First Dives with Uwatec's Galileo Sol

Does anyone know if the Galileo uses the same program as the Uwatec Aladin TEC 2G?

This is the fact sheet for the Galileo:

OVERVIEWTECHNICALPARAMETERS

Algorithm: ZH-L8 ADT MB PMG

Number of Tissues: 8

Half times: 0 to 640 minutes

MB levels: 5

PMG - Predictive Multi Gas: Optional

This is the fact sheet for the Uwatec Aladin TEC 2G:

Algorithm: ZHL8 ADT MB PMG

Number of Tissues: 8

Half times: 5 to 640min

MB levels: YES + Management

PMG - Predictive Multi Gas: Yes- 2 Gas

I am interested because I would like a watch style computer to back up my Galileo. Of course the programs will be different if you use the heart monitor. I'm looking for one that is a close approximation that I can use as a backup and leave in a BC pocket. Besides I'm always forgetting the heart monitor unit or strap.

Thanks for any insight.

I have been thinking also of using a backup computer, but in reality I don't know why since my Uwatecs have never failed me (knock on wood).

I considered the TEC 2G, but any dive computer if placed in a BC pocket would be in dive mode whenever the BCD is wet and would quickly run out its battery. I think a better solution for a backup computer would be a small wrist unit like the Cressi or Sunnto that you could attach to your camera housing handle. At least this way you can see if your camera gets bent!!

Elmer

Yes, all current-model Uwatec share the same base algorithm, and the Tec2g makes a great backup for the Galileo.

eyu is correct to be careful of leaving something in a wet BC pocket, however, to avoid draining your battery.

does anyone know where to get replacement straps for the sol?

my strap is almost broken after less than 30 dives. it's tearing apart at the holes where you put the buckle through. maybe i'm strapping it on too tight. but still, i would have thought it would be more durable!

had no trouble at all with my suunto mosquito with its stiffer strap.

any alternative strap types out there?

thanks in advance!

does anyone know where to get replacement straps for the sol?

 

my strap is almost broken after less than 30 dives. it's tearing apart at the holes where you put the buckle through. maybe i'm strapping it on too tight. but still, i would have thought it would be more durable!

 

had no trouble at all with my suunto mosquito with its stiffer strap.

 

any alternative strap types out there?

 

thanks in advance!

Some of the straps supplied with recent examples were of a different softer material that easily tore through. Take it back to your Scubapro dealer. They know about the problem (or at least they do at Scubapro UK).

thanks for the quick reply John. Much appreciated.

I hope the dealer in Singapore does the right thing!

Having said that, I'm loving the Sol for its big screen. I'm doing simple recreational diving with a camera, and it's so easy to just quickly glance at the computer to see my remaining bottom time, air, and NDL time. We all know how often we spend 15 minutes trying to get a picture and then check air and it's at 40bar! Or worse, having a 8 minute deco stop! hehe

What I would really like is a vibrate function so only the really important alarms beep. I find a lot of useful alarms and reminders, but the problem is if you turn everything on it becomes quite an underwater symphony

Just a quick update for you guys about my battery life.

I'm onto my third battery now after a total of 626 dives and 612 hours underwater.

Its looking like about 300 hours per battery. Not quite the 500 dives advertised but at least its easy to change the battery youself.

Anyhow as of today I have 669 dives with the Galileo with only two failures when the computer shut down and wouldn't work. Simply opening and closing the battery compartment fixed this.

Hope this is useful.

Hey guys

A couple of bits: I had a strap too that tore like antacids (great name!) after about 5 months. My local Scubapro dealer in Jakarta sent me a replacement.

Battery life: my first battery lasted around 300 dives too with over 700 hours of power "on".

I was thrown though by the speed the battery went from showing 1 bar below full to the Replace Battery warning. This was possibly only 40-50 dives. I was so happy with the battery performance at around 250 dives with only one bar gone, that I passed on my spare battery to a guest at KBR whose battery had died. Only a few days later I got the Low Battery warning! Sod's Law I guess. Replacements are not that easy to obtain either. I've had to order them over the Internet. Even electronics companies like Maplin (in the UK) don't seem to have them.

So if you are going on an extended dive trip and the battery indicator is showing -1 bar, take a spare!

Hey guys

 

A couple of bits: I had a strap too that tore like antacids (great name!) after about 5 months. My local Scubapro dealer in Jakarta sent me a replacement.

 

Battery life: my first battery lasted around 300 dives too with over 700 hours of power "on".

 

I was thrown though by the speed the battery went from showing 1 bar below full to the Replace Battery warning. This was possibly only 40-50 dives. I was so happy with the battery performance at around 250 dives with only one bar gone, that I passed on my spare battery to a guest at KBR whose battery had died. Only a few days later I got the Low Battery warning! Sod's Law I guess. Replacements are not that easy to obtain either. I've had to order them over the Internet. Even electronics companies like Maplin (in the UK) don't seem to have them.

 

So if you are going on an extended dive trip and the battery indicator is showing -1 bar, take a spare!

thanks for this. i'm still waiting for my replacement strap because "Hong Kong doesn't have stock". that's after-sales service in Singapore for you...

I'm on 47 dives and about 80 hours of operation time, and my battery is 1 bar below full. On my previous trip the "low battery" warning actually came up. This is quite worrying. I hope I don't have a lemon! To be safe I'm going to put a couple of spare batteries into my case for my next trip.

Well I was in the Middle East when I needed the batteries. They refused to ship Lithium batteries to me because they are a hazardous material.

I had to get a mate to hand carry them.

As for the strap mine is still seems brand new although the padded strips on the back of the computer are pretty much 50% worn away.

Given that the Lithium batteries have a long shelf life, I recommend buying the next one when you install a new one in the computer. And always carry the spare one on every dive trip. Same goes for the tank transmitter battery.

My strap and the padded strips still look OK after 300 dives.

Regards

Peter

thanks for this. i'm still waiting for my replacement strap because "Hong Kong doesn't have stock". that's after-sales service in Singapore for you...

 

I'm on 47 dives and about 80 hours of operation time, and my battery is 1 bar below full. On my previous trip the "low battery" warning actually came up. This is quite worrying. I hope I don't have a lemon! To be safe I'm going to put a couple of spare batteries into my case for my next trip.

Have you considered converting your existing (broken) straps to bungee? You're getting new straps anyway so you can feel free to muck about with the torn one anyway... can't hurt. I've considered converting mine to bungee, which I prefer, but I've been hesitant to cut up a perfectly good strap. You don't have that concern, so give it a shot!

Punch two holes through the stock strap (with a paper hole punch or better yet a leather hole punch for a smaller hole), reinforce the hole with a small metal washer, and stick the bungee through. Tie a knot to hold it from pulling through, and loop it through the open part on the other side. That's been my planned modification, at least... if my stock strap ever breaks or I find a spare to play with, I'll go through with it.

I have been diving with my Galileo since 2/2008 and my straps as well as the padded strips look fine. The only problem I had was that I ran down the battery when I forgot to rinse it in fresh water after my last dive in Little Cayman and one of the buttons stuck from salt crystals leaving the computer on. A fresh water soak and new battery was needed. I too carry a extra battery for the computer and transmitter. Plus, I dive with a back up computer, either a Cressi Edy II or Suunto D4 which I use as a watch.

Elmer

Have you all seen the Uemis Zurich? Its apparently the guys who were responsible for most of the Uwatec designs (including the Sol) over the years.

I just ordered one due to the overwhelming good reviews and am looking forward to diving with it.

I think its about the same size as the Sol but the screen is a beautiful OLED. Seems like it has everything a underwater photographer could be looking for in a dive comp. Its also very upgradable so the developers are constantly working on improvements which you then download and install for the update. For example they are releasing a free Trimix software upgrade and a rebreather upgrade and others down the road.

There are some kinks for sure, as with all new products, but it really seems like the direction dive comps are and should be moving!

Have you all seen the Uemis Zurich? Its apparently the guys who were responsible for most of the Uwatec designs (including the Sol) over the years.

 

I just ordered one due to the overwhelming good reviews and am looking forward to diving with it.

 

I think its about the same size as the Sol but the screen is a beautiful OLED. Seems like it has everything a underwater photographer could be looking for in a dive comp. Its also very upgradable so the developers are constantly working on improvements which you then download and install for the update. For example they are releasing a free Trimix software upgrade and a rebreather upgrade and others down the road.

 

There are some kinks for sure, as with all new products, but it really seems like the direction dive comps are and should be moving!

Looks very nice. They've taken the Sol concepts and updated the technology (OLED and USB). I would like to see some more screen shots. The screen shot on their website looks a bit busy.

No mention about a Mac version of the "PC" software.

Slight concern about the viability of the company and their support. I guess that, if their product really takes off, one of the big players will buy them out.

Regards

Peter

Yeah I was a bit "concerned" about the long-term viability as well, but doing more research on the owners and people involved, I think they will be around and so far the support (pre-purchase) has been better than any company I have dealt with.

One of the things I am not sure I am going to like, and we will see after having spent some time with the unit, is that their logbook is all on the unit itself and web based. While the online and unit logging function is amazingly robust and syncs back and forth so your data on the unit and web match, I have always been one to have a local copy on my comp and been pretty ocd about keeping it up to data. Word is they MAY be working on a simple local log solution but they are sticking to the fact that the on-board log function can hold 2000+ dives with way more detail than you every would really need or would see on most local log programs anyways.

Again, they seem to be able to make good updates easily available and free and it seems they are listening to peoples requests for new functions and actually implementing them. One of the added plusses to a small focused company I guess.

In all honesty the main thing that swayed me to purchase one was I got a killer deal and it put the unit a few hundred less than a new Galileo!

One of the things I am not sure I am going to like, and we will see after having spent some time with the unit, is that their logbook is all on the unit itself and web based. While the online and unit logging function is amazingly robust and syncs back and forth so your data on the unit and web match, I have always been one to have a local copy on my comp and been pretty ocd about keeping it up to data. Word is they MAY be working on a simple local log solution but they are sticking to the fact that the on-board log function can hold 2000+ dives with way more detail than you every would really need or would see on most local log programs anyways.

A web-based logbook sounds OK as long you have the ability to export a local copy. Ideally, an "open standards" XML export utility would be ideal, allowing export / import into some of the "generic" log book programs, like MacDive.

Regards

Peter

Yup, I agree. I have been using MacDive exclusively for the last year with my Oceanic comp. So I am going to try and talk to him and see if there is a way to come up with a solution for the Uemis... Who knows!

I would like to see some more screen shots. The screen shot on their website looks a bit busy.

Yup, I agree. I have been using MacDive exclusively for the last year with my Oceanic comp. So I am going to try and talk to him and see if there is a way to come up with a solution for the Uemis... Who knows!

You can tell him that, if he can get a MacDive interface working, he will get at least one more sale. I'm tired of waiting for Uwatec to get their JTrak working on the Mac.

Rgds

Peter