Dive Instructors underwater communication device

[scubaflier]

I dont know if this link will work http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxxhaRyEtxw

[Law5Guy]

one question... can ONLY your students listen to it. Or... will other divers be forced to listen in as well?

[Insta-Gator]

I didn't see any receivers on the students. Must be some type of broadcast / speaker system.

[Jim Lapenta]

It said in the video that everyone in the spring could hear him. Friggin great. Go to the one place where you think it will be nice an peaceful and some jerk starts broadcasting and screwing up the silence. I don't want to hear his class instructions, music, or anything else coming from the damn thing. Good way to distract other classes and screw up another instructors checkouts.

[pnw_diver]

What on earth is wrong with pre-dive briefings, hand signals, slates, and wetnotes? Students are going to have to get used to the limitations of underwater communications sooner or later.

[scubaflier]

Yes it is a broadcast system. Anyone underwater can hear it. It dosen't distract other students on dives anymore than other Instructors with tank bangers and quackers. I had been running a dive program at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park and the Instructors that brought their student there enjoyed the fact that we had underwater music for them to listen to while they were teaching their classes. 60 years ago we didn't have cell phones or the internet and scuba diving was in its infancy however today we can get the anything we want on our cell phones. It will not distract from the diving experiance it will inhance it. Just like the days of the J-valve no one wanted to change to the new crap an SPG who needs that. Just like the Octo it is a piece safety equipment. If you don't like it that is fine.That is why I posted it here to get some feedback. I needed it for what I was doing and I works great. Alot of the things I do underwater you can't use Hand signals or wet notes. When your taking pictures of models underwater and they have anything on (Mask) they can't see hand signals. It also helps when your shooting video and you need to give specific direction. I have used it in search and recovery. I had a few Instructors say that they didn't want it untill they were in a situation they knew it would have help out in. We had 6 deaths in Florida last year during mini lobster season Just 2 days. Two of the deaths could have been prevented by this equipment.

Thank You very much for comments

[DiveNav]

Why not using a full face mask with UW transmitter for Instructor and normal masks with UW receivers for students?

[Jim Lapenta]

Let see "kneel on the sand", "clear your mask", "remove the reg" "now I'm going to put some music on" (that will sound like crap underwater). I'm 40 feet away, nice and neutral, in the zen zone, and all I hear is my breathing and soon that fades into the background until that BS comes blasting thru the water. How the hell does that enhance my diving experience?
If you need to verbally communicate with students underwater they should still be in the pool until they have been properly trained to communicate.
And it would be a helluva lot more distracting than a tank banger or quacker going off once or twice (something else that really should not be needed either)