I'm curious as to why you so quickly dismiss Ratio as comparing to Shearwater, given you apparently don't have first hand experience with them
Because I already own a bunch of the transmitters that work with Shearwater, Oceanic, Hollis, Aqualung, etc..
They do everything I want - which is to report my cylinder pressure and last a looong time on one battery - so I have zero motivation to switch to a computer that uses a different kind of transmitter.
All 3 of my CCRs use Shearwater computers for their controllers and monitors. Switching those to Ratio is not an option. So, changing over to all Ratio stuff isn't an option.
Also, I have had issues with my Shearwaters on occasion. The Shearwater U.S. support (Dive-tronix) has literally overnighted me a NERD2 so that I could continue diving in a class I was in without missing days, and then send them my broken one to fix and return the loaner after the class. All without even asking me for a credit card. And I've read reports from other people that have also been sent a loaner Shearwater, so it's not just me.
Do you think Ratio would do that for their customers?
I bought a used NERD2 and the owner couldn't find the charger for it. I emailed Shearwater asking how I could buy a NERD2 charger. They asked for my address and one showed up in the mail less than a week later. No, "where did you buy it?" No, "when did you buy it?" No, "that will be $29.95." They just sent me a charger for a NERD2 (which is not some generic USB charger).
Would Ratio do that?
As for the transmitters themselves:
- being rechargeable is not a plus, to me. And this from someone (me) who only uses Terics (i.e. rechargeable) computers for open circuit diving. My very first dive computer was an Oceanic with the same type of transmitter I'm using now. That thing lasted something like 3 years on the original battery. I was actually purposely trying to see how long it would go before it died. But, I eventually sold the computer and the transmitter with it, so I put a new battery in for the new owner. But, when a transmitter will last 3 years (roughly 300 dives) on a single battery, why would I want to mess with changing it to be rechargeable?? Changing it once a year, whether it needs it or not is WAY better (to me) than having one more thing to put on a charger. Especially since I don't take my transmitters off their 1st stages, well, ever.
- I have zero interest in any kind of light on my transmitter. ZERO interest in something that helps other people monitor my cylinder pressure. I've never come close to running out of gas and if I do it is not very likely that I will have a buddy nearby that is looking at my transmitter. It would actually be kinda nice every now and then to have a status light on the transmitter to confirm that it is turned on and maybe even give some kind of visual cue on battery status. However, that would mean having wiring to an LED that means there is some kind of hole from "inside" to "outside". And that is an opportunity for a problem to result in the transmitter flooding. So, I would actually NOT want them to add that to the transmitters I use. I'll stick to old-fashioned troubleshooting if my transmitter seems to be not working for any reason.
I used to have button gauges on my 1st stages so that I could verify a tank is full without getting my computer out and turning it on. I have since gotten rid of the button gauges. When I put my scuba unit together, I am forced to get out my computer in order to verify that my tank is full. That also ensures that when it's time to splash I HAVE my computer and I know it and the transmitter are working (or, at least, were working a bit earlier that day). I really don't want a transmitter that flashes a light to tell me my tank is full. I don't want any reason to excuse myself from making sure I have my computer and it is working and correctly talking to my transmitter before it's actually time to splash.
I 100% agree with you that it would be great if they supported the PPS transmitters that most other computers use. And then sure, if they want to have their own with additional features, fine. But, I can't see them or any other company doing that. They would mean (presumably) paying some kind of licensing/royalty money to PPS for that compatibility. AND, it would substantially shrink the sales of their own transmitter, which, in turn, means they have to amortize their R&D over a smaller number of sales, so the price of their transmitter would have to increase. Not good business, I don't think.
I think Shearwater did it (mostly) right. Their transmitter is improved (in one way) from the standard PPS transmitter - but it will work with all the computers that use the PPS transmitter. And, the Shearwater computers will also still work with the PPS transmitters. Shearwater and all those other brands are all interchangeable in their AI support. People will still potentially buy Shearwater transmitters even if they don't have Shearwater computers. Shearwater transmitters would still have value even if Shearwater quit making computers and all their existing computers died.
I think Garmin and Ratio are both completely idiotic in choosing to go their own way on making transmitters.
