View Full Version : Anyone got a SmartTEC?
Have any kit junkies out there tried the new aladin SmartTEC computer?
Is it any good?
I currently have an ageing Aladin Pro and I am thinking of getting a multi-gas computer, the Vytec has the market cornered it seems, but I like the look of the new Uwatec one (I've always liked the big clear displays). Not fussed for air-integration, just the main unit.
Iain.
Have you thought about the Apeks Quantum? Similar functionality to the Vytec and SmartTEC but only about 200
Never heard of it 'till now, just looked it up on the apeks website.
Looks OK, only two mixes (not that I would use 3 often if at all).
More vyper sized than aladin sized though.
Iain.
Never heard of it 'till now, just looked it up on the apeks website.
Looks OK, only two mixes (not that I would use 3 often if at all).
More vyper sized than aladin sized though.
Iain.
Yep it is smaller than the SmartTEC but it is a quarter of the price.
If you are willing to spend SmartTEC money then get a VR3 which is probably the most capable dive computer on the market
Hadn't got as far as looking at prices.
If smartTEC is much more than a vytec (why? it has similar features) then I won't be parting with my money.
Hadn't got as far as looking at prices.
If smartTEC is much more than a vytec (why? it has similar features) then I won't be parting with my money.
As far as I can see the smarttec has one additional feature - the ability to monitor pressure on all three gas sources.
Prices are roughly:
smartTec 750
Vytec 270
Vytec with transmitter 500
Quantum 200
VR3 (Open circuit nitrox) 600
To be honest I think you would get used to the display on any of them so I would not worry too much about the size.
So it depends what you want to do to which is the best. Quantum is two mix, Vytec and smartTec are three and VR3 is 10. For nitrox/air dives I can not see any use for three gases so any of them would do the job, but if you want to go to trimix and/or closed circuit later then the VR3 gives you an upgrade path which would save you money in the long run.
As far as I can see the smarttec has one additional feature - the ability to monitor pressure on all three gas sources.
Not really interested in air integration so I'm going off the idea at £750.
but if you want to go to trimix and/or closed circuit later then the VR3 gives you an upgrade path which would save you money in the long run.
A felt tip pen and a slate has proved adequate so far for trimix. A friend has just bought a VR3, but I can buy a dive holiday or two for that :-)
The aladin might have to last a bit longer, or maybe an apeks for the gauge mode so it doesn't bleep at me if I'm breathing something it doesn't understand. Thanks for the price check.
Iain.
Ben Field
18-11-2005, 17:55
If you are willing to spend SmartTEC money then get a VR3 which is probably the most capable dive computer on the market
Or get the HydroSpace Explorer, slightly cheaper than VR3.
Has a nice big screen with lots of info... seeing as its something you mentioned.
You get 10mixes, OC and CC, Air, Nitrox and Trimix right out of the box, also 10 different deco programs to choose from, buttons are abit fiddly but then the VR3 isn't perfect either. Its big selling point is FULL RGBM which is handy if you gas dive, RGBM profiles aren't marvellous on O2 and N mixed but add some Helium and you'll see a BIG difference.
Just another option....
BEN
One of these?
http://www.hs-eng.com/
Any UK suppliers?
I know I said big display, but that looks ridiculous.
Ben Field
22-11-2005, 13:40
One of these?
http://www.hs-eng.com/
Any UK suppliers?
I know I said big display, but that looks ridiculous.
Yup, one of those! :D
Display is big and contains ALL the information without flipping menus- its handfull at first but after a couple dives you get used to it...
I have a rebreather so really the only choice was VR3 or Explorer (for now) I choose the Explorer because it was cheaper (the way I got it :cool: ) and wanted to try the RGBM profiles when gas diving.
If I don't like it I can sell it on and get a VR3- tech computers hold their value it would seem and 2nd hand market is good- its something to consider when buying expensive dive gear- regs and suits seem to loose value, torches and computers don't, so you can gamble and sell on abit more!
BEN
scubacoach
05-12-2005, 21:28
I believe the 750 price includes the sender. What a lot of people do not realise about the UWATEC units is that the gas intergration does a lot more than any other makers version. The gas consumption during the dive is taken into the algorithm and if you are relaxed and breathing lightly it will increase your bottom time. Conversely if you are breathing hard and working hard it will adjust your deco schedule which is something your pre cut tables cannot do once you are underwater. Also the water temp is taken into the deco schedule if it is cold you get less time if it is warm you get more. There is also a stop watch feature that can be selected under water and a marker to look at when you surface if you want to check out something on the profile during the dive. If you buy the other senders when you swap supplies the mix you have planned in for that sender takes over and adjusts the deco sched.
There be other features which i may have forgotten.
beware the Apeks there have been a number of failures posted Yorkshire divers site.
The gas consumption during the dive is taken into the algorithm and if you are relaxed and breathing lightly it will increase your bottom time. Conversely if you are breathing hard and working hard it will adjust your deco schedule which is something your pre cut tables cannot do once you are underwater.
So how does this algorithm take into consideration things like filling lift bags, your buddy breathing off an octopus, a slight leak in the BCD so it often has to be refilled etc? I would suggest it does not. The latter two of these problems you would definitely not want extra deco added when it was not requried. Also where is empirical research to define how much extra deco to add for breathing hard?
Also the water temp is taken into the deco schedule if it is cold you get less time if it is warm you get more.
So how does the computer know how warm you are? It does not matter a bit how warm the water is it is you that matters. Two divers in 10 degrees of water, one i a 3mm wetsuit and the other in a drysuit with a Weezle extreme and an electric heated jacket - if body temprature makes a siginficant difference to deco then these two divers are going to need to be on very different schedules but the computer has no way of knowing that.
I would suggest that these two adjustments are just fudges that are principally put in for marketing reasons as the computer does not have sufficient data to make a definitive adjustment. Pretty much all dive computer manufactures are guilty of this kind of marketing BS but these two claims by Uwatec are two of the most blatent.
PeteM - exactly the critcism of the temp/air integration I would have made.
I did say I didn't want AI. May seek a price for a computer with no transmitters.
scubacoach - thanks for the heads up on the possible apeks failures, I'll check YD. The thing that really firghtens me about that computer is the 'reset' button - yikes!
scubacoach
07-12-2005, 23:32
Re the reply from Pete M suggest you look at Diving Physiology in Plain English and check the chapters that cover cold water diving.
It is not just hot air there is a science base to the data used in the adaptable algorithm
Re the reply from Pete M suggest you look at Diving Physiology in Plain English and check the chapters that cover cold water diving.
It is not just hot air there is a science base to the data used in the adaptable algorithm
My comment did not say it was hot air it said the algorithm adaption is a fudge because there is insufficient imperical data to define the adjustment factor required and there are insufficient inputs to adjust the alogorithm even if there was a known correction.
Even if you ignore the first problem (which is what you post quoted above effectively tried to answer) then the second problem is insurmountable without having some form of body core temprature reader providing input to the computer. The biggest study that I know of the effects of temprature on decompression was done by the US navy and involved fitting all the volunteers with anal temprature probes. As as I'm aware the SmartTEC does not have this feature ;)
John Williams
13-12-2005, 20:12
The biggest study that I know of the effects of temprature on decompression was done by the US navy and involved fitting all the volunteers with anal temprature probes.
I'd love to have seen the note that went around the US Navy asking for volunteers to have their anuses "probed".:o
Having some Royal Navy experience myself (though not of this sort!) I'd also like to see how they defined "volunteer":p
"Congratulations to all those on parade for 'volunteering' for today's project.... For all those NOT on parade - please be at Captain's table by 1400 tomorrow (or send the Ship's Surgeon to explain your absence!)"
John
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