Divesoft Freedom experience

[Coldwater Fan]

Hi folks,

I'm interested in buying a Divesoft Freedom divecomputer in advanced nitrox version.
Based on the fact sheet, it must bei a good dc at all. Also the videos on YouTube I found looked pretty promising in regards of usability.

Butter there are not much reviews available and some questions are answered by the manual.

1.) Which Bühlmann is implemented?Somewhere I read ZHL 16 Witz GF, is there a big difference/gap between ZHL 16 and ZHL 16C?

2.) After using the O2 analyser can I add the analysed gas directly to the diveplan?

3.) The freedom uses an integrated battery. Does anyone had any problems with this battery in regards of lifetime? How long does it take to have it full charged?

4.) Can anyone tell me something about the display visibility by heavy sunlight?

5.) Are there any known problems with the quality? Had anyone problems with leaks etc?

6.) Can anyone tell me something about the suppport of divesoft, especially in Germany/Northwest Europe?

I'm looking for a dc which will grow with my diving experience. I plan to make Trimix dives but I'm not sure if it will already be in 2019.

Best regards

 

[tbone1004]

@victorzamora has a lot of experience with them. His wife dives a Freedom and he has them on his Liberty. Can probably answer those best

 

[victorzamora]

1.) Which Bühlmann is implemented?Somewhere I read ZHL 16 Witz GF, is there a big difference/gap between ZHL 16 and ZHL 16C?

2.) After using the O2 analyser can I add the analysed gas directly to the diveplan?

I'm not certain on either of those. The differences between ZHL16B and ZHL16C aren't major, but I'm not sure what the Freedom uses.

3.) The freedom uses an integrated battery. Does anyone had any problems with this battery in regards of lifetime? How long does it take to have it full charged?

The battery seems to last a long time. We've never had an issue. The original charger was bad, but the Mfg took care of it quickly and painlessly and we were good after that. We normally just leave it to charge overnight, but I think it takes a couple hours from dead.

4.) Can anyone tell me something about the display visibility by heavy sunlight

Even in heavy sunlight the screen is readable. I usually shield it a bit to make it easier to read, but that's mostly habit. My Liberty and my wife's Freedom are on "auto brightness" and they are always readable.

5.) Are there any known problems with the quality? Had anyone problems with leaks etc?

6.) Can anyone tell me something about the support of divesoft, especially in Germany/Northwest Europe?

I don't know of any issues. We never had any problems other than the charger that I mentioned earlier. I reached out to Matej Fischer w/ Divesoft US and support was fantastic. It was quick, painless, and resolved immediately. I think it took like 5 days to get the new cable back, but he offered to overnight a cable to my destination if I needed it. I was in no hurry, so I told him to not worry. I have no experience in Europe.

I'm looking for a dc which will grow with my diving experience. I plan to make Trimix dives but I'm not sure if it will already be in 2019.

I think you'll be very happy with a Freedom. I know we have been. Only thing that threw me off was not knowing that the computer uses tilt or tap for menu navigation. Once you get used to it, it's very easy to use. It took longer to get used to than my Shearwater, but it's easy now.

 

[Coldwater Fan]

Thank you very much, this helped me a lot.

Happy new year

 

[dmaziuk]

1.) Which Bühlmann is implemented?Somewhere I read ZHL 16 Witz GF, is there a big difference/gap between ZHL 16 and ZHL 16C?

There should be little to no appreciable difference between the "B" variant with an extra couple of percent GF vs. the "C" variant with marginally lower GF: it's pretty much six of one vs. half a dozen of the same.

TL;DR:

ZHL calculates "safe ascent ceiling" as (P - a) * b where P is current gas loading and a and b are "fudge coefficients". (If calculated ceiling is at or above the surface: you're on a no-stop dive, otherwise you must make a deco stop at or just below the ceiling.)

The difference between "B" and "C" versions of ZHL16 is in those coefficients: the "B" variant is slightly less conservative.

Gradient Factors modify those fudge coefficients to add extra conservatism. You can use the GF to add more conservatism to "B" and make as conservative as "C", or more.

GF replaces a with a * GF and b: with 1 / (GF/b - GF + 1). So for example if "C" coefficients are 1.2599/0.5050 and corresp. "B" coefficients are 1.1696/0.5578, you could work out GF settings to match them up.

 

[Coldwater Fan]

Hi guys,

thank you very much, you helped me a lot.
I'll gonna buy a Divesoft freedom, it uses the Bülmann ZHL 16B which is similar to 16C and my diveplanner supports the algorythm as well.
I'm a bit insecure about the tilt and tap control but I think I'll get use of it.

BR from Germany

 

[Ioannis]

Hello,

I would like to ask about the battery duration which by Divesoft is defined 10 hours.
Is that time true if you have a ScreenSaver on?
I am interested in having the freedom in always-on mode, so can anyone tell me what is the battery duration in that case?
How many dives of approx 1h duration can be done with a full charged battery in always-on screen mode?

Thank you

 

[victorzamora]

Hello,

I would like to ask about the battery duration which by Divesoft is defined 10 hours.
Is that time true if you have a ScreenSaver on?
I am interested in having the freedom in always-on mode, so can anyone tell me what is the battery duration in that case?
How many dives of approx 1h duration can be done with a full charged battery in always-on screen mode?

Thank you

The 10hr run time must be quoted with the screen ON. We never use the ScreenSaver function, and yet we had >8hrs of diving over this past weekend and it was still going strong without a charge. I would've probably charged it to be safe if we had another day ahead of us, tbh.

 

[tridacna]

From the DRIS website. Blurb about the Freedom computer:

"This is the basic version of Freedom decompresion computer for sport divers. It disposes with high quality and durability."

Fooking hilarious.

 

[nung1009]

The 10hr run time must be quoted with the screen ON. We never use the ScreenSaver function, and yet we had >8hrs of diving over this past weekend and it was still going strong without a charge. I would've probably charged it to be safe if we had another day ahead of us, tbh.

Hi Victor,

Hope all is well! Was wondering what your experience has been with the alarms? I'm thinking about going CCR down the road. I currently use a perdix. I'm considering the divesoft since it can do both OC and CC. Other than that, I like having alarms. From what I understand, there are both audible and vibratory alarms right?

How have you found them underwater?

Thanks!