Shearwater Tern and Tern TX

[Brett Hatch]

Agree that this is a rec version of the Teric. Nice to see that it comes with a compass, I really like the compass on my Teric. Having a separate SKU for AI support makes sense, it's something that their customers have been asking for.

As far as I can tell, Shearwater has resolved the battery issues with the early Terics, so I hope to see good batteries in these as well.

 

[scubadada]

...As far as I can tell, Shearwater has resolved the battery issues with the early Terics, so I hope to see good batteries in these as well.

I would like to hope so. I've had Teric #7 since January 2023 but was not able to dive it until June. I've had it on 4 dive trips now, 49 dives. The antenna broke in July and was repaired in August. Two trips since then.

On my October trip it started at 82% and ended at 32% after 4 days, 8 dives, 7 dive hours, with more time than that in dive mode. At the end of the trip, it was charged to 100% and put in storage in standby. Since then, it has gone down to 80% in 21 days.

Teric specs say battery life is 30 hrs in dive mode and 3 months in standby. I'm hoping for the best, we'll see. I have a 2 week, 40+ dive trip coming up next month.

 

[scrane]

I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard that the Teric's problems were over.

 

[lowwall]

I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard that the Teric's problems were over.

So you could buy another as a backup?

 

[Brett Hatch]

I would like to hope so. I've had Teric #7 since January 2023 but was not able to dive it until June. I've had it on 4 dive trips now, 49 dives. The antenna broke in July and was repaired in August. Two trips since then.

On my October trip it started at 82% and ended at 32% after 4 days, 8 dives, 7 dive hours, with more time than that in dive mode. At the end of the trip, it was charged to 100% and put in storage in standby. Since then, it has gone down to 80% in 21 days.

Teric specs say battery life is 30 hrs in dive mode and 3 months in standby. I'm hoping for the best, we'll see. I have a 2 week, 40+ dive trip coming up next month.

Forgive me if I've misread you. But, if the battery is supposed to last 3 months in standby, I would expect the battery to drain by about 1% per day. Yours losing 20% in 21 days seems pretty consistent with that. This is the expected behavior, right?

As for the 30 hours in dive mode, I don't really know how to compare that against your 50% battery loss in 7 hours of diving, but it sounds like it's draining a little faster than expected. Do you have any sense of how much time you have the computer in dive mode, while not actually diving? If it's about an hour per dive, then that plus the 7 hours actually diving would add up to 15 hours, or 50% of the expected time. But, that sounds like a high estimate, to me anyways

 

[lowwall]

Agree that this is a rec version of the Teric. Nice to see that it comes with a compass, I really like the compass on my Teric. Having a separate SKU for AI support makes sense, it's something that their customers have been asking for.

The watch form factor always made better sense as a rec computer.

From the press release:

"the enhanced Tern TX, which boasts transmitter-enabled diving, capable of connecting with up to four Swift gas pressure transmitters and includes a digital compass for superior underwater navigation."

So it appears that the compass only comes with the AI version. If that's correct, it's a crappy move by Shearwater.

I'm also a little concerned about their wording on the Swift transmitter. I have to wonder if they are shutting out standard PPS transmitters and only accepting their proprietary version.

 

[tursiops]

I'm also a little concerned about their wording on the Swift transmitter. I have to wonder if they are shutting out older PPS transmitters and only accepting their proprietary version.

Since the transmissions of the SWIFT are identical to the transmissions of the PPS, I don't see this as a concern.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

The watch form factor always made better sense as a rec computer.

From the press release:

"the enhanced Tern TX, which boasts transmitter-enabled diving, capable of connecting with up to four Swift gas pressure transmitters and includes a digital compass for superior underwater navigation."

So it appears that the compass only comes with the AI version. If that's correct, it's a crappy move by Shearwater.

I'm also a little concerned about their wording on the Swift transmitter. I have to wonder if they are shutting out standard PPS transmitters and only accepting their proprietary version.

its 775 retail for an AI dive computer with a compass.... in dive talk thats basically free. And yes I am a broke diver but I am ABSOLUTELY buying one and no one can stop me

 

[Brett Hatch]

The watch form factor always made better sense as a rec computer.

From the press release:

"the enhanced Tern TX, which boasts transmitter-enabled diving, capable of connecting with up to four Swift gas pressure transmitters and includes a digital compass for superior underwater navigation."

So it appears that the compass only comes with the AI version. If that's correct, it's a crappy move by Shearwater.

I'm also a little concerned about their wording on the Swift transmitter. I have to wonder if they are shutting out standard PPS transmitters and only accepting their proprietary version.

Ah, you're right, I misread that. A little disappointing to hear. But, they've got to differentiate their products somehow, it comes down to market research.

 

[scubadada]

Forgive me if I've misread you. But, if the battery is supposed to last 3 months in standby, I would expect the battery to drain by about 1% per day. Yours losing 20% in 21 days seems pretty consistent with that. This is the expected behavior, right?

As for the 30 hours in dive mode, I don't really know how to compare that against your 50% battery loss in 7 hours of diving, but it sounds like it's draining a little faster than expected. Do you have any sense of how much time you have the computer in dive mode, while not actually diving? If it's about an hour per dive, then that plus the 7 hours actually diving would add up to 15 hours, or 50% of the expected time. But, that sounds like a high estimate, to me anyways

Yes, I also hope my current battery consumption is within specs. Ninety day consumption in standby would be pushing it. During the 8 days. 7 hour of diving I might have been in dive mode as long as 12 hours, probably less. I depressurize my cylinder after setting up and in between dives when I switch over.

As I said, we'll see. All my previous bad batteries have continued to deteriorate, I hope that is not the case this time.