Computer or Paper Dive Log???

Joshua Smith · Post by **Joshua Smith** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 5:11 pm

Good freaking luck with the Oceanic software. Mine's hosed beyond belief. I dove a Suunto most of the Summer, and that 'ware worked OK- not great, but reasonable enough. The Oceanic stuff was apparently written by Howler monkeys taking hallucinogens. I love my VT-Pro, aka the "Bendmaster 5000", but the 45$ cable I bought with it is probably best used to tie tomato plants off to garden stakes with.

diver-dad · Post by **diver-dad** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 5:29 pm

Nailer99 wrote: The Oceanic stuff was apparently written by Howler monkeys taking hallucinogens. I love my VT-Pro, aka the "Bendmaster 5000", but the 45$ cable I bought with it is probably best used to tie tomato plants off to garden stakes with.

I'm with Nailer99 on this. I have a VT Pro and love the computer , but the Oceanic software is pretty lame, and getting a good connection with the download cable is hit-and-miss.

Man, that's frustrating!

The same is true for my wife's VT Pro, so it is not just my unit.

That being said, I do like the data it keeps for graphing your dive profile, temperature throughout the dive, along with ascent/descent rates, tank pressure, etc.

The log portion of the software for writing the details of the dive is a simple text file that will not print out properly for me (on a HP Laserjet - a bulletproof & utterly reliable printer!). It is supposed to appear in a box below the graph of your profile & dive stats - it is there, but lines of text run over one another.

So instead, I write up the dive in a Word file that I also can paste tide table graphs, pix, and other stuff. (Hey, I'm kind of a nerd that way! - but my kids really like it when I dive with them.)

In the end, I like to keep hard copies in a binder.

DiverDown · Post by **DiverDown** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 5:35 pm

Nailer99 wrote:Good freaking luck with the Oceanic software. Mine's hosed beyond belief. I dove a Suunto most of the Summer, and that 'ware worked OK- not great, but reasonable enough. The Oceanic stuff was apparently written by Howler monkeys taking hallucinogens. I love my VT-Pro, aka the "Bendmaster 5000", but the 45$ cable I bought with it is probably best used to tie tomato plants off to garden stakes with.

Actually, I like my pro plus (bendomatic) Though the download software is not very good!! I emailed Oceanic to get there new version. Well im still waiting for a reply.. I did have my computer poop out on me and they sent me a new old one.. Overall I have been real happy with it!!

sparky · Post by **sparky** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:08 pm

Nailer99 wrote:Good freaking luck with the Oceanic software. Mine's hosed beyond belief. I dove a Suunto most of the Summer, and that 'ware worked OK- not great, but reasonable enough. The Oceanic stuff was apparently written by Howler monkeys taking hallucinogens. I love my VT-Pro, aka the "Bendmaster 5000", but the 45$ cable I bought with it is probably best used to tie tomato plants off to garden stakes with.

OH MY GOD BRO
you are killing me I am ROFLMAO so hard I have big horse tears rolling down my face as I try to type this.

Nailer you are killing me

And for my two boubles on this isue
I use both a paper log and I down load the dive profile in to my hard drive

I also have a loging program I recomend you check in to you can down load a demo version and if you like it he will give you a key code to unlock it

this is done by a north west diver and I have been useing it as long as I have been diving all up grades are free for life .
check it out

http://www.scubase.net/index.html

and I did not take the poll cause there was no selection for both

Sparky

diver-dad · Post by **diver-dad** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:06 pm

I also have a loging program I recomend you check in to you can down load a demo version and if you like it he will give you a key code to unlock it

this is done by a north west diver and I have been useing it as long as I have been diving all up grades are free for life .
check it out

http://www.scubase.net/index.html

Sparky - that software really looks sweet!

Pretty much what I have been looking for. I think I'll be giving the demo software a try.

Thanks!

sparky · Post by **sparky** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:15 pm

Diver Dad:

I love this program you can do so much with it and he is always updateing it and the price is not to bad

have any questions about it let me know

Sparky

Tangfish · Post by **Tangfish** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 11:17 pm

sparky wrote:this is done by a north west diver and I have been useing it as long as I have been diving all up grades are free for life .
check it out
http://www.scubase.net/index.html

No Mac support!

Either way, you should keep a hardcopy dive log. I'll add to the list of people who think the Oceanic OceanLog software is garbage. Nailer even bought the cable after reading my review of it!

Zen Diver v1 · Post by **Zen Diver v1** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:53 am

Sounder wrote:Ok - why are the Oceanic's known as the bendomatics and bendmaster 5000 etc. Are they more liberal than others? I know there is a setting for conservative safety numbers too.

Yes, they are very liberal, along with Aeris computers. They are all made by a company called Pelagic.

-Valerie

Nwbrewer · Post by **Nwbrewer** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 9:35 am

Since I don't dive a computer, for the moment I'm paper only. $\:D/$

Jake

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:47 am

There's no place on the poll for those of us who use both!

I like having a copy on my PC and a hard copy log if I travel to a destination where they want to see it.

I love my Oceanic Pro Plus 2, $\:D/$ and also HATE the software!

It is not very intuitive or user friendly.

I have played with it enough to learn my way around it and figure out what to do when it doesn't work, so I still use it. It is easier to use the native software for me inspite of it being so clunky because so much information is automatically downloaded from the computer.

Hopefully Oceanic will fix this in future versions? I guess they are a dive equipment company and not a computer company, but couldn't somebody get together with somebody and make a decent product?!?

I did find their tech support helpful when I called...

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 11:39 am

Sounder wrote:Tom - do you have the "conservative setting" set on your computer?

Not to my knowledge, although I will go back and read my manual again.

It has not been an issue / concern for me to this point because I do not dive doubles and have not been below 100 ft, and have not gone into deco with the computer. (I'm a pretty conservative diver at this point)

I believe that the "Bendmaster" comments have usually come from some of the guys on the board when they are heading deep and comparing what their computer says to another computer of a buddy who is with them at the time. That is where you really notice the difference in the algorithyms.

Bassman dives a Suunto and sometimes our computers get in an argument

but it is usually a mild one. I also dive Nitrox quite a bit (which I love, by the way) so that accounts for some of the differences in what our computers "say" is acceptable for repetetive dives.

Anyone else who uses an Oceanic computer or has knowledge care to weigh in here?

BASSMAN · Post by **BASSMAN** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 12:04 pm

I also do both!
I dive a Sunto , Cobra.
Still learning about some of the Software Options, but so far, I like it alot!
Going to Greatful Divers gas management seminar sure made me rethink about how much I depended on my computer for my dive planning.
I too, am still pretty conservative when it comes to deep diving.
Some day I may try out the "Bendmaster 5000"
'

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 12:10 pm

Sounder wrote:I'd like to learn more about what the situation was where people got bent while following their bendomatics.

I personally haven't heard of anyone getting "bent" while following their "bendomatics". It's been more in the vein of light hearted banter / joking as divers compare computers.

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 12:19 pm

Solution - Dive boat with wide open back.

We'll gear you up, lay you down, and roll you off the back. Voila! No back pain issues!

Joshua Smith · Post by **Joshua Smith** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 12:49 pm

I coined the term "bendomatic" after my suunto gave me a deco penalty while my buddy's VT-Pro was encouraging him to go deeper and calling him a chicken for ascending. That's when I knew I had to have one!

OK, it wasn't calling him a chicken, but still- the Suunto algorythm is much more conservative than Oceanic's.

diver-dad · Post by **diver-dad** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 3:12 pm

Calvin Tang wrote: No Mac support!

I thought Macs could also run PC programs too?? Guess not.

thelawgoddess · Post by **thelawgoddess** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 3:50 pm

hey, how come i can't choose both???

sparky · Post by **sparky** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 6:55 pm

thelawgoddess wrote:hey, how come i can't choose both???

Hey LawGodess:

I am with you I realy wanted my vote to be heard but this is a riged ballot
Sounder is trying to rig the election
I think

Sparky

thelawgoddess · Post by **thelawgoddess** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 7:09 pm

yeah. i mean, i use a dive computer, but then i go home and write the info in my log book and add things that the computer doesn't track - like buddies, and vis, and skills and such. i don't have implements to download my data, though, so i don't really track my dive profile (?) but i guess i could write that data down as well ...