Shearwater vs APECS controller

kieranu

Hi,

Haven't been able to find much on this in the forum so I'm looking for feedback on the Shearwater Pursuit controller vs APECS controller for the Meg. Has anyone used both? If so, how does the SW compare with respect to APECS in terms of setpoint maintenance, reliability, HUD usability, etc. Also, is the HUD a true secondary or does it run off the same circuitry/battery as the primary controller?

cheers,
Kieran

silentscuba

The Shearwater Pursuit controller works great on a Meg and you get deco info as a bonus.

I recently converted Tom Mount's Smithers Meg to a Shearwater Meg and he loves it. Give Tom a shout, I am sure he will answere your questions on the setpoint.

Reliability is excellent and the Shearwater HUD is a true secondary with it's own computer and battery supply and is totally seperate from the Pursuit controller.

Cheers

__________________
Curt McNamee
rEvo CCR Diver
KISS CCR Diver
www.silentscuba.com

tecdivertraining

Hi Keiran

I have been diving the new shearwater Pursuit for the last two months as well as training half a dozen guys and girls with it and so far so good. It is a really solid easy to use computer, mine is hardwire to the unit. Their are a few small changes, setpoint now is 0.5 instead of 0.4, hud runs directly of the primary which I like as its this handset running the solenoid. The calibration of the shearwater is so easy and sits bang inline with the primary APECS.

The computer is run from a SAFT on the handset and the cells are fed from the battery in the secondary compartment in the head.

If your upgrading a 2.5 unit and have a deco computer I would not spend the $$$ but if buying new and need to get a computer as well then its a winner at just 1500 us full trimix enable onto of the meg package.

__________________
Mathew Partridge
Technical Director
Pro-Tech Dive College
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kieranu

Thanks, you're right, if I was buying a new Meg of the shelf today I would most likely go for the APECS 2.7.

The difference between getting my 2.01j unit upgraded to 2.5 or to 2.7 is a little more than this, but the cost of getting the Shearwater Pursuit primary and removing the remaining APECS electronics falls pretty much right on the money - hence my interest in how the Pursuit controller itself compares to the APECS. An added bonus with this option from what I know so far is that it removes a second handset while still providing redundancy via the HUD - which has three LEDS in parallel instead of blinking each sensor in series - and means I only need to carry one additional handset (backup computer) so essentially means I would have two controllers / computers instead of the current four that I am using (APECS primary, APECS secondary, and two deco computers, currently only one of which is constant PPO2 enabled and both are offline).

Ukon

Unfortunately, I have not had very good luck with my Pursuit. I got it in May and it worked great until mid June (12 dives) then the menu button quit working. It's first trip back to Canada lasted a little over 3 weeks as Bruce was out of the country. In fairness to him, it was returned very rapidly once it was fixed. It worked great for 4 more dives, then it logged a number of phantom dives. Despite this, it still performed well in the water. Then, 3 more dives and my HUD would no longer turn on. Though a bit of playing with it, I found that I could get it to turn on by pressing the button 3 times in the right cadence, similar to the way you would calibrate it. I got by with it like this for a few dives then sent it back again, and guess what! Bruce is out of the country again! I have to say I am rather frustrated, having had my Pursuit for under 4 months and having it on it's second trip back to the factory as I sit out a bit more of prime diving season, waiting for Bruce to get home and fix it!

I will say, it's a great setup when it is working! Hopefully, when I get it back this time it will work for a bit longer period of time than it has so far!

windymiller

I have the Shearwater GF head, upgraded from the old Shearwater and it peforms great, no problems so far...touch wood

Setpoint control is very good and the Hud will allow you to see what the cells are doing very accurately.

Another benefit is if you forget to switch on the battery it hanset will draw power and display the cell readings from the HUD battery pack allowing you to use the unit manually!Recommended

jdunlap

I have been diving the 2.7 APECS / Shearwater combo since early June and love it. About 90 hours on the unit so far with no issues whatsoever.

I'm most likely going to sell my VR3 that's currently on the 4th cell and add a second SW for 4th cell monitoring.

-Judd

Lancer4545

Hi Kieran,

I have had a couple of enquiries about retrofitting the APECS secondary controller with a Shearwater Pursuit and just got a reply from ISC.

It seems the only head they are doing the mod on are the APECS 2.5 as it has the removable computer where as the earlier computers are potted. To upgrade the head is quite costly. Let me know if you are still interested.

I would say at a guess there might be other possibilities ...... But you'd have to look around.

Regards,

Lance

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ISC Appointed Megalodon Dealer for East Australia
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jkaterenchuk

Not to take this thread off in a different direction or to suggest one solution is better than another but you might want to also take a look at converting to a HammerMeg.

Two wrist units (each with deco), DIVA HUD, no batteries in the loop.

John

Lancer4545

Come on John......Isn't that exactally what you are doing!!!!

Lance

__________________
You can run but you can't hide!

ISC Appointed Megalodon Dealer for East Australia
http://www.closedcircuitdivers.com.au
info@closedcircuitdivers.com.au