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Howzit all, got back from the Rebreather course and will finally post some info for you all.. i tried to get online from nassau and couldn't, even tried to access cis but couldn't get thru.. after about $20 in phone charges i gave up.. so here goes, a little late... the diving was the best part... at stuart coves dive center nassau.. what an opperation he has.. five boats 15 minutes from an incredible wall.. lots of fish and wild life... wish we had those perfect training grounds. the first ledge was at 45 feet then at 130fsw, 190fsw, 240fsw, 355fsw, and could almost make out one past that but it could have a temp change.. the unit: perfect for a rec level unit, worked best at 60 feet due to the way it functions (constant mass flow). i averaged from 5 to 9 cf of gas use at 60fsw for 50 minutes... not bad.. the best part is the silence of course, you could hear the rubber one way valves opening and closing in the mouth piece, and a very slight hiss of the constant flow reg.. but other than that no noise. there is a diffuser on the top that covers a dry suit type over inflation valve.. it's adjustable to control the breathing bag volume.. it was difficult at first to get this adjusted and we used alot of gas the first day, but after we figured it out it was easy to control... a good functioning unit would have a very small lline of bubbles flowing from the valve once in a while. only upon assecent would you hear any bubbles at all. the units were equipped with a four liter bottle but will come out with a five or six liter. the canister is the same one used in the lar 5, in fact a lot of the parts were the same. my unit was leaking on the second day and we decided to put it thru the test and got back in the water to see how long it would work with water inside. other than a little gurgling and a slight increase in the taste of the dragersorb it worked fine.. in fact i was suprised to see about two cups of salt water pour from the canister when i took it apart. (i got 40 minutes at 80fsw) price: they (uwatec) started out at $6500 retail plus the cost ofthe computer (which btw is the best part of the system.. if you havent seen one of these units find a way, they are hot). we seem to have made an impresssion on them that the price was too high, they are considering a better offer to make the market. the training course is 40 hours with six dives (it takes about three to get used to the unit, there are many things you do automatically that arent necessary any more).. cost there: from 600 to $1000 depending on the location and dives. when: september is the schedule time for 200 units in the us (more world wide). but will be suprised if they make that date with that number.. we gave them some ideas to take back to the drawing board (minor ones but). opinion: this is a great entry level rec unit.. super for photographers (i spent most of my dive time floating head down looking at all the wild life up close... you won't believe how much life runs from the bubbles of open circuit). the unit is not controled by a sensor in fact there is no electroics at all, but will be completely upgradable to the atlantis II, and the a III... so any money spent now will not be lost on upgrades or better units. weighs about 44lbs without bcd (not needed, completely neutral, but will be included in price) and bail out bottle. there is a sending unit on the nitrox computer if you take the upgrade ($1200) that clocks consumption and deco... but no o2 sensors (there is a place tho for the atlantis II upgrage.. next year). if i left out any info that yo want please just ask, ill look it up.. my eyes are still crossed from the return flight (i sat by tia carrea on the way out.. no such luck coming home).. there were instructors from chicago (really cool guy ricky thomas, black magic dive shop), new york, canada (another super fellow named chester), two from australia, john jordan from guam, bret, mitch, a super guy from egypt, and others.. gotta go.. sea ya, dennis epic dives hawaii
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