PR S1 software options..Warning a Novel..

[Pugsy]

Edit today Friday July 27/2012 to add information about the new PR S1 60 series machines with the heated hosed. Right now your only software options are EncoreBasic and Encore Pro 2.8. SleepyHead is not yet compatible with the new models. It is being worked on though. Encore Pro 2.8 is typical PITA bloated pig PITA to use. I am recommending EncoreBasic. It gives every bit the same data (including waveform) that Pro does and is much smaller and less of a PITA to install and use. It also will install on 32 bit or 64 bit computers without a problem. Still Windows based software though.

Edit again..Monday Feb 25/2013
About Encore Pro....when the 60 series machines was released last spring they updated Pro to version 2.5 to be compatible with the new machines. They also released EncoreBasic at the same time. Basic is a slimmed down (22 MB vs over 300 MB Pro) version. It was still designed for DMEs and doctors office but they removed the SQL database hog and Basic doesn't care if you have a 32 or 64 bit computer. Basic is slimmed down in size but they didn't change the reports. Mainly the changes were with improved slimmed down office type of stuff...nothing that impacted the reports at all.
I installed both to compare the reports on my PR S1 BiPap. They are identical with the only drawback to Basic is that the only waveform graph that is available for viewing is the most recent download. Not a big deal...if someone just has to have every single one of their waveform graphs..just download daily and save as PDF on the computer.

The original first Pro version release to be compatible with the new 60 machines was 2.5...and then it was changed with the release of new ASV version and there were a couple of version changes (I didn't keep up with each small change) and now Respironics has done something weird with the version numbers...they went backwards. Version 2.11 is now the latest Pro version that I am aware of.

Pro has always been problematic. About 1 in 5 failed installs or people reporting some sort of problem (from the ones I have had contact with). Basic is much less problematic mainly due to the absence of the hog SQL database. There are still separate versions for 32 or 64 bit computers if someone wants Pro. There's nothing to be gained by using Pro other than old wave form graphs are available with Pro except some possible headaches and frustrations.
I don't know if Pro 2.11 is going to be compatible with the older machines using the Smart cards. There was some talk of no longer supporting the older machines last August. They may have done this with 2.11. I no longer have a Smart card and DT 3500 card reader or machine to test it. Basic still supports the older machines.

Stuff below is the original thread.

Okay, I came up with some examples of all the different software options for PR S1 users with data capable machines. These are all mine from last night. I use APAP mode. Minimum of 10 cm & max 20 cm. It works for my needs. By sleep study history I was much worse in REM sleep. Supine sleep was not remarkable as far as event occurrence. Mentioning this for newbies as general information only. Just because this works well for me does not mean it works well for the next person. Been doing this for a little over 2 years now. Please also note that pressure changes even up to the max have never disrupted my sleep.

It is NOT a normal night for me so I will add a normal night for me in a separate post. I am using this example because of my (for me) unusually high AHI. Probably definitely related to narcotic pain pills I am taking. Vicodin 5 mg (generic name Hydrocodone with tylenol). In the past a single 5 mg Vicodin (prn back & neck pain) has not affected my reports at all but this one most likely shows the effects of increased dosage. I fell and broke my wrist last Thursday night. Colles fracture of distal radius if anyone wants to see an ugly fracture just google Colles fracture. Monday went to Orthopedic surgeon and an attempted closed reduction of the fracture was done not completely successful so I will have surgery and pins put in to hold fragments together this Friday. Horrible pain Monday night. Not much sleep do to pain. Yesterday more horrible pain and tremendous swelling. So yes, I took the pain pills all day yesterday and at night took 2 so that I could sleep. So I had substantial amount of narcotic in my system. OSA was the least of my problems and I figured if it got worse because of the drugs, then so be it. I would let the APAP do the job it was designed for.

Back to the software report options. BTW I use 32 bit Vista computer. All these software options work just fine on my computer. EDIT...now using 64 bit computer without problems.

EncoreViewer and Encore Pro detailed reports (the only ones I really look at) are identical.
Encore Pro offers wave form report. Viewer does not.
Both are Windows based software and thus require Windows environment if you use other OS or a Mac.
EncoreViewer2.0 is more user friendly to install and use. It is the patient/user version that is sold for $99. Designed for 32 bit computers though a few 64 bit users have found a work around but it didn't sound very easy so not for computer novice.
EncorePro 2.4xx is the DME version. It is offered in 32 bit & 64 bit versions. I can be a PITA sometimes for some people but I have never had a problem with any version.
So here is EP report (set for unintentional leak I just realized I will fix that in a bit.) and one waveform section that includes a little grouping of events within a couple of hours or so of sleep onset. Please note that the time is off by one hour because of the software and DST. I went to bed one hour later than it says. So this time difference in all the reports is to be expected.

Leak Line above report with software changed to show Total Leak instead of unintentional Leak.

Waveform


Onkor online analyzer will work with Windows and Mac computers.
http://www.onkor.net/
Example of its report here and also example of zooming in on that little cluster that showed up on Encore Pro.


Zoom in can go much deeper if you wish. This closely corresponds to the Pro wave form data.


SleepyHead downloadable application file.
read about it here. First post to read mainly as developer updates this post with each build. It is in it infancy but it works very well. Works on Windows for sure and maybe Mac version is now ready. http://sourceforge.net/projects/sleepyhead/ EDIT 09/12/11 now also works with Resmed machines and has added Oximetry available.


Again this zoom in can go much tighter but I tried to keep these at about the same resolution. You can zoom in on the other reporting areas if you wish like leak or pressure or snores.


So there are some viable alternatives to EncorePro or Viewer. I like the zoom in feature. Can't do that with Pro or Viewer.
I will post a "normal" night for me in a few minutes. Typing all this one handed is tiresome.

[Pugsy]

This is more my normal night. With maybe small pressure spike occasionally besides the probes seen here.
Leaks are rarely an issue.
Software set for unintentional leak only.

[beckah]

I am impressed that you typed all that information even though you are in pain with your injured wrist. You are truly one of the most helpful people I've ever met, always trying to help and educate us. You are a trooper, Pugsy.

Here's wishing you a pain free night and quick healing after your surgery Friday.

beckah

[Pugsy]

I am impressed that you typed all that information even though you are in pain with your injured wrist. You are truly one of the most helpful people I've ever met, always trying to help and educate us. You are a trooper, Pugsy.

Thanks. I can actually use the good old middle left finger carefully for left side of keyboard. Slow but that is a lot of help.
Besides I still have some good drugs in me. I am much improved from yesterday and since I can't do much of anything else bored out of my mind ....... Might as well do something useful instead of online games.

[beckah]

"good old drugs" Just what the doctor ordered!

[Gerald?]

Pugsy

For the waveform data I seem to recall you can only see certain nights. Is this the same with onkor and Sleepyhead, or is it the case that the PRS1 only stores one night of waveform data at a time and you have to do a download every day to get this info regardless of viewer software?

[JDS74]

Pugsy

For the waveform data I seem to recall you can only see certain nights. Is this the same with onkor and Sleepyhead, or is it the case that the PRS1 only stores one night of waveform data at a time and you have to do a download every day to get this info regardless of viewer software?

Only speaking for Encore Pro. The hardware only saves one night's worth of data on the card. Download each day and you get it, don't and it's gone. I'm not sure what happens if you back up the data to a separate folder and then reload to the card after the next day and try to load in PRO. Haven't run the experiment because I don't want to take the chance of losing the data.

BTW: If you use a new card each day, then reset the system clock to the correct date for each card, download that day, reset the clock to the next card's day, Pro will load in all of the wave data for as many days as you have cards. Done this for a trip and got all the data. That was after a trip where I used the same card and got only the last day's data.

PS: Pugsy - hang in there. I hope your wrist is better soon.

[Pugsy]

For the waveform data I seem to recall you can only see certain nights. Is this the same with onkor and Sleepyhead, or is it the case that the PRS1 only stores one night of waveform data at a time and you have to do a download every day to get this info regardless of viewer software?

I have wave form data available in SleepyHead for all night's except one since I started using this machine mid April.
I just went back and checked each night.
I had only 2 of these showing. This was around May 20. No wave form available on Pro for that night.


On Encore Pro I had 8 nights without waveform data showing on reports.

I have not used Onkor except maybe 10 times.
Last Sat June 4 night. No wave form for that night on Encore Pro. Couldn't use Onkor because it won't work without the 0005 file type and it was missing and I get the same message above about no data using SleepyHead.

So from this I would think that just because EP says "no wave form" doesn't mean it to be so as I have 6 nights with waveform on SleepyHead that Pro doesn't.

If there are zero 0005 files on the SD card Onkor won't even load for me. It is also hard for me to correlate the file numbers and dates modified to get apples to apples reports... I think I isolated a group of files that had no wave form showing on Pro and SleepyHead BUT did have an 005 file so I could upload to Onkor. It took forever but I finally got a report that did include waveform.

SleepyHead is much less time consuming than Onkor. Doing a single file group at a time and then waiting between each report to generate is very tedious with Onkor. It looks like there is a chance that wave form missing on Pro might show up on either Onkor or SleepyHead.
I have no idea what causes Pro to have missing wave form though. Not sure if it is related to frequency of downloads or not. I guess I could wait several days and see. I have waited 3 days and not lost waveform. I do NOT download to Pro every day.

[robysue]

Pugsy

For the waveform data I seem to recall you can only see certain nights. Is this the same with onkor and Sleepyhead, or is it the case that the PRS1 only stores one night of waveform data at a time and you have to do a download every day to get this info regardless of viewer software?

If you actually look at the files on the SD card, the PR S1 does NOT seem to erase the .005 (wave form) files for at least several months. (Longest I've had either of my PR's machine is about 4 months due to warranty issues that sent my first one back to PR at the end of April.) Near as I can tell, SleepyHead will download all the .005 files on the card when you first download the data. On subsequent downloads, SleepyHead downloads all the new wave forms, not just the most recent one. So you don't need to download every single day.

For reasons that make no sense to me, Encore Pro will only download the .005 files for the most recent day on the card. It simply ignores all the other .005 files for some reason.

And as Pugsy said, Onkor needs the full set of files---including the .005 in order to do anything.

Note: If the SD card is not fully inserted into the PR S1, the summary data and the events that show up in Encore viewer are recorded in the machine's on-board memory, but the wave form data is not. So when you put the card back into the machine, you get the summary data and the stuff that Encore Viewer needs to display the detailed data, but you don't get the wave form. In SleepyHead, you'll get a message that there's no wave form, but there will still be a table of events.

[rosacer]

I like very much the Nove Pugsy, waiting for next chapter it was very instructif.

[Pugsy]

I like very much the Nove Pugsy, waiting for next chapter it was very instructif.

I threw a lot of information out there and is bound to confuse people. I don't always convey my thoughts as clearly as I see them in my head.

If someone needs clarification, just ask. I will try to refrain from starting another book. I guess I could have done each option as a separate post. Now's a fine time to think about it.

[M.D.Hosehead]

Thanks, Pugsy, for your invaluable help.

[jedimark]

Pugsy

For the waveform data I seem to recall you can only see certain nights. Is this the same with onkor and Sleepyhead, or is it the case that the PRS1 only stores one night of waveform data at a time and you have to do a download every day to get this info regardless of viewer software?

If you actually look at the files on the SD card, the PR S1 does NOT seem to erase the .005 (wave form) files for at least several months. (Longest I've had either of my PR's machine is about 4 months due to warranty issues that sent my first one back to PR at the end of April.) Near as I can tell, SleepyHead will download all the .005 files on the card when you first download the data. On subsequent downloads, SleepyHead downloads all the new wave forms, not just the most recent one. So you don't need to download every single day.

For reasons that make no sense to me, Encore Pro will only download the .005 files for the most recent day on the card. It simply ignores all the other .005 files for some reason.

And as Pugsy said, Onkor needs the full set of files---including the .005 in order to do anything.

Note: If the SD card is not fully inserted into the PR S1, the summary data and the events that show up in Encore viewer are recorded in the machine's on-board memory, but the wave form data is not. So when you put the card back into the machine, you get the summary data and the stuff that Encore Viewer needs to display the detailed data, but you don't get the wave form. In SleepyHead, you'll get a message that there's no wave form, but there will still be a table of events.

The PR System One keeps storing session & waveform data as long as there is SD card space available.
It starts filling up files in the p0 directory. When there is over 300 or so session file groups (of .001, .002 & .005), it creates and moves onto p1.. and so on.

It is still good sense to make regular backup of your SD card. One wrong click during import in encore pro and your card is empty. (Technically it copies some of the data to the clear0 directory, which you can rescue some sessions from)

[Gerald?]

Thanks Jedimark and Robysue

Looks like Sleepyhead is much better at reporting data than Encore. Perhaps when people ask for an encore download in the future we should refer them to sleepyhead? Not illegal, sounds easier to install and use and better access to data. Perhaps I should wait until I've used it.

What do you think?

[__z0rk]

Pugsy,
This is great info for a n00b like myself.
Thanks!