User manual SCUBAPRO-UWATEC ALADIN AIR Z

THE SYSTEM OPERATING MANUAL ® Active Light feet American ® AIR Z SWISS MADE BY UWATEC AG Operating scheme for surface functions B and E B and + 1 B and ­ Sleep Surface Sleep 2 5 4 input stage DIVEPLAN (or 3min) Ready or Surface 3 input stage (or 3min) LOGBOOK automatically (or 3s 3m in) (or 3m in) 5sec DIVEPLAN Battery capacity LOGBOOK depth dive time NO STOP max. depth tank data deco info psi 2 Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z Important remarks concerning signal words and symbols This operating manual makes use of the following icons to indicate especially important comments: Remarks: Informations and tips which are important for optimal use of the functions of your Aladin® Air Z. Danger! WARNING Indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in death or serious injury. The following symbols are used in the operating manual: Flashing display Acoustic alarm signal -+E B Operating instruction for manual input Example: bridging contacts B and E January 2000, Copyright by Uwatec Switzerland Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z 3 Safety considerations You must carefully read and understand this entire manual before using your Aladin® Air Z. WARNING Diving has many inherent risks. Decompression sickness is among the most serious of those risks. Even if you follow the instructions of this manual in a careful manner, it is still possible that you may be seriously injured or die from decompression sickness or some other inherent risk of scuba diving. Unless you are fully aware of these risks and are willing to personally accept and assume responsibility for those risks, do not use the Aladin® Air Z ! The Aladin® Air Z is a sophisticated decompression tool to assist a trained and certified diver in making decisions concerning dive planning and execution. As with any tool, the Aladin® Air Z may be misused if the following safety and operational precautions are not strictly followed. If they are followed, careful use of the Aladin® Air Z can increase your diving enjoyment and reduce your risk of decompression sickness. If they are not, you will be placing yourself at serious risk for decompression sickness. While the Aladin® Air Z is a technically advanced tool based on a mathematical model of decompression sickness, neither it nor any other diving computer (or table) can exactly monitor the physiological changes that occur in your body as you dive. In addition, each diver will vary in his or her susceptibility to decompression sickness and each individual diver`s own susceptibility may vary from day to day. Combined with the fact that decompression modelling is an inexact science, and must be based to some extend on certain unproven assumptions, it is emphasis on you, the individual diver, to dive responsibly and to carefully follow all standard safe diving practices as well as the recommendations contained in this manual. Guidelines for the use of Aladin® Air Z: The following guidelines for using Aladin® Air Z are derived from the latest medical research and the recommendations of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences for diving with diving computers. Following these guidelines will greatly increase your safety while diving, but cannot guarantee that decompression sickness will not occur. ­ The Aladin® Air Z is designed for dives made with compressed air only. Do not use the Aladin® Air Z for dives made with nitrox or other mixed gases. ­ In accordance with the recommended maximum diving limit of all instructional agencies, do not dive deeper than 130 feet. ­ Do not use the Aladin® Air Z for planned decompression diving. The decompression algorithm contai- 4 Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z Safety considerations ned in the Aladin® Air Z should be used only for emergency or unintended decompression. ­ On all dives with the Aladin® Air Z, make a safety stop for at least one to three minutes within the 10 to 15 feet zone. ­ Never use the Aladin® Air Z for repetitive, "square" dives deeper than 60 feet. A square dive is a dive that is performed for its duration at a uniform depth. ­ Always make the deepest dive of the day first when repetitive dives are planned, and for each dive make sure that the deepest portion of that dive is done at the beginning of the dive. ­ If your diving cylinder is equipped with a reserve or "J"-type valve, make certain that the reserve is in an open (down) position. Failure to keep the reserve open will result in the improper calculation of dive data depending on tank pressure. ­ All divers using dive computers to plan dives and indicate or determine decompression status must use their own computer which they take with them on all dives. ­ If the Aladin® Air Z fails at any time during the dive, the dive must be terminated, and appropriate surfacing procedures (including a slow ascent and a 3 to 5 minute safety stop) should be initiated immediately. ­ On any given dive, all divers in a buddy group must follow the most conservative dive computer for that particular dive. ­ Repetitive dives after exchanging the dive computer: Wait at least 24 hour before you start with the repetitive dive. ­ Always observe the optical and acouctic alarm signals of the Aladin® Air Z. Avoid situations of increased risk for decompression sickness which are marked with a warning sign in this operating manual. ­ You MUST follow the ascent rates as indicated by the Aladin® Air Z, and should the computer fail for any reason, you must ascend at a rate of no greater than 30 feet per minute. ­ You MUST be familiar with all signs and symptoms of decompression sickness before using the Aladin® Air Z! Seek IMMEDIATE treatment for decompression sickness should any of these signs or symptoms occur after a dive! There is a direct correlation between the effectiveness of treatment and the delay between the onset of symptoms and the treatment for decompression sickness. ­ Never dive the Aladin® Air Z to the limits. Neither the Aladin® Air Z, nor any other diving computer or decompression table should be pushed to its limits. Give yourself a margin of safety by always leaving at least a few minutes in the "no-stop" box before making your ascent. ­ Avoid repeated ascents and descents (yo-yo diving) while using the Aladin® Air Z. ­ See also page 54-55 and 84. Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z 5 Aladin® Air Z ­ The Diving System - + E Transmitter (Option) MemoMouse and logbook software DataTrak (Option) Dive Computer Aladin® Air Z B Screen Guard (Optional: Several colours) 6 Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z List of chapters I 1 2 3 Aladin® Air Z ­ Introduction ___________9 Aladin® Air Z ­ Reducing Your Risk of Decompression Sickness ________________10 Aladin® Air Z ­ Your Personal Companion_10 The Calculation Model ZH-L8 ADT _________ 3.1 Description _______________________12 3.2 Advantages _______________________13 Safety in Diving _______________________14 Aladin® Air Z ­ The System ___________15 Description 1.1 Structure _________________________16 1.2 Reliability of transmission ___________17 Transmitter 2.1 Operating modes and functions______18 Dive Computer 3.1 Operating ________________________19 Active backlight ___________________20 3.2 Operating modes __________________25 Setting Up (Transmitter and Dive Computer) 4.1 Mounting of the transmitter_________29 4.2 Pairing of transmitter and dive computer ____________________31 Diving with Aladin® Air Z ____________33 Terminology/Symbols 1.1 Display during no-stop phase ________34 1.2 Display during decompression phase__35 Attention Messages and Alarms ___________ 2.1 Attention messages ________________36 2.2 Alarms ___________________________37 2.3 Alarm low battery _________________38 Preparation for the Dive ________________38 Functions during the Dive 4.1 Dive time_________________________40 4.2 Current depth_____________________40 4.3 Maximum depth___________________40 4.4 Ascent rate _______________________41 4.5 Decompression information _________43 4.6 Tank pressure (only with transmitter)__45 4.7 Remaining bottom time RBT_________46 Functions at the Surface 5.1 End of a dive _____________________48 5.2 Desaturation time _________________48 5.3 No fly time _______________________49 5.4 Warning of bubbles ________________49 Diving in Mountain Lakes_______________50 3 4 4 II 1 5 2 3 6 4 IV Diving at Reduced Risk with Aladin® Air Z ________________________53 1 Diving at Reduced Risk with Aladin® Air Z 1.1 Diving at reduced risk ______________54 1.2 Minimizing risk on repetitive dives ___55 1.3 Response in increased risk situations _56 V 1 2 3 4 5 Logbook ____________________________59 Survey _______________________________60 Selection and Activation________________61 Selection of Dive ______________________62 Leaving Logbook-Mode ________________63 Output on PC ________________________64 III 1 2 Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z 7 List of chapters VI Dive Planner ________________________65 1 Survey _______________________________66 2 Selection and Activation from Ready-Mode__________________________66 3 Selection and Activation from Surface-Mode ________________________67 4 Planning a No-Stop Dive ______________68 5 Planning a Decompression Dive _________70 6 Leaving the Dive-Plan-Mode ____________71 VII Communication Software for Windows® _______________________73 1 MemoMouse, DataTrak and DataTalk 1.1 Personal programming of the dive computer (DataTalk) ___________ 74 1.2 Analysis and storage of real dives (DataTrak)___________________ 74 1.3 Updates (DataTrak, DataTalk)________ 74 VIII Trouble Shooting ____________________75 1 Trouble Shooting ______________________76 IX 1 2 3 4 Appendix ___________________________79 Maintenance _________________________80 Technical Information _________________ 81 Conversion of Tank Pressure ____________82 Warranty ____________________________83 4.1 Recognition of warranty ____________83 4.2 Scope of the warranty______________83 4.3 Warranty period and claim __________83 Serial No. / Dealer address ______________86 Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z 5 8 I Introduction 1 Aladin® Air Z ­ Reducing Your Risk of Decompression Sickness Aladin® Air Z ­ Your Personal Companion The Calculation Model ZH-L8 ADT I _________________________________________10 _________________________________________10 3.1 Description ____________________________12 3.2 Advantages____________________________13 _________________________________________14 2 3 4 Safety in Diving I Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z 9 1 Aladin® Air Z ­ Reducing Your Risk of Decompression Sickness What can still increase your diving pleasure? The good feeling to have the highest possible safety and freedom to move. A dive computer, which constantly controls the data of your dive and your individual behavior, meets these requirements. Aladin® Air Z watches over the gas saturation of your body without interruption. With Aladin® Air Z you dive more safely than ever before, though you can make more of your diving time thanks to the exact calculation of the air-supply. In addition, Aladin® Air Z offers an unmatched comfort in carrying and operation. Aladin® Air Z gives you headway in safety due to the new calculation model. All informations necessary for safe diving are combined in one instrument. The Aladin® Air Z can increase both your diving pleasure and safety by reducing your risk of decompression sickness provided you carefully follow theinstructions and guidelines given you in this manual. Unlike previous diving computers, which only base their decompression information on depth and time data, the Aladin Air Z also considers temperature anddiver workload, which are known to be additional risk factors for decompression sickness. By considering these risk factors as well as monitoring your exact air supply, the Aladin® Air Z allows you to plan and execute dives with a greater degree of safety than with other models of decompression computers. Please read this operating manual carefully and to the last page. 2 Aladin® Air Z ­ Your Personal Companion By considering your individual depth and time profile, as well as workload and water temperature, the Aladin® Air Z can be considered a personal diving control instrument. Relying on the latest results of medical and physiological research for its decompression modeling, the Aladin® Air Z differs from other diving computers in a number of significant ways: · The ZH-L8 ADT decompression calculation model considers eight body tissues as well as the diver`s workload and ambient temperature. This allows for an even more precise calculation of a modeled risk for decompression sickness which can lead to greater diving safety. · Tank pressure readings are transmitted to the Aladin® Air Z by means of a transmitter. Faulty transmission of data between the transmitter and Aladin® Air Z is prevented by a number of precautions, and tank pressure can be easily checked at any time. By monitoring the reduction in air pressure, the Aladin® Air Z calculates the diver`s work load and provides a prediction of the remaining time allowed at the current depth based upon tank pressure and air consumption. Thus the remaining bottom time (RBT) displayed 10 I Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z 2 Aladin® Air Z ­ Your Personal Companion I on the Aladin® Air Z considers depth, tank pressure, as well as air consumption to give the diver a more accu-rate calculation of when the ascent must be begun according to the calculated decompression program. WARNING If a tank with a reserve or "J"-Type valve is used, the reserve must be in the open (down) position in order to receive a correct air time calculation. · The Aladin® Air Z uses both optical and acoustic alarms. The acoustic alarm uses varied sound signals to assist in establishing the reason for the alarm. WARNING You must strictly observe all optical and acoustic alarms and take appropriate action based upon those alarms to avoid serious injury or death from decompression sickness! · By using the Aladin® Air Z`s logbook, a diver may directly call up information from the last 19 dives. When interfaced with a personal computer (MemoMouce), 37 dives and 200 minutes of dive profile in intervals of 20 seconds can be read out. · The dive planner allows the advance planning of no stop dives with readily determinable surface intervals. WARNING Although the Aladin® Air Z can be used to plan decompression dives, such dives are beyond the realm of recreational or sport diving and must not be attempted by recreational or sport scuba divers · The Aladin® Air Z is designed to be mounted on the diver`s left or right wrist, which offers the maximum freedom of movement as well as easy operation and use. I Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z 11 3 Calculation Model ZH-L8 ADT 3.1 Description The Aladin® Air Z uses a decompression calculation model known as the ZH-L8 ADT. This model uses eight compartments or "tissue" groups with nominal half time periods from 5 to 640 minutes. This model differs considerably from other models by its consideration of the following additional physiological processes: 1.Blood perfusion to the body`s organs is not constant. Skin and muscle tissues are especially subject to changes in blood perfusion, depending on temperature and work load. Changes in blood perfusion to these organs change their nitrogen saturation tolerance. The model used by the Aladin® Air Z takes these effects into account and thus the "skin" and "muscle" compartments in the Aladin® Air Z show variable half-time periods and saturation tolerances. Decompression information is calculated according to the diver`s individual workload and decrease in skin temperature. The decrease in skin temperature is based upon the water temperature and the dive time. By considering these changes in saturation, the time that must be spent at the surface prior to flying can be considerably lengthened, depend- ing upon the depth, time, and tem- perature of a dive, as well as the diver`s workload during that dive. 2.The decompression model used by the Aladin® Air Z considers nitrogen in both its dissolved as well as its gaseous phase (microbubbles). Formation of microbubbles is considered to be a strong indicator of a high risk of decompression sickness. The Aladin® Air Z model calculates the formation of microbubbels depending on various assumed influences in arterial and venous blood. In normal, slow ascents, microbubbles form mainly in venous blood. During fast ascents, microbubbles may also form in arterial blood and in the body`s tissues as well. If a particular dive profile may result in the creation of microbubbles according to the Aladin® Air Z`s model, decreased bottom time and/or increased decompression times as well as increased "no fly" time will be indicated. · Microbubbles can form if the diver makes too fast an ascent, ignores required decompression stops, or makes repeated ascents during a dive (yo-yo diving). These microbubbles can form in arterial blood as well as in the body`s tissues. If these microbubbles partially impair circulation, the rate of gas diffusion and saturation tolerance for those tissues immediately surrounding this area of impaired circulation are changed. If required, both decompression time and RBT will be adjusted in such a way that already existing microbubbles will stop growing. Increased decompression time will also assist those local areas of impaired circulation to desaturate with less risk of decompression sickness. 12 I Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z 3 Calculation Model ZH-L8 ADT I · The calculation of microbubbles results in altered ascent instructions. If microbubbles are assumed to be present basedon the data used by the Aladin® Air Z, the ascent rate to the surface is reducted to 23 feet/minute. This will help prevent the formation of microbubbles in the arterial circulation and minimizes formation of microbubbles in the venous circulation after the dive. 3.2 Advantages On the first dives following responsible diving procedures, a diver using the Aladin® Air Z should never be required to decompress, although a 1 to 3 minute safety stop between 10 and 15 feet is recommended for every dive. If, however, unplanned circumstances arise during the dive which increase the risk of decompression, the Aladin® Air Z can, if closely followed, reduce the risk of decompression sickness by reducing remaining bottom time and/or increasing decompression time. Some of the more common risk situations are as follows: · · · · · · · · Repetitive dives, especially those deeper than 60 feet and those with short surface intervals. Repetitive dives using square dive profiles. Repetitive diving over the course of several successive days. Diving in cold water. Diving with increased workloads. Yo-yo diving (repeated descents and ascents to the surface during a given dive). Flying within 24 hours after diving. Excessive ascent rate. If a diver experiences any of these risk factors while diving, the Aladin® Air Z will decrease remaining bottom time without requiring decompression, or will add required decompression time in order to help minimize the risk of decompression sickness. WARNING Do not use the Aladin® Air Z for planned decompression dives! If signs or symptoms of decompression sickness occur after diving with Aladin® Air Z, seek IMMEDIATE treatment at the nearest recompression facility. I Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z 13 4 Safety in Diving With its new decompression model and calculation of remaining air time at depth, the Aladin® Air Z is an extremely versatile tool which can increase your diving comfort and safety. As with any diving tool, however, ultimate responsibility for diving safety remains with the individual diver. The same responsible diving practices taught by all diving certification agencies are still absolutely necessary in order to safely dive with the Aladin® Air Z. Certain mistakes which may be made by a diver, such as ascending at an excessive rate, going too deep, or staying too long at depth, may be overcome if the diver carefully follows the Aladin® Air Z`s corrected ascent instructions. Of course, the Aladin® Air Z can do nothing to prevent the occurrence of lung overexpansion injuries or nitrogen narcosis, whose avoidance lies solely with the individual diver. The Aladin® Air Z is a highly sophisticated technical instrument which, if used and maintained properly, will have high reliability. Despite that, no dive should be made with an Aladin® Air Z without a thorough understanding of decompression theory and dive table use, and every diver must have a set of decompression tables with him on every dive. WARNING Do not use the Aladin® Air Z without a set of accepted diving tables with you as a back up decompression tool on every dive. Should decompression sickness occur, whether the Aladin® Air Z was used correctly or not, a detailed history of the previous dives may be used to allow a better diagnosis and the most effective treatment for the diver. 14 I Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z II Aladin® Air Z ­ The System 1 Description 1.1 1.2 2.1 3.1 3.2 4 Setting Up (Transmitter and Dive Computer) II Structure _________________________________16 Reliability of transmission____________________17 Operating modes and functions ______________18 Operating_________________________________19 Active backlight ___________________________20 Operating modes __________________________25 2 3 Transmitter Dive Computer 4.1 4.2 Mounting of the transmitter _________________29 Pairing of transmitter and dive computer ______31 II Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z 15 1 Description 1.1 Structure The Aladin® Air Z system consists of three units: 1 The transmitter is installed at the high pressure outlet of the first stage regulator. It measures tank pressure and radio-transmits the measured results to the dive computer, where they are further analyzed for the calculation of air consumption and dive data. 2 The dive computer displays all important dive data. The bipartite display shows general dive- and decompression data in the upper part; data calculated on the basis of the measured tank pressure are displayed in the lower part. 2 1 3 The dive computer has a data memory which stores the dive data. The data can be downloaded out into a MemoMouse from where they can be transmitted to a Windows® personal computer with the logbook program DataTrak. MemoMouse and DataTrak are available as an option. It is possible to use Aladin® Air Z as a conventional dive computer without transmitter. In this case calculations depending on air data are not available and the lower part of the display will not show air data. depth dive time 3 NO STOP max. depth tank data deco info psi 16 II Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z 1 Description II 1.2 Reliability of transmission Data transmission from transmitter to receiver is supported by various levels of redundancy in order to warrant undisturbed and reliable reception: 1.Each transmitter works with an allocated address. This address is communicated to the dive computer on pairing. There are more than 60,000 addresses. This assures that no two transmitters will transmit on the same channel. The pairing of transmitter and receiver is also carried out by a process with various safety levels in order to prevent faulty pairing. 2.Data are transmitted in an average interval of 5 seconds. The exact point in time of the transmission is variable. This prevents two transmitters from disturbing each other for longer periods. 3.Together with the pressure data additional information is transmitted. This additional information allows the Aladin® Air Z to reconstruct faulty data and recognize useless data. By means of these redundant measures, faulty transmission is almost impossible. In spite of that, the transmitted measurements are subjected to an additional plausibility check. Only such data are used which are sensible in the current situation. II Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z 17 2 Transmitter 2.1 Operating modes and functions Off-mode: When the tank valve is turned off and the regulator purged the transmitter is in the off-mode. In that case, air pressure is measured every 5 seconds. When pressure increases (on opening the valve), the transmitter leaves the off-mode automatically. When the tank-valve is closed and the regulator purged (pressure sinks below 116 psi), the transmitter falls back into off-mode. Pair-mode: After switching on (opening the tank valve), the transmitter transmits its address to the dive computer for a short time. This serves the adaptation of the dive computer to the transmitter. Transmission-mode: As long as tank-pressure is decreasing (during normal breathing) the pressure is transmitted to the dive computer on an average of 5 seconds. Standby-mode: If there is no decrease in tank-pressure (no breathing), the transmission is stopped after 3 minutes in order to save energy. Pressure measuring continues. As soon as breathing is resumed, the transmission also starts again ­ the transmitter returns into transmission-mode. The Aladin® Air Z transmitter will start working when the tank valve is opened or when air is drawn through the regulator. The transmitter will not work if the tank valve is turned off and the regulator purged or if no air is drawn through the regulator for a period of three minutes. The dive computer can only receive data from the transmitter if the computer and transmitter are paired. If the pairing has not been carried out, no air data will be displayed by the dive computer. In that case, Aladin® Air Z works as a conventional dive computer. II Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z depth dive time depth dive time NO STOP NO STOP max. depth tank data deco info psi max. depth tank data deco info with transmitter without transmitter 18 2 Dive Computer II 3.1 Operation Switching on display: ­ automatically, on submerging in water or when adaptation to atmospheric pressure is necessary. ­ manually by operating contacts on housing. Switching off display: ­ automatically, after three minutes without operation. Aladin® Air Z has 4 operating contacts B, E, +, ­ on the outside of the housing. For manual operation touch base contact B and any one of the other three contacts above the display with moistened fingers. -+E Contact B: Base contact, which has to be touched for all operations. Contact E: Enter contact. It serves the switching on of the computer, the activation of logbook and dive-plan-mode, and the switching between no-stop and decompression planning. It is also used to confirm inputs and is therefore comparable to the ENTER- or RETURN-key of a computer. + / ­ contacts: They serve the selection of logbook and dive-plan as well as the setting of values (time, depth, dive-number etc.). B II Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z 19 3 Operating Active backlight The display of the Aladin® Air Z can be illuminated both on the surface and underwater. The backlight can be switched on by pressing the unit above the display. The light will turn off automatically after 7 seconds. The backlight can only be activated if the computer display is on. WARNING · The active backlight is no substitute for a dive torch. When diving at night or at increased depth we recommend the use of a dive torch. · Replace the battery if the battery warning appears. 20 II Uwatec® Aladin® Air Z