Uemis SDA dead again

[antattack]

My Cobalt has about a hundred dives on it. I picked it up in sep 2011 to replace my wireless Cochran Nemesis when Cochran informed me that they would not support that device any more (the internal battery went dead, the device is no longer sold, so it is obsolete ): Anyway, the Cobalt has been pretty much flawless for me. While it is hose mounted, it sits on my left waist D Ring right where my SPG would otherwise sit. Same muscle memory, same everything.

It's pretty frustrating when you learn and use a particular computer and then it goes out of service. But the Cobalt was a nice upgrade from the Cochran Nemesis.

I'm particularly happy that Atomic has been very interactive with any and every issue that has appeared. I even received a new bezel last year when I had my computer checked out by my LDS.

I'll mention that I also have a Suunto Cobra, which is a wonderful, small, inexpensive computer with similar features- but the display is nowhere near easy to understand or see in reduced visibility. OLED displays are they way to go if you can get one.

 

[mintakax]

Thanks for everyone's help on this !

---------- Post added January 29th, 2013 at 04:41 PM ----------

It turns out my SDA wasn't dead after all. I had gone to Key Largo last weekend for a few dives, charged up the SDA and did not bring the charger. When I arrived in Key Largo, the SDA would not turn on and I thought it was toast. When I got home today I put it on the charger and it woke up with a depleted battery. After charging it fully, I looked at the log and there was a 720 minute dive at 8.5 ft ! The dive started about an hour into my flight to KL and must have used up the battery. Not sure how to prevent that in the future, I had the SDA in my carry on.
I'm still buying a Liquidvision Kaon for a second comp.

 

[RonR]

Thanks for everyone's help on this !

---------- Post added January 29th, 2013 at 04:41 PM ----------

It turns out my SDA wasn't dead after all. I had gone to Key Largo last weekend for a few dives, charged up the SDA and did not bring the charger. When I arrived in Key Largo, the SDA would not turn on and I thought it was toast. When I got home today I put it on the charger and it woke up with a depleted battery. After charging it fully, I looked at the log and there was a 720 minute dive at 8.5 ft ! The dive started about an hour into my flight to KL and must have used up the battery. Not sure how to prevent that in the future, I had the SDA in my carry on.
I'm still buying a Liquidvision Kaon for a second comp.

That sounds like good news. I'm curious if the SDA will start a dive with just pressure or, like the Cobalt, requires both pressure and sensing water. We have had some people, if the wet contacts on the Cobalt were shorted in flight, end up going into a "dive" on descent. Something like that might have happened to your computer. My guess is that 720 minutes is an arbitrary maximum dive length- or just the point the battery ran down. Though it seems as if you should have had better battery life.

Ron

 

[Scott L]

Why is the Cobalt being brought up when he was utilizing a wrist/forearm computer. Apples and oranges...

 

[RonR]

Why is the Cobalt being brought up when he was utilizing a wrist/forearm computer. Apples and oranges...

Look further up in the thread- he wasn't limiting himself to wist computers, and was asking about computers with bright, colorful displays. It was one of several suggestions. All computers need to determine how to handle flying pressure changes, which seems to have been the issue.

 

[mintakax]

I was considering all bright, colorful displays, although I was primarily looking for a wrist mount. I have had the SDA on a plane many,many times without it going into a dive, so I dont know what's up with it. It has automatic altitude sensing so I would guess that a minor change in pressure would not send it into a dive, but clearly it did in this case. My carry on bag was bone dry ! I suspect that its on its last leg.
The SDA was a great computer for recreational diving, its a shame that the new owners dont have more of a presence on this board and also dont have some US reps. Although a company that went bankrupt that quickly with a good product probably doesn't inspire much confidence.

RonR, I really considered the Cobalt as a replacement. The main issue that stopped me was the fact that if something went wrong with it on a dive, I wouldn't have any measurement of remaining air. At least with a wrist mount (AI or not) I would still have my mechanical SPG and I always have a backup comp in a pocket.. A secondary issue was the convenience of a wrist mount. The SDA with a transmitter (along with my SPG) is the perfect setup for me and I would have replaced it with the Icon HD if I had more confidence in Mares or their customer support.
Maybe these high priced colorful display computers are a niche market and that is why there has been little improvement in the three and a half years since I've owned the SDA. We will see if the Lynx proves me wrong !

 

[RonR]

It's very odd that it went into a dive on the plane- is it possible the wet contacts shorted to something conductive? If it seems to be working otherwise I wouldn't suspect it is necessarily on its way out. You might consider, if you can, having a LDS put it onto a pressure pot dry and see if it starts a dive with just a few feet of pressure- it shouldn't unless it's wet.

I wish we had a wrist version of the Cobalt, we're working on it, but it's not ready yet. Dive computers are actually very complex compared to most consumer electronics, and have a tiny market, so it's hard to justify the costs of development on business grounds. I think that explains why there aren't more new computers out there. Liquivision and Shearwater both do a very good job with color wrist computers.

Ron

 

[DiveNav]

Did you look at the Petrel from Shearwater?

Alberto (aka eDiver)