“A revolutionary addition” is how Garmin describes its new Descent S1 Buoy, designed to maintain communications between divers while under water and their boat-crew, and to boost peace of mind for both parties.
The buoy uses Garmin’s SubWave sonar networking to integrate with the company’s dive-computers, enabling surface crew to track and monitor up to eight divers at a time.
Divers and crew can also exchange preset messages over distances as long as 100m when using a compatible dive-computer and Descent T2 transceiver. In this way divers can let those at the surface know where they are, where they’re heading, whether they need to come up early and their remaining decompression time.
Situational awareness
Situational awareness gets a major boost because connected divers can see their distance and direction back to the buoy – whether it’s tethered in place, on a boat’s anchor-line or on a tag-line during a drift-dive – and use it to guide themselves back and surface.
At the surface, underwater heatmaps on the Garmin Dive smart-device app can be used to carry out a post-dive review.
Topside, boat-crews can track divers using the S1 buoy with the app, noting their tank pressure, location and depth, and can access more data if the divers are carrying a compatible dive-computer and Descent T2 transceiver. Automatic alerts can be set to let topside crew know when a diver’s tank pressure reaches a certain level.
With connected Descent dive-computers in use under water the crew can communicate with divers, for example sending out a recall should their dive need to be cut short. They can track the approximate range to each diver in the Subwave sonar network up to 10m away from the buoy.
Specifications
The compact buoy weighs 900g and has an IPX8 water-rating to 10m, says Garmin, while its rechargeable lithium battery is said to provide up to 15 hours’ duration between charges, enough for a typical weekend dive-trip. The S1 connects wirelessly to the Garmin Dive app over distances of up to 60m.
Divers should note that local conditions including surface wave-height, chop, objects and diver position can obstruct the signal and reduce range. Also, certain compatible computers can be equipped to receive but not send messages.
Available now, the Garmin Descent S1 Buoy has a suggested retail price of £2,130.
Also on Divernet: Garmin unveils watch-style Descent G2, Descent X50i: Garmin’s first ‘big’ dive-computer, PADI links with gear-makers in new-diver trawl, Garmin Mk3i / Mk2i upgrades comparison
