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From: Jsuw <Jsuw@ao*.co*>
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 01:24:55 EDT
To: markg@te*.ne*, techdiver@aquanaut.com, cavers@ge*.co*
Subject: Re: DiveRite NiTek3 Computer
> Does anyone have any experience, pro or con, with the new DiveRite NiTek3
>  Computer?  I have a Bridge II and am considering trading it in.

I JUST got one and used it on a 10 day dive trip.  Unfortunately all of the
dives were on air so I didn't get to really check out the features of the
three mixes.  I set all of them to 21% and on a couple of dives changed from
mix 1 to mix 2 or 3, just to see it mark all of them in the LOG feature. 

In general I liked it.  My older computer is an Aladdin Pro (air), so I can't
compare directly with a Bridge II.  I only took the Aladdin Pro along with the
NiTek3 on dives the first day, so I don't have a direct comparison.  I just
have a gut feel that the Nitek3 had a more conservative model than the Aladdin
Pro.  

As an illustration:

There was one day I did two dives in the morning, and then afterward I got
VERY chilled (this was in Fiji, so the air was warm).  There was a bug going
around on the boat, so I thought I'd take it easy, skip some dives, and warm
up.  I ended up not diving the rest of that day.  

That gave me almost 18 hours out of the water before I dived the next morning.
I was not "cleared" of nitrogen by the computer any time during the week once
I had started diving, even with the long surface interval this time.

The first dive I did was to 112' for 47 minutes.  About 15 minutes of the dive
were spent below 90 feet, about 15 minutes were spent below 60 feet.  The
NiTek3 indicated that I had several minutes of deco at 20' and at 10' to do as
a result.  I was a bit surprised by how much I was required to do compared to
what similar dives on the Aladdin Pro required in the past.  I cleared all of
the time during the 30' portion of the reef though.  

Some *minor* things I'd like changed, which did not effect performance are:

1. The temperature at max depth displays in LOG mode, but it is not displayed
during the dive.  I'd like to see the temperature displayed, since it is
sensing it.

2. PO2 is displayed during the dive, but NOT in LOG or PROFILE mode, I'd like
to see that displayed then, so that if I don't remember to look at it during
the dive, I still know what it was at each point.  (I know I can compute it,
but since the computer has the information, why not track it for later
display?)

Some things I liked in comparison to the Aladdin Pro:

1. The three nitrox mixes (and having nitrox in general), and being able to
change the mixes underwater

2. The profile mode (let's you display depth at various intervals -- you can
set it to record at 5, 10, 20, 30, or 60 seconds intervals, and the profile
mode will display depth at each interval after the dive)

3. the air temperature reading in LOG mode

4. the time and date display

5. the Oxygen and Nitrogen limit visual displays

6. The PO2 display

7. it doesn't make annoying beeping noises when it scrolls the dive times in
PLAN mode (the Aladdin Pro does -- and also scrolls whenever the contacts get
wet, so I hear it scrolling too often)

I hope this helps.
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