Setting up the Mk2 for CCR use

[dmainou]

Hi guys,

I'm about to try a ccr for the first time and I would like to know how to set up the mk2 for ccr as I have always used it for OC.

It won't be anything too complex. Down to three with a instructor and back.

I suppose I need to set up the O2 and diluent but not sure how. (and for future reference the off board deco gases as well if possible)

Your help is appreciated.

Best regards,

D

[Solodiver]

Have Fun Mate! Which unit are you going to try? Keep in mind, that trying a CCR might become very expensive! I would recommend to have your eyes more on the unit itself or on the integrated controller and not on your MK2.

Just set the MK2 to deco model CC GF (something like that, do not have my unit at hand now) and set up the set point afterwards (you will see the corresponding menu entry only after setting the unit to CC and quiting and reentering the menu). Set up the gases as common for OC, your diluent as 1st gas, switching the gas will mean bail out automaticaly.

Jan (diving a JJ CCR)

[dmainou]

Hi Jan,

I know it can get a bit expensive. Having said that, gases are not cheap in Australia or surrounding areas either. A week worth of diving OC in Chuuk Lagoon could easily cost 2/3ds of the price of a ccr. Where people diving CC may spend 100 dollars or so. Therefore it really depends on what you want to do. These days I'm mainly doing wreck decompression diving (still breathing air as bottom gas) and rather than going down the track of OC trimix and multiple stages I'd rather go for a ccr.

Still need to convince the Mrs cos famous last words after a mate died using his inspo were "never let me buy a black box of death". That was about seven years ago when I didn't really understood what a ccr was about. However the Mrs still has those words in her mind.

Anyway, back on topic, over the past 12 months or so I've read the manual of several units and to me the one that looks the simplest to use and less prone to f@ck ups is the unit you are flying (JJ CCR).

There is one in Sydney at present and my shop is offering try dives ahead of Jan Jorgenson coming to Sydney to train the new owners of their JJ's. BTW, they are selling like pancakes. So I must not be the only with the impression that they are good units.

About the OSTC, yes I'll concentrate in the ccr but would like to run my computer as well. Quick q. Do I need to enter the O2 bottle or the Mk2 just assumes that its there?

Side q as well. Do you think that a dr5 could be used instead of a predator to fly it? It would be so cool.

Thanks for the help.

[Solodiver]

dmainou Wrote:
> Anyway, back on topic, over the past 12 months or
> so I've read the manual of several units and to me
> the one that looks the simplest to use and less
> prone to f@ck ups is the unit you are flying (JJ
> CCR).

So be prepared to spend some money afterwards. You would be the first guy I know who will not order it after try diving! I've read about spreading of JJs in Australia at RBW lately (in the Brisbane area if I remember well). And I've also read about Dave Thomson coming to teach some guys down there, so hurry up .

If you are coming from OC and if you are DIR "friendly" (like I've been when diving OC) there might be some things you want to change, but compared to other units this will be quite less. I use my own harness as the original one is just tooo soft and adjustable and I'm not happy with the long wing inflator hose and still unsure about the stand. But after having aroung 70hrs now I'd definitely buy it again. I've tested Evo and rEvo as well but the WOB and other things are much better on the JJ. And If you change your mind afterwards, there is just no risk. The only JJ which has been for sale on RBW for now has been sold after 10 seconds for a reasonable price.

But decide for yourself

> Do I need to enter the O2 bottle

No

> Side q as well. Do you think that a dr5 could be
> used instead of a predator to fly it? It would be
> so cool.

No, thats not possible at the moment (as controlling the solenoid is not implemented) and beeing frankly, I do not belief that it will in the next few years. I've thought about this several times also and spoke to some people but there seems to be just no interest in this topic. I'm sure they could sell quite some additional units and even would be able to found some business with CCR manufacturers. It shoold not be that difficult if we speak about the software. I'd love to use a box like the MK2 for controlling my JJ instead of this shearwater thing with proprietary software (in particular on the desktop which is no go for me!). Also keep in mind that the DR5 is quite heavy and bulky. And for now it has "just" the Fisher Connector which seems not to be usable for use with eCCR for reading the sensors _and_controlling the solenoid. I know several people using it on a mCCR for reading their sensors and calculating the deco, but if you talk about deeper dives a mCCR will be no option for you.

Feel free to come back to me (also via PM) and let us/me know about your try dive.

Cheers,
Jan

[dmainou]

Hi Jan,

Quick q. What about setting the set points is there an order I should follow?

For example, Set point 1 should be the lowest or highest or the one to start the dive with? Should they be ascending, descending or its irrelevant?

Also, on the bail out gases, should they be setup as active gasses?

Thanks mate.

Ps. Today I spent a good hour discussing with my LDS about the JJ. We had a JJ, a Poseidon, a inspo and a couple others next to each other. We even discussed the upcoming AP diving wireless ccr. Still like the JJ. Its just simple. Will jump on the water sometime soon.

D

[Steve]

SP 1: descending (or low SP)
SP 2: bottem SP (or high SP)
SP 3: some ppl use it for ascending or deco

I use SP 1: 0,7, SP2: 1,3 and SP 3 : 1

For rebreather I can suggest the rEvo. Awsome machine

[dmainou]

Steve Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SP 1: descending (or low SP)
> SP 2: bottem SP (or high SP)
> SP 3: some ppl use it for ascending or deco
>
> I use SP 1: 0,7, SP2: 1,3 and SP 3 : 1
>
> For rebreather I can suggest the rEvo. Awsome
> machine


Thanks man,

What about the bail out bottles. Do I set them as active gases?

At some point in time I'll take a look at it but they are not sold locally so it is not as straight forward as with the other local options.

The price of training may more than double with a revo just on air fares.

D

[Solodiver]

dmainou Wrote:
> Quick q. What about setting the set points is
> there an order I should follow?

Hm, seems that the 1st SP is the active one and you can change to the other ones in the water only. For me I set them to SP1 1,3, SP2 1,0, SP2 1,2 (the last one is the one 've been teached to use and I might switch to the latter oney when I do longer or many dives a day in regards to CNS toxity). I do not switch SP on the MK2 while diving due to the fact it's "just" a backup and you will use the low SP just at the very beginning of every dive. Also keep in mind that your SP might be in fact not really constant but may vary a little which your main controller (shearwater predator in case of JJ) will consider for deco calculations. Usually you will increase your SP (manually!) while doing deco so it might be a good idea to have an even higher SP set up. I've never tried to edit a SP on the MK2 while in the water, but there is no problem with this using the shearwater (where you only have a low and high SP).

Anyway, After doing ~70 dives with the JJ I've learned that the showings of the MK2 compare to the ones of the sw predator pretty much (Deco, CNS, GF% etc.) so it is quite a good idea to use it for backup to check your main controller or to use it when your main controller quits working (as long as you are fine with the 130m limit of the mk2 .

> Also, on the bail out gases, should they be setup
> as active gasses?

Not sure, for mine it is. This might become important when you have to bail out and want to see how long you've to stay down and to check if you have enough gas with you...

And sure, if you can try the rEvo and every other unit you can catch also! I've done a try dive on the rEvo with Paul Raymaekers last summer but the JJ just looks more finished TO ME(!). There is no BOV on the rEvo and also the WOB has been really horrible for my dive (which could be the result of a wrong fitted unit). I did not have have ANY issues with the WOB on the JJ, rumor is it has the best value in this topic ever achieved in the oncoming CE. Paul is doing a good job in discussing and publishing informations which you will not find at any other manufactures (I know).

HTH,
Jan

[dmainou]

@Matthias & @JeanDo

On previous posts we have two opposing views of how to setup the Mk2 set points for ccr use.

Would you wind commenting from the programmers point of view?

Ascending, descending, first set point in "setpoint one", doesn't really matter...

Thanks guys.

[Steve]

For the BO gasses. I don't set them as active and I can reach al 5 gasses during dive and even Gas6 can be defined. Keep in mind that Gas 1 is your diluent. Which makes the MKII awsome of course :p

I also have a shearwater on my rEvo but mostly I use MKII during dive because i'm used to it and because of the clarity under water. There is just a little difference between deco calculations.

If u use SP 0,7 or 1,3 during dive you will notice the the deco doesn't make a big difference, just a couple of minutes.

Ow my rEvo is a rEvo III ce approved to 100m. WOB seems nice but in comparison to an inspiration I have to give a little diluent manualy while descending. I think my ADV is set a little hard but that's the way I like it to keep my minimum loop valume as small as possible

grz,
Steve

[Solodiver]

Steve Wrote:
> Keep in mind that Gas 1 is your
> diluent. Which makes the MKII awsome of course :p

There is no need to use Gas 1 for diluent, for me it is Gas 4 right now.

> If u use SP 0,7 or 1,3 during dive you will notice
> the the deco doesn't make a big difference, just a
> couple of minutes.

You will for sure see a difference using the wrong set point. But IMHO here is no need for a manually switch from low to high SP while descending but it is OK to start with the high SP already. You will see a very slight difference only as the depth and time where use the low SP is not sooo important for your deco calculations as the depth and time afterwards.

HTH,
Jan

[dmainou]

Ok so the important stuff is that the diluent is the "first gas" (as in first? Yes) regardless of if it's gas 1,2 3, 4 or 5.


Bail out gases can be active or not but it really doesn't make sense to have a change depth on them unless we actually are thinking in using them.

Thanks guys

[Solodiver]

Steve Wrote:
> I also have a shearwater on my rEvo but mostly I
> use MKII during dive because i'm used to it and
> because of the clarity under water. There is just
> a little difference between deco calculations.

Steve, you know that there is quite an easy way to use the DR5 with the rEvo? I assume you already have the Fischer Connector? I know several guys using their rEvo with a DR5 (not for maintaining the PPO2 but for reading it and calculating the deco dependently).

If you use your MK2 as main unit - how do you watch your PPO2?

Thx,
Jan

[JeanDo]

dmainou Wrote:
@Matthias & @JeanDo

On previous posts we have two opposing views of how to setup the Mk2 set points for ccr use.
Would you wind commenting from the programmers point of view?
Ascending, descending, first set point in "setpoint one", doesn't really matter...
Thanks guys.

Not sure what views you are speaking about. And I am not a CCR diver (yet). What I can say about the OSTC code:

- SP#1 is always the starting setpoint. You can freely swicth in any order later on. The OSTC will just do what you say it to do. Including stupid stuff with deep depth and silly ppO2...

- I know of top notch CCR divers using low ppO2 for the whole dive (1.00), and switching to 1.60 for the deco at 6m. And using Hx10/90 diluant to make three digits every saturday.

- Since 1.85beta, default values are 0.80, 1.00 and 1.20 (when you do a Reset gas list).

- Currently there is no automatic switch to some deco setpoint when simulating ascent (ie. when computing runtime).

[dmainou]

JeanDo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What I can say about the
> OSTC code:
>
> - SP#1 is always the starting setpoint. You can
> freely swicth in any order later on. The OSTC will
> just do what you say it to do. Including stupid
> stuff with deep depth and silly ppO2...
>

Thanks mate,

The points above solves a lot of q's


> - Currently there is no automatic switch to some
> deco setpoint when simulating ascent (ie. when
> computing runtime).


What about descent? Does the simulator changes to a higher setpoint as per the new CF during simulation?

[JeanDo]

No automatic changes too in descent. It just stick to the current setpoint (either SP#1 or the one you changed too during dive).

CF39 is used indeed to correct setpoint when diluant and depth are not compatible.

Cheers,