Question Serial number prefixes on Pelagic Pressure Systems MH8A transmitters

[scubadada]

This topic came up yesterday in another thread Are Pressure Transmitters compatible across brands?

Can you tell the brand of PPS transmitter from the SN prefix? There may be implications for being able to use the Oceanic/Huish transmitter replacement service for $120.

We know there are at least 3 SN prefixes so far.

BM may be the SN prefix for Oceanic computers
FP may be a SN prefix on Shearwater computers
FK is on a yellow transmitter from Shearwater

1) If you have a PPS MH8A transmitter or transmitters with a known brand, please post the serial number prefix to this thread. Please state whether it is a grey/black, green, or yellow transmitter.

Brands include Aeris, Aqua Lung, Hollis, Oceanic, Shearwater, Sherwood, and Tusa.

2) If you have used the Oceanic/Huish transmitter replacement program, was it an Oceanic brand transmitter or another brand? Do you know the SN prefix for the transmitter you returned?

3) Do the Shearwater Swift transmitters have a serial number prefix? They obviously have a 6 digit serial number for pairing.

I have 3 PPS transmitters, all are Oceanic, all have SN prefix BM. One was replaced in the Oceanic/Huish program in 2017. The replacement was just sent in for replacement.

This photo shows the serial number prefix on one of my transmitters

 

[hedonist222]

Oceanic - BM
Shearwater (gray) - FK

 

[-JD-]

Dates may also come into play ...

Shearwater (non-Swift), Yellow, 04/2019, SN: FK-016978
Shearwater (non-Swift), Grey, 11/2018, SN: FK-010833

 

[scubadada]

From the Swift manual, it would appear that there is no SN prefix

From the i770R manual, it looks like the Aqua Lung SN prefix might be FC

From the TX1 He Manual, it looks like Hollis also used BM. This makes sense as Hollis was also part of American Underwater Products, along with Oceanic, Aeris, and Pelagic Pressure Systems.

I could not find any photos of Aeris, Sherwood, or Tusa transmitters. I would wager that Aeris also use the SN prefix BM. Maybe somebody out there has a Sherwood (Amphos Air or Air 2) or Tusa (IQ-950 Zen) transmitter

 

[-JD-]

This thread got me thinking about all of the work that @rg422, @MadUKDiver, and others put into decoding the MH8A datastream (Reading Wireless Air Transmitter using Arduino).

In that thread, there was data ahead of the transmitter ID number that was attributed to preamble and synchronization, but I believe only two examples of the same brand transmitter were used for source data. It might be possible that there is a alpha prefix code that is embedded into that data space. I have noted my question and cross-linked that thread to here..

 

[-JD-]

From the Swift manual, it would appear that there is no SN prefix
View attachment 726851

From the i770R manual, it looks like the Aqua Lung SN prefix might be FC
View attachment 726855

Am I correct that before the Swift, all of the MH8A compatible were actually produced by PPS? If so the prefix letters could be brand coding as suggested but since the Swift is proprietary to Shearwater it is implicitly prefixed externally by the "Shearwater Swift" labeling.

SPECULATION: Where this might become interesting is:

• IF the prefix (or some mapping of) is actually part of the data stream (1)
• some computer manufacturer(s) decides to filter out "un-favored" transmitters (2)

(1) see my previous post
(2) thought triggered by this:

I know the Perdix one is taking the generic transmitters as its own. But last year or the year before rumors were going around the Shearwaters would be only accepting their own sensors in the "near" future as in some kind of serial number range available.

The SWIFT's look nice but at the moment they are not worth the price of around 400 euro if I've got a working other "old" version and not looking into a second.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @-JD-

I believe all MH8A transmitters are manufactured by PPS, under their FCC identifier

The Swift is manufactured by Shearwater. The Swift has a new FCC ID 2A024-17001, but is compatible with computers using MH8A.

 

[ScubaTexas]

Well, it looks like the FP prefix is likely not Shearwater. I have a "new" (got it sealed in plastic bag but has 10/18 date on it) transmitter with the FP prefix and reached out to Shearwater to get some clarity on its origins. (They were super quick to respond). Shearwater confirmed FP was not a prefix used by Shearwater on its branded legacy transmitters. Shearwater used either BM or FK. To be sure regarding the FP serial number, the Shearwater customer service rep, in a second email, looked up the exact serial number and confirmed it was not part of the Shearwater product database. He did not know if it was Oceanic, Aqualung or other. So, the search for the origins of the mysterious FP prefix goes on.

Second email response after looking up exact serial number:

 

[scubadada]

Hi @ScubaTexas

That's interesting. Who did you purchase the computer and transmitter from? Perhaps they know the brand for the transmitter.

Shearwater has great service and responds to inquiries promptly.

 

[ScubaTexas]

Hi @ScubaTexas

That's interesting. Who did you purchase the computer and transmitter from? Perhaps they know the brand for the transmitter.

Shearwater has great service and responds to inquiries promptly.

I purchased it from a small US shop (via online) and they were uncertain of the transmitter's brand. Teric was used (1 dive in log and looks pristine) and the transmitter was still sealed in plastic bag.