nevinsdb once bubbled...
we are going to do a live abaod to socorro islands and we need to purchase a computer..I am electronically retarded and would appreciate sugestions for a very basic but informative computer to purchase. i have never understood most of the ones that i have used on rental equip. i am reluctant to give up my depth gauge but i think most of them mount in that spot correct??
"but i think most of them mount in that spot correct"
Dunno. What is "that" spot.
If you're referring to your wrist, then absolutely. Everything fits there. If you're referring to a specific spot on a specific console, then maybe. Many consoles use kinda, sorta standardized sized holes, but there are a lot of exceptions. Dive shops are great places to help you find computers that fit into consoles.
Computers give you three primary pieces of information - depth, time and decompression status. You already understand depth and time and intuitively you probably already understand deco status. It's simply how long you can stay down before you incur a decompression obligation (not getting into realities that all dives are actually deco dives). All computers show this in a few different ways, but all give you a "no deco time." This is simply how long you can stay at your present depth without incuring a deco obligation. Keep this number above zero. If you go deeper, this number gets smaller. If you go shallower, this number gets larger. If you stay at a constant depth, this number gets smaller, and it get smaller at a faster rate the deeper you are.
One of the problems with rental computers is that they rarely come with instruction manuals, and when they do, people rarely read them. It's hard enough to get people to read manuals for computers they spend a few hundred dollars for, let alone ones they rent for the weekend for $20. Read the manual. Twice. Start off diving with the computer, just remembering to keep the no-deco time above zero, then after a couple of dives, go back and re-read the part about how to use the computer to calculate a decompression stop if you accidently overstay your no-deco time (at which point you'll start to understand the inherent weakness in using computers to plan decompression dives). Once you get really comfortable with your particular computer, you'll find that all of them work pretty much the same, and you'll be able to rent one or try a new one without going through quite as steep a learning curve. But for the first time, take the time to really read the manual and learn the computer.
Alan