Suunto Gekko - Dive Download ????

[JAMIE MCG]

Thanks CIBDiving and ClayJar, everything is up and running : )

 

[mocca]

Hi all.

I am thinking about the Gekko and it is great to hear that I would actually be able to download the profiles. But I would like to ask a few questions and given that the pros and the programmers are here, maybe you guys could help me out a bit.

- If I set the refresh intervall from 30sec to say 5secs, how long will the memory last or rather how many dives will it store? I think at default setting of 30sec the Gekko lasts for up to 50 dives, right? Will this be reduced by a factor of 6 if I set it to 5secs?

- Why is it that you altered the software of the Gekko, even if only a minor change to the Gekko. Why not hack the SDM instead? That way there would be absolutely no warranty issues and you wouldn't need to alter anything on the Gekko.

- Do the USB cables also work or only the COMM cables (with or without USB adapters)?

- Will newer Gekko models also be hackable or has Suunto become aware of this and has now taken counter measures?

Hope you guys can help me out.

Thanks a lot,

Alex

 

[ClayJar]

Answering the part of the question that I can: I have the Suunto USB cable, and it works fine.

 

[mocca]

Thank you. Hope someone will be able to answer my other questions

BTW, I just compared the Gekko and the Vyper and it says, that the Vyper has a "depth-indicator" and the Gekko does not. Sorry, I'm german and do not know what the proper term would be.
However, I saw on the display of the Gekko, that there is a depth in metres shown in the display. So is this information wrong or what does this mean?
The Gekko will show me how deep I currently am, right?

 

[ClayJar]

That was probably referring to a "gauge mode", where the computer does not calculate NDLs (or O2 exposure, or whatever) and *only* displays depth and dive time. The Gekko doesn't have such a mode.

 

[mocca]

Ah!
So instead the Gekko always calculates the remaining time etc. and never just acts as a pure gauge?
So not really a disadvantage?

So, how about the tech questions :huh:

 

[CIBDiving]

Hi all.....

- If I set the refresh intervall from 30sec to say 5secs, how long will the memory last or rather how many dives will it store? I think at default setting of 30sec the Gekko lasts for up to 50 dives, right? Will this be reduced by a factor of 6 if I set it to 5secs?

You can't set it to 5 sec ( well, maybe you can ,I've never tried it), the software won't let you. 10, 20,30 and 60 sec is all that's available. I have a program that will change it to anything but I have never tested what happens with none suunto numbers.

The amount of data the suunto ( gekko,cobra.vyper, vytec) computer wil hold is indeed dependant on how fast the sample rate is, but it is also dependant on how many dives of what duration. a 'DIVE' uses 23 bytes of data + a byte for each sample. For example a dive of 10 minutes @ a sample rate of 10 sec will use 83 bytes of 8078 bytes available so the computer will hold ~100 of those dives. but a 60 minute dive @ a rate of 60 sec will use the same 83 bytes.

Now this changes ( but not by much) with the Vytec, each gas switch adds 2 bytes to the profile. On all the computers pressing a button and making a 'bookmark' adds 1 byte. And each "warning" issued adds 1 byte to the count also.

- Why is it that you altered the software of the Gekko, even if only a minor change to the Gekko. Why not hack the SDM instead? That way there would be absolutely no warranty issues and you wouldn't need to alter anything on the Gekko.

1: You Own the gekko. Suunto has a copyright on the software ( you have only "borrowed" that), it 's illegal to modify the sofware.
2: There are no warranty issues to worry about - change the gekko, do the download, and change it back. Suunto has no way of knowing anything's been done.
3: It's a one byte change that has no advers effect on the gekko - it's a PIA to hack a program, and you can get regresions.

- Do the USB cables also work or only the COMM cables (with or without USB adapters)?

Any cable that will work with a vyper,cobra,vytec will work.

- Will newer Gekko models also be hackable or has Suunto become aware of this and has now taken counter measures?

Suunto has become aware of the hack - I'm told they don't care. It's selling their (very overpriced) cables like hotcakes! I also don't see how they can make any effective change!!!! at least not without me being able to hack that also ;-)

 

[mocca]

So, would you recommend buying the much cheaper seriell version of the cable or rather the more than twice as expensive usb version?

Is one faster or easier to set up or something of the kind?

 

[CIBDiving]

So, would you recommend buying the much cheaper seriell version of the cable or rather the more than twice as expensive usb version?

Is one faster or easier to set up or something of the kind?

I ALWAYS recomend the cheaper option, if it works the same or better.

The tranfsfer rate is set by the dive computer and the style of cable has no effect on the speed of the download. One consideration is the availability of a RS232 port on a computer - they are getting rarer and rarer.

 

[ClayJar]

The difference between the two hideously-priced Suunto cables was only about 15% for me. If someone's charging twice as much for the USB version, they're either being very rude or else trying almost too hard to get rid of that annoying non-USB cable before they have to hang it up as a museum piece.

Personally, I bought the USB version. It's easier to share it between my PCs when I don't need to crawl into a dark overhead environment to connect the thing. Desk penetration diving isn't exactly fun, although you can get away without scuba. Sure, I could get a USB-to-serial converter to use with the 9-pin cable, but as I'm not exactly swimming in RS232 devices, it's more convenient to just get the integrated one and not worry about two pieces.