Why is there no alert system on the perdix ?

[Divin'Papaw]

I can’t see why I would care, I have those on the Teric’s and just turn them off, interesting that so many have such negative passion over a feature that can be disabled, perhaps to much ego involved??

For me it's about complexity and cost. As long as the computer is just as easy to use and does not cost any more, I really couldn't care less. I'll just turn them off. But features like this can both increase setup complexity and increase cost due to the added software development and maintenance. If that were the case, no thank you.

 

[lexvil]

For me it's about complexity and cost. As long as the computer is just as easy to use and does not cost any more, I really couldn't care less. I'll just turn them off. But features like this can both increase setup complexity and increase cost due to the added software development and maintenance. If that were the case, no thank you.

Okie dokie

 

[Filipe Marques da Costa]

The complexity argument is valid but it comes down to software design. Surely it wouldn’t a pain to have a customizable alarm menu somewhere down the system setup menu. And all alarms can be disabled when they go off with a click of a button.

The pricing I agree, it can put people off if things get more expensive because they have a feature that the user does not desire.

Personally I just jumped in the thread when I read that the subject was being polarized. At some point it seemed that “if you need alarms you must be so much out of it that you should never be diving”. I just disagree with this line of thinking, and no matter how experienced you are no one is above making mistakes, forgetting things, being overloaded... alarms can help reduce the risk of that happening that’s all. No one says you must rely on alarms for safe diving; it’s more that they can help you dive even more safely. Hell if people dive that well the alarms would never go off anyway so, I don’t see what’s the big deal.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

I don’t think this is about tech or professional vs recreational diving at all. It is about safety. Airline industry and (later) Anesthesiology are 2 professional areas that have pioneered the knowledge about operational safety, and even in those environments the use of checklists and alarms is crucial to increase safety. Absolutely zero pilots or anesthetists will tell you that alarms on their monitors are just for “recreational” guys. They are important and some should even be mandatory. Now I agree that it is important that you can customize the alarm, both the parameters that set them off and the type of alert. I agree that the more advanced you are at something the better you can manage situations, you can tolerate wider intervals of said parameters, and having less invasive alarms is normally better. For example different people will want/need to be warned at different stages as they approach their NDL. Maybe some need a flashing alarm with 5min to. Others just need a small vibration with 1min to go. I’m sure others can come up with examples fitting for tech diving. But saying that “I’m so advanced that I never fail and never need an alarm” is to me the first step into creating a chain of mistake that can have devastating consequences.

I think this is actually a really good point. Garreth Locke has some good stuff equating diving to flight with all the checklists and gear. I know he's on this board, can't remember his profile name.

I'm not at all for an alarm myself, but I can see the merit in having it in certain situations for certain people. I don't think my diving would ever call for them, but safer isn't bad. I wouldn't care if it was on there. I can't imagine that an internal alarm or vibration would be all that expensive. Less that $5 in parts.

To all the negativity towards an alarm...relax, the Perdix is already out just the way it is. They're not coming to take it away in the middle of the night to install a beep-beep-beep

For me it's about complexity and cost. As long as the computer is just as easy to use and does not cost any more, I really couldn't care less. I'll just turn them off. But features like this can both increase setup complexity and increase cost due to the added software development and maintenance. If that were the case, no thank you.

No different than what's in a smartphone. I've beat the hell out of mine for 4 years, but all that stuff still works.

Honestly though, I don't care... it's all turned off in my phone too.

 

[Jonn]

Powerful. Simple. Reliable.
There’s other manufacturers out there, Shearwaters way is not the only way. Scubapro makes a very competitive full-featured computer with a heart rate monitor and a bunch of other whizzy stuff. We like to snicker at Suunto computers with their constant alarms but there’s an argument in favour of that too. For myself I would like to upload a book to read; not that hard to do but nobody does it! It’s a competitive market, the beeping and buzzing computer of your dreams is certainly out there somewhere.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @Etmutt

Buy a computer that has the features you want and configure it to fit your needs.

This topic might have made an interesting poll. What alarms would you want on your dive computer, audible, haptic, audible and haptic, visual information only?

Edit: I added a poll to the computer forum.

 

[admikar]

The complexity argument is valid but it comes down to software design. Surely it wouldn’t a pain to have a customizable alarm menu somewhere down the system setup menu. And all alarms can be disabled when they go off with a click of a button.

I am talking about hardware. You know Perdix already have configurable alarms? So, you either need to add an audio or haptic hardware.

To all the negativity towards an alarm...relax, the Perdix is already out just the way it is. They're not coming to take it away in the middle of the night to install a beep-beep-beep

Reason I am speaking up here is that there are some things I would like different on Perdix which might make me buy new version/model.

 

[Jonn]

You know the feature we REALLY need to see implemented? Some sort of underwater wireless communications protocol that lets us permanently disable someone ELSES beeping alarm. Hardware devs: get on it!

 

[MiloR]

I understand the idea of wanting alarms on our DC to warn you of something but I think that option creates a path that is not advisable and could have bad outcomes for many that would rely on them.

It is the reliance that is the issue. Without the alarm you have to stay diligent/present to your situation. An alarm, for people that would use them, would allow you create a habit of ignoring everything until the "beep:.

My thought on this go to back up cameras and blind spot monitors on vehicles. An alarming number of people blindly rely on these devices and never turn their heads to check. The technology got them out of the habit.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Audible alarms are awful because it is difficult to discern the direction of sound underwater.

If an alarm sounds, every diver within a wide radius will--or should--look at their computer and will then waste some of their situational awareness bandwidth ascertaining whether it is their computer, and if not, wondering whether it might be their buddy's computer and the buddy might not be paying attention. Thick hoods could also impair hearing. When I'm wearing a hood in a quiet place (think cave), what I mainly hear is my own heartbeat. (If that stops, then I'll be alarmed.) The Perdix and its predecessors, the Petrel and Predator, were originally aimed at technical and cave divers.

Vibrational (haptic) alarms might be better, but can it be felt through a thick wetsuit or drysuit? Likely not. A vibrational alarm might be useful for some divers who wear thin suits, but that's about all.

I answered "visual only" in scubadada's poll thread.