Suunto Vyper

[joewr]

Mattie the Red,

Did you mean my Matrix? The one originally marketed by US Divers (could be Oceanic now)? Well, if you do not want air integration, computer downloadability and foreward planning, it is a great computer. Easy to use, easy to read, very sturdy and lots of features, all or which I have used. It is not as sexy as the Cobra, though.

Most modern dive computers integrate your diving. Thus, you can look at the N2 bar graph, dial, etc. at any time and see how you stand. It is a feature that I love when I am doing more than two dives a day or diving deep. I love the Matrix and would not be looking for a new computer except that I like the ability of downloading the data into my computer and air integration.

I have long gestation periods before I buy large ticket items and I am gestating this one to fullest. Part of the fun of buying gear is the hunt: and I am having a lot of fun now!

Joewr

 

[mattiedread]

There is actually about half a dozen comps I'm looking at (I don't need air integration)... I'm gestating too. My wife wants my Vyper, and wants me to get another computer. But, I'm in no rush, she isn't going to be diving with me until the end of October, earliest. And, the Vyper is fine for me, for now. I really want to anticipate future needs... mixed gas? Deco?

I had that little scare this morning when I thought the CBT was recalculating for present depth only... but, that just didn't make sense.

My brain is a little melted today. Testing software, worst part of the developement cycle. Now I understand why I grind this stuff out and go diving every two months... I'm burning out on this fast... "This is Wall Street, time is $...." You do it...

I went back and read the Gasman posts from July... the SK ordeals... just to put things in perspective.

I think I officially now have more posts than dives

 

[joewr]

Mattie the Dread,

I solved the "she wants mine" problem: what I get, Barbara gets! So endith the lustful (at least when it comes to material goods...) look routine!

Hey, get the $$$$ going--Wall Street is really suffering now! But I will tell you a little secret: being retired lets you dive more than e-mail; and Wall Street woes are a fading memory!

Joewr (the Marriage Counselor)

 

[Warhammer]

Originally posted by mattiedread
There is actually about half a dozen comps I'm looking at (I don't need air integration)... I'm gestating too. My wife wants my Vyper, and wants me to get another computer. But, I'm in no rush, she isn't going to be diving with me until the end of October, earliest. And, the Vyper is fine for me, for now. I really want to anticipate future needs... mixed gas? Deco?

I had that little scare this morning when I thought the CBT was recalculating for present depth only... but, that just didn't make sense.

Sorry if I confused you a little, mattiedread. The Vyper/Cobra actually goes a great deal further than just considering the time you've spent at depth previously. It also considers repetitive dives, dives made on multiday dives, reverse profile dives, rapid ascents, missed stops, and more when calculating your NDL. It uses the most advanced algorithm available, but it's a shame they don't want you to see what it's calculating while your own a dive. If only they would bump up the volume on the beeps (so us deaf people could here them), provide a nitrogen loading graph, fix it so it maintains a nitrox mixture setting for a 24hr period without defaulting back to 21%, fix it so you could switch modes without waiting 24hrs, and provide a reliable hoseless air transmitter, it would be the perfect computer! But I'd settle for just a bump up in volume and a nitrogen loading bar graph, and still call it almost perfect.

 

[mattiedread]

For the most part we have the same equipment, but we only purchased one computer... so we could learn the dive tables... learn more about what we wanted in a computer and so forth. My wife's big computer concerns: easy to use (so, my 'old' one is perfect), easy to read (console, not wrist)and it must be conservative... Vyper is perfect for her.

We moved to NY in 94 with the idea that we'd move out in 5 or 6 years... once I got out of the hole I had dug when I broke my back (we both grew up in the NY area). Well, it is 7 years later, and I don't see us leaving any time soon... She wants to stay close to her family for now. Plus, if I do things right, 5 or 6 more years here and I should be able to generate a decent supplementary income from investment... something EVERY diver needs.

But, the time has come to change jobs... this one is great for the time off and the money, but, it is wearing me down much quicker than I had expected... too much travel, too much pressure. I'm turning out projects in half the time with half the staff... kinda like ascending from twice the depth at twice the rate... sooner or later it is going to get you.

 

[mattiedread]

I'm familiar with the Vyper features; or most of them. I haven't used the dive simulator, and I don't have the hardware for the interface (but I have played with the software, being a software designer). I have 47 dives on mine, and I used one for several dives prior to purchasing one... I've missed a safety stop, and even though our max depth was 57ft, average was 30 and the dive was 44 minutes, I still got the '!' (make a prolonged SI). I always carry the manual with me, and frequently check it (although, I wish they gave a clear definition of EVERYthing that could appear on the comp... I've had to rumage through the book to find out things... Like 'AC' = Active Contacts.. water is completing the circuit). I got a little worried when I saw an unfamiliar acronym that could have meant Abort Cruise for all I know.

In my head, I read the CBT as cumulative bt, which, it is analogus to. I got a little confused this morning (or a little more confused when I read your reply because it sounded like the CBT wasn't accounting for the earlier portion of the dive let alone previous dives... but, that just didn't make sense being that the no fly desaturation time is calculated (as opposed to using 12 or 24)... the computer is tracking your theorectical N right down to 0. (You get a new dive series if you desaturate). They obviously have gone to great lengths to create models (in different tissues) for absobtion/release.

I like the idea of N saturation measurement (which, given a model, is a linear conversion from cbt). The difference in such a conversion, would be that as depth changes, the 'y intercept' would also change... that is why it is flat when you are on the surface... you can stay there forever... but an N saturation would give you a better approximation of not only how much N you've absorbed, what you could do on your next dive. I actually think I'm sold on that concept. I've been very reluctant to buy another computer because I feel it is inefficient to have two that are basically the same (My LDS only carries Suunto).

Anyway, I've rambled (surprise, surprise, surprise). Thanks for all your help, not just on this post but you've been very helpful for quite some time... and congrats on being 'promoted'. One day we'll all have to get together on my boat and drift around the Pacific for a few weeks. Although, I need to buy a computer before I buy a boat

Have a good one, I'm calling it a day.

 

[Warhammer]

Just about everytime I dive my Cobra with nitrox, I get the ! sign. The manual says it will appear as a result of a lot of things, but I think it appears sometimes if I look at it wrong, hehe. At any rate, most all of my surface intervals are longer than an hour and it usually disappears between 1 and 1 1/2 hours anyway, so it isn't that annoying. I have however dove it several times with it on, due to time constraints.

 

[mattiedread]

She takes all that to heart. Any slight warning and she takes it... if she could find a more conservative computer than the Suunto RGBMs, she'd buy it. I understand her thoughts... she is going to do 20-40 dives/year, and safety is a major concern.. having a computer monitor it for her is psychologically appealling.

 

[rjchandler]

I guess I am coming to this post late. RE: the Oceanic/Vyper differences. They are more striking in Nitrox mode. The Oceanic will give you Nitrogen loding and an oxygen graph. The Vyper dispenses with CBT and gives an Oxygen Loading Factor (OLF) graph.

 

[mattiedread]

As I have never dove Nitrox, I can only speculate which is better, an N loading graph, or an O loading graph. If the conventional method you've been taught to think about it is N loading/saturation, I would assume N loading is more in line with your thought process. But, I should probably get Nitrox certified prior to buying a second computer. (We are two conservative divers, one computer)