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>>Tired of those long deco stops?...  Can't stand those National
Geographic magazines?...  I want to take my CD player down with
me.

Has anyone had any experience with that?  I want to be able to
stop/play/skip,repeat tracks, so the CD has to be inside the
drysuit.  There are 2 problems.

    a) the wire from the drysuit to the headphones
    b) the headphones themselves

My neck seal is pretty tight, so I might just run the wire
along it.  If that doesn't work, we can always use a pair of
scisors and aqualseal.

Problem is b).  Are there any small headphones we can use for
diving?  At 44-39F I have to wear a hood.

What about dry hoods?  Anyone recomends any model/brand?  Has
to be really dry!

Thanks in advance, Ed.<<
________________________________

I just bought an underwater stereo unit in the U.S., which is commercially
available. It consists of a Mini-Neutralite canister (Dive-Rite), which holds a
walkman(or CD-player) and additional batteries. A set of headphones are attached
to the canister with a cord. The price of the system without the player is
approx. $ 400.
I have no problems hearing the sound wearing a CF 200 with the attached thick
hood and having a second hood below at the same time. 

There is an on-off switch on the canister, which is in line with the power
supply(two D-cell batteries). I am using a Sony Sport walkman and had to open
the walkman to solder the battery wires to the DC input of the unit. There is a
device in the canister for taking the two D-cell batteries. 
The reason for larger batteries is 1. that the internal walkman batteries may
not run the unit in cold water and 2. the have to chance to switch on and off by
using this additional battery pack within the canister. 

I am not sure where the headphones come from exactly. As far as I remember this
are headphones from an underwater metall detector, which have been equipped with
special loudspeakers in order to cover the music frequency range. The headphones
are sealed for underwater use, so there is no need for a dry hood.

With this system it is not possible to "stop/play/skip,repeat tracks," but if
the deco is long enough, you will hear it several times anyway.

The description of the system says that the canister was tested down to 285 ft,
but this was done with a battery inside, and putting a player in it, it may be
necessary to fill the dead space for support. But clipping the stereo system to
the deco line or surface oxygen, it may not be necessary to take it deep.

If you want to go with a system in your dry suit, the important point is to go
with the wire through the suit.  There are connectors available which are small
enough to be placed in a drysuit and really plugable underwater. I use these
connectors for a heating system, but they should also work for headphone wires.
These connectors are quite expensive ( approx. $ 250), so I think the underwater
stereo, which is ready to use, may be better for enjoying the long deco stops.

Regards, Reinhard


E-mail from Dr. Reinhard Buchaly, Germany
100420,252@co*.co*

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