Shearwater coming out with new DC?

[dmaziuk]

The Cobalt and DG03 at least try to give the diver a plan to the surface after a deco violation, the Suunto just gives you the big middle finger after 3 minutes and says your on your own.

To expend a bit on Ron's post: you could potentially push a parameter out of bounds. I suspect the "60 ft ceiling", for instance, might be the case. The question is what the code would do then: divide by zero, crash and burn? Ideally you want it to "fail safe" but in real life you options may well be big middle finger or a negative stop time. Neither's taking you to the surface.

I expect we're all old enough to remember y2k here: your year overflows from 99 to 00. What would you rather have it do: calculate you -99 years worth of compound interest and take it out of your savings? Or not calculate anything and pop up an error message instead?

Then of course there's the algorithm which is not the same thing as software+hardware implementation of the algorithm. In the case of Cressi/Suunto/Mares RGBM it is pretty much "who TF knows what it really does".

---------- Post added January 9th, 2016 at 02:44 PM ----------

Oceanic and others use very low frequency RF

Yeah, thanks, I went and looked at the manual afterwards and it spells it out clear enough. I guess I didn't think of coiled antennae and 4 ft ranges.

 

[drrich2]

The main question is, what would you want to see in a Shearwater rec.-centric DC that would make it a better choice than competitor options out there?

Looking back over the last bunch of posts, I wanted to revisit this question, in light of what some folks have said. Shearwater has already put a recreational nitrox mode in the Petrel, for example, so the continued interest in a 'recreational diving-specific Petrel/Perdix' is evidently not fully satisfied by that. From what I can see...

1.) People like the Shearwater interface. Since there's already Recreational Nitox Mode & people like it, keep as-is?

2.) A.I. seems to be the #1 desired feature of some.

3.) The option to do buddy gas checks, ideally at some distance, would be a nice perk.

4.) I'd add that the buddy finder feature I've read about with the LiquiVision Lynx would be a neat option for any rec. computer. And before anybody claims it's a gear solution to a skills problem (losing your buddy), consider what some tec. divers say about essential equipment IIRC - 2 is one, 1 is none? Well, this gives you two potential solutions to keeping up with your buddy, a primary (skills) and a backup (finder function).

5.) Cheaper at the cost of durability. I'm having a hard time accepting that one. Dive computers with elegant, intuitive interfaces cost more than those like programing a cheap digital watch (the Cobalt 1 I've got, what I've read of the Lynx, etc...) With Petrel Bluetooth, you don't need to buy a $100 PC download kit with proprietary cable unlike some computers. I don't think Shearwater's Petrel is outrageously expensive, and as a general trend in products, the class leader in quality/usability isn't the cheapest option.

6.) Somebody mentioned what I think amounted to an air time-remaining display being required for him. I like it on my 2 computers, and I didn't notice in the Petrel rec. mode manual that it's offered. Does the Petrel/Perdix not offer ATM?

7.) At least one person doesn't like the thickness & general bulk of the Petrel, compared to, say, the SeaBear H3. Which would mean a switch to a much smaller battery than the ubiquitous AA used now, or a built-in rechargeable, which is handy for not having to open & close the battery case often (significant on an electronic device dove deep in salt water) but you can't pop in a fresh battery on demand (e.g.: you forgot the charge it, or forgot to pack the charger cable).

Is that about it?

Richard.

 

[lowviz]

Looking back over the last bunch of posts, I wanted to revisit this question, in light of what some folks have said.

Most timely.

Shearwater has already put a recreational nitrox mode in the Petrel, for example, so the continued interest in a 'recreational diving-specific Petrel/Perdix' is evidently not fully satisfied by that. From what I can see...

1.) People like the Shearwater interface. Since there's already Recreational Nitox Mode & people like it, keep as-is?

Yes and no. The state machine would have to be rewritten, probably in a conference room with PowerPoint slides. Air integration. I would pay to be there "discussing" what each state has now become and what triggers a state transition .

End result, neither you nor I would see a difference. So yeah, no change.

2.) A.I. seems to be the #1 desired feature of some.

Yes, to my own amazement, I'm now sold too.

3.) The option to do buddy gas checks, ideally at some distance, would be a nice perk.

Yep.

4.) I'd add that the buddy finder feature I've read about with the LiquiVision Lynx would be a neat option for any rec. computer. And before anybody claims it's a gear solution to a skills problem (losing your buddy), consider what some tec. divers say about essential equipment IIRC - 2 is one, 1 is none? Well, this gives you two potential solutions to keeping up with your buddy, a primary (skills) and a backup (finder function).

Nice if you can get it, but much testing would need to be done before release. Maybe just add the sensor array with the intention of a software upgrade for this feature.

5.) Cheaper at the cost of durability.

No way! No reason to throw the baby out with the bath.

6.) Somebody mentioned what I think amounted to an air time-remaining display being required for him. I like it on my 2 computers, and I didn't notice in the Petrel rec. mode manual that it's offered. Does the Petrel/Perdix not offer ATM?

No, need AI for that. I would like that too.

7.) At least one person doesn't like the thickness & general bulk of the Petrel, compared to, say, the SeaBear H3. Which would mean a switch to a much smaller battery than the ubiquitous AA used now, or a built-in rechargeable, which is handy for not having to open & close the battery case often (significant on an electronic device dove deep in salt water) but you can't pop in a fresh battery on demand (e.g.: you forgot the charge it, or forgot to pack the charger cable).

Form follows function, we are all going to live with what we get. They know what they are doing. We just suck it up and deal with whatever size is required.

Is that about it?

For me, yes. Nice job. Anybody else?

 

[SillyQuestions]

You seem somewhat inflexible in your thinking. You don't need AI, we want AI, for our own reasons. You don't really have less than 500 dives but are so sure of yourself, right?

---------- Post added January 8th, 2016 at 02:54 PM -------


That's where my backup SPG is, all I do is glance down

Correct, I had about 400 cave dives when I joined the forum. Now precisely 970.

Circa 3000 dives all in now including open water. But who counts those?

 

[dmaziuk]

Anybody else?

I think the missing link is that AI is very nice and I want one, but I'm not sure I want it $400/transmitter + $800/base unit hard. I mean, seriously, when that comes with a winning lotto ticket I'll be happy to drop a grand on the convenience of having the SPG on my wrist but until then -- meh.

Edit: the flip side is if I do drop $800 on the base unit, it'd better come with the option of adding the transmitter later. IRL it's a hard sell for my vacation diving where I might push a limit once or twice.

 

[boulderjohn]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

This thread was reported because it had gone off topic quickly. It was suggested that it be broken into different threads dedicated to the different topics. That led me to go through the thread and see that, no kidding, it sure did go into different topics. Unfortunately, going through nearly 300 posts to separate the topics would require something like a life's work, and I for one am not up for it.

Much of this discussion(s) was/were pretty good, and potentially really valuable. Those discussions would have been much better, though, with a broader participation. That participation was limited because of the shift in topic. I for one did not look at this thread after the first day or so because I did not see any point in pursuing a discussion of the announcement of a new computer. What more was there to say, after all? I imagine a lot of people who would have had a lot to say on the topic(s) did not participate for that reason.

So I am going to start a couple of new threads on some of the topics I see here. Please shift your discussion to the new threads. If I missed one or more, please start that new thread yourself.

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[lowviz]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

...//... So I am going to start a couple of new threads on some of the topics I see here. ...//...

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Really?

Shearwater saw everything as it unfolded. All ends were served. Cap it and do something far more worthwhile with your time...