New Shearwater Forum

[Shearwater]

Thanks for the opportunity to participate in the ScubaBoard forums.

I'm Bruce Partridge and my company, Shearwater Research Inc., makes the Shearwater line of products.

As of now, here are the products available:
Pursuit Display - PPO2 display with dive log, depth and time
Pursuit SPON - Open Circuit Nitrox computer
Pursuit SPOT - Open Circuit Trimix computer
Pursuit SPOCT - Open/Closed Circuit Trimix computer
Pursuit SPOCTE - Open/Closed/Semi-Closed Circuit Trimix computer with monitoring of one or three external oxygen sensors.

HUD - Heads up display that can be attached to an Inspiration, Evolution, rEvo or KISS rebreather.

Pursuit Controller - Computer that can be used by rebreather manufacturers to integrate into their systems.

Thanks for your support and I hope to continue to live up to the expectations of our customers.

 

[digital_steve]

Gimme one!

 

[scubastone]

Bruce,

I purchased my new Pursuit last week from Dive Gear Express. Dive Gear Express was very helpful with my purchase, very very fast shipping and is a top notch company.

I was very impressed with the quality of the Pursuit and how easy it was for me to setup and operate. I did call last week with a question about the connector cap and your wife was very helpful. I purchased the OC Trimix, but will be diving nitrox until I get more into the technical end. I can't wait to go wreck diving on the Olympus next month with my new Pursuit.

I do have a couple of questions:

While diving at the quarry this weekend, I noticed that down and up is counted as a completed dive? Can this be changed to add a couple minutes of surface time before starting over?

Do you have detailed instructions on how to download the latest version of software? or can I call someone that can walk me through the download process?

Thanks,

Stan
Lexington, NC

 

[lynnpartridge]

Hi Stan

With the new version of software, there is a 5 minute window of opportunity for the diver to re-descend before the dive is considered over.

The download has instructions in the zip file. Just unzip the file and follow the instructions. If you have any problems, email us via our website or to info at shearwaterresearch dot com, and we would be happy to trouble shoot.

Regards
Lynn

 

[scubastone]

Thanks for your quick response. I should have took the time to read the software update information since everything was in the instructions. My computer has been updated without any problems.

Can you recommend dive plan software that works best with your computer?

Thanks,

Stan

 

[ianr33]

Hi Lynn. Only done a few dives so far with my Pursuit but I'm loving it!

I was going to Email you a few questions but this seems as good a place as any.

1)When diving with 3 gases set (22/25,50% and 99% ) the gas switches do not seem to be working correctly. I press the left button to get into SELECT GAS then press the right button to bring up a gas. The first gas that always appears is the 99%. I checked this on saturday and it will do it both at 75 feet and at 65 feet. I thought it was supposed to prompt with the most appropriate gas,which is not O2 at 75 feet!
Not a huge problem as it is easy enough to scroll through the gases to find the correct one but I wonder if I am doing something wrong? Have not put the new software on yet.it is running on 5.7?? (going from memory here)

2)On a long dive I got a HIGH CNS warning while on deco. Pressed the right button to confirm then changed to backgas (both on the computer and physically) for 5 minutes. Does this warning only show up once on a dive or will it reappear anytime CNS gets high?

3)At what voltage should I start thinking about changing the battery?

Thanks for an awesome product. I'm afraid that work is going to get in the way of Tekweek this year. :depressed:

 

[Shearwater]

1)When diving with 3 gases set (22/25,50% and 99% ) the gas switches do not seem to be working correctly. I press the left button to get into SELECT GAS then press the right button to bring up a gas. The first gas that always appears is the 99%. I checked this on saturday and it will do it both at 75 feet and at 65 feet. I thought it was supposed to prompt with the most appropriate gas,which is not O2 at 75 feet!
Not a huge problem as it is easy enough to scroll through the gases to find the correct one but I wonder if I am doing something wrong? Have not put the new software on yet.it is running on 5.7?? (going from memory here)

The only time that the computer will actually chose a gas for you is when you switch for CC to OC for bailout. In that situation, it is very important that you are on the right gas during that first few minutes while you get sorted out, so that you have reliable decompression predictions for the bailout.

If you are just selecting a gas, it brings up the gases in order of FO2. That is normally the way that you use them. A lot of diving is done with a bottom mix, and a high nitrox to accelerate deco. It is optimized for this case.

There is also a user interface problem with bringing up a gas in the middle of the list. What if you have lost that gas and actually want to switch to a less than optimal gas because it's all you have. How do you get back the the high O2 gas that was skipped. Yes, you can think of ways to do it, but they are more complex than just scrolling through your gases from high FO2 downward.

2)On a long dive I got a HIGH CNS warning while on deco. Pressed the right button to confirm then changed to backgas (both on the computer and physically) for 5 minutes. Does this warning only show up once on a dive or will it reappear anytime CNS gets high?

The HIGH CNS warning is presented until you acknowledge it once. It is then up to you how you handle it. Since there is a huge variation in individual response to CNS, and air breaks appear to make a big difference too, there seems to be no good reason to keep pestering the diver.

Messages like HIGH PPO2 repeat over and over as long as the condition exists because they represent a clear and present danger.

3)At what voltage should I start thinking about changing the battery?

We really don't use the voltage much. We change the battery before any big trips or at least once every six months if we aren't diving much.

Another indicator would be that you have done 50 or more dives.

If you buy a few at a time, the batteries are about $5. I don't want to take a chance on a problem on a boat dive that cost $100 because I didn't change my scrubber or my battery.

It is a basic technology problem. First, battery voltage changes from temperature variation, so a fresh battery will show a lower voltage in cold water. Second, lithium batteries die very fast once they start to go. It is extremely hard to predict when they are going to fall off the cliff.

Thanks for an awesome product. I'm afraid that work is going to get in the way of Tekweek this year. :depressed:

Too bad. Tekweek is one of the highlights of our diving year. We never get tired of the deep walls in Cayman.

 

[ianr33]

Thanks for the detailed reply.Makes total sense.
Response time of less than an hour. How many other manufacturers can/will do that! ?

I noticed that Tekweek is cheaper for CC. Maybe I should get a rebreather next year and save myself lots of money?

 

[awdemeo]

Bruce
i have a pursuit and the part inside the computer that says shearwater pursuit has appeard to come loose and is not lying flat inside it is more elevated and has rolls in it i was wondering how i could get this fixed.
thanks alex