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does a large digital watch work better on a deep dive with a strong current?

1K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  KarlS 
#1 ·
how dow does these pieces compare with non "retro" technology in a pinch. I agree they are great looking and I just bought one. a deco.
 
#2 ·
First of all, welcome to the forum.:-!

Not sure I can really give you a clear cut answer, as I feel that it's mostly about personal preference. Sure there are pros and cons to both, so you need to figure out what works best for you. If you find that all is equal then I guess it just comes down to whether you like seeing dial and hands, or a liquid crystal screen and numbers.

When you mention deep diving, I'm assuming you're talking about low light conditions. My personal preference is analog because you can always charge the lume quickly with your dive light, thus enabling the watch to be read at a glance. The con is that bezel legibility is limited, because the pip is the only lumed part of the bezel.

LCD can't easily be read with a dive light, because of the light reflecting off of the screen. Now if your digital watch has a back lit feature, that's another story. In my experience, you have to push a button to activate it. I know that some G-shocks have a "flick" feature, but I find they don't always work underwater when you want them to. I know because I own one. The pros of digital are that they're generally capable of giving you more info. and are typically chronographs.

Not really sure what strong current has to do with anything, unless you're talking about needing one-handed or no-handed operation.

If you have the time, I'd like to know more about the reasoning behind your question.

Hope this helps and congrats on your Deco.:)
 
#3 ·
This is a good question with an "it depends" answer. Putting on my instructional system design hat (that's what my graduate degree is in), I can tell you that digital versus analog gauge use has been studied, and in some instances, the findings have caused a shift back to analog display (even if the gauge is actually still electronic). Here's what's been found with respect to safety-quantity use of gauges (including watches, which gauge time).
  • A digital readout requires the mind to directly engage the number and apply it to a standard. For example, when you look at a digital watch, you actually read the numbers and process the time.
  • An analog readout may or may not directly engage the processing to the time. Instead, you may read the relative position rather than the absolute position. For example, checking your speedometer, you may not read the actual speed, but instead glance to be sure you're within the limit -- an awareness of the gauge position and what it means without actually reading the number.
Chances are you've experienced this. Have you ever looked at your analog watch and then have to look again when someone noticed and asked you what time it is? If so, what happened was that you knew the time relative to hand position (which is all you needed to know), then had to reprocess to convert the information to the actual time of day.

Now let's go underwater. If you relate to your no stop time based on a countdown or a count up, then for most people a digital readout is easier to process mentally than an analog process. On the other hand, if you start the dive by noting where the minute WOULD be when you must head up, then you can relative-position more quickly because you're checking its position, rather than the actual minutes elapsed. Chances are, you read your SPG that way much of the time -- watching the needle decline, but not reading the exact PSI until you get below 1000 or so (cave diving's different about this, but that's another story).

My suggestion is to have the best of both. Every dive computer I know of is going to give you information digitally, so use that for your digital readout. Use your DOXA as the backup timer and use it for relative position reading. Using them together allows you get information the quickest way and provides two timing devices, which is something you really want on a deep dive.

My two cents, anyway.;-)
 
#4 ·
Karl, we had a similar discussion a while back. Do you always dive with a computer as well as a watch or similar device to use as a bottom timer? Typically I dive with my air-integrated computer with my Doxa used as a backup. On a recent trip, my dive-computer crapped out on me, so I was able to salvage several dives just diving tables and my Doxa. I had thought that the computer had flooded, since I had just changed the battery. I have since discovered that the computer just had a "short" or loose connection in the battery compartment and has become unreliable because it will just shut off during a dive. It has been sent in for service.
 
#5 ·
Well, I can't say "always" or "never" because it depends upon the type of diving. If I'm recreational diving (ie, no stop, 130 or shallower, single cylinder, no overhead), then my typical setup is a computer and a watch. I don't use air integrated computers, partly personal preference and partly because they don't fit well into tec diving. I don't worry about a backup depth gauge in this kind of diving because I'll typically know my max depth and can simply switch to tables and watch if my computer croaks. I have a depth gauge in my spare stuff if I need to do a repetitive dive.

When I'm tec diving or diving a CCR in any mode, I dive two computers plus a watch, and on some of the out-there stuff, also a depth gauge/bottom timer and backup tables. Add my compass and the fact that I wear all gauges on the left, and I have an arm that closely resembles the cockpit of a 757. Cave diving I try to keep it to no more than 4 gauges on my arm, which works because we use slate-mounted survey compasses anyway, and that goes in my pocket or (in sidemount) butt pouch.

Although they're a bit dated (i.e there's a newer model about a year old in the same line), my tec computers are DiveRite Nitek He models because they run six gases (any ratios of oxygen, nitrogen and/or helium). At times I'll wear two watches if I want both the analog readout and the digital stopwatch function, though admittedly I don't do that too much.
 
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