Light up Dark Places

By Bonnie J. Cardone

I love night diving. Even a site you've dived many times looks different when the sun goes down. Creatures you didn't know lived there come out, creatures you saw in the daytime not only hide but may display different colours and patterns than they did during sunlight hours.

Night diving doesn't require a lot of specialized equipment but you do need a reliable light. And, gauges that can be easily read are a definite plus. Tusa's new Luminova gauge faces for the Y2K fall into this latter category. They are coated with fluorescent materials containing both light retaining and luminous pigments. The light retaining pigment stores electron energy when exposed to light. The luminous pigment includes a radiant substance that shines when there is no light. The result is a gauge face that glows in the dark.

I conducted a mini experiment, exposing both the new Tusa console and an older console (never used) to sunlight for about five minutes. Then I took both consoles into a dark room. The difference was obvious at a glance: The Tusa gauge faces were many times brighter, and thus easier to read, than the conventional gauge faces.

The console in the photo is Tusa's SCA-330. It contains a bourdon tube depth gauge, a bourdon tube pressure gauge and, on the back, an oil-filled compass. All of them feature the new, luminous faces.

The depth and pressure gauge faces are also models of simplicity; clean and uncluttered. The numbers have luminous dots opposite them instead of hash marks. The faces are colour coded: black for depths from 30 to 120 feet and pressures between 500 and 2,000, neon orange for depths beyond 120 feet and pressures less than 500 psi.

The depth gauge has a maximum depth indicator; this neon orange needle is moved around the face by the primary (black) needle and stays at the maximum depth attained during a dive until you turn it back to zero using the stainless steel dial in the middle of the face. The depth gauge also has a screw on the side that allows you to set the needle to zero feet before a dive.

The compass on the back of the console is oil-filled for pressure and shock resistance. It has a side window that allows you to navigate without moving your eyes from the target.

The console itself is compact and lightweight as well as being ergonomically designed to fit in a diver's hand. A loop built into the bottom allows you to clip the console to your BC so it won't drag.

Interested? For more information on the Tusa SCA-330 console or any other Tusa product visit a dealer near you.