the Mk.2 does not have an audible alarm. For all I know, neither do it´s competitors like the Shearwater Predator or the Liquivision X1.
So this is probably something that was left out by design.
Here´s my opinion:
I see no use in such an alarm anyway, at least not in OC diving and/or without connected sensors.
- there is really nothing that is urgent enough for such a warning and cannot be spotted by the occasional glance at the computer
- we don´t need the computer to warn us regarding excessive ascent speed, we can feel it
- we generally know what we´re doing, the depth we´re at, the gas we are breathing and the implications. When in doubt, we can and will look at the display of the computer.
The only need for such an alarm might be in CCR+PPO2 integrated situations, where one might want an alarm when something really goes wrong. I don´t dive CCR´s, but I heard they have a HUD for that.
Regarding the Mk.2, I really can´t think of anything the unit should warn us about, that we would/should not already be aware of during normal diving and the occasional glance at the dive computer.
i believe most users, including me, enjoy the silence.
A speaker will make the unit more bulky, use more power, generate more potential leaks and make it more expensive.
I'm happy with it like that.
Interesting - I do agree with enjoying the peace and quiet but every DC I have had has had an audible alarm/warning - and my CCR - nothing too intrusive but I still think useful (if there was one you could always disable it, satisfying both those for and against?)
The argument about size? They can be tiny, smaller than the pressure transducer?
And yes, I do check my DC regularly (the Inspiration handset is both an O2/CO2 monitor and a dive computer!) but then one wonders why there is the necessity to have the display showing red when limits are exceeded? To draw attention to this condition, which is what an audible alarm could also do, giving the extra redundancy?
Guess it's an academic discussion, if there isn't one there isn't one but I would still rather have one with the option to disable it, would have thought this was such a trivial thing to implement!
Thanks for the feedback anyway
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Chris Parsons
OSTC 2n #2516
My 2 cents is I prefer not to have it. In OC the only thing I'd need an alarm for is ascents. But then I'm looking at the computer anyway to monitor ascent rate.
A vote for no alarm. One of the worst things about warm water, holiday diving is everyone's 30 minute / 40 minute / 50 minute alarms going off. And everyone then has to look at their computer to see if it's theirs going off!! I know you can turn them off, but people have a "I've paid for it so I will use it attitude."
