Poseidon customer service regarding M28

[mderrick]

I've played with my M28 all weekend.... All the expected functionality needed to execute a planed decompression multi-gas technical dive is present. Pretty much as described and reasonably feature rich, but clearly a "first effort" for some of the other functionality. The GPS and mapping feature is underwhelming, to say the least. I can see some benefits to the ability to display graphics files, turn some notes and checklists into graphics images and put them in the M28; nothing you couldn't do (and has been done) with your phone but you don't need to worry about having your phone on the dive deck. However no where could I find documentation on exactly what dimensions, formats and file sizes are supported... I can definitely say there are some limitations and that you can't just upload a photo from your phone without first doing some manipulation of the image to get it to fit. The compass works OK, but could use some improvements although it seems very easy to calibrate. One notable feature not mentioned anywhere I saw... it does not have an audible alarm, but it does VIBRATE, that was unexpected the first time it did that!

If you have a Se7en and want to tech dive, the M28 as a replacement for the display paddle is pretty much a foregone conclusion IMO. Be SURE to bring the Se7en up to the 1.37 firmware by the usual means before you swap in the M28. The M28 has no auto shutdown, even in OC standalone mode, so if you forget to turn it off... you will deplete the rechargeable battery overnight. That could be a major bummer if you don't have convenient USB port around to recharge the M28, so might want to keep one of those USB battery sticks and the M28 charging cable in your dry bag.

Hint about defining gases, especially the first one: Out of the box all 8 gases are defined as Air AND "enabled" AND first one is selected. To edit you need to switch the selected gas to an unused one (I used #8), disable the 1st gas, edit the 1st gas, enable the 1st gas, reselect the 1st gas; for next gas disable, edit, enable, and so on. If you try to edit an enabled and selected gas, it 'looks' like you are succeeding but the edits aren't saved. Would have saved me an hour to have gotten some kind of error message explaining I couldn't do that.

 

[mderrick]

Currently, there are not really any optional configurations of the M28 generally available yet other than the direct connection replacement for the Se7en display paddle. The Y-cables and C-POD not expected until 'later this year', which I take to mean summer 2017 time frame. The M28 has an IrDA emitter/sensor which should in theory allow it to manage configuration of the MKVI without the need for a windows laptop and dongle, but there does not seem to be any documentation on how to do it. The documentation on how to use the M28 with the Se7en is in a file I could only find by enabling the WiFi AP, downloading from it's web interface - but I've now posted it in the product docs on our website if you are curious.

 

[mderrick]

The availability of the C-POD and the Solid State O2 sensor is currently unclear but I'm guessing second half of 2017. The C-POD might precede the SSO2S by a little while so you could setup the backup PO2 monitoring using an analog sensor until then. However, keep in mind that the C-POD and SSO2S combo might have some serious sticker-shock of $1500

Doing some quick math: M28 ($1800) + Cable ($250) + C-POD/SSO2S ($1500) + Cable ($250) + Se7en SSO2S Upgrade ($700 ??) + SSO2S ($1000 ??) X 2 = $6500 ??? to upgrade an existing Se7en to all digital solid state oxygen sensors with a backup third; although I doubt very many would actually want to go that far.... I might, but I know a guy.

 

[688ClassRebreather]

I had the chance to dive with the M28 connected to the Se7en over the weekend. We did a shallow dive to evaluate the new computer before taking it on a decompression dive. That is scheduled for Wednesday evening. If I discover anything of interest on that dive I will update this post, but I doubt it.

Overall, the M28 performed as advertised. My biggest complaint is that the GPS in my computer did not synch even though I had it on the surface for over an hour. The map function is interesting but not useful. Mine showed that I was somewhere in Scandinavia. Perhaps I will find some map controls that allow me to zoom in and scroll, but until the GPS synchs and the computer recognizes that I am in Hawaii, I was not too concerned about using the map. I also felt the battery was sued too much on the surface. I had the WIFI turned off and the GPS turned on during our ride out to the dive site. With about an hour and 15 minutes total time on the surface the battery went from 100% to less than 80% before I got in the water. That had me a little worried. Once I got down the consumption seemed to stop and I was no longer concerned with the battery life.

I found the menus a bit confusing. This will probably get better with time. For example, the documentation showed the Se7en functions (set points, O2 fraction, He fraction...) available whenever the M28 was connected to the Se7en. I had to select the system menu and then double click to get the Se7en menu. Maybe I missed something in the documentation, but that is not how I expected it to work. I also had issues selecting the OC gas. Since I was diving with 16% O2 in my dil, I got a warning that PO2 was too low. That warning prevented me from getting to the prebreathe. I eventually figured out that I had to select an OC gas with 21% O2 and then it took me to the prebreathe.

During the dive I tried everything I could think of with the exception of decompression. Bailing out and swapping gasses was intuitive. I was able to bring up a picture of a map of the dive site although I could not zoom or scroll. It was interesting, but without the ability to zoom in to read things like distances and directions, it was not useful.

I think the biggest improvements which the M28 brings are the ability to use ZHL-16C with gradient factors instead of DCAP, the ability to use bailout gasses other than what is in the dil, and the ability to change settings on the fly. These are huge improvements. I will no longer have to bring my laptop on a dive boat.

There are also some improvements which are nice, but not vital. For example, I like the PO2 display with the needles and the artificial horizon.

Overall, I think this is a good computer and brings the Se7en up to the technical standards that TEC CCRs should meet. Now I just need to find an agency and a trainer who will help me take this to 100M.

 

[tbone1004]

@mderrick great to hear a real world review. Hopefully a lot of the niggles will be sorted out in some future firmware revisions. Doesn't sound like anything particularly egregious. Would like to see the gas changes made a bit more intuitive, have an auto shut-off feature put on, etc. One of my biggest gripes with Shearwater is that they don't allow you to set any of the computer settings on the desktop app. For tech and CCR guys especially, it would be really nice to allow all settings to be done in one handset, downloaded as a "settings config" into the app, and allow them to be uploaded to other handsets. Would be better to have that, as well as the ability to configure any and all settings in the desktop apps, and then upload them to the handsets. Things like setting your gases would then be quite a bit easier if you're doing multi-gas dives.

Interesting about the vibrate function, quite like the concept of that, especially vs. bleeping

will also be interested to see what the final upgrade path charge is for the Se7en to go to M28 with solid state cells, but that price is a bit painful. I was hoping for something around half that.

 

[Pkishino]

I was told at the event that initially the price to upgrade to one m28, one cpod and one solid would be closer to 3300usd (30000 sek) but this would most likely drop one the sensor and cpod become more available

 

[mderrick]

I was told at the event that initially the price to upgrade to one m28, one cpod and one solid would be closer to 3300usd (30000 sek) but this would most likely drop one the sensor and cpod become more available

M28 ($1800) + CPOD & SSO2S ($1500) + Cable ($250) = $3550 , so that's close and if the CPOD & Sensor package were to include the cable ( although it's not pictured or described as such at http://rebreather.poseidon.com/pre-order-your-solid-state-oxygen-sensor-and-c-pod ) would be exactly correct at $3300. I was just pointing out that upgrading the electronics module of an existing Se7en, adding sensors and cables is going to run the price up considerably for an all solid state sensor unit with backup sensor in that $6500 approaches the price paid for the original Se7en itself based on announced pricing. As with any new technology, over time consumers generally expect the price to decrease although that has not been my experience with diving products in general due to lack of economies of scale in production and sales.

 

[mderrick]

@mderrick For tech and CCR guys especially, it would be really nice to allow all settings to be done in one handset, downloaded as a "settings config" into the app, and allow them to be uploaded to other handsets. Would be better to have that, as well as the ability to configure any and all settings in the desktop apps, and then upload them to the handsets.

Along those lines, a feature that seems to have enormous potential for the M28 is the Wi-Fi Access Point and built-in web server. That could easily be expanded to provide the functionality you describe and much more, plus it works with any network enabled device with a web browser without needing special apps or software.