Migrating from a Suunto Mosquito to a D6...

[El Orans]

Since my Suunto Mosquito decided to act like a politician (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/computers-gauges-watches-analyzers/230928-suunto-mosquito-recurring-problem.html) (completely untrustworthy), I've been using my wife's Mosquito.

Alas, she wants to use it herself, so I gave myself a little present today and I'm now the proud owner of a Suunto D6.

So far, I'm not really happy with the shield that comes with it. It doesn't look that robust.

Since I'll be taking it for a dive today, more comments are sure to follow. :)

[El Orans]

Calibrating the compass is easy just as long as you keep the D6 horizontal.

It does seem to react a bit slower to changes when compared to my SK-7 compass but it's a nice addition to the SK-7. I don't expect to use it as my primary compass.

What could be useful is the ability to recalibrate the compass when travelling to far far away as regular compasses are designed for a specific region.

[vor]

Do you *really* trust any of these electronic compass on a wrist ?

:)

[mgmonk]

I'm not really happy with the shield that comes with it. It doesn't look that robust.

I know a few where I dive that use a snorkel keeper. It's soft enough to bend around the face and strong enough to take a hit.

[El Orans]

Do you *really* trust any of these electronic compass on a wrist ?

:)It's a nice addition, it won't be my primary compass though.

Just got back from my first dive with it. Had to use the extension strap to get it to stay on my forearm, next to the bottom timer. I'll probably continue to use both for local diving as the bottom timer is very easy to read, even in low light situations. The D6 is more difficult to read, unless you use the back light.

Day time dives should not have this problem.

A plus and a minus for the log as well.
+ You can now browse the entire graphical dive profile on your screen.
- It's not possible to see the lowest bottom temperature without scrolling through the entire profile.

[El Orans]

So far, I'm not really happy with the shield that comes with it. It doesn't look that robust.The shield problem has been resolved by using the original Mosquito shield. Works like a charm. :)

[vladimir]

I have the D9. I assume the compasses are the same. I think the compass is adequate to the task of navigating in crystal clear tropical water, which is where I generally dive, and which generally entails complex navigational determinations like, "the reef is east and the open ocean is west." Under those circumstances it's nice to dispense with the wrist compass.

The D9 came with a soft plastic shield/magnifier, but it has a scratch-proof mineral crystal--as does the D6--so I don't use the shield.

[pac]

It's a nice addition, it won't be my primary compass though.

Just got back from my first dive with it. Had to use the extension strap to get it to stay on my forearm, next to the bottom timer. I'll probably continue to use both for local diving as the bottom timer is very easy to read, even in low light situations. The D6 is more difficult to read, unless you use the back light.

Day time dives should not have this problem.

A plus and a minus for the log as well.
+ You can now browse the entire graphical dive profile on your screen.
- It's not possible to see the lowest bottom temperature without scrolling through the entire profile.

El Orans, after owning the Suunto D6 for about seven months now, do you have any additional comments to add to your initial review?

I've been taking a hard look at this model, but can't find many comments from actual owners here aside from your review.

Thanks!

[El Orans]

No additional comments.

It still works like it should work.

[Katamuki]

I have been diving with a D6 for a week and have several dives so far. I like the computer but the display is a little small... but then it is a watch size. Overall I am happy with the D6 and would at this time buy it again. I had an opportunity to do a full decompression dive two days ago and had the D6 along for the ride to see how it worked. The D6 was not the primary computer but how it worked was very nice. I had taken two other recreational computers along with a HS Explorer. The two recreational computers were a Sherwood Wisdom as the SPG and a VT3 with transmitter. I followed the deep stop profile of the D6 but added some intermediate stops from the profile of the HS Explorer. The D6 had added two stops before the final deco stop of 11 minutes. The Wisdom cleared very quickly while the D6 still had 7 minutes at the ceiling. The VT3 did not even begin to count its deco until the 20ft level and so the D6 cleared before the VT3. The profile on the HS Explorer cleared 3 minutes before the VT3 at about the same time as the D6. After all this I was very happy with the D6 and its programming. The settings were DeepStop for 2min and 100% RGBM.

[pac]

Katamuki, thank you for passing on your own experiences with the D6. The side-by-side comparison you did was interesting. I appreciate you taking the time to share these here.

El Orans, thanks for the reply to my post.

[mselenaous]

I read about these shields for the D6 and the D9.

ZAGG | invisibleSHIELD | Suunto Watch Cases, Screen Protectors, Covers, Shields, Skins, Invisible Shield (http://www.zagg.com/invisibleshield/watch/suunto)

Its on my shopping list of things to try since I have a D9.

[pac]

Elena, won't the Zagg adhesive shield come right off as soon as your Suunto gets dunked in water?

It does look like a nice product for dry land use. Thanks.

[pac]

Can any D6 owners take me through the steps for going between the nitrox and air settings?

For example, on a two-tank dive I'm using Nitrox then Air followed by the same later?

Sorry, it's not 100% clear to me from the Suunto material or playing around with the settings myself.

Thanks!

[El Orans]

One problem I ran into on a recent dive can be fixed easily if I had set it up correctly before the dive.

A few minutes into the dive, I discovered that I had the D6 set to 32% Nitrox but was actually diving air. If I had set the second mix to 21%, I would have been able to switch gases during the dive.

I would have had to make sure that I surfaced well before reaching the NDL limit but it would have been more accurate that way.

Since I hadn't done that, I had to rely on my wife's Suunto Mosquito. :banghead: