23
Had a backup comms unit flood on me during a bridge inspection near Mobile
It was an old Aquacom unit, the one with the yellow housing... just filled up about twenty minutes into the dive. Had to switch to hand signals and a slate for the rest of the job, which really slowed things down. Makes me miss the old days when gear seemed simpler, even if it was heavier. Anyone have a good source for reliable, used comms gear these days?
4 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In4 Comments
lilyt232mo ago
That yellow housing is basically a warning sign at this point. After what happened to @the_jessica in the quarry, I wouldn't trust one as a paperweight. When you had to switch to the slate, did you find the client got nervous about the lost time, or were they pretty chill about it? I've seen some outfits get really jumpy when the gear goes silent.
8
the_jessica2mo ago
That yellow housing on the Aquacom is a bad memory. Saw a buddy's unit fog up so bad in a cold quarry dive it was just static. We ended up just banging on our tanks to get each other's attention, like some kind of underwater drum circle. Felt like going back to the stone age. Makes you really appreciate when the tech just works.
2
val97428d ago
Jess, I have to respectfully push back on the "bad memory" bit. That yellow Aquacom got me through a lot of tough jobs back in the day, yeah sometimes you had to tap it a certain way or let it warm up slow, but it was simple and you knew what you were getting. I've seen plenty of brand new digital units fail just as fast, only they cost ten times as much and leave you with no backup plan when the electronics go haywire. Going to hand signals and a slate might feel like the stone age, but it forced you to pay attention and stay sharp, which saved my bacon more than once. Sometimes I think we traded reliability for convenience and lost something in the process.
2