Underwater GPS?
May seem like bit of a stupid question - though I was wondering if anyone has heard of an underwater GPS device that you can use when your diving? (or something similar)
Reason I ask is that we've done a few dives and halfway through our dives we have re-surfaced to check where the boat is only to see it's much further away than we had thought. Diving in 10-12m of water doesn't seem to much of a problem as we can surface half way through to check for the boat, then cruise back on a compass bearing. However if we start diving in deeper waters then resurfacing to check where the boat is won't really be an option.
Has anyone heard of such a device - or does anyone have tips on ensure you surface near the boat? (apart from checking your compass every 5 mins).
I thought there might be some type of watch / computer device that could track your entry point and then show where you are in relation to this...?
tonyb
Posts: 188
Date Joined: 10/11/08
GPS
There is somthing you can hang off the side of the boat and it transmits to a device you hold. A friend of mine has one but I am not sure where he got it from. I am sure the dive shops would know about them. It would probably just be easier for you do do an underwater navagation course though, it is normally part of the advanced open water course.
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18051
Date Joined: 11/03/08
get yourself a big winch
get yourself a big winch with heaps of 300lb line on it and tie it to yourself ,you will never get lost just dont go through any caves
serious;ly it would be a great device to have, they have hand helds for land cant see why not for underwater
RUSS & SANDY
"A family that fishes together stays together"
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
GrahamM
Posts: 648
Date Joined: 19/01/09
Same as Tony B have heard of
Same as Tony B have heard of them and they either hang of the side of the boat or of the anchor rope dont know anyone that has used one though but i think the best way is to check your compas and notice land marks while down there as it dose become eaiser the more you do it. and on the occasions you have a 200m swim back to the boat that reminds you to use your compas better
Pete D
Posts: 1681
Date Joined: 07/06/07
I guy in our dive club got
I guy in our dive club got one those underwater 'pingers' when they first came out(10 years ago). One part hangs off the boat - the homing reciever. Now this guy was very eccentric to the extreme. Anyway, we had all finished a dive near West End off my boat and were all back onboard, except for this guy who had a fancy new big tank. We decided to pull anchor and see how good this homing device was. Each time we saw bubbles heading toward us I would idle the boat off. After 15 minutes of this, we finally moved 40 metres away from his bubbles and dropped anchor again and sat back.
This guy got back on board (after a surface swim) cursing and swearing about an expensive piece of crap and proceded to throw it as far from the boat as possible.
Hmm, how hard did we laugh...but nothing was ever said.
I myself remember prominent structure underwater and use the position of the sun when on tank. When on hookah, well, its not an issue at all...even if the anchor pulls!
GPS will only work underwater if you have an antenna towed on the surface.
Cheers Pete
Dive hookah makes it all very easy - great way of exploring new ground this way.
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Desert Star Systems
Desert Star Systems DiveTracker there is an aus agent for them as well. Go to www.wadivers.com.au and look through the forum there. It has some positive reviews.
wayneleech
Posts: 362
Date Joined: 27/06/08
g'day fellas - cheers for
g'day fellas - cheers for the response. I must admit we are starting to get better at staying near the boat though when we're going after crays we seem to hop from bombie to bombie in all different directions, which then screws up any compass bearings we've taken.
I guess over time we'll get used to it more. We plan to do our Advanced open water ticket soon so i guess we'll learn more about navigation in this too.
so did anyone go out for a dive today? we went out from mindarie - was awesome, great visibility and a nice feed of crays - plus i actually got the hang of using the cray loop!!!!!!!!;)