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Descent MK1 First 24 hours - Impressions and Issues

So i received my shiny new device on Monday afternoon so wanted to share some first impressions.

First the positives:
- It’s light, looks very well made and is quite beautiful in terms of finish (I have the DLC titanium edition)
- The titanium band is very easy to adjust with screwed in link pins rather than push out so capsule be adjusted you most
- The screen is a big step up from the 3HR as is the performance
- GPS lock is faster than the 3HR and tracking looks about the same. I’m yet to try Glonass

Now initial frustrations
- On my one and only run I lost RD metrics half way through. I was using a HRM-Run (version 1) with up to date firmware and good battery. HR remained throughout (it was -2c so was wearing the watch over my jersey so no optical HR)
- My vectors do not seem fully supported. I can’t turn cycling dynamics off and on. I can do this with my Edge 1030 but don’t understabd when not supported yet
- Running power is not supported. Not sure why this is given it meets all the requirements

0 thundersquid over 7 years ago

- The Descent never calculated my NDL, turns out you must plan the dive in Plan Mode to get the Descent to calc your NDL. If you do not use Plan Mode the Descent will just display --:-- for NDL the entire dive.

My suspicion would be that there's something wrong with the unit. Mine has never behaved in this manner you describe.

0 Odie21 over 7 years ago

My suspicion would be that there's something wrong with the unit. Mine has never behaved in this manner you describe.

At what depth was your NDL starting to be calculated? Albeit my 3 “dives” yesterday were in a pool with students, none of them calculated NDL. Just wondering if it’s related to a certain depth.

0 thundersquid over 7 years ago

At what depth was your NDL starting to be calculated? Albeit my 3 “dives” yesterday were in a pool with students, none of them calculated NDL. Just wondering if it’s related to a certain depth.

That I don't recall. I expect to be diving at Beaver Lake, AR this weekend (weather permitting), however, and will make a point of watching for it.

0 radlettrunner over 7 years ago

All. My suspicion is this is a depth thing. I had a play around with the dive planned to see when you start getting an NDL with the installed algo and it looks like:

- NDL has a maximum value of 100 minutes.

- NDL for 100 minutes relates to a depth of between. 11.7 and 11.8m (see sequence of photos)

Now for recreational diving this is probably OK. Heck I’d love this get 100 mins at nearly 12m from a single tank.

It it would be good to get some more details on the algo etc to confirm my hypothesis.

My intention is to use the Garmin as a secondary to my Suunto D9. But still a backup is only good if you could rely on it when you need to use a backup.ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1309496.jpg

0 Mark_H20 over 7 years ago

Hello. Can you give some more details about dive (max deep, dive time, etc.) Thanks
Can you ad a photos with summary of dive?

Two dives to the same location with a 47 foot bottom, first dive was 45 minutes and second was 57 minutes.

0 Mark_H20 over 7 years ago

My suspicion would be that there's something wrong with the unit. Mine has never behaved in this manner you describe.

This is my second Descent, the depth sensor failed on the first one during a class pool session. I was told by Garmin Tech Support that this was the way the software in the Descent was designed to work.

Maybe someone from Garmin would like to jump in and explain this in more detail.

0 Odie21 over 7 years ago

I contacted Garmin but the rep I spoke too had no idea and had to look into it further in terms of why the NDL wasn’t properly being displayed.

The only possibility that I can see would be that it will automatically calculate once a certain depth is obtained.

I’ll post their response should they get back to me.

UPDATE: Been told that the case will be submitted to the “Engineers” for review. Seeing that I also submitted a case over a month ago for them to add the ability to choose between Magnetic North and True North for the diving compass (like the standard compass) and they’re still looking into it, doesn’t give me a whole lot of confidence with this situation. That said, there’s the update.

0 pprimoz over 7 years ago

Question to all those who have done a dive with Descent MK1

On Garmin Connect (WEB version) i can't see Depth graph (there are only HR and Temp Graphs), but on Garmin Connect Mobile (Android version) I can see 3 graphs - Depth, HR and Temp! Is this normal? Someone else has same problem?

0 thundersquid over 7 years ago

The only possibility that I can see would be that it will automatically calculate once a certain depth is obtained.

That seems likely. While I might have been misremembering (it wouldn't be the first time) when I said that mine doesn't do that, I'm 100% certain that it's reliably displayed NDL info without having to use the planner first. I'll let you know how it shakes out after hitting the lake this Friday and/or Saturday.

0 Odie21 over 7 years ago

That seems likely. While I might have been misremembering (it wouldn't be the first time) when I said that mine doesn't do that, I'm 100% certain that it's reliably displayed NDL info without having to use the planner first. I'll let you know how it shakes out after hitting the lake this Friday and/or Saturday.

I’m hoping worst case that this is how they’ve decided to do it. But by the letter of the law (at least under NAUI Standards), a diver is still absorbing residual nitrogen (RNT) even in shallower depths and the computer needs to reflect that from a “technical” standpoint. It puts the diver at risk and frankly Garmin at risk from a liability standpoint.

I run a dive shop and deal with most major manufacturers and if memory serves me correctly, all of the computers show some sort of NDL or some variance of that regardless of depth.

Let us know how your findings turn out :)