Am I the only one that dives with 2 computers?
- Thread starter jringold
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(say we who have seen the light and bought Petrels)
I kind of like your proposal. But it would have to be called something other than Gauge Mode, because I have not heard of any computer that tracks tissue loading in the background in Gauge Mode, and I suspect that is a fairly universal understanding of Gauge Mode by users of all dive computers. (Yikes, that's a bold statement of my suspicion.) How about "Standby Mode"?
Why would it need a new name? Who, of the people who don't know about or understand it, would be affected in any way by the computer transparently tracking gas loading?
Actually, until I went and read my manual, I had no idea whether my PDC would be tracking my tissue loading in Gauge Mode or not. I kind of thought it would, actually.
My point is, I think this "change" would not matter at all to MOST people. And the people for whom it did matter would not need to have a different name.
Is there a reason to also have a mode that works like the current Gauge mode? I.e. a reason to have it explicitly NOT track tissue loading?
---------- Post added September 18th, 2015 at 03:05 PM ----------
As I said before, leaving it in Dive mode, while using it as a backup on a deco dive, might possibly mean getting locked out. Maybe. Even though it's a maybe, it's a possibility I'd like to avoid.
Also, as I said before, the point is not to display anything different in Gauge mode. The point is to be able to use it in Dive mode without waiting 24 hours after the end of the Gauge mode dive. When I said it before, what I said was to use it in Gauge mode as a backup for a Tech dive in the morning, and then use it in Dive mode, as the Primary, for a Rec dive in the afternoon.
I think I am correct in remembering that my Atom (anyway, don't know about other computers) won't let you put it in Dive mode until 24 hours after you use it in Gauge mode - because it doesn't track tissue loading in Gauge mode.
If I have been following the conversation correctly, the point of your proposed mode would be so that a second computer in this mode could be carried on a dive as a backup and used on subsequent dives if the first computer fails. Is that right? Recreational computers explicitly prevent the user from switching from Gauge Mode to regular dive mode until some number of hours after the last dive, presumably to prevent careless users from hurting themselves. So why would they have a mode in which a user is prevented from switching from that mode to regular dive mode and yet also tracks tissue loading in the background?
It seems to me that the only manufacturer that might conceivably be interested in a mode like you propose would be a tech oriented one, since they deem their customers adult enough to do what they need to do to keep from hurting themselves. But if tech computers are the only ones that might conceivably have a mode like this, and tech computers already don't "lock you out," then why would tech computer manufacturers be interested in this proposed mode? They would advise that you just leave your second Petrel or whatever in regular dive mode.
I dive with two Petrels. If it's a tech dive, I have one on the right and one on the left so that I can enter gas switches into both. If it's a non-tech dive, one is in my pocket.
Right. That would also need to be a change to Gauge mode - i.e. letting you switch to Dive mode immediately.
Concerning users who might hurt themselves, that would "only" be the case if they failed to set their breathing gas correctly when in Gauge mode, right? Those people could do just the same thing already, in Dive mode, so it doesn't seem like there is new risk introduced. Besides, how many of those people are going to be diving in Gauge mode at all, anyway?
I'm not sure what you mean by "those people could do just the same thing already, in Dive mode...." In Dive Mode, the computer barks at you if you exceed NDLs, etc. In Dive Mode, the computer aims to discourage people from exceeding NDLs and thereby hurting themselves. The manufacturer explicitly warns users that in Gauge Mode, you're on your own.
It would be "new risk" to allow a user to immediately switch from Gauge Mode into Dive Mode at any time on a rec-oriented computer because, if a careless user does that when his tissues are already somewhat loaded, the computer does not automatically warn the user that his tissues are already so loaded that he would only have X minutes of no-deco time at Y feet or whatever. In other words, your proposed mode would likely only be palatable to a risk-averse computer manufacturer if, before going into Dive Mode, it first switched to Dive Planning mode or something like that, to ensure the diver is advised of his options (e.g., "X minutes at Y feet") now that his tissues are somewhat loaded. Stated another way, it's now a repetitive dive scenario, but that might not be immediately clear to the careless user. Sounds like a can o' worms to me.
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If you have any intention of using gas loading info from a computer during a current or subsequent dive, why would you want to set it to gauge mode rather than dive mode?
Fot the whack are you guys talking about? Off the top of my head, Aeris A300, Manta, Hollis DG03, and Oceanic Geo 2 all have "free" mode that tracks N2 loading based on air and carries it over to dive mode if you switch mid-trip. At least that's what their manuals claim -- I don't personally own any of them.
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