Will Air Integration in dive computers replace the SPG?

[stuartv]

WAI (Suunto Vytec) never did provide this functionality for the one dive season I tried it, and have relied on a standard analog mechanincal gauge SPG for the past 18 years instead. An even if the Suunto WAI turned out to have some basic reliability, I would have eventually discarded it as a superfluous training instrument anyway. (i.e. I don't need AI to work with pressure SAC rates that are multiples of 1bar/min --how difficult is it to multiply "1" by anything???)

It's a dang shame that the dive computer industry hasn't advanced any in 18 years....

Kevrumbo nailed it.

Very well said, that's exactly what I meant when I said AI is a toy...

An SPG is a toy?? A superfluous training instrument?!?! Or are you saying that being electronic, instead of mechanical, makes it a toy and/or superfluous? Did turning your depth gauge from mechanical to electronic make that a toy, too?

Or is it that the electronic SPG tells you your tank pressure plus also gives you additional info on your computer that makes it toy?

Many, many things in this world have changed from mechanical to electronic over the last 50 years or so and the vast majority of them are better, more useful products for it. Including pressure gauges that tell you your depth. And pressure gauges that tell you your tank pressure. I'd guess that most of those products went through some teething pains during the transition, where the first electronic versions were not as reliable as the mechanical versions. And then they got sorted out. Like pressure gauges....

I get it that you guys don't LIKE electronic tank pressure gauges. But, even though it's electronic, and even if it uses a wireless transmitter, it's still just a pressure gauge to tell you your tank pressure. Modern ones are solidly reliable. Experienced folks like NetDoc report that they haven't seen a single transmitter leak but HP hoses are spools are the most common equipment failure they see....

Don't y'all have some "Keep off the grass" signs you need to check on? LOL

 

[Kevrumbo]

Argue for your limitations -rhetorical or legitimate- and sure enough, they are all yours.

If AI truly necessary for your comfort & safety --that's all that matters then. . .

 

[CT-Rich]

Argue for your limitations -rhetorical or legitimate- and sure enough, they are all yours..

You might take your own advice...

 

[Kevrumbo]

It's not hard and I don't NEED help. And I didn't say either thing.

But, what's easier than easy arithmetic? No arithmetic. As easy as it is, I do recognize that I am not infallible and do occasionally make mistakes, even on the surface, even on simple arithmetic.

Do the easy arithmetic then --and don't ever foolishly rationalize not doing it because the convenience of the technology "saves" you from your fallibility. Learn it right and always do it right thereon. . .

 

[Kevrumbo]

You might take your own advice...

I did --as posted above WAI never reliably worked for me-- so I learned to smartly use the SPG.

You don't need an AI calculating "crutch" to perform arithmetic involving multiples of "1" or simple subtraction from a starting total full tank pressure. . .

 

[CT-Rich]

Do the easy arithmetic then --and don't ever foolishly rationalize not doing it because the convenience of the technology "saves" you from your infallibility. Learn it right and always do it right thereon. . .

Doesn't that soap box get heavy?

 

[Kevrumbo]

Doesn't that soap box get heavy?

Sound advice is worth its weight. Especially when it's at someone else's expense.

Suunto Vytec WAI (2005) never gave a reliable sync, and would not register a valid reading at times. So I learned how to utilize the SPG again along with smartly switching to the Metric System (how hard is it working with multiples of 1 or 2 bar per minute pressure SAC rate??? You really don't need an AI function to do these pressure calculations at all).

But if need be, a non-wireless HP hose connected AI/PDC is ok for recreational novices learning about gas planning & consumption. But IMHO, until AI is a mandatory instrumentation requirement for use in Basic Open Water Scuba Certification Courses, you will never see this feature supersede the function of the basic analog SPG.

 

[Bennno]

Or is it that the electronic SPG tells you your tank pressure plus also gives you additional info on your computer that makes it toy?

If you need that AI to do your 'arithmetic' (whatever that is, on an rec dive), don't you think you should be working on your skills instead of buying an extra device?

Please stop claiming you need to do arithmetic on a rec dive.

 

[sbijou]

Once again, a discussion has turned into a slugfest on the ScubaBoard. You can almost count on it. The antagonism, the never ending repetitive threads, the need to dominate a conversation with personal perspectives. It's amazing. Thank goodness, underwater communication is basically limited to hand signals and slates to most divers. But then again, that could be a new discussion, that would alienate more members. Happy Diving !

 

[CT-Rich]

Sound advice is worth its weight. Especially when it's at someone else's expense.

Suunto Vytec WAI (2005) never gave a reliable sync, and would not register a valid reading at times. So I learned how to utilize the SPG again along with smartly switching to the Metric System (how hard is it working with multiples of 1 or 2 bar per minute pressure SAC rate??? You really don't need an AI function to do these pressure calculations at all).

But if need be, a non-wireless HP hose connected AI/PDC is ok for recreational novices learning about gas planning & consumption. But IMHO, until AI is a mandatory instrumentation requirement for use in Basic Open Water Scuba Certification Courses, you will never see this feature supersede the function of the basic analog SPG.

You seem to
A) think your advise is the only valid opinion, which is probably what rubs me the wrong way the most.....
B) That the your past experiences dictates the future performance of all tech. the performance of your Suunto WAI a decade ago is being used as a technology standard for comparison against what is available today and in the future. It really say almost nothing. Ten years ago you were copying your CDs onto your desk top computer and listening to Britney Spears on your i-pod. you would very possibly be watching TV and your home computer on a bulky CRT. Your computer had a floppy drive.

you remember those? Are you still using a floppy drive? They were very reliable, you could easily copy and store important data on them, up to 1.44 mb. When you bought software you it came in a box from a store or in the mail...

When did you buy your first blue tooth equipped phone? was your computer using WiFi in 2005 or did you have a Ethernet cable?

The question the OP had was whether the WAI will ever supplant the mechanical SPG. Electronic devices can be made infinitely cheaper than an mechanical devise because that SPG almost certainly has to be assemble in part by hand. The technology that allows you to buy a flash memory card of 500 gb (100x what was available in 2005) is capable of churning out the tank transmitters of better precision and reliability. What you pay all the money for is the marketing, design and development costs, code and profits of bringing that to market. No one has designed a new SPG from ground up in more than a decade, and almost any brand is going to be either buying all them parts from the same from the same manufacturers.

You may trust your SPG 100% never buy that heathen WAI technology, but you will die eventually (hopefully of old age). The divers that replace you will marvel that you were willing to trust a device that was run by a mechanical spring....

When I started diving (1980), there were dive computers and I would have never spent the money on one, much less trusted it more than the tables. They had terrible reputations and with good reason.