Please help me to understand these equipment

[hongrace]

I know it is still a long way for me to the rebreather, I would like to ask a couple of questions. Please accept my apology if my questions are so stupid.

I came across a website written by the late Dave Shaw who died in a cave diving accident while trying to recover a lost diver's body in South Africa 5 years ago.
http://www.deepcave.com/pages/4/index.htm

In the above pictures Dave is seen wearing two VR3 on his right arm and a Juergensen Marine Hammerhead as a rebreather controller (is it the right term to call it?)

My question is can the VR3 or other similar computers (Predator etc) be used as the controller?

The Hammerhead as described in the passage has its own algorithm. Can it be used as a dive computer on its own?

With the configuration that Dave was using, do you have to match the algorithm of the VR3 and the Hammerhead? Or the VR3's were just used as bottom timers?

Also I believe that the second VR3 Dave was using was just a backup, am I right?

The VR3s didn't have a connection port. Were they an earlier model or were they deliberately removed?

Thank you for your time.
h

 

[UCFKnightDiver]

Death Machine!

 

[Cave Diver]

My question is can the VR3 or other similar computers (Predator etc) be used as the controller?

The Hammerhead as described in the passage has its own algorithm. Can it be used as a dive computer on its own?

With the configuration that Dave was using, do you have to match the algorithm of the VR3 and the Hammerhead? Or the VR3's were just used as bottom timers?

Also I believe that the second VR3 Dave was using was just a backup, am I right?

The VR3s didn't have a connection port. Were they an earlier model or were they deliberately removed?

Thank you for your time.
h

The VR3 can not be used as a controller unless there has been a new version that I'm not familiar with. There are some computers that are designed so they can be used as a controller. Shearwater comes to mind.

I'm not certain about the Hammerhead, but there are some controllers that have a quick disconnect (fischer fitting) and can be used as a stand alone computer when not diving CCR.

Some people prefer to have matched algorithms, some prefer different algorithms. Its a personal choice.

The article says he uses the computers as bottom timers below 200m because he doesn't like the profiles they calculate. Mostly likely he is cutting tables on a PC for such dives.

The second computer is used as a backup.

Those are probably older VR3's. A reference in the article indicates pre-2005. Newer ones have a fischer connector on them that allows you to connect a 4th cell to them. Most CCR units have 3 O2 cells. Some allow the addition of a fourth cell that can be directly wired in to certain computers to provide real time data on the mix you're breathing to more accurately calculate deco.