Wireless AI users tell us the truth!

[philmayer]

I have an Atom 2 and a Datamask. I've put 100+ dives on them without any issues at all. The Atom 2 will lose the transmitter link sometimes during a dive, but it reacquires the signal in a matter of seconds.

I'm completely comfortable using wireless only.

 

[dynamo]

Oceanic VT3. No issues with transmitter loss with 50 dives.

 

[Colliam7]

So for those of you who use wireless AI computers, how many failures have you had? What model was it? What was the outcome?

Suunto Vytec, and the Suunto transmitter. I have a 'failure' of some sort once in every 30 or so dives. The failures take three forms: 1. I am on a boat, open my tank valve before slipping my BC on, and the transmitter doesn't sync with the computer. Because I have a redundant, 'hardwired' SPG, I don't spend time messing with it, and just jump in and do the dive without AI. This could be that my computer is not close enough at the time I turn the valve on, or something else. Still, it happens; 2. On rare ocassions, the units sync on the boat, I jump in and descend, and sometime during the dive, the sync is lost and the computer is no longer reading pressures. No pattern, no particular set of circumstances, it just happens. Sometimes, it regains the link during the dive, sometimes it does not; 3. If I breath my tank down fairly low - e.g. start at 3500 PSI, and breath down toward 500, the pressure reading tends to stop updating when I get in the 750 - 780 PSI range. This one is consistent. It doesn't happen often because I usually end up on board with 900 or more, but the reliability of the transmitter seems to erode at lower pressures - not a 'bad rap', just a fact. The concerns with failures 1. and 2. in particular is that they are 'irregularly irregular' - no rhyme or reason to them. I like wireless AI. It is convenient. I just don't dive without a 'land line' to my SPG.

 

[jd950]

I have fewer dives than most, but I also dive virtually every dive with a buddy who uses an Oceanic wrist AI while I use an Aeris, so you can double my dives for this purpose. Neither has had a failure. Mine has only lost sync once that I know of for a few seconds...no big deal. It beeped when I had my arm outstretched for a photo, brought my arm back in and it re-synced. I also have a redundant gauge as a safety blanket.

Everything I need to see is on my wrist, in one place, and since I often have a camera, I hardly have to move to see any info I might need. Can't see ever going back to a console or a gauge in one place and a computer in another. Don't know that I would dump the gauge backup, though...

 

[laurelgsc]

75 dives on my Aeris Atmos Elite and have had no problems. Lost sinc one time for a couple of seconds. No big deal!

 

[amadus98]

Oceanic VT3 100+ dives no signal loss no failure.. Love it...

 

[Scared Silly]

Suunto Vytec - One failure, transmitter failed to link up.

 

[paulw]

VT Pro, no issues and no back up. I sometimes think I should keep a console hooked up but I like not having the extra stuff dangling so if my computer failed I guess I would just end the dive.

 

[Peter_C]

Uwatec Smart Z. Sometimes when surface swimming it looses link up until I decend then it only takes about 3 seconds too link back up. Never lost communication that I know of once under water. Not even when using a scooter and that is the hand that drives the scooter.

I do have a regular XS Scuba gauge from Dive Sports clipped on my left hip though. Works better for setup, and is my redundancy, especially if vacation diving. I also wear a watch that has a depth gauge when diving in the tropics, and tend to not dive as deep as others, mostly due to the fact that the reef is more alive in the upper levels. Point is I can easily calculate everything using tables "if" my computer ever failed. Plus my buddies computer would have the logged dives for reference, and we are never more than a few feet apart.

 

[Dave Distel]

Atom 2, 50+ Dives no problems.