TESTCENTRE
Peregrine ’ s progress
60
Peregrine TX X Swift Combo
COMPANY : SHEARWATER PRICE : £ 1,010 WEB : WWW . SHEARWATER . COM
Renowned for its technical diving computers , Shearwater dipped its toes into the recreational market several years ago with the wristmounted Peregrine and watch-sized Tern . These popular additions provided recreational divers with an affordable alternative to the Canadian company ’ s Perdix , Teric and Petrel tech-diving range .
While the Peregrine ’ s large all-colour screen and multi-gas compatibility proved a great success , customer feedback suggested wireless gas integration would be a welcome addition . No problem at all for the folks at Shearwater , who have now equipped both the Peregrine and Tern , not only with AI ( air integration ) but also a tilt-compensated digital compass .
The Peregrine TX ( to differentiate it from the non-air integrated model ) shares many of its core features with the technical flagship , Perdix 2 . To all intents and purposes it looks just like the original blue-highlighted Peregrine [ reviewed in SCUBA December 2020 ] only this unit offers a choice of black , silver , blue or bronze coloured bezels with several coloured straps options too .
A USB wireless dock takes care of charging duties for the internal Lithium Ion battery , which provides an operating duration of 30 hours at medium brightness . The 750-dive or 400 hour internal log can be downloaded via
Bluetooth .
The Peregrine mounted on its charging unit
All in the detail
There are four diving modes : Air , Nitrox , 3-gas Nitrox [ the option to switch between three different nitrox mixes ] and Gauge . The device uses the trusted Buhlmann ’ s ZHL-16C GF algorithm with conservatism settings . The case measures approximately 75x55x20mm , weighs 125g and features a bright , full-colour and very easy-to-read , 2.2 ” full-colour LED Screen . Those dimensions mean it ’ s as comfortable on the bare wrist as it is over the cuff or sleeve of a wet or drysuit .
The simple two-button operating system ( Menu to the left and Function to the right ) is a doddle to use , with the display divided into three distinct sections . The larger pair on the top show depth / dive time plus ascent rate ( left side ) and no-decompression limit / deco time , safety stop plus nitrogen loading ( on the right ).
A smaller , edge-to-edge display on the bottom of the screen provides access to several different menu choices . These include : active gas ; maximum depth , time and temperature , through to conservatism , time of day , tissue loading graph plus the previous dive information .
It ’ s also home to the tilt-adjusted compass . Select the compass via the Func button then select a heading which is highlighted in a different colour . Any deviation is signified by an arrow appearing either side of the chosen course , so simply adjust direction left or right and continue on to your destination .