HammerHead, Defender head upgrade info

[mr_v]

Howdy folks,

If you have upgraded a HH/Defender head, what did you do, why, and how do you like it?

Thank you for the info!

 

[kensuf]

Paging @macado

 

[macado]

I haven't done any modifications to my original Defender head, per se but I have more or less turned my Defender into a poor man's Fathom with my spare head which is setup as a mCCR unit.

My spare head just has two fischer cables. I use a Petrel 3 and Narced at 90 fischer HUD. I have a Subgravity Needle valve O2 MAV with a blocked DS4 first stage (with stronger spring). Eventually I'd like to swap these to 4pin AK cables but that would require me buying new computers and HUD.

Due to Subgravity discontinuing the Defender I am not so use the longevity of the SG-1 electronics/controller. I thought about sending this to Juergensen Marine and having him put TigerShark electronics on it but I did not want to be an early adopter.

Honestly I am going to keep diving my SG1 Defender head until the controller dies and Subgravity cannot repair it anymore. At that point I'd either turn it into another mCCR head with 4pin AKs or look into other options.

I love the unit but I'm not fond of the SG-1 controller. It's glitchy, not intuitive and has several software bugs that have not been fixed/addressed. If I could buy an X-CCR head I would but my understanding is IQSub wont really sell that as "separate product" unless you're in the know or one of the special cool kids.

 

[mr_v]

Thank you, @macado.

You've answered all my questions. I want a poor man's Fathom. The idea is to take a course and a get an official cert card so I can dive on boats that check the credentials. Then convert the head to 2 monitor outputs.

Why did you consider TigerShark but not Divesoft or Shearwater?

 

[macado]

Thank you, @macado.

You've answered all my questions. I want a poor man's Fathom. The idea is to take a course and a get an official cert card so I can dive on boats that check the credentials. Then convert the head to 2 monitor outputs.

Why did you consider TigerShark but not Divesoft or Shearwater?

My understanding was that the TigerShark electronics (since they were developed originally for Hammerhead by Juergensen Marine) would be more or less a drop-in replacement for the SG-1 electronics. They could control the solenoid and the HUD (or I could switch it to a DIVA HUD).

I thought about going that route to have something running supported electronics but I may just end up converting this head into a true mCCR one once the SG-1 electronics die and/or are no longer serviceable.
I just didn't want to be an early adopter for that Tigershark platform although they do look like nice electronics. I just havent seen them in the wild yet but Kevin was nice enough to answer a bunch of questions.

You've kind of hit the nail on the head. I have a Defender MOD1 Air Diluent cert but my IANTD CCR hypoxic trimix card is non-unit specific which is what I normally show. I think I've only been asked to produce a user-level card once. (Long story, my CCR Normoxic Trimix card says rEvo and I was diving an SF2 at the time).


I really like the Hammerhead/Defender/X-CCR/IQSub platform, whatever you want to call it. I think the engineering / maching is good. I love the bayonet/quick-lock connections on the head and BOV/DSV, I like the head attachment to the canister. I love the gas manifolds/routing. I love the MetalSub brackets although they are $$. I love the 8lb scrubber.

Basically the only thing I hate about the Defender is the SG1 electronics but that can be solved by buying an X-CCR. Although to be fair the X-CCR head seems overly complicated to me with the HP sensors/hoses going into the head and the CO2 sensor. Who knows at some point, I might be an X-CCR or try to see about acquiring an X-CCR head again but I'm fine diving my unit as is, for now.

 

[211ratsbud]

All this poor man's fathom speak

 

[PEDiver]

I’m in the same boat currently. I love my Defender but worried about the SG-1 electronics (even though I’ve never had any issues underwater). I purchased a SG needle valve but have not installed it. Talked to Richard at Divetronix but he made it seem like it wasn’t worth the effort to modify it for Shearwater. If I decide to remove the SG-1 electronics, I’ll most likely convert to a poor man’s Fathom or have Kevin retrofit with the TigerShark electronics. That’s just more on the $$$ side but imagine long-term the easiest solution if I want the solenoid. If I were to convert to a needle valve setup and remove the SG-1 controller, I can connect my Petrel 2 for PO2 monitoring but how can you power the HUD? I would want both a monitor and a functional HUD but unsure how to modify to run it with the SG-1 removed.

 

[211ratsbud]

You either have the fathom HUD or the NARKED at 90 HUD.

I'm working on my own solution but it won't be commercial.

 

[mr_v]

@PEDiver - you can always ditch the solenoid and go mCCR. That's my Defender/HH plan.

 

[PEDiver]

you can always ditch the solenoid and go mCCR. That's my Defender/HH plan.

That’s ultimately what I will probably end up doing since I already have the needle valve in my possession. Just figuring out how I want to setup the HUD and primary PO2 monitor (I just hate Fischer cables/connections but that’s my only option at this point unless I want to spend the money to swap them out for 4 pin or hardwire which would require me to purchase a new computer).