Posted by TDI_2 on August 07, 2002 at 11:21:38:
In Reply to: Dive Tables vs. Computers posted by Eagle Ray on August 07, 2002 at 10:48:39:
You'll love it. Suunto gives you these continuous features, after it automatically starts itself in the water:
Current depth
Max depth during the dive
Dive time
Remaining NDL time if youre in Air or Nitrox mode
NDL time consumed, with a graphic display and a warning beeper when you venture into deco
Ascent rate, with a warning beeper and a graphic display
A built in light you can set for display duration
A nitrox mode with ppO2 display based on depth after you dial in the FO2
Extended NDL times for nitrox diving
3 choices for personal conservative settings: normal, 1 preference, 2 preferences.
3 Altitude settings: sea level, intermediate altitude, high altitude
A post-dive planning and analysis mode that gives date/time of dive, dive time, surface interval time, max depth, AVERAGE DEPTH [you can use this for RMV calculations], water temp.
A dive profile read-out feature. This is really fun, to watch your dive all over again. Its not graphic, its a minute-by-minute depth read-out.
A dive planning feature, based on actual or planned surface interval time.
A dive simulation feature. This lets you play at home with it, trying out various dive plans, and seeing what kind of trouble you can get into underwater, if you go too deep or stay too long.
Suunto also makes a Cobra, which is integrated with your SPG HP hose. It gives you additional features, like RMV calculated for you, remaining time at this depth at this RMV, etc. I dont have the Cobra. Its nice, but I prefer the wrist mounted Vyper.
I am scheduled to teach a private lesson this coming weekend, and for the classroom portion, I will show them the Suunto Vyper (mine), and also the NAUI dive tables.
Then we will work a bunch of classroom problems with both. NAUI requires proficiency in the NAUI dive tables for the Basic Open Water course, and sanctions the use of other tables like DCIEM or dive computers after graduation from the basic course.
In the real world, it is quite unusual for someone to be using dive tables between dives for NDL recreational diving, particularly when the major brands of dive computers do so excellently well at handling all the depth and time issues for NDL and repetitive diving.
I have seen dive students in "advanced open water" classes sitting on the dive boat playing with their dive tables, after their first "deep" dive in their lives, to ... say ... 95 fsw, and trying to figure out how deep they can go next, and for how long, after a given surface interval of ... say ... 45 mins to an hour while the boat chugs to someplace else. Thats fine with me, as an academic requirement.
I personally believe that a lot of instructors are short changing their students by NOT introducing more dive computer orientation information during the classrooms. I can live with the classroom requirement to teach dive tables.
In the real world, divers use dive computers.
I would love to hear how Tribes handles this issue in his NAUI classes, and how Kevin handles this in his PADI classes, and how Jeff handles this in his SSI classes.