to only use it as a backup to my own navigation, but sometimes in limited viz it can really be helpful. Also in limited viz, you can be at a 15' safety stop and be drifting in a current and not really know it... With the Eye Sea I can see my distance to boat getting larger and larger... time to start swimming at 15 feet toward the boat.

Dennis

 

[Diver Dude]

Dennis,
I find mine gets the same battery life.
The manual says not to put the transmitter below 30 feet but I have had mine down to 70 with no problems.
Bryan

 

[Wristshot]

While most everyone will agree that there is no substitute for good navigation, and good "situational awareness", it is nice to know that you can go right back to the boat underwater, regardless of viz and currents.

Remember that in Monterey you want to return under the water rather than doing the "kelp crawl". Also when the swells get upward of 3 feet it is nice to not have to deal with the waves on the return. Sometimes even just surfacing to verify bearings is a little bit difficult. The few times I have dove with a buddy using the device it has been nice.

Of course I freely admit that I am "navigationally challenged" and I can not swim a straight line at the surface in scuba gear. But's that just me.


Wristshot

 

[ducksface]

Someone mentioned that they have had correspondance with the owner of the company. Please send me his contact information. I am interested in buying the inventory he may have, and applying some modern technologies. I think I can get it all down to the size of a dive computer and use a LOT less power. I own two of them and they work fine, I'ld like to see about gettting them back on the market at an affordable price and size. I'm sure the patents have expired, but I'ld rather play fair than just send one of the units to China and have it pirated....