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vf84pc

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Rochester New York USA
I have been diving in mostly tropical waters, I am also doing some wrecks nothing deeper than 40 meters would the Scubapro R190 and MK2 Plus be acceptable for this? Or would it be better to spend the money up front for Apeks?
 
If you thing look high performance reg, I will recommended Apek atx200 and Scuba pro MK25/s600

Jason
 
You can get an Apeks ATX50/DS4 for under $350. It will perform as well as the higher $$ ATX100 or ATX200 and save you a lot of $$. I can't imagine a reason to buy an R190 Mk2 Plus when you can get the Apeks for that price. This of course is just my opinion, but I wouldn't even compare those 2 regs, and for $350, you can't beat the ATX50/DS4.

I have had a Mk25/S600, and sold it once I got an Apeks. I now have an ATX200 and an ATX50/DS4. Can't tell the difference in performance between the ATX200 and DS4 first stages. The second stages are the same.

Call Phil at www.divesports.com. He will set you up with the Apeks if that's what you decide.
 
Mk2/R190 is an inexpensive, simple, very reliable, moderate performance regulator for unchallenging recreational diving. I would not select it as my primary rig for dives to 130 ft. I'd probably think twice about a buddy with that kind of rig at those depths. If you can't go with a high performance reg, you should probably keep your recreational dives fairly simple and not too deep.
 
A MK 2 R190 sells for $264 and is tough to beat for the money. It's adequate at 40 meters but only just and the breathing performance will not be as good as you would get from a balanced regulator. It is however very simple, very reliable and well suited to recreational diving and traveling.

A Mk 17 S550 is a very good reg at $495 and the price is $150 less than a MK 25 S600. The Mk 17 first stage offers more than enough flow rate for deep/technical diving and the sealed design is great in cold water.

Or, for $350-$355 you could have your SP dealer special order a Mk 17 with either an R190 or R295 first stage. (A special order takes about a week to 10 days to arrive). With proper tuning on the balanced Mk 17 first stage, those second stages can offer excellent performance and those combinations would offer an awful lot of bang for relatively few bucks.
 
DA Aquamaster:
With proper tuning on the balanced Mk 17 first stage, those second stages can offer excellent performance and those combinations would offer an awful lot of bang for relatively few bucks.


I agree with DA. MK2/R190 works great for the deco bottle rig.....

DA, what is the proper tunning on the balanced MK 17?

And how?

I plan to get two MK17 DIN soon, so please let us have your expertise.:D
 
mk25/s600

I have 8 of them. 3 I bought a good 4 years ago and they have been through silt and ice and ****..along with my beuchat...they are both excellent.

A lesson I learned with beuchat is parts, service availabilty...not an issue with scubapro...especially the models in question...you'll be fine. Stunning set up and worth the money.

I have a loads of regs in bits and unusable because where I live, I cannot get the parts. Scubapro is a good go.

boogey
 
It does not matter too much what the Intermediate Pressure is on the MK 17, although it makes the most sense to run it at 145 psi for max flow rate since cold water freeze up is not an issue.

The critical thing is to adjust an R190 or R295 second stage for an inhalation effort of 1.1" to 1.2" of water to get peak performance rather than leaving it at the 1.4 to 1.8" they are more likely to be set at by the factory.
 
DA Aquamaster:
It does not matter too much what the Intermediate Pressure is on the MK 17, although it makes the most sense to run it at 145 psi for max flow rate since cold water freeze up is not an issue.

The critical thing is to adjust an R190 or R295 second stage for an inhalation effort of 1.1" to 1.2" of water to get peak performance rather than leaving it at the 1.4 to 1.8" they are more likely to be set at by the factory.


Super!... It makes sense...... Thank you, DA.... Any news about TIS2...

Recently, I am selling my MK25 series......... three more to sell.....:wink:
 
I have a mk2-380 and dive on shipwrecks at 120' with it and it works great. It does breath different than a balanced reg but not much. I myself would buy the mk2-190 and gauges or an inexpensive computer and the money saved I would spend on better BC and thermal protection because this is what will make your dive comfortable.
 

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