Dive computer interface hacking

posted May 10th 2007 11:22pm by Will O'Brien
filed under: misc hacks, peripherals hacks

Dive computers help divers keep an eye on bottom time and calculate nitrogen saturation during dives. Many of them, like the Suunto above have a built in provision for downloading dive data post dive. [CIBDiving] figured out a way to enable this missing feature on one of Suunto’s cheaper computers. The Gekko has the same pins as the more expensive units, but Suunto’s download manager won’t allow you to download the data. By using a simple software patch, [CIBDiving] tricked the software into pulling down the data.

You can buy a cable to pull down the data, or you can build your own serial or USB level shifting interface.

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Comments [10]

tagged: dive computers, DiveComputers

Reader Comments

Interesting stuff.

From my quick perusal of the material it doesn’t look like it messes with the instrumentation either, which was my immediate concern.

Good stuff!

Posted at 7:31 am on May 11th, 2007 by strider_mt2k

Cool stuff, I was also worried it would screw with the instruments (this being a device that someone may use to prevent death and such) but this is cool. Do manufacturers do things like this so they can all put them through the same presses for the plastic pieces?

Posted at 8:28 am on May 11th, 2007 by Randy

I’m like you guys. There are a couple of things I wouldn’t mess with. Dive computers, pacemakers, and things like ECGs.

Posted at 10:36 am on May 11th, 2007 by Matt

Any experienced diver would notice a big problem with the computer, and a small problem if it had an effect would probably become apparent on surfacing without any lasting effects. I think anyways.

Posted at 12:03 pm on May 11th, 2007 by Wolfmankurd

That doesn’t mean if you’re unlucky the fault wont kill you :)

Posted at 12:15 pm on May 11th, 2007 by Wolfmankurd

noticing that your decompression stops (am I making this up? i don’t dive much) aren’t being calculated is no good to you when you’re 50m down or whatever.

I guess.

Posted at 2:46 pm on May 11th, 2007 by Pedro

If you are 50m down you have already exceeded the depth limits of recreational diving. You’d also be limited by available oxygen as opposed to nitrogen loading. Hopefully if you do go to 50m you are willing to pay the extra $500 to get a real dive computer instead :)

Posted at 5:53 pm on May 11th, 2007 by Marco

50m is rather deep, if you are going down that deep you should have a rough idea of the decompression table and certainly not going down blind with only a relatively cheap diving computer you took to pieces last week :) as a guide!

Posted at 11:49 am on May 12th, 2007 by Wolfmankurd

We get trained (at least here in Belgium, with CMAS) to always know what your decostops are, even without a computer, in case it fails. And this hack is just the reason I bought this computer by the way!

Posted at 12:26 pm on May 12th, 2007 by ibaun

I wonder if the Gekko has the same physical interface as the Vyper? If it does then the cheap interface we sell at customidea.com might work too…

Posted at 11:11 am on May 23rd, 2007 by Reuben Wilcock

Dive computer interface hacking

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