Swift vs old school transmitter?

[brsnow]

Getting ready to order a perdix ai. Seems used transmitters come up regularly, is it worth spending more for a swift?

 

[Ian Fatzinger]

From what I understand, yes. They operate on their own frequency, have an LED status indicator, better battery life, and I haven't lost comms a single time (compared to very infrequently with the normal)

 

[Wibble]

Second hand is fine. You won’t *need* more than one transmitter unless using sidemount or a rebreather.

If using a stage cylinder— pony, decompression, bottom — you should use a SPG as you may need to donate the cylinder to other divers.

 

[scrane]

You do get an LED with the Swift.

 

[Belzelbub]

From what I understand, yes. They operate on their own frequency,

This is not correct, depending on what you mean by frequency. Both the Swift and the PPS transmitter operate on 38Khz. The Swift is compatible with Oceanic, Aqualung, etc. computers as well as Shearwaters.

have an LED status indicator, better battery life, and I haven't lost comms a single time (compared to very infrequently with the normal)

The LED indicator is correct. Battery life may be, but is probably a non issue. I usually change batteries in my PPS transmitters once a year. I’m certain I could extend that quite a bit, but once a year is easy to remember.

I also haven’t lost comms with my PPS transmitters.

The real benefit of the Swift is that it actively avoids interference with other transmitters. This is really only an issue occasionally if the diver is using multiple transmitters. If multiple divers are using transmitters, this won’t be a problem as the signal range is pretty short.

So, if diving sidemount, or otherwise using multiple transmitters, the Swift makes a lot of sense. If you only use a single transmitter, then either will work just fine.

 

[Ian Fatzinger]

This is not correct, depending on what you mean by frequency. Both the Swift and the PPS transmitter operate on 38Khz. The Swift is compatible with Oceanic, Aqualung, etc. computers as well as Shearwaters.

The LED indicator is correct. Battery life may be, but is probably a non issue. I usually change batteries in my PPS transmitters once a year. I’m certain I could extend that quite a bit, but once a year is easy to remember.

I also haven’t lost comms with my PPS transmitters.

The real benefit of the Swift is that it actively avoids interference with other transmitters. This is really only an issue occasionally if the diver is using multiple transmitters. If multiple divers are using transmitters, this won’t be a problem as the signal range is pretty short.

So, if diving sidemount, or otherwise using multiple transmitters, the Swift makes a lot of sense. If you only use a single transmitter, then either will work just fine.

Your last point is what I meant by "own frequency." Not sure what the correct term is. I RARELY lose comms with my PPS transmitter. It's on my right post in doubles w/ my teric on my left wrist and it's lost comms momentarily for a bit

 

[tursiops]

Your last point is what I meant by "own frequency."

You meant transmission interval, which it varies to avoid signal collisions. The frequency of both transmitters is the same, 38kHz.

 

[brsnow]

Picked up a new old model off eBay for a good price. I sm just a recreational diver, so should work for me.

 

[Wibble]

Picked up a new old model off eBay for a good price. I sm just a recreational diver, so should work for me.

Excellent. And saved a few quid towards other diving kit

 

[Scuba-Lad]

Chiming in as I looked into this a lot:

I went out of my way to buy a new old style shearwater transmitter recently. The new swift (with it's higher price tag) just didn't seem worth it to me. As I understand, the LED status indicator shows when it's transmitting, and not battery status, but since I don't own one right now someone may come along and correct this. The old style transmitter sends a warning to my Teric when it's battery is low anyway. The swift simply listens out for other transmitters and waits until there is an interval it can use to transmit it's own signal, so as to avoid clashing with others.

Right now I dive a single tank, with a backup SPG too I might add. If I go down the sidemount route, which I'm thinking of doing in the near future, at that point I will purchase a swift, since there is some benefit to it not clashing with my other existing transmitter.

The old style works perfectly fine for me, zero issues. Hope this helps