Out of air! Wireless pod

[Bladebreaker65]

had a similar thing happen my computer kept losing transmitter signal then coming back. when we were washing our gear we found we (my wife) had switched reg sets at some point of set up so when I moved far enough away from her it would lose signal due to one batt being a little weaker. Marked reg sets better with colored hose wrap and added a analog spg to our sets. a year later we are diving on vacation her reg accidentaly gat knocked and the transmitter would not connect but we were still able to dive having the analog spg already there. nothing wrong with redundance

 

[DrMack]

What a great community! Here is what we have done in light of the experience itself and what we have deduced is a better way to do this, and with the help of all of the excellent advice presented on this board:

• All of our gear is now tagged with our IDs with tags from yourbagtag.com. Mine are yellow and my wife's are bright pink. The tags are attached with crimped stainless leaders so they are as permanent as a tag can get.
• We personally rig our own tanks and politely decline the offers to do so by the dive crews.
• I have memorized the last four digits of the serial number of my pod and check both of our computers to verify that we are both sync'd to the correct pod.
• As a double check, we now open the tank valves one at a time exclusively, to verify the tank pressure on our respective computers.
• Our faith in the buddy system is reaffirmed. We are each now aware of how many kicks we are from our respective backup air sources, keeping in mind that we may have to do it AFTER exhaling our last breath. I recommend that instructors enhance the drill by making the students exhale before taking their second stage out of their mouth.

One more change:

• We each now have an analog SPG.

 

[Kimela]

I'm a little confused. Is a 'pod' the same as a 'transmitter'? If yes, how can two computers be reading the same transmitter? Or did I misunderstand that?

My husband uses a completely different regulator than mine - but I also have a neon yellow/green Miflex hose on mine that he doesn't have, so no confusion. And I have a smaller mouthpiece, so the minute I tried to put his reg in I'd notice it right away (while on the boat). Good to have something to differentiate the gear even if there is no AI involved.

 

[clownfishsydney]

I'm a little confused. Is a 'pod' the same as a 'transmitter'? If yes, how can two computers be reading the same transmitter? Or did I misunderstand that?

Yes, it seems that pod is used here to refer to transmitter (I have never heard it called that). Yes, Scubapro computers can have one transmitter read by two computers. That way, your buddy can know what air you have left.

 

[Diving Dubai]

I'm a little confused. Is a 'pod' the same as a 'transmitter'?

Pod is a Suunto terminology, which they brought in to distinguish their latest Gen Transmitters (Tx) compatible only with the D5, Eon Core and Eon Steel from their other Tx compatible with the rest of their range.

If yes, how can two computers be reading the same transmitter?

A dive computer is just a receiver, so its possible to pair multiple computers with a particular transmitter - The transmitters send and computers receive. By pairing a comp to a Tx you are simply telling your computer to listen to a certain transmitter

It is possible to set (on a Sunnto Eon/D5 at least) ) your computer to read a buddies tx - you would need to set it up as another gas, in practice its not ideal because to view their gas you need to be in range and dive into the gas menu to view their contents

 

[Astran]

First off, this is why I will never trust a computer for my air pressure. They are prone to several failure modes that give you false reading.

That's not fair. This incident was clearly due to user error, not the fault of the transmitter/receiver. User error can cause problems in just about any piece of dive gear even if it's functioning perfectly, as did the computers in this situation.

 

[foob]

Let's not blame user error for equipment error. I've had AI for over 100 dives, check every min. Never lose connection, always accurate.

I also have a backup SPG due to training. Check it once before dropping to make sure my tank is open. Sometimes when DM asks I show them my SPG too.

I've only synced once and haven't needed to sync since, for at least a 100. Not sure why OP has to sync every dive.

I think any other buddy group would have caught this issue. But because OP dives and hold hands together nearly all the time, it creates this weird example where swapping gear didn't get detected.

Check your gear independently. At the surface. Before diving. And a bit more situational awareness that one is using much less gas than normal. Would have been a sign to check your backup SPG

 

[Kimela]

Pod is a Suunto terminology, which they brought in to distinguish their latest Gen Transmitters (Tx) compatible only with the D5, Eon Core and Eon Steel from their other Tx compatible with the rest of their range.

A dive computer is just a receiver, so its possible to pair multiple computers with a particular transmitter - The transmitters send and computers receive. By pairing a comp to a Tx you are simply telling your computer to listen to a certain transmitter

It is possible to set (on a Sunnto Eon/D5 at least) ) your computer to read a buddies tx - you would need to set it up as another gas, in practice its not ideal because to view their gas you need to be in range and dive into the gas menu to view their contents

Thank you for the explanation. I have been diving my Oceanic Datamask and my understanding is that it has to be paired with my transmitter manually. My transmitter died a year or so ago and we had to find a new one - and the new ones have numbers assigned to them that (as I recall) are two digits longer than the old one - so that created a headache until the LDS found me an old one (again, that's how I remember it). I would have assumed that if the computer my transmitter is paired with is not within distance to read it, it would read nothing - so if someone grabbed my tank with reg/transmitter on it I wouldn't get any reading at all.

Another lesson on 'there are so many failure points and we have to be ready for them all' ... or at least make the effort.

 

[NAM001]

When you set up you dont have to do theserial number thing. Thenend result is where the data is showing. put hers on her tank and both look at your puters as see who sees the tank. if it is her good. then shut her air off vent the reg with the purge and make sure hers does not start regestering again above 200 psi . Assemble your kit and turn your air on and do thesame cross checks to verify it shows a full tank on your puter. . This is pretucularly important when both divers have the same computer. HUBBHY AND WIFE PUT EACH OTHERS PUTER ON ADN DONT KNOW IT. best backup is to have a SPG or abandon AI all to gether.

 

[DrMack]

When you set up you dont have to do theserial number thing. Thenend result is where the data is showing. put hers on her tank and both look at your puters as see who sees the tank. if it is her good. then shut her air off vent the reg with the purge and make sure hers does not start regestering again above 200 psi . Assemble your kit and turn your air on and do thesame cross checks to verify it shows a full tank on your puter. . This is pretucularly important when both divers have the same computer. HUBBHY AND WIFE PUT EACH OTHERS PUTER ON ADN DONT KNOW IT. best backup is to have a SPG or abandon AI all to gether.

Excellent suggestion; 4th item in the list: Out of air! Wireless pod. Note that we also now both have an analog SPG.