Shearwater Predator/ "setting" a dive plan???

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NORTHEAST

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Get guys this may sound a little confusing but her it goes. I have a predator and I haven't done any technical dives on it yet. I'm actually obtaining my tec certs now. Anyway how do I set a dive plan for my computer to follow before my dive. I see there is a dive planner and I've used it on my predator and it gives me everything from depths to run times. Deco stops, gas used, deco time, etc. basically everything it should do. My question is does this "set" your actual dive plan for your computer to follow or is this a way just to get an idea of what a type of profile would look like. Is there another planner on this computer to set the actual dive plan???!!! Again sorry to sound like an idiot but I don't know how to explain. Btw my predator has vpm b and has the latest firmware.
 
As you & I discussed, the Shearwater will only give you a suggestion of a plan to follow. You have to choose to follow it or not. That is where the tech diver's discipline to follow a plan, comes to play. The computer will only alarm for life threatening situations (too fast of an ascent, deco violations, High CNS, High PO2.... & such). The computer will only essentially tell you what is going on. It will tell you what depth is your next stop is & how long the stop is to be. If you ascend above your ceiling, the depth numbers will alarm in red (& after a certain period of time will alarm for violated deco),... if you drop below the current gas's MOD, it will alarm for high PO2. As I mentioned to you earlier, Shearwaters are not nanny computers. They will let you do things that can get you hurt. A diver needs to know exactly what this computer is telling them & follow the suggestions.
 
How far along are you in class?

The Predator/Petrel has a single level dive planner based on the entered active gases. But you can't program a plan into the computer for a dive.
Your tech instructor should go over this extensively.
Download MultiDeco to your phone. This way if you change dive sites last minute you will be able to plan for it on the boat.
Use this software for planning.
Write your plan on a slate and then in your wetnotes for backup.


Plan your dive and dive your plan. The computer is there to give you vital information for you to execute your plan and help you get out of trouble when things don't go as planned.
 
Yeah, the planning mode on Shearwater is not as exact as you need a dive planner to be for many Tec dives. Things like descent or ascent speed along with contingency planning are omitted. I sometimes run my dive plan as determined in a desktop software on Shearwater's planning mode before the dive to validate the plan.

I use Baltic (Cheap yet complete and easy) on iOS and MVPlan (Free and multiplatform) on desktops... I refuse to pay 80$+ for buggy software!
 
You have the wrong idea/expectation of what the dive planner is for. It doesn't change the computer at all. it tells you what should happen for given inputs of depth time and gasses used or available. What you saw about depths times and gasses is the dive plan recommended for the inputs provided.


Get guys this may sound a little confusing but her it goes. I have a predator and I haven't done any technical dives on it yet. I'm actually obtaining my tec certs now. Anyway how do I set a dive plan for my computer to follow before my dive. I see there is a dive planner and I've used it on my predator and it gives me everything from depths to run times. Deco stops, gas used, deco time, etc. basically everything it should do. My question is does this "set" your actual dive plan for your computer to follow or is this a way just to get an idea of what a type of profile would look like. Is there another planner on this computer to set the actual dive plan???!!! Again sorry to sound like an idiot but I don't know how to explain. Btw my predator has vpm b and has the latest firmware.
 
Gotcha. Thanks so much guys. This is a confirmation of what I was kind if thinking. I appreciate it
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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