Help with a Suunto Gekko computer

[MaryRiley]

My husband and I recently purchased a Suunti Gekko dive computer. We are brand new to diving and totally lost on operating this computer. I'm about to take it back for a refund and stick to the old dive tables. :shakehead

Any help would be great.
Mary

 

[Rainer]

Did you read the manual? I thought it explained things pretty well. If you don't have one, just google for it.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

What are you having a problem with? The manual should tell you anything you could want to know, but if you still cant figure it out after some playing with it, I recommend taking it back and trying another. Dont forget to lick your fingers for the metal buttons.....

 

[pupdiver]

How about taking it to the dive shop and asking them to teach you how to use it?

 

[Damselfish]

Like any any computer the Gekko has some features you won't care about right away, if ever. You don't have to read the whole book cover to cover and remember it all. Concentrate on figuring out the basics whether than means reading bits of the manual, or finding someone to show you. Do learn what the various warning indicators mean. If you ask specific questions here lots of people have this computer and might be able to help.

Aside from setting date & time (and Nitrox mode & percentage if you are diving Nitrox,) you don't really have to "operate" the Gekko. When you go under it automatically goes into dive mode and shows you depth, time, NDL remaining. When you surface it shows you surface time.

It sounds like you may have bought ONE computer for the two of you? If so, realize that is not considered a good idea, each diver should have their own. If I misinterpreted that, never mind.

 

[akscubaduck1]

How about taking it to the dive shop and asking them to teach you how to use it?

pupdiver is right. Anyone buying a dive computer from myself is shown how to access the menu. Take it back and ask them to show you how to use it. The gekko is a great entry level computer. If need be I might be able to help.
Remember Dive Safe, Dive Often Dive Prince William Sound, Alaska. Terry

 

[Firefyter]

Dont forget to lick your fingers for the metal buttons.....

You don't have to do that on the Gekko, just some of the older ones like the Favor, Favor S, etc.......

 

[ckjacques53198]

Don't stress yet. I'm sure the Gekko has way more features than you'll use. Use the owners manual for nighttime reading and take one thing at a time. I always got overwhelmed with gadgets like computers and digital cameras at first but then became more and more familar. Say no to tables.

 

[Midnight Star]

I've just purchased a Suunto Vyper, which is the same as the Gekko (pretty much). What type of questions did you have? How to get it into dive mode? The computer has only three buttons, a SMART or MODE button, and two other buttons (scroll up and scroll down - these also have other functions depending on when they are used during a dive or which mode your currently in). So for example, to change from air to nitrox I would do this:

1) Press the SMART or MODE button (to either turn it on and go directly to time, or hold it a few seconds to reset it and go into dive mode if it's off).

Now the unit is in Dive mode. So if I jump in the water, it'll start working as I start going to depth.

2) Press the SMART or MODE button (since the computer is now on and ready to go) to take us to the main menu options. From there Press TIME (or SCROLL DOWN) to see SET.

3) From there press the SMART or MODE button again to select SET. From there, press the TIME button (or down arrow) to scroll down the list of options you can set. For us, let's keep pressing until we see SETPREF.

4) Now press SMART or MODE again to select that level of options. And again, use the PLAN and TIME to select what your wanting to set. Let's try SETPREF. After you see it, press the SMART or MODE button to select the set of preferences options you can set.

5) From here, press either the PLAN or TIME button (remember these buttons also are scroll up and down - they have more than one "shared" function depending on where you are), until you see MODEL. Now, press SMART or MODE button to select the RGBM model you want to use.

6) From there you can select AIR, GUAGE or NITROX. To get back to the main menu (Dive mode), just hold in the SMART or MODE button for around two seconds. Keep pressing TIME (scroll down) until you see NITROX, then press SMART or MODE. Remember to set the correct O2 levels in the gas mix your using among other things if your using NITROX. The computer should be set to AIR by default.

I hope that gets you started. It's kinda hard to explain, but it's like a tree branch ... the first SMART or MODE press lets you select the limb you want, then as you go down the limb, more limbs appear. Just select you limb you want and press the SMART or MODE (do you see where it's now shows select just to the left in the window?), to start with those sub-options. Then once you select the sub-option (or catagory if you will) use the SMART or MODE button to put you on that path.

It seems a diffcult way to do it, but remember they're really only using 3 buttons to do many different things.

I hope this helps some.

-----

Mike.

 

[Daveo957]

Please dont try to lick your fingers it will not help at all, at least not on thte geckko, this particular computer is actually a very user freindly computer but all can be intimidating at first the best thing would be to go back to the dive shop where you bought it and ask for help, im sure they wouldnt mind. Dont give up on it its a very nice computer oncce you get it set all you have to do is dive, it will tell you everything you need to know underwater, o problems.