Elite Divers - Equipment Info - Ambient Pressure Diving's Evolution

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	Ambient Pressure Diving, Evolution Closed Circuit Rebreather The Ambient Pressure Diving Evolution CCR was first seen at one of the UK Dive shows a year or so ago. We took a look at the Evolution CCR at DEMA Miami 2003. We have since updated this information to include any revisions viewed at Dive 2004 in London.

	Heads up Display Featuring four LED's, two green and two red with a variable intensity setting on the handset. One green and one red for each totally independent controller. The colours represent different states of the system, i.e. normal reading, high or low PPO2 warning. The original design featured a vibrating HUD which has been removed due to it being uncomfortable on activation.

	Handset The handset features new push buttons, the Evolution only has one handset which controls both independent controllers. The handset unlike the Inspiration does not run at ambient pressure and if the wires inside the cable were to break the unit will still run the HUD due to all of the controlling electronics being built into the scrubber lid, and the HUD running on a separate cable. The features of the handset are similar to the Inspiration but include battery life bars, selectable diluent mixes, auto setpoint switching, PC Log Viewer software, an inbuilt Nitrox computer option for an extra £115 or Nitrox and Trimix computer for £230, both use a Buhlmann algorithm with variable high and low gradient factors. A CO2 monitoring option is also available for £300.

	Wing & Counter-lungs The wing is the same lift capacity as the standard Inspiration wing but has had the cover redesigned and the Evolution logo stitched on it, it still feature the emergency bottle pocket which is excellent if you have a Custom Divers small HID light as the canister slips into this pocket perfect. There is also the option of a BCD style wing or at additional cost a larger wing. The counter-lungs are the same spec as the Inspiration counter-lungs but again have had their covers redesigned and the Evolution logo stitched on the left one.

	Harness System The harness is the same as the Inspiration but APD are looking at offering a stainless backplate option. The whole unit weighs in at 20kg nearly 10kg lighter than the Inspiration, and is a lot smaller. It features the auto air as standard but a Automatic diluent valve will cost you £159 if purchased at the same time as the unit.

	Scrubber, Cylinders & Rear Cover The scrubber holds 2kg of sofnolime and has a two hour duration, more than enough for most divers. The diluent and oxygen cylinders are 2 litre steel with APD's new first stages. The rear cover is hinged to the left with two webbing straps and the right side is fixed with two jeep bonnet type quick release rubber clips, again making the rear cover removal easier than the Classic Inspiration.

	Scrubber Lid & Electronics The electronics in the lid feature three different oxygen cells that feature a phono type plug on the wire connectors. This plug turns through 360 degrees in the female socket on the oxygen cells which mean you can unscrew them in situ. The scrubber lid fixes on with three spring loaded quick release fittings. A slot is moulded at three points on the lid, to release the lid you lift and twist one half turn to release each of the three fittings, an excellent idea which makes removing the lid very easy.

	Log Viewer Software The Evolution Vision electronics will come as standard with Log Viewer software. It comes with a serial and USB adaptor that plug into your PC and allow dive information to be downloaded and stored on your computer. I would imagine that it will also be MAC compatible. With the software you can view all of the relevant dive profile information and more. Things like cell readings at a certain time and depth during the dive, low battery alarms and ascent rates.

	Upload & Download Software The unit also comes with an upload & download program that allows you to upload any updates directly into the Evolution via a plug in port on the underside of the scrubber lid. Ambient Pressure Diving will either e-mail the users an attached update file or will post them to a secure area on their website for the user to download. I viewed the latest updates during a visit to the factory in August 2004 and was very impressed by the software.

	Conclusion The Evolution is a major leap forward in Recreational CCR diving, the Electronics will be available as an upgrade to the Inspiration as soon as the Evolution is released. A lot of people felt that APD had done nothing to push forward the CCR market since they released the Inspiration Seven years ago but this unit proves everyone wrong. For most people who are not doing in water times of over two hours and want a lighter unit than the Inspiration then the Evolution will undoubtedly be the best option, but at £5249 including training for the standard unit and £5938 for the full version with onboard Nitrox/Trimix computer, CO2 monitor and ADV, it's a lot of money. But if you're serious about your diving then its the only way to go.

	Layout The expected release date has continuosly been put back from the original release date of April 2004. Most Instructors completed their updates in November 2004 and we are hoping to receive our units in March 2005. This long delay has upset a lot of potential customers. But the extra cost between the Classic Inspiration is not much when you consider what you get for your money. APD will also offer the Classic Inspiration with the new Vision electronics, giving you a three hour scrubber and three litre cylinders for the same price as the Evolution. Having used the Evolution on our Instructor update in November 2004, I can say that it performed excellent in the water and in my opinion is going to be an extremely popular alternative to the already popular Inspiration.