Suunto D9 - All in one

From Next magazine issue 3/2004. Text by Jussi-Pekka Aukia

The new Suunto D9 is the world's first wristop-sized dive computer that combines a compass with wireless cylinder pressure measurement.

Suunto is the global leader in dive computers with a greater than 40 percent market share. Suunto has long been a pioneer in the development of dive computers and maintains its leadership position with a commitment to long-term and innovative development work.

One for all

The Suunto D9 extends Suunto's distinguished tradition of bringing innovative new products to market. Not only does the Suunto D9 represent the first time a compass and dive computer have been combined in a single instrument, but it also measures cylinder pressure wirelessly. Measurement data from a sensor in the cylinder is transmitted to the Suunto D9 wirelessly using the same technology employed by the heart rate sensor in a chest band to send data to a wristop monitor.

Instead of monitoring readings from several different instruments, divers can now get all the information they needs from a single device. All vital information, such as dive time, depth, decompression requirement and cylinder pressure, is displayed continuously. The cylinder pressure is presented both numerically and as an easy-to-read graph.

In addition to these essential readings, other functions such a digital compass or graphical presentation of logged data can be displayed as needed. Information that is not continuously displayed - such as maximum depth - automatically takes precedence over the default display when the set alarm limit is exceeded. The Suunto D9 continuously provides users with an estimate of the sufficiency of the air remaining in the cylinder. The instrument can calculate the decompression requirement for air or three different gas mixtures. It also has a separate measurement function for free diving. The large and easy-to-read graphical display combined with the USB interface for Windows-based PC and the new Suunto Dive Manager software make it possible to analyze and share the Suunto D9's extensive data logs after the dive.

The Suunto D9's compass shows the current bearing in degrees and can also steer the diver to the correct heading by means of arrows. The directional information produced by the compass is stored in the instrument's logs along with other dive data. The compass feature can also come in handy on dry land, especially if a strong current has forced you to come ashore away from your desired landing location.

Safety and freedom

When used properly, a dive computer enhances safety and makes diving so much more easy and enjoyable that about half of the world's six million divers use one. Product Manager Sten Stockmann of Suunto says that the conventionally sized dive computer and the wristop-sized device can not only live side by side in perfect harmony, but many customers prefer to have both.

"Conventionally sized dive computers have historically been slightly more robust and easier to read and they fit directly into the instrument consoles of diving equipment. But the appeal of the wristop device, like the D9, is that it serves all the same functions and more, and is always at hand and convenient whether in or out of the water," compares Mr. Stockmann.

A string of world firsts

Suunto began manufacturing dive compasses and mechanical dive instruments back in the 1960s. In those days a diver still had to take down not only the requisite lot of instruments but also dive tables to calculate the remaining dive time and the most suitable dive profile.

Suunto introduced its first SME dive computer in 1987 and among other innovations, this new product was the first device in the world to log the depth profile of the dive.

Two years later, Suunto introduced its next generation dive computer called the Solution. It represented a dramatic step up in sophistication as even at that time it could be connected to a PC. The Solution was the first dive computer in the world that offered menu-based control commands and continuously displayed the current rate of ascent.

The Lux dive computer, introduced in 1993, was the first in the world to feature a back-lit display and a year later, the Eon brought cylinder pressure measurement into the dive computer's domain for the first time. In 1997 the Spyder was the first in the world to pack all the functions of a dive computer into a wristop-sized device. And in 2002 the Vytec ushered in wireless cylinder pressure measurement and the opportunity to use several different gas mixtures.