Reliable?

OSTC's running hwOS sport or tech
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glicioto
Posts: 4
Joined: Tuesday 26. July 2016, 16:08

Reliable?

Post by glicioto »

Hi, yesterday I had the possibility to try an OSTC sport which would fit my current need and the next ones when I'll start to do eanx decompression with more than one phase: trimix is not in the radar for nowadays.

Screen was very readable during the dive and it made my current suunto to disappear. I landed then on this forum and I appreciated that the maker of this gear actively answers and supports.

Obviously who writes here had small/big issues, but how are actually these computers compared to others known brands like suunto and uwatec: how much reliable are they.

I read some computers got dead, other with connection problem (I have a MAC).

How reliable are they?

PS: one of the button of the computer I tried yesterday did not work; seems a common issue, was it solved?
aquarat
Posts: 24
Joined: Sunday 12. June 2016, 11:18

Re: Reliable?

Post by aquarat »

I bought an OSTC Sport and so far it has been reliable and easy to use. Everyone asks me about it because no one has seen them here before (Cape Town) and it looks really nice, well made and comfortable to wear/use. I'm very happy with my purchase.

I would say the only thing missing is air integration, but that's not a big problem for me as I use my backup computer for that (Suunto D4i).

I use my OSTC Sport with the Subsurface Dive Log software on Linux. I have not had any issues with downloading logs - this computer provides good resolution for both depth and temperature.

I hope that helps :) .
OSTC 3 # 4897
OSTC Sport #12887
OSTC Sport #13246
snowman
Posts: 12
Joined: Monday 23. May 2016, 16:09

Re: Reliable?

Post by snowman »

I'm aware of two OSTC Sports.

I've had mine about 3 months and done about 12-15 dives with it.

Too soon to say if it's reliable long term, but I've had no issues. Now and then it seems to take a time to synch (also to SubSurface) via bluetooth, but it always does eventually. I have a VERY cheap bluetooth dongle on my PC, so it could easily be that.

A fellow club diver bought his last spring (2015) and the only 'issue' I'm aware of is it going from reading 30% battery life to nothing in no time flat, so he replaces the battery at 35% now.

He seems very happy with his still.

M
Tjotte
Posts: 8
Joined: Saturday 25. October 2014, 10:46

Re: Reliable?

Post by Tjotte »

Regarding the battery issue, I've had that too but only once when using a 1.5V battery. When using the type of SAFT battery the computer is delivered with I've had no issues.

OSTC 3 2014
OSTC3 #2432
outi
Posts: 5
Joined: Thursday 16. June 2016, 15:39

Re: Reliable?

Post by outi »

Well, I had 2 blackouts during dives with my sport until now.
The first one was expected, as I wanted to know how low I could go with a battery before changing it. So it died during a longer dive (80min) when starting with ~20% battery left, but surprisingly it came back to live for some more 10mins at the shallower end and finally went completely dead. No real data available for this, as theses dives where not recorded in its internal logbook.
So I changed batteries at 30%.

This year we did a Safari in Egypt and as a bigger number of dives was expected I traveled with a brand new battery in place. In total we did 34 dives, but the sport died during the safety stop on the last dive (70min). The battery went from a warning with 10% left to dead in less than 1-2min. This dive was started with 40% battery but that wasn't even enough to survive one more dive :(
aquarat
Posts: 24
Joined: Sunday 12. June 2016, 11:18

Re: Reliable?

Post by aquarat »

You really should use the SAFT batteries; they last much longer and they have a highly predictable discharge profile. Their power output is also not affected as much by cold temperatures.

Alkaline batteries are unreliable and different manufacturers make batteries with unpredictable discharge profiles.
OSTC 3 # 4897
OSTC Sport #12887
OSTC Sport #13246
outi
Posts: 5
Joined: Thursday 16. June 2016, 15:39

Re: Reliable?

Post by outi »

All dives were of course performed with Saft batteries.
Finewine
Posts: 51
Joined: Monday 27. October 2014, 22:47

Re: Reliable?

Post by Finewine »

I like the sport but hate the connectivity for updates and the battery problems...........I await a response from HW on another thread started by ELS concerning the battery problems!
Johnito
Posts: 2
Joined: Tuesday 31. March 2015, 17:24

Re: Reliable?

Post by Johnito »

I have my OSTC Sport since nearly two years now. As others, i'd say it is extrememy reliable ... except for the battery thing. And this is a biggie IMO. I have always used SAFT batteries so people saying issues are about lower quality batteries are wrong. I had an experience very close to @outi's one. Blackout in the middle of a dive with the computer showing over 30%, with a brief powering on some minutes later. No recorded dive. The computer showed some very weird behaviour right after i changed the battery for a new one too (so, another weird dive). But after that, no more issues ever.

I've red some comments saying all of this may be about battery storage conditions. It's plausible. But how come people leaving their batteries inside their "big series" computers all year long dont have this kind of issues ?

But let's not be too harsh here. Change your batteries when the computer shows anything below 40% and this computer is rock solid. The bungee system is perfect to secure it around your wrist, it is very sturdy and readable, plus the software is really nice to use. And it shouldnt be about design, but it is so classy it really grows on you.
snowman
Posts: 12
Joined: Monday 23. May 2016, 16:09

Re: Reliable?

Post by snowman »

Johnito Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have my OSTC Sport since nearly two years now.
> As others, i'd say it is extrememy reliable ...
> except for the battery thing. And this is a biggie
> IMO. I have always used SAFT batteries so people
> saying issues are about lower quality batteries
> are wrong. I had an experience very close to
> @outi's one. Blackout in the middle of a dive with
> the computer showing over 30%, with a brief
> powering on some minutes later. No recorded dive.
> The computer showed some very weird behaviour
> right after i changed the battery for a new one
> too (so, another weird dive). But after that, no
> more issues ever.
>

A fellow diver of mine had his die on a dive after starting the dive with 30% showing.

I've just carried out my first battery change and it was running fine until I was about to start a dive and noticed a 10% warning, so I changed the battery at that point.

My Sport is about 9-12 months newer than his, but I don't know if this has any bearing.
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