As the logs load from the watch to your phone through Connect, I suspect it won't work without Internet access. This could be a bit frustrating if you're on a liveaboard trip a long way from anywhere.
Unfortunately, DiveMate won't help me at all. It is only mobile device based. I need to get access to the full logs on my computer (desktop when at home and laptop when away). I can't see anything on their site that suggests I'd be able to get the logs from a mobile device to my computer.
I also wonder that even if/when they support the MK1 whether they will pull the data directly from the device or pull it from Garmin Connect. If the latter, it won't solve this problem. Are there any apps out there now that can pull activity data directly from a Garmin device in the same way that GCM does?
Usually DM works by plugging Dive Computer directly to the Mobile Device. The data is transferred directly to the phone / tablet. You can then export these data in multiple formats (DiveMate, DivingLog 5/6, MacDive and SubSurface) so you can also process them on your computer. You can also synchronize data with Dropbox or make reports in PDF format.
atj777 I've passed this along to my contact on the Garmin Descent team, and he confirmed this issue is on the radar of the software team. I think it's very likely that the restriction will go away with a future Garmin Connect Mobile release, although I couldn't really speculate as to the timeframe.
For the purpose of full disclosure, I'm not employed by Garmin and certainly can't make any promises on their behalf. I'm just part of a group of people who helped to perform early testing of the Device.
Is Subsurface likely to be able pull the data directly from the MK1 or will it pull it from Garmin Connect? Do Garmin even publish away to pull activities directly from their device (other than directly accessing the FIT files via USB Mass Storage mode)?
My changes are going to be to the desktop application, and allow the logs to be parsed directly off the watch. There is additionally a Subsurface mobile app, which would sync to the descent via bluetooth. That is a stretch goal for me, but would likely need some community help as I'm not a mobile developer.
That is correct, the Descent Mk 1 requires internet connection on your mobile device for it to upload your daily activities to Garmin Connect Mobile.
You can view your dive data from the device via Garmin Connect or Garmin Connect Mobile. Garmin Connect is an online community that gives you the tools to track, analyze statistics, share and encourage each other.
We are relatively new to the SCUBA dive industry and we are learning and gathering data as we strive to provide great devices for our consumers to enjoy. If you have ideas or general feedback where we can improve any our products, we like to hear from you, please go to garmin.com/ideas.
I hope that there really will be a solution for this. After a 1 week dive vacation on a remote island with little or no internet access, it was frustrating to not have the detailed information available. While you can extract some information from the watch directly, having an internet based connection strategy cuts you off from any form adding meta data to our logs. In theory, Garmin seems to wish that we end user use connect as the single destination for logging and sharing our activities (I suspect they sell this information as most companies do). If I wish to add notes, dive buddies, photo's, equipment, etc, I could not link that to my dive info until AFTER I have internet connection. This would long enough that information is lost, or at least, it would be a hassle to associate this information with Connect.
I only raise this as I am not sure that this will be solved by Garmin. While I have only had my MK1 for a while, it appears that only simple data is shared from the watch via Bluetooth (i.e. heart rate, sleep statistics). Anything geo-tagged or which requires (lets call it) "tabular" data seems to go via WIFI and up to the cloud first.
To change this may require a change to the overall strategy of how ALL of their sports watches function.
While I cannot speak specifically to Garmin's technical management, I do work in high tech, and can hear now the senior managers saying "We've built a perfectly good architecture, we are not changing how we upload data for a small market".
I'm optimistic to see what Garmin does with the platform, but if they do not fix this specifically, it feels to me that they may be damning their own product to "toy" territory. Going for a hike in the country is not the same as a diver needing full information after a dive gone wrong.
My changes are going to be to the desktop application, and allow the logs to be parsed directly off the watch. There is additionally a Subsurface mobile app, which would sync to the descent via bluetooth. That is a stretch goal for me, but would likely need some community help as I'm not a mobile developer.
I also suggested Subsurface as an alternative. And if you look at how Garmin has handled other activities in the past such as cycling and running, where Connect exports the data automatically to other sites like Strava, I would expect a similar approach with the Descent for diving.
