Garmin has officially announced the launch of Descent™ S1 Buoy, which marks an extension of its dive lineup, designed to strengthen diver communication and enhance peace of mind.
According to certain reports, the stated innovation banks upon Garmin’s unique SubWave™ sonar networking to integrate seamlessly with Garmin dive computers, and therefore, help crew members on the surface track up to eight divers.
More on the same would reveal how connected divers can also see the distance and direction to the buoy, as well as receive clear and comprehensive guidance to figure out where to surface.
Talk about the whole value proposition on a slightly deeper level, we begin from the solution’s Find My Buoy feature, which makes it possible for divers to see the distance and direction back to the buoy regardless of whether it’s tethered in place, on the anchor line of a boat, or on the boat’s tag line during a drift dive.
Next up, we must dig into the solution’s driver-to-surface messaging facility. Basically, when using a connected Descent dive computer, divers can tell those on the surface where they are, where they’re going, if they need to come up early, and their remaining decompression time.
Building upon that would be the prospect of extended diver-to-diver messaging. This translates to the way, when beneath the surface, the buoy markedly extends the range of diver-to-diver messaging capabilities, allowing divers with compatible Descent dive computers to seamlessly exchange preset messages with one another up to 100 meters away.
Once they have returned to the surface, divers can also access underwater heatmaps on the Garmin Dive™ smart-device app to see where explorations took place.
Turning our attention towards what this new innovation brings for topside crews, we begin from how they are allowed to remotely monitor the diver. This includes tracking tank pressures, diver location and depth, and more. They are able to do so because of a compatible dive computer and Descent T2 transceiver carried by the diver.
Anyway, in case that wasn’t enough, there is also a consideration made to facilitate automatic alerts, empowering topside crew members to timely learn when a diver’s tank pressure is low.
We referred to how divers can send out preset messages, but what we haven’t mention yet is that topside crews can also enjoy a similar setup. Such a facility, like you can guess, makes it possible for them to communicate with divers and send out a diver recall if the dive needs to be cut short.
Rounding up highlights would be a feature of real-time diver location tracking. In essence, these crews can track the approximate range of each diver in the SubWave sonar network to ensure a safe operation.
Among other things, it ought to be acknowledged that Descent S1 Buoy weighs no more than 2 pounds. Boasting an IPX8 water rating to 10 meters, it also features a rechargeable lithium battery which, on its part, provides up to 15 hours of battery life, meaning it can be used during a typical weekend dive trip before needing to be recharged.
In a bid to keep divers connected with their topside crew at all times, the buoy leverages Wi-Fi® technology to wirelessly connect to the Garmin Dive app, up to 60 meters away.
As for the pricing, Descent S1 Buoy has a suggested retail price of $2,499.99.
“Garmin is focused on creating essential products designed to help keep divers safe. The groundbreaking Descent S1 buoy adds game-changing communication, navigation and safety capabilities between divers and their surface crew, making it the next must-have piece of kit for dive teams, charter operations, instructors and more,” said Susan Lyman, Vice President of Consumer Sales and Marketing at Garmin.
