Soon-to-be Meg owners and upgraders: APECS 3.0 or VR3?

PacketSniffer

Since I'm in the market for a Meg, I'm wondering what others are thinking as they get closer to pulling the trigger on a Meg. Since it is rumored that the APECS 3.0 will utilize DCAP for decompression, I'm concerned with being penalized with exceptionally longer deco time than normal. This would be a strike against one of the benefits of a rebreather which is that you would *generally* get out of the water faster since you are breathing the optimum mix. I wouldn't be too happy if after spending copious amounts of hard earned dollars that OC divers are getting out of the water much earlier with the same profile and deco gas(s). It also wouldn't be all that fun for me diving with a team who's waiting on me, every time, to get out of the water so we could move on to the next site.

So, I sit here thinking about what to do for deco. I realize that the APECS 3.0 is not even out let alone have a publicly defined feature list. But, I'm trying to understand the situation so I can make an informed decision when the time comes. After reading some of the rumored features for APECS 3.0, it would be a huge benefit to have the manufacturer-supported handsets.

The VR3 with VPM-B is now a very appealing computer. It would be really nice to have VPM-B as an option in the the new handsets.

The Questions
1) So given what we know at this time, which route are you thinking of going for your deco algorithm (APECS 3.0, VR3, cut tables or ?) and why?

2) Can anyone provide any info as to the reasons why DCAP was chosen?

3) If DCAP turns out to have a undesireable deco penalty, what will you do for deco?

4) For those that have APECS 2.x, what are your plans?

There are several different ways that people are set up (i.e., Shearwater, APECS, VR3, and Hammerhead) so I'm interested to hear what you will do if anything when APECS 3.0 is released.

Cheers,

Richard

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Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat.

Explorer

IMHO,

1) I am happy with the 2.01K version setup. I use the VR3 for my dive computer and have bailout tables cut. This system works well for me $$ now because I use my VR3 for teaching OC courses and it makes sense the way Leon taught us to dive our unit manually.

Skip 2) and 3) for now.

4) I might upgrade in the future to 3.0 system.

$0.02 CDN worth.........

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KONA COFFEE

diverklondike

While I don't dive a Meg... Here is my 2 cents since it applies equally to ALL Rebreather's. Do not make any decissions on capabilities/releases that are not commercially ava today. I would also suggest that it would not be a good idea to make your first RB one that uses an unproven verson of electronics.

Dive Safe

Mark

RonMicjan

I have heard that you get VPM-BE and not just B on the VR3 now. BE adds back in the long buhlmann tails that the original bubble models took out (and seemed to work, for me at least) The belt and suspenders version ya know.

I would guess this has been done due to liability, not from empiracal evidence of folks getting bent, one would expect we would hear about a cascade of bent divers here on this forum using a specific algorithm. I think giving the diver the option would be the way to go. I was going to upgrade my VR3 to VPM but I waited too long and dont want BE.

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PacketSniffer

This is very informative. Cheers

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Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat.

PacketSniffer

You can't get VPM-B any longer (just VPM-BE)? Wow. That was a quick transition.

You're right, they should let the diver decide. Let the diver sign a waiver declaring they understand what they are purchasing. This stinks.

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Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat.

PacketSniffer

I appreciate the comments Mark. I will definitely take your last sentence into serious consideration.

Cheers

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Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat.

schford

In a rush so cant write much but last time I talked to Leon APECS 3 is definatly going to be GF.

If you want a Meg with built in deco now you have 2 options - buy it minus the leccies and have either a hammhead or a shearwater fitted now.

Stuart

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diverklondike

For what it's worth I think it was "BE" from the beginning and never just "B".
It was never exactly advertised either way that I am aware of. Using "BE" is the only way that I have been able to replicate the VR-3 simulations in V-Planner.

Dive Safe

Mark

PacketSniffer

Stuart,

I'm in no hurry for the Meg purchase. My target is to receive a unit around March '07. So, my current thinking is to get an order in the que in late October or early November before a potential "CE Rush".

"leccies"=? (electronics?)

Cheers

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Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat.