HBO MD
Contributor
Just returned from 3 weeks of aggressive diving with my Galileo Sol.
Just some observations.
It worked like a charm and was reliable and reassuring.
My back up was an Aladdin Tech 2, which has the same algorithm as the Sol.That being said, I decided to adjust the Sol to varying levels of increased conservatism to see the impact on dive times. Each increase ( ie going from L0 - L1, L2 etc) decreased bottom time by approx 10 minutes. This of course depends on the profile, but I was diving around 60-80 ft and only 2 dives per day initially. Being at the ripe old age of 50, I thought it would be of interest to help evaluate the impact of dive time. This is not an unreasonable decrease as age and associated ailments begin to impinge upon us.
Additionally, and I couldn't find this mentioned in the extensive documentation that accompanies the Sol, the screen will blank every so often. Originally I thought this was a transmission problem, but on contacting the techs at SP, they informed me that the screen "refreshes" itself. So this appears to be a normal function. Should it be due to transmission problems, an alert screen will appear detailing this. Additionally, the recommendation of having the transmitter directly in line with your wrist did not seem to impact function for me. It was mounted on the right side of my first stage and I wore it on my left wrist as I would a watch.
Additionally, in terms of work load warnings, the respiratory rate is extremely oversensitive and unless one cranks it down substantially, you will be constantly rewarded with " excessive workload" warnings.
I utlimately decided to run in "silent mode" because the incessant beeping was distracting and obnoxious. I would imagine that part of diving is vigilance, and so I find myself reflexly checking guages etc frequently. The repeated beeping of computers is something that, while I can understand, is hopefully avoidable in some models and by the careful behavious of divers. Unless you revert to silent mode, the Sol will be incessantly reminding you of a huge array of potential and real concerns which while possibly of significance, should already be on your mind anyway.
Overall it is a superb device, however, the heart rate monitor looks like a bra strap from behind, so be prepared for some raised eyebrows.
Safe diving.
Just some observations.
It worked like a charm and was reliable and reassuring.
My back up was an Aladdin Tech 2, which has the same algorithm as the Sol.That being said, I decided to adjust the Sol to varying levels of increased conservatism to see the impact on dive times. Each increase ( ie going from L0 - L1, L2 etc) decreased bottom time by approx 10 minutes. This of course depends on the profile, but I was diving around 60-80 ft and only 2 dives per day initially. Being at the ripe old age of 50, I thought it would be of interest to help evaluate the impact of dive time. This is not an unreasonable decrease as age and associated ailments begin to impinge upon us.
Additionally, and I couldn't find this mentioned in the extensive documentation that accompanies the Sol, the screen will blank every so often. Originally I thought this was a transmission problem, but on contacting the techs at SP, they informed me that the screen "refreshes" itself. So this appears to be a normal function. Should it be due to transmission problems, an alert screen will appear detailing this. Additionally, the recommendation of having the transmitter directly in line with your wrist did not seem to impact function for me. It was mounted on the right side of my first stage and I wore it on my left wrist as I would a watch.
Additionally, in terms of work load warnings, the respiratory rate is extremely oversensitive and unless one cranks it down substantially, you will be constantly rewarded with " excessive workload" warnings.
I utlimately decided to run in "silent mode" because the incessant beeping was distracting and obnoxious. I would imagine that part of diving is vigilance, and so I find myself reflexly checking guages etc frequently. The repeated beeping of computers is something that, while I can understand, is hopefully avoidable in some models and by the careful behavious of divers. Unless you revert to silent mode, the Sol will be incessantly reminding you of a huge array of potential and real concerns which while possibly of significance, should already be on your mind anyway.
Overall it is a superb device, however, the heart rate monitor looks like a bra strap from behind, so be prepared for some raised eyebrows.
Safe diving.
