The main role of a dive computer watch is to help scuba divers in tracking their dives and maneuvering safely back to sea level. A computer dive watch, is a dive computer compacted into the size of a regular sports watch. Consumer computer dive watches offer the functions of a conventional diving watch in a digital format, but with additional options well in excess of the standard analog timepiece.

Dive computers offer a secondary way of calculating the information that has traditionally been the job of decompression tables. Since a computer can execute continuous calculations based on the partial pressure of inert gasses in the human body, depth of the dive and overall time, the statistical read-out can be calculated in real-time, offering the diver up-to-the-minute info and accounting for changes in the dive schedule.

The actual data fields supported in a modern-day dive computer watch differs from model to model, but a typical computer watch will present the following info in easy-to-read LCD format:

  • Current depth of the dive
  • The maximum depth reached in the current dive
  • The time taken to reach the current depth (minus decompression stops)
  • Cumulative dive time
  • Essential decompression stop depth and time
  • Current water temperature
  • Climb rate in this dive
  • Diving profiles (handy when transferring your diving data to a computer)
  • Time to Fly - the duration a diver must delay before boarding a plane after a dive
  • Diving history - all data conglomerated in earlier dives
  • Maximum non-decompression bottom of the last dive

Some modern diving computers can link to a diving cylinder pressure meter, permitting them access to actual gas level readings, this allows them to display data such as gas pressure and remaining breathing time.

While Modern computer dive watches are able to generate an ascent plan on-the-fly, for safety reasons, divers are still urged to plan their dives well in advance and always within the limits of established decompression tables. Unless a dive is disrupted unexpectedly, a diver should always stay with the original plan.

Divers are urged to take the following safeguards to reduce the risk of decompression sickness:

  • If relying on dive computers, apply a cautious decompression model
  • Account for common environmental discrepancies that watch might not be programmed to compensate for (e.g. high surface altitude)
  • Add supplemental deep safety stops when attempting a deep dive
  • Never be afraid to ascend slower than you need to
  • Add more shallow safety stops
  • Spend a long period of time at the surface in between dives

A problem dive computer algorithms have is that absorption of gas and pressurized discharge in the body is not a topic that is understood fully. Another source of error in computer dives is that is that an individual diver's fitness, health and physiology differs from person to person.

A modern day dive computer watch can offer scuba divers a great deal of additional functionality beyond that a conventional divers watch can offer.

In today's market, computer dive watches are considerably more affordable and thus, accessible to the average diver than in the days when they were a new item.

While a dive computer watch tends to lack the status appeal of an analog diving watch, serious scuba divers can benefit immensely from having up-to-the-minute data on their wrists. A dive computer is a great investment, even if not used as a primary watch.

Visit our website to learn much more about Dive Watches. Check it out here. Dive Computer Watch.

Author: Rod McAnally
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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