Deco Stops?!?!

[BB1]

Hi All,

Well I've just returned from Australian Cave country with a fresh new cave certification card.

We also started our Trimix/Deco diving course down there in the deeper Caverns/Sinkholes with a nice 40m (130ft) air dive to introduce us all to mild narcosis followed by a nice dive in Kilsby Hole to 53m (175ft) on 21/35 Trimix with an 80% deco mix - crystal clear head during this one.

I ran the computer set as Air with Nitrox deco mix as a backup to the stops and run times on my wrist slate. Difference in run times was 2 minutes longer on air.

This was the first time I've put my UEMIS into deco and it was great - very readable and understandable and tank switches were a breeze.

An annoying thing for has been highlighted though. I am cutting tables on V-Planner and the shallow stops at 9m, 6m and 3m are not matched by the UEMIS.

As soon as I get near to 5m (normal rec safety stop depth) it changes over to the normal bar graph counting me towards that 5m stop and it complains when I go past it to my final 3m stop.

Is there a way around this?

When the trimix update is released will there be a way to tell the UEMIS that we are now "Tech" diving and please follow normal 3m interval stops during deco??

For that matter could the UEMIS be programmed to show the 5m safety stop during normal NDL dives and switch to 3m interval stops during deco dives??

Any insight appreciatted!

I still think this computer rocks but an starting to find small holes such as this that let it down in comparison to a shearwater's handling of deco stops for example.

 

[KY]

okay,,

CDAA cave site, you dived 45m on air?? thats a regulation breach... you better be careful about who youre shouting to that about, as thats a suspension there and then for both yourself and your instructor...

V-planner?? try gap or one of those other app's,,, V-planner is obsolete and out of touch with the rest of humanity. Its a shyte piece of software, that really needs to be updated, as its fallen soo far behind the other apps out there its untrue...

As for UEMIS,, not heard of it. Heard of 1000+ other computers but not this one, you get it out here in Oceania or online???

Also, you'll probably find its designed / set for open water rather than "cave" settings, as only fools do trimix stops at 3m in open water...

 

[BB1]

Apologies for fuzzy thinking - not much sleep after working my guts out all weekend in the big flood cleanup here in Brisbane.

We dived to 40m but ran the runtimes as if it was a 45m dive to add a level of conservatism - an additional 5 minutes of deco.

I am fully aware of the 5 CDAA golden rules of cave diving - number 5 being "max depth of 40m on air". Reciting them became a mantra prior to the exams so I could remember them all.

V-planner seems o work for everyone I know but I'll take a look at GAP, thanks for the heads up.

I got the UEMIS from my LDS which happens to be in the USA because they give me better service and prices than about 95% of the dive shops here! Check it out though as its a good piece of kit.

It's a lot more capable than just OW. Trimix upgrade due out this year and a LOT better interface than some other "tech" computers. I am finding a few annoyances as outlined in the OP.

3m final stops in open water would be dodgy given normal swell, I'd plan for 6m last stop but am currently still learning so not sure if that's the norm yet.

 

[Paul S]

Hi All,

As soon as I get near to 5m (normal rec safety stop depth) it changes over to the normal bar graph counting me towards that 5m stop and it complains when I go past it to my final 3m stop.

Is there a way around this?

Looking at my SDA now, there's a menu under 'Dive Settings -> Safety -> Adjust' where you can set the safety stop depth and time.

Can you not set this for 3 metres, or 0 mins? I set mine for 6m for the reasons you give.

V-planner?? try gap or one of those other app's,,, V-planner is obsolete and out of touch with the rest of humanity. Its a shyte piece of software, that really needs to be updated, as its fallen soo far behind the other apps out there its untrue...

Certainly never heard anything like that before. Sure V-Planner isn't the prettiest or easiest app to use, but I've no reason the believe it's results are in anyway bad.

 

[KY]

nothing wrong with the app, and the results it gives, its just,, well,, not very good.. its like putting a dos based computer against an iphone.. such is the difference between program's these days.. just look at Baltic Deco by way of example??

V-Planner has had its day, and needs a MASSIVE overhaul imho..

 

[BB1]

Deco software is a very personal preference in my limited experience - everyone has a favourite model they like to use.

Our instructor uses V-planner for very long exploration cave dives which kind of makes it good enough for me at this point in my diving.

I personally find V-planner very simple to use but I do have an IT background. I've downloaded a trial of GAP to have a look but think I will continue to use V-planner as I am familiar with it already. I also have decoplanner that I use to double check the v-planner tables and make sure there is no glaring descrepancy.

Baltik software is not a fair comparison as it is "smartphone" only software - not PC based.

In regards to my original post, and with the benefit of some decent rest since I got back, because of the extra levels of conservatism we were using to stay safe during training I now realise that the UEMIS had already cleared all deco obligation before I got to safety stop level. Because of that it was just using the normal NDL countdown to the 5m stop. Further reading of the manual also confirmed this. See pages 11,19 and 20 of the manual for graphical explanation of this!