COLORADO Diver Training
720-422-1839
Group and Individual Travel
SELECTING A DIVE COMPUTER Options can depend more on your particular diving style. As a starting point, you should evaluate the many functions provided by the computer and decide which ones are important for your style of diving. You choice can be based on if you prefer a console-mounted, wrist or hose-mounted design. Safe diving requires a constant awareness of depth, remaining air pressure, air consumption and remaining air time, along with your decompression and “fly-after-dive” status. The information displayed in your computer must be easy for you to read and to understand. It does you no good to have so much information which is so complicated to use that you can not use it at all or even use the information inaccurately. Some computers allow the diver to adjust the degree of conservatism to be used. Keep in mind Size and Ergonomics. Can you work the buttons and can you see the information or is the screen too small. Storage Capacity and Download Capability – How may dives will your computer keep in memory and can you download your dive data to your computer. Maintenance Requirements - Can your battery be changed by yourself, your local dive technician or does it need to be sent back to the factory. Battery Life – How long will the battery last and can you swap the battery yourself. Is the data lost when making the switch? Failure Mode – What happens when the computer fails? Does it mean the end of the dive or does it cost the rest of the day’s diving or worse.
Computer Function Checklist
As a starting point check off what is important to you.... Display current depth and maximum depth for the dive Track remaining air, and estimate how long it will last Monitor bottom time Caluclate remaining bottom time Provide a warning when it’s time to ascend Provide a warning when ascending too quickly Provide a warning if the depth is too great for the breathing gas Adjust the decompression model based on a preferred level of conservatism Adjust changes to the breathing gas Allow planning of subsequent dives Backlighting
There is a vast array of features and options in computers available on the market.
