Shearwater Tern and Tern TX

[brsnow]

Why would a scuba diver care about having GPS on a dive computer? GPS doesn't work underwater, so it's completely useless for navigating during the dive. Boats typically have their own nav system which is better than anything mounted on someone's wrist. Is the point to to have the GPS coordinates at the surface when you started and ended the dive? You could just write them down once for each site. If you dive the site again, they will be the same... I specifically would NOT want the additional battery drain associated to the dive computer operating a useless GPS antenna. A much more useful feature for a dive computer, IMHO, is good dive planning software, so e.g. if you've already done two deep dives, you can plan a third NDL dive using the computer's data, the precise gases and profile you dove, and a reasonable decompression model such as Buhlmann ZHL-16C GF.

Compare the Teric and Garmin battery capacities. Not sure gps impacts it.

 

[gordonscuba]

Compare the Teric and Garmin battery capacities. Not sure gps impacts it.

I'm glad to hear it's not much of a battery hit, but it's still 100% pertinent to life at the surface and not at all pertinent to life underwater.

There is an application of GPS to scuba diving, but it isn't on personal dive computers: it's systems such as the seacraft enc3-pro or the suex sinapsi + eron. Those systems automate what divers have been doing for decades: dead reckoning from a known starting point based on compass and distance, with the key being that those systems know direction, speed, and time at a given speed, so they can calculate distance traveled. They calculate this using a propeller mounted on the nose cone. GPS is only used to record the location of the start, or if the diver were to surface mid-dive for some reason.

 

[stuartv]

I'm glad to hear it's not much of a battery hit, but it's still 100% pertinent to life at the surface and not at all pertinent to life underwater.

There is an application of GPS to scuba diving, but it isn't on personal dive computers:

Can we just agree that it's not something you want or see a use for, but other people definitely DO want it - and their reasons may be completely valid for what they are doing - and leave it at that?

 

[gordonscuba]

Can we just agree that it's not something you want or see a use for, but other people definitely DO want it - and their reasons may be completely valid for what they are doing - and leave it at that?

Well sure... if people find it makes them happy when they dive, and they dive more as a result, and have more fun, then great!

 

[scubadada]

The Tern and Tern TX now have a section on the Shearwater website but the owner's manual does not seem to be available yet.

Does anyone know if the TX has a floating north pointer? Does the info row in the standard view have 3 slots like the Teric?

 

[Deezer-D]

I have a Tern TX on pre-order for my daughter to replace her Perdix AI. I’ve just got a Teric so will be interested to see how they compare. Not sure what the release date is but I think I saw something that said 12th January but can’t be sure.

 

[brsnow]

Any updates on if it uses the same battery set up of the Teric?

 

[scubadada]

Any word on whether the Tern and Tern TX will still be available on January 10th? The user's manual is still not available on the Shearwater website to answer simple questions not yet answered.

 

[L13]

They are in stock at my LDS. Just saw them there 2 hours ago.

 

[scubadada]

The are in stock at my LDS. Just saw them there 2 hours ago.

Link? Seems like most are still preorder.