Who made who?

[scubadada]

...I was hoping to find some light about two questions:

#1: Has Huish's arrival on the scene impacted quality of their brands in any way? ...

My family has had many Oceanic computers over the years. Huish bought Oceanic and Hollis from AUP in May 2017. As far as I know, computers are still manufactured by PPS

We have a VT3 from 2010, a Geo2 from 2011, and a VT4 from 2014 that are all still working perfectly.

We had 2 Pro Plus 2s from 2002 and 1 from 2004 in which the pressure sensors eventually failed. All 3 were replaced by Huish with new units, 2 in 2017 and 1 in 2019. The cost was $175 each, as part of the Oceanic Service Oceanic Worldwide Services | Oceanic All the Pro Plus 2s are still in service. I had 1 PPS transmitter replaced for $120 before the Huish acquisition.

 

[evandroairton]

Sorry for arriving late, folks.

What I know concerns old computers, but might still help :

- Cochran made Beuchat Maestro Pro (not a nice memory at all)
- UW made the Aladin line then sold by Beuchat, and also made the Monitor computers sold by Spirotechnique (not yet widely know as Aqualung)
- Seiko designed computer for DiveRite (Nitek from the very 1st one to the ill fated Nitek X if I remember correctly. The Nitek (yellow box with green buttons, diving air or nitrox), was also made for Seac with a blue box. The software was also available on a Seiko digital watch.The electronic and software (with slight variations) of the Nitek Duo could be find in : Cressi Leonardo, Apeks (don't remember the name of the model), Zeagle In2ition. Seiko did also issued their own diving watches/computers over the years.

As you've said, Seiko was a major player, i've seen at least 8 different brand seikos around, from tusa to seeman, Fundive, etc., and, of course, the ones you've said
Still have my nitek He and Nitek plus.

 

[poseident]

JMBL, thanks for reminding me about Seiko....

Scubadada, glad to see your report about reasonable (if not "very good") service from Oceanic under Huish. I've done a bit of research on Huish and have no reason to believe they'd be the cause of any issue.

I'm still confused about just who actually owns Suunto now, but I can live with that. (Maybe there is a split between branding ownership and design/manufacturing, but that isn't clear. Both Huish and Amer/Anta list Suunto as under their umbrella and I see no link between Huish and Anta, hence the confusion.)

 

[poseident]

Appearantly what worked beautifully at 40 was way too wild at 60.

Tell me about it Michael! That's exactly why the thought of diving a more conservative computer sound like more of a "feature" than and "issue" for me these days!

I know people who continued to really push the limits well into their 60's and in a few cases 70's, but I don't think that's for me.

 

[poseident]

@JMBL - also, gold star to you for mentioning the Monitor line....

The US Diver's Monitor 2 console combo is one of my all-time favorites. It also lead to my first real reckoning with the differences in algorithms. Back then most of the divers on Guam that were into doing lots of deep dives swore by the M2. I regularly dove Oceanic, so for my first trip to Truk Lagoon I borrowed a friends M2 and dove both computers. I intended to dive the more "conservative" and be covered in case one failed. To my surprise, the M2 ended up being more conservative on repetitive dives--significantly so--so when I got home I bought an Aladin Pro Nitrox (M2s weren't available any more, sadly).

The Aladin served me very well for years.

This thread is bringing back so many great memories!

 

[Belzelbub]

Scubadada, glad to see your report about reasonable (if not "very good") service from Oceanic under Huish. I've done a bit of research on Huish and have no reason to believe they'd be the cause of any issue.

I've been happy with Huish service as well. Sent a transmitter for service. Once they received my unit, they contacted me to confirm and make payment. Replacement went out right away. I didn't plan it, but I ended up with a lot of Huish gear.
Zeagle regs and BCs, some purchased before acquisition, some after.
Oceanic computers, all purchased before acquisition.

There was a very brief period where Huish stopped covering the parts for in-warranty regulator service, but that was short lived. They now (still) cover parts for in-warranty regulators.

I'm still confused about just who actually owns Suunto now, but I can live with that. (Maybe there is a split between branding ownership and design/manufacturing, but that isn't clear. Both Huish and Amer/Anta list Suunto as under their umbrella and I see no link between Huish and Anta, hence the confusion.)

I do not believe that Huish owns Suunto. Everything I could find points to Huish being the US distributor for Suunto.

 

[JMBL]

@poseident

Glad to bring back nice memories, but I fear it brings back also not so happy ones. Let me explain.

You were satisfied with the Aladin, as were many divers and dive buddies of mine, but my experience was a bit different. I rent one for a weekend : was brand new, I knew very well the head of the LDS, he got it out the box in front of me, then I went to dive.

Underwater, I couldn't stand the thing, had an utter dislike for the way the info was given, and on the third dive, it went out. Blank screen.

Back at the store after that weekend, my pal just told me : it happens, don't worry. Next time I went diving, rent another one, same story, blank screen after less than five dives. Give it one last try : same again ! My friend began giving me a bad look...

Next summer, I bought from the same shop the Cochran/Beuchat Maestro Pro. Very easy to use and clear to understand. (By today's standards, I fear it might have been too liberal on NDL, but that's another story. It was the 1st computer (and sole) computer of the market to have a user changeable battery... But... Finding the right battery, which was rather exotic (ref. LR7 if I remember correctly ) in France at that time, was hell !!! One must remember it was around 1994 so the internet was not what it is today, meaning : nobody had it home. The damned battery was only sold in electronic shops and photo shops. What time I wasted to find only one, grrrrrrrr !

Nightmare wasn't over when you got the damn battery. If the cap wasn't screwed with the right number of turn, the blasted appliance wouldn't start ! No indication in the user manual, you had to try several times...

To make things worse : this computer quickly shown reliability problems. Many went back to Beuchat and it got the computer a very bad name. Not mine. I was probably the last guy to dive one, until it just conked out in 2000 when I tried to change the battery. Gave a call to Beuchat, who couldn't care less and told me to see with Cochran who told me to see with Beuchat. Perfect customers service on both parts... I was a student back when I bought that computer, remembering how I had to scrounge for every penny to get it still hurts.

But Davy Jones be praised, my following diving computers were much more trustworthy.

 

[scubadada]

I still have a Cochran EMC-14 that I got very inexpensively from the old DAN auction in 2006. It still works fine, dive it occasionally, for old times sake. It takes 2 N cell alkalines, easy to change. The only computer I've ever seen that is more liberal than DSAT. I did get tired of having to short the metal buttons with a quarter to set it I nearly bought an EMC-16 once after the Cochran price drop but went to Buhlmann instead, with a Dive Rite Nitek Q, another goner. It still works perfectly also.

 

[JMBL]

@scubadada

Got a Nitek Q myself a few years back, when DiveRite stopped selling them, there was a good bargain at that time on DGX. Use it on a regular basis as a backup to my Petrel 1 when diving OC. Very easy to used. Only problem, those buttons, which need too be change a bit too regularly to my liking.

 

[scubadada]

@scubadada

Got a Nitek Q myself a few years back, when DiveRite stopped selling them, there was a good bargain at that time on DGX. Use it on a regular basis as a backup to my Petrel 1 when diving OC. Very easy to used. Only problem, those buttons, which need too be change a bit too regularly to my liking.

Yes, I bought mine, totally unlocked, from DGX for $400. I had to replace the buttons once, bought a couple extra sets to prepare for the future. I started soaking it in dilute vinegar at the end of a series and the buttons have not gone bad since. I don't dive it very much anymore, it's in the loaner pool.