Question about air integrated computers and transmitters

[Coconut Monkey]

You say argument, I say discussion lol
It's ok dude, we can have different opinions

Ayy man

 

[Neilwood]

I had an issue with AI this weekend - entirely my own fault though. I updated the Perdix but never checked it with my tanks. Got to the site and was about ready to splash, turned on my air and it wouldn't read. Turned out to have switched on to transmitter 2 despite me only having one. A few minutes thinking before loading the car up would have cured it.

Never had any issue with it losing connection during a dive though. I do carry spare batteries for the transmitter and receiver with the computer. I still have my double console attached however that is getting removed this week (and will be carried as a back up). I might even ditch the double console and invest in an SPG and miflex hose (for weight/space reasons).

 

[Yellowdog]

3 times I have been on a boat when someones AI computer failed to transmit / connect. The first time it was pre-dive and the operator had a spare gauge which was connected and the dive went as planned. The second time was in January in Cozumel when one of the diver's using a new to him OCI AI computer could not get the transmitter to connect. He dove without AI or a gauge? I asked him about it after and he said he is a DM with 5000+ dives and knows his air consumption by time but that is not something I want to rely on. The third time it was my first dive with my new to me AI Perdix. I grabbed my sons transmitter by mistake when I set up my reg and had the wrong id number set in the transmitter menu. I noticed it pre-dive but not in time to change for dive 1. I had plenty of time during the SI to set it up correctly on the second dive. Because I had a back up SPG, 30" Miflex with 2" brass and glass clipped to left hip d ring, so no big deal. I plan to experiment with 24" over left shoulder.

 

[CT-Rich]

Sorry i use sidemount(2 spgs yes) and there are considerable amount of case studies of transmitter losing signal due to the same frequency that the nearby divers or i suppose if you have 2 transmitters emitting - Shearwater even recall some of their transmitters back to change the radio signal frequency.

Don't get me wrong, i also own a Teric and a transmitter but spg is fool-proof - just a personal preference

No you don’t have two SPGs, you have two tanks, each with their own SPG. No redundancy.

How much redundancy you have in a given situation is a personal preference based on dive situation, training and how much money you have to blow on equipment. If you are cave diving or wreck penetrating, more redundant systems are important. If you are doing a 30’ diving from the Saturday morning cattle boat, not so much. If your AI computer goes out, your scuba unit will continue to provide air. If it goes out and you have no idea how much air you have left, that wasn’t a problem with the computer, it was you not monitoring your air.

If you are going on a $4k vacation and are not replacing batteries and thinking about what to do in the event of electronic device failure, well it is your money. Most new divers don’t have the money or foresight to bring a spare everything. I have seen more dives scrubbed over a lost mask or fin than failed computer.

 

[Aaron Harmon]

I can't help myself to ask: why? I mean, the worst thing that could happen when loosing air pressure reading is you have to abort the dive. Nothing to get excited about I think?

I live in Northwest Ohio and most of my dives are in tropical locations. I don't want to abort a dive due to an equipment failure. When you consider the cost of travel etc. The price of those dives add up and I want to make them all count. I'd have no problems scratching a dive over not feeling well (or qualified for the dive), but I'd be pissed if I had to scratch one over something that was easily preventable.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Sorry i use sidemount(2 spgs yes) and there are considerable amount of case studies of transmitter losing signal due to the same frequency that the nearby divers or i suppose if you have 2 transmitters emitting - Shearwater even recall some of their transmitters back to change the radio signal frequency.

That isn't the reason for the recall. The yellow transmitters were designed for have a completely different transmission timing so it eliminates the chance of signal collisions (ie two transmitters transmitting at the same time). But PPS screwed up and put the exact same timing frequency in the yellow transmitters as it was in the gray transmitters. Most users reported no issues as it is highly unlikely that you will turn the transmitters on at the exact same time.

You have to be pretty close to another diver for their transmitter to interfere with yours in the water, water is a very effective insulator. That is why the issue is considered to be more of a concern for sidemount divers.

 

[Mike1967]

Most users reported no issues as it is highly unlikely that you will turn the transmitters on at the exact same time.

Exactly, I've never had a problem. You couldn't turn both tanks on at exactly the same time even if you tried

 

[caruso]

I didn't say it was life and death, but it's definitely a dive ending situation, as said. On a liveaboard, it may be a trip ending situation if the liveaboard isn't well equipped with spares.

Not if you're carrying a backup SPG. Why depend on the charter to bail you out when you can pick up a spare for about $50?

. So in my short experience with AI tech, it sure doesn't seem reliable as an analog SPG.

You got a lemon and you're taking your one rather unique negative experience and generalizing it to AI and transmitters as a whole, which is just wrong.

spg is fool-proof

It certainly is not.

 

[divinh]

Not if you're carrying a backup SPG. Why depend on the charter to bail you out when you can pick up a spare for about $50?

You got a lemon and you're taking your one rather unique negative experience and generalizing it to AI and transmitters as a whole, which is just wrong.

I have a very nice analog SPG from Deep6. It's served me well. I was going to leave it attached to my first stage, after getting an AI console, but was told by a few posters that AI tech is very reliable these days and that I would only be creating another fault point by having both. So, with the AI console being new, bought from a very reputable shop, I made the mistake of only packing the AI console and not the SPG as an unattached backup.

I made sure in my post to qualify that it was in /my/ short experience with AI tech. I didn't make a blanket statement.

 

[caruso]

I have a very nice analog SPG from Deep6. It's served me well. I was going to leave it attached to my first stage, after getting an AI console, but was told by a few posters that AI tech is very reliable these days and that I would only be creating another fault point by having both.

I suggest that you not make such decisions based on the advice of a few random internet posters. Except for my post of course.

You'll get just as many votes for carrying a backup spg as you will against. It's not only about AI reliability it's also about receiver failure due to flooding or battery failure. It's all about whether it's worth the risk of losing a dive. Some on this thread have said "what's the big deal about thumbing a dive?". To me, it's not worth giving up a dive vs the rather small inconvenience of carrying a backup spg, it's also useful for the pre-dive gas check. But as with just about any hotly contested subject on ScubaBoard, your mileage can and probably will vary.

<<I saw a REALLY awesome setup on some guys rig on this past dive trip. It's PERFECT for those of us who want to carry a backup SPG to their AI >>

I've never seen it mentioned anywhere on this forum and it's just such a great freaking idea. Parts on order and I will post a new thread about it when I get it all put together, complete with a couple of photos.