ScubaDoo83
Contributor
When I first started diving I bought a Galileo Luna dive computer with wireless transmitter. To the new diver everything was perfect. Easy to use and understand and it "just worked". During a trip in Cozumel the divemaster suggested I get an SPG as a backup to the transmitter citing that they fail often. Like any proud equipment owner I quickly scoffed at the suggestion and carried on with my day.
Fast forward to last month when I was at the pool practicing with my new rig. I could not get the tank pressure to read no matter what I tried. I then tracked down some replacement batteries and headed back to the LDS to test. It was verified by myself and the shop clerk (trusted, good guy) through trial and error that the transmitter went bad. After discussing this with him for a few minutes I asked if he's seen this before and he replied with "oh yea, it just happened to mine not too long ago". Wonderful.
Now I work in the technology field and am well aware that things can and will go wrong sometimes. However this is beginning to seem like an ominous pattern. Scubapro is not a cheapo brand, I'd say it's at least a Lexus so I'm surprised to hear of their notable failure rate with wireless transmitters. Or perhaps I am overthinking it and I just hit the lottery.
Nevertheless, I will now need to send it back to Scubapro. I will have to wait a bit because I need the computer for an upcoming trip. I just happened to be building a more DIR rig at the same time as this incident so I now have a standard SPG on my hip (HOG black face, so sexy). The question now is, do I even use the wireless transmitter anymore? I know that redundancy is best but it seems like an unnecessary point of failure. Also, I could always rely on my buddy for depth on rec dives in the case of a standard SPG failure (which I hear is rare). What does DIR say about wireless transmitters?
Fast forward to last month when I was at the pool practicing with my new rig. I could not get the tank pressure to read no matter what I tried. I then tracked down some replacement batteries and headed back to the LDS to test. It was verified by myself and the shop clerk (trusted, good guy) through trial and error that the transmitter went bad. After discussing this with him for a few minutes I asked if he's seen this before and he replied with "oh yea, it just happened to mine not too long ago". Wonderful.
Now I work in the technology field and am well aware that things can and will go wrong sometimes. However this is beginning to seem like an ominous pattern. Scubapro is not a cheapo brand, I'd say it's at least a Lexus so I'm surprised to hear of their notable failure rate with wireless transmitters. Or perhaps I am overthinking it and I just hit the lottery.
Nevertheless, I will now need to send it back to Scubapro. I will have to wait a bit because I need the computer for an upcoming trip. I just happened to be building a more DIR rig at the same time as this incident so I now have a standard SPG on my hip (HOG black face, so sexy). The question now is, do I even use the wireless transmitter anymore? I know that redundancy is best but it seems like an unnecessary point of failure. Also, I could always rely on my buddy for depth on rec dives in the case of a standard SPG failure (which I hear is rare). What does DIR say about wireless transmitters?