Will Air Integration in dive computers replace the SPG?

[agilis]

I think I feel the same as you.......but in practice I have faster and improved cognition thanks to different visual stimulus. All on one screen are simple, near identical digital numbers that could be hampered by narcosis.

What's easier to read a digital Spedometer or Analog?

Analog. Just like an analog watch, an analog read out gives a sense of movement, of visible change, of relative position between full and empty, high and low, of parameters in general. This is much more useful than a series of abstract numbers. Analog enhances involvement rather than passivity and creates a better understanding of exactly what is happening.

 

[CuzzA]

But now you have a transmitter instead of that hose. And some people have remarked that they put the transmitter on a short hose. I don't see the gain.

Mine is not on a hose. Diving from my own boat all but eliminates someone touching my gear.

I will say that these transmitters really need to be made from a different material though or at least for right now, until the tech progresses, have a visible "Do not lift" warning label. I could definitely see someone diving on a charter have their transmitter broken by a crew member not familiar with them or not paying attention.

It's definitely a weak point in the design. And as mentioned earlier why there is still a ways to go for them to be consider acceptable as standard gear.

 

[scubadada]

I beg to differ. Yours may be awesome, but I see more than half fail on any liveaboard trip. You don't want to speak about specific brands, OK, but it doesn't matter if it's hosed or hoseless, or which manufacturer, they fail. They fail because they get water in the hose when the QD is connected, they fail when the transmitter battery poops the bed underwater, they fail when 2 different transmitters get too close to one another (like when a husband and wife use the same rig, who has ever heard of that?), they fail all the time. I'll bet I hand out 4 or 5 SPG and hoses on any given trip with 24 divers on it.

The time for AI hasn't come. You can stomp your feet and tell us all how wonderful AI is, I see twice-a-year tourist divers tout the benefits of AI all the time. I'd love to see a statistic of how many day to day resort instructors diving 4 a day actually use an AI dive computer.

My son and I did the Florida Keys Wreck Trek with Frank last summer. Both our Oceanic hoseless AI computers lasted all 15 dives! In fact, I've been diving my VT3 since 2010 and it's been perfect for 642 dives now.

---------- Post added January 13th, 2016 at 06:04 PM ----------

I've never run out of air, no battery in a computer or transmitter of mine has ever gone dead. I pay attention, it's not difficult.

What would I do if my AI computer lost gas pressure monitoring? I would look at my backup SPG. What would I do if either of my dive computers quit working? I would use the other one. I love to dive, I'm loathe to miss a dive or interfere with a series of dives because a piece of equipment has failed. BTW, I've never needed my backup computer or my SPG, but I might someday

 

[Wookie]

My son and I did the Florida Keys Wreck Trek with Frank last summer. Both our Oceanic hoseless AI computers lasted all 15 dives! In fact, I've been diving my VT3 since 2010 and it's been perfect for 642 dives now.

You, however, take excellent care of your gear. That isn't normal.

 

[agilis]

My son and I did the Florida Keys Wreck Trek with Frank last summer. Both our Oceanic hoseless AI computers lasted all 15 dives! In fact, I've been diving my VT3 since 2010 and it's been perfect for 642 dives now.

---------- Post added January 13th, 2016 at 06:04 PM ----------

I've never run out of air, no battery in a computer or transmitter of mine has ever gone dead. I pay attention, it's not difficult.

What would I do if my AI computer lost gas pressure monitoring? I would look at my backup SPG. What would I do if either of my dive computers quit working? I would use the other one. I love to dive, I'm loathe to miss a dive or interfere with a series of dives because a piece of equipment has failed. BTW, I've never needed my backup computer or my SPG, but I might someday

It's all a matter of perspective. I've never needed my computer, which backs up my primary system, a watch on one wrist, a depth gauge on the other, and and an SPG. I leave the computer and depth gauge at home when doing shallow inlet dives.

The computer has been useful when diving a very irregular profile, but I've never really needed it. Planned no decomp dives and air consumption which matches expectations make computers only marginally useful. I sometimes look at the computer to see how close it matches my plan. It's almost always very close.

Actually, I realize I have needed my Gekko. Some dive operators require a computer.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Here's what my screen looks like. I'm pretty sure even if you were narced you would easily decipher that info. The tank also changes colors when you reach preset points. Yellow=Mid point, Red=Reserve

View attachment 222629

Oh yeah that is simple... what do you do 1.8 times plus 32 or minus 32 ??? or is it 5/9ths ?????


(What the hell do I need to know the temperature for during a dive - especially in celsius.


And depth increments in decimals! That is freaking hilarious! I remember I got an air integrated compuer off the discount table at the dive shop. CHEAP. Very similar to one i had before. So no manual, no real checking it. Slap it on my reg, jump in, swim down to the wreck in 180 feet... And I get WACKO CRAP!... I quickly realized the pressure was in bars... so multiply by 15.. that is not hard to figure out while narced... but the depth... It was reading like 567 (or something)... I figured the thing was screwed... took me almost the whole dive to notice there was a tiny little decimal in there and the depth was in METERS (56.7 meter).. EVEN BETTER! now i just have to multiply depth by 3.3 - while narced and remeber the decimal or round to a whole number .

After a few dozen dives, I actually got used to it... But there is no freaking way anyone will ever convince me meters (and decimals there of) are a better way to measure depth than feet (in whole numbers)...

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

When diving rec, I have a small console (depth, tank pressure, compass) that is connected with a bolt snap to a D-ring on the right strap of my harness, so it is nicely out of the way. I have one wrist dive computer with AI and another inexpensive one without. Has my AI computer failed? Nope. Will it? Probably at some point. But then I have my backup wrist computer for tracking nitrogen loading (and if that fails, I can dive tables the next day). I absolutely love AI. I shake my head at the people who say "You don't need it!". True, but I LIKE AI. I like it a lot and with the way I dive (with a large camera in both hands), it is makes monitoring my gas consumption easier as I'm moving only my eyes, not my head to see how much air I have left.

I'm just starting to dive tec. When not in class, I have my transmitter (makes determining my SAC MUCH easier). I only have one for my back gas, not for my stage/deco bottle(s). Now mind you, I'm a tec noob. I have a lot of tec dives to do before I can make strong comments about AI with my tec setup. So when another thread on this topic pops up years down the line, I'll then make a comment based on my experience. Somehow I think I'll be pro-AI when I go on tec dives.

The reason why I believe AI is so expensive is simply the small market and where the maximum profitability is with regards to price points. My understanding is that the parts are extremely cheap. I'll find out as I'm looking at building my own (to use in parallel to my existing dive computers).

 

[DevonDiver]

I've never run out of air, no battery in a computer or transmitter of mine has ever gone dead. I pay attention, it's not difficult.

That's incredibly lucky.

I've had 4 computer failures.

The first two incidences were depth gauge failure (2006 and 2008) on Apeks Quantum. The first one failed, it was replaced. The replacement failed. I didn't bother getting it replaced again.

In November last year (2015), I had two failures in a week. My Suunto Vyper developed a glitch and started shutting off at random during the dive (it was just a back-up in gauge mode). 1 week later, my UWATEC also suffered a depth gauge failure - it's been on the same 56m dive for nearly 2 months now (never ends the dive, or reads shallower than 0.8m)... waiting to die once it's battery expires.

That's only talking about dive computers... should we talk about non-diving technological failures? Phones, VCRs, DVD players, Sat-Navs, Microwaves etc etc? Anyone had a failure of an electronic device? No???

 

[Belzelbub]

I have no doubt that AI will eventually replace the analog SPG. As reliability increases, costs come down, it really becomes a no-brainer. I've already made the switch. Been using AI since I started diving with a computer about 12 years ago. As with all new technology, there will be early adopters, and there will be those who resist. Eventually the adopters will outweigh the resistors. If the old tech survives, it will be relegated to a niche market. Kind of like where film cameras headed.

 

[tursiops]

Oh yeah that is simple... what do you do 1.8 times plus 32 or minus 32 ??? or is it 5/9ths ?????


(What the hell do I need to know the temperature for during a dive - especially in celsius.


And depth increments in decimals! That is freaking hilarious! I remember I got an air integrated compuer off the discount table at the dive shop. CHEAP. Very similar to one i had before. So no manual, no real checking it. Slap it on my reg, jump in, swim down to the wreck in 180 feet... And I get WACKO CRAP!... I quickly realized the pressure was in bars... so multiply by 15.. that is not hard to figure out while narced... but the depth... It was reading like 567 (or something)... I figured the thing was screwed... took me almost the whole dive to notice there was a tiny little decimal in there and the depth was in METERS (56.7 meter).. EVEN BETTER! now i just have to multiply depth by 3.3 - while narced and remeber the decimal or round to a whole number .

After a few dozen dives, I actually got used to it... But there is no freaking way anyone will ever convince me meters (and decimals there of) are a better way to measure depth than feet (in whole numbers)...

LOL. I can't decide if you are being sarcastic or are simply showing a combination of arrogance and ignorance.