As a female diver I have found in the past that Dive Watches and Dive Computers can be too big. I know many divers love huge instruments and find these easy to read etc. However this is not the case for me as I don’t have a large enough wrist and forearm to carry this comfortably.

I have been using a Suunto D6 for a couple of years now and find that the size is perfect. The screen and display are still large enough to have all the information I need displayed clearly. The display fills the screen right to the edges so there is plenty of room for the information to be displayed in a large easy to read format. The real bonus is that the D series watch style has a very low profile and therefore sits flush on my wrist, not sitting proud like some of the larger puck style dive computers. I also find that having the buttons on the sides of the computer are easier to operate as you can counterbalance the watch by using a pinching action on either side with your fingers. Especially useful if your fingers are suffering from the cold and you are pressing more firmly than you would normally.

As with all the dive computers in the Suunto range the menus are very user friendly to operate around. Suunto have kept the menus the same throughout the range so if you can work the entry level computer you can work the top of the range computer. Throughout the range they include air and nitrox modes, NDL info, ascent rates, nitrogen loading and no fly time, audible and visual alarms, log book and a dive planning mode.

The extras included in the D6 are gas switching during a dive, decompression info and a digital compass. All of these are useful for the types of diving I do. Recreational, teaching, travel, photography, technical. The gas switching is easy to set up. You program the gas mixes into the computer and the computer will blink at you when you have reached a depth that it is possible to switch gases safely during your accent. The internal digital compass means one less piece of equipment to have to carry and no fiddling with a bezel that has a chance of getting knocked or having hands too cold or muffled by gloves to operate it.

I have always preferred a wrist mounted dive computer as this is easy to see with a glance when in trim or when ascending and it leaves you hands free, no need to go searching for your consol or have to reposition it where it adds to clutter on your chest or becomes hand held.

The other added bonus with a watch style dive computer is you can wear it as a watch (this may sound obvious). I don’t normally wear my D6 as a watch but if I am travelling then I do as I can immediately remove this from my weight allowance.

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These high tech dive computers have steadily become the first choice for serious technical divers all over the world.

Shearwater Predator

I (Andrew) was lucky enough to test dive a Predator late last year when New Zealand Shearwater representative Paul Trainor came up to dive with us at the Poor Knights.
Paul supplied a Shearwater for Tom and I to use.
We did 4 great dives including a couple of big Trimix dives.
The computers performed fantastically well, meaning it was only a matter of time before Tom and I ordered our own computers.

Fast forward three months and both of us invested in new Shearwaters.

Tom bought the Head up Display for his Kiss (review coming up) and I bought a Predator.
Now I have used the computer in a few different types of dives, I feel I can start to comment on its performance.

Firstly, the display is amazing.

The OLED screen is easy to read in all light conditions.
The feedback from our *slightly* older customers is that they are over the moon they can finally see a clear display, especially at depth and in poor lighting environments!!

The options available are simply vast, this unit can be used with multiple nitrox mixes, trimix for deeper dives and also both semi and fully closed circuit rebreathers.
My decision to buy one was partly due to the fact that I still do a range of dives, so now I have a computer that does it all, air dives with a single tank, twinsets dives with rich oxygen deco gases and trimix rebreather dives!!
This functionality also is a great benefit when using on “big” dives, you can switch gases with ease, and if things don’t go to plan, you can make adjustments on the fly.

Aimed directly at tech divers, the Shearwater will grow with you.

If you are starting out on your tech journey it can be a bit confusing at the start to decide where it will take you, this computer can be adapted to suit all of these directions.
So, you start with the Open circuit mode, allowing you to use multiple gas mixes.
Then when you learn trimix, you can just plug in which gases you are using.
If you decide to get a rebreather, such as a Kiss or Inspo, you can upgrade the software to feature PO2 set points.
If a re reagent is a certainty, it may well be worth choosing the Predator with the Fischer connection, this is used to hard wire your computer into your re reagent so you can get live data from the cells, so it can monitor gas partial pressures and calculate accurate deco information in real time.
This is slowly becoming the norm for many divers around the world, and seen as the ultimate set up on rebreathers.

Other little surprises you get when you start using one include a really good dive planning software built in.
Either bail out plans or even full dive plans can be calculated on the wrist unit, including gas considerations.  This option even extends to working underwater during the dive.
When you select dive plan during the dive it gives you all your stops required to get out the water as well as the volume of each gas used.
The next pleasant surprise was the ease at which you can download the unit to your home computer or laptop.
The predator uses Bluetooth for this so no cables or USB plugs to worry about.

Prices start at CAD$1145 for the open circuit model, through to CAD$1895 for CCR/OC trimix model with hard wire capability.

Landed prices are at the current exchange rate, plus $50 shipping from Canada and NZ GST.

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We are loving diving with the Galileo Luna and have been recommending them to a lot of our divers.  We are so sure that you will like it too that if you call us and mention this article, we’ll give you a special price (that is too low that Andrew will not let me publish it!)

A new addition to the state-of-the-art GALILEO family of computers.

LUNA enhances your dive experience providing intelligence at hand, with key features, and the ability to upgrade:

• Full-Tilt Digital Compass with Bearing Memory
• Extra large Dot-Matrix Display
• Updatable Processor that can be Reprogrammed via Infrared by the User
• EN Certification to 1082 feet (330 meters)
• User-replaceable battery with tissue loading memory
• Hoseless Gas Integration with True Remaining Bottom Time Calculation

Plus all the UWATEC Core Technological Features for which we are renowned

Optional features which can be purchased separately:

• Predictive Multi Gas algorithm
• Exclusive POLAR Heart Rate Monitoring System

Galileo breaks with the past and the present to deliver the future of diving – today.

INNOVATION

* Complete navigational system with integrated digital compass and bearing memory, virtually unaffected by tilt. Ease and accuracy, all in one instrument.
* Galileo combines an extra large dot matrix display with a huge memory for unprecedented flexibility:
* PDIS (Profile Dependent Intermediate Stops) optimizes your dive in complete security.
* Hoseless gas integrated computer: when used with a Smart transmitter you get tank pressure and true remaining bottom time (RBT) on the computer screen.
* Galileo can be reprogrammed through its infrared interface, meaning you can easily upgrade your computer with new functions and features downloaded from our website.
* Predictive Multi Gas algorithm: allowing you to enjoy the full benefits of high oxygen concentration mixes.
* User friendly graphic data display, shows you tissue loading and oxygen toxicity levels as a bar graph.

PERSONALIZATION

The diver can input his personal information (name, certification numbers) and also emergency contact, medical (such as allergies) and dive insurance information into Galileo; in case of an accident the emergency information is displayed at the touch of a button.

* All alarms and warnings are displayed in clear text in the language of your choice so you never misunderstand essential beeps while engrossed in the fascinations of the underwater world. Alarms cannot be turned off, but for warnings you have a choice of either only visual, only audible or both visual and audible.
* Galileo’s user interface is as easy to use as a cell phone so you can easily program and view all interface elements for complete personalization.

LUNA can be upgraded with 2 additional features—available as optional purchases at your Authorized SCUBAPRO UWATEC dealer, these two features can be added quickly via our special site: galileo.uwatec.com.

• Predictive Multi-Gas upgrade: Purchasing this PMG feature at a later time, or whenever you need it, allows LUNA to use up to 3 Nitrox mixes (21-100% O2) during the dive, calculating the ascent schedule for all possible combinations of the programmed mixes. The outcome of the different decompression calculations can be shown on the screen in a dedicated deco summary screen.

• Heart Rate Monitor upgrade: Galileo’s heart rate monitor, jointly developed with Polar (world leader in the field of heart rate monitors), not only measures and records the heartbeat during the dive but allows the dive computer to factor the intensity of the exercise into the decompression calculation, as it is reported by the diver’s physiology. The HRM is also ideal for Apnea divers, measuring heart rate and sounding an alarm if the heart rate drops below the set level.

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On a recent trip to the Poor Knights Islands, Tara took her new Suunto Vyper Air.

Here is what she thought:

I was so excited to receive my new Suunto Vyper Air dive computer and wireless transmitter.

However, the weekend I had planned did not quite eventuate and I had to wait longer than I expected to use it (in the swimming pool does not count!).

The Vyper Air holds a lot of features – most of which I have not yet used for too long;

* a digital compass (with greater tiltability – 45 degrees they say)
* a Dive Plan simulator

The main reasons I wanted this computer are in fact the features that I am most happy with;

* wireless air integration
* two gas mixes – between 21% and 99% oxygen

Setting up the transmitter and the wireless integration is a pinch! Have the dive computer near to the transmitter and turn on your tank.
The computer gives you a channel number that you can change if you like – otherwise you are good to go. The computer starts reading the transmitter from 15bar and also completes a pairing procedure that is supposed to prevent channel number conflicts with other divers transmitters and computers.
Seeing as I am the first to own one of these – I do not anticipate any errors so far!

I took off diving for the weekend and planned to use my current dive computer and my Suunto Dive Computer and compare the two.
My other computer has been diving with me for about three years and I know it so well – so I thought that it was a good plan to use both and to see how the functions I use, and glance at the most, appear on the screen of the Vyper Air.

I found the screen very easy to read – except that in some bright light, the cover that is provided places a shadow over the bottom left and right corners which is where the current tank pressure (left) and dive time (right) are. I am sure that resolving this will simply be a case of turning my wrist.
No decompression time is easy to read – it is basically the largest and the boldest number on the screen.
Receiving more information is simple enough to find – the left and right (or up/down) buttons will scroll through dive time, temperature, max depth, current time and tank pressure. With the wireless transmitter enabled, you can also see remaining Air Time.

I notice immediately that my older computer is a lot more conservative – it generally reads 2m deeper and gave me 2 minutes decompression whereas the Vyper Air was clear. I don’t find this a problem – it will be a good computer to follow when I am diving with students – or guiding. However, I have set deepstops on the Vyper Air to up the conservatism a little.

Changing the computers settings is very easy – using the same select/mode buttons that have been appearing on console and wrist mounted Suunto computers for a while now. If you are unsure of how to change the settings, the date or calibrate the compass, the manual is well written with images detailing the screens you should expect to see.

Over the weekend my primary gas mix varied from an EANx32 down to a basic air fill. I simply used Nitrox Mode and altered my mixtures between 21% and 32%. I did not see the point in switching back to air mode and I will probably leave it like this. It reminds me to check my mixes and to make sure that my computer is reading the same as the check I have just completed on my tanks.

It does seem a shame that Suunto are not catering to the Mac users for Dive Log software – especially for a wireless transmitter enabled dive computer.
I have spent some time researching alternatives online and having a look at what other Suunto owners are using. Installing Microsoft Windows and dual booting was not an option for me, and I wanted to be able to use the data I already had saved in my previous electronic dive log (JDiveLog).

I have selected MacDive as my free electronic dive log.

So far, I have not been able to merge the two log files, but I am happy with the profile information that MacDive gives me and I cannot see it being any more work to maintain the data however if anyone has suggestions – let me know!

You need to download and install the USB/Serial drivers before you install the MacDive software. If you have any questions, please get in touch.

*Dive Software for Mac*

Dive Log Sofware – http://thedoorisajar.org/macdive/

USB and Serial Port Drivers – http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm

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The Suunto Cobra3 is engineered for avid divers and features Suunto’s all new electronic 3D compass and an easy-to-read matrix display with simplified four-button operation.

The Cobra3’s new electronic 3D compass offers divers the unique ability to tilt the compass up to 45 degrees in any direction without impairing the ability to read figures clearly and accurately.

With two-gas switching Nitrox, Air, and Gauge modes, this air-integrated computer delivers everything you need to maximize bottom time and make the most of every dive.

Going beyond the numbers, the Suunto Cobra3 graphs your dive profile with an informative matrix display and its built-in dive simulator allows you to test potential dives without getting your fins wet.

The Suunto Cobra3 is a full-featured decompression dive computer with air integration.
It monitors and displays pressure, tracks your rate of air consumption and continuously calculates your remaining air time.

The Suunto Cobra3 also provides visual and audible alarms for depth and pressure and warns you when you’re running low on air so that you are free to focus on the dive.

The Suunto Cobra3 uses the Suunto Deep Stop RGBM algorithm, that features continuous decompression for optimal ascent time.

For deeper dives, the Deep Stop option adds further protection with a series of “deep stops” between your maximum depth and ceiling.

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• Product Review : Suunto D Series Dive Computers
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The Suunto Vyper Air is one of the newest additions to the Suunto family and includes optional wireless air integration and a technologically advanced electronic 3D compass.

With wireless air integration, the Suunto Vyper Air allows divers to monitor tank pressure and air consumption from the computer on your wrist.
The Vyper Air’s new electronic 3D compass has user adjustable time out and offers divers the unique ability to tilt the compass up to 45 degrees in any direction without impairing the ability to read figures clearly and accurately.

The Vyper Air includes Air, Nitrox and Gauge modes and gas switching.
For divers using enriched air, the Suunto Vyper Air can be programmed in one percent increments for nitrox mixtures between 21 and 100 percent oxygen. Divers can also adjust oxygen partial pressure between 0.5 and 1.6 in 0.1 unit increments.

Using the Suunto Deep Stop RGBM algorithm that features continuous decompression and optimal ascent time allows for deeper dives. The Deep Stop option adds further protection with a series of “deep stops” between a diver’s maximum depth and ceiling.

The Suunto Vyper Air also boasts a built-in dive simulator, allowing divers to test potential dives before dropping into the water. It also features large digits and a Matrix display that clearly shows critical dive information including dive profile graphs.
After the dive, you can download the data to your PC and easily maintain a detailed logbook.
The Suunto Vyper Air can be worn as a wrist unit with a protective boot, or mounted on a two gauge console.

Advanced Features of Suunto Vyper Air:

• Electronic 3D compass (user-adjustable time out)
• Matrix display
• 2 gas switching
• Optional wireless transmitter providing cylinder pressure and remaining air data
• Optional Deep Stop
• Dive profile displayed graphically on the screen
• Other Main Features:
• 3 operating modes (Air, Nitrox, Gauge)
• Complete decompression stop data
• Suunto Deep Stop RGBM
• 42 h logbook and profile memory*
• Lifetime history memory
• Profile memory bookmark
• USB compatible PC interface (optional)
• Multi step ascent rate indicator
• Personal adjustment
• Altitude adjustment 0-3000 m (0-10000 ft)
• Automatic safety stop countdown
• Extended decompression range (ceiling, floor)
• Built-in dive simulator
• Calendar clock
• Alarm clock
• Electroluminescent illumination (backlight)
• User-replaceable battery
• Depth display range 0-150 m (0-450 ft)
• Audible alarms
• Max. depth alarm
• Display shield and protective boot
• User-selectable metric or imperial units

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The Suunto HelO2 is the first dive computer from Suunto with full mixed
gas capability.

It is rated to 120 m/393 ft and incorporates the new Suunto Technical RGBM algorithm.

Based on the RGBM algorithm developed by
Dr. Bruce Wienke, widely recognized decompression scientist, the Suunto Technical RGMB algorithm extends decompression flexibility into the world
of technical diving.

The algorithm introduces helium tissue groups in the decompression model to enable trimix diving, as well as diving on air and nitrox.

It allows eight gases to be programmed as primary or secondary gases, and enables oxygen content of 8-100%, and helium content of 0-92%.
For the technical diver, the great benefit of the algorithm is that it provides more flexibility and reduces task load when  decompressing by removing the need to constantly monitor a slate and watch.

Sunnto Technical Dive Planner

The Suunto technical dive planner is an easy-to-use graphical planner for planning dive profiles, gases, and back-up plans.

The intuitive interface enables the diver to try different variations of depth, time, gases and partial pressures without having to continuously recalculate.

Suunto technical dive planner calculates all changes instantly and presents the results on on easy-to-read graph.
When ready, the diver can simply export the planned gases and other dive-critical information from PC to dive computer with the included USB cable – removing the need to copy all the calculations onto a slate.

Divers are also provided with gas mixing instructions for their planned dive, which they can print out and give to a dive shop if not mixing themselves.

The Suunto technical dive planner enables divers to plan dive series based on real dive profiles – not planned dive profiles – making the plans for later dives in the series more accurate and realistic.
The planner also allows divers to compare the planned dive and the and actual dive, helping them pinpoint future areas of improvement in both planning and diving.

To coincide with the release of Suunto HelO2, Suunto Dive Manager PC software has also been updated to support the analysis of up to eight gases, making it fully compatible with the new device.

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