What causes CPAP to "call home"?

Jay Aitchsee wrote:Maybe if you edited your first post to include "SleepMapper" in the subject line

From what I have seen on here before, this might get him even more members trashing SleepMapper. Never used it myself, but it seems it is not considered a serious tool by people that know what they are doing.

Robear wrote:Hence, my question "what causes CPAP to call home?"

I do hope you get an answer.

ChicagoGranny wrote:
Just look at the display when you get up, and STHU.

Gee, what the heck is wrong with YOU ChicagoGranny? Why are YOU so offended by such a simple question? Some people are disabled and UNABLE to look at the screen on their units. My brother is one of them. Is your goal to shame people who are not as agile as yourself or perhaps have visual problems that requires a larger screen? At the very least, this is a feature that this OP wants to use. What's it to you if you don't benefit from it? This is a QUESTION forum and if you don't like the question, move on.

The position that some people have their units set for operation makes it difficult to read the screen. Sure, it's pitiable information, but it tells him some information such as mask leak. If his unit is a rental, it also tells him that those that need the information are getting it (and can't give him crap that they aren't).

To the OP, try unplugging your machine, plugging it back in after 30 seconds. Then try unplugging the modem and plugging that in. Sometimes machines lose their brains and a restart is necessary. Other times the pins could be 'off'. If the modem still isn't working, contact the DME about warranty repair or other options. It can ALSO be possible that you are too far from a cell tower or something is blocking the machine's access to a cell tower. My Resmed machine only manages to connect every few days - but I can't get cell service from my bedroom either, so it wasn't a surprise.

I've tried some deeper research on the forum about this subject. It seems that data transmission (& data shown on the machine's screen) are controlled by GMT, what time & for how long the machine is turned on/off, etc., etc. Based on dr's recommendations, I've always turned off CPAP if I take a bathroom break during the night. Indications are that might affect transmissions. Others have said that I should leave it running. Logic tells me that would be recorded as a very, very large leak . . . but maybe the machine is smart enough to know better.

I usually go to bed around midnight; maybe half hour before or after. I'm usually up by 7-8 am; sometimes before & sometimes after.

Below are extractions from a very old thread.

Odd data problem on Respironics System One INFO screen
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=89999&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

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by Pugsy on Mon Jun 10, 2013 9:33 am
Respironics machines are all set to correspond with GMT time and the LCD screen data won't update until after 12 PM GMT time.
Is it possible that you are trying to view the LCD data for last night prior to 12 PM GMT time?

So where ever you live...calculate GMT time hours difference and figure out what time your machine thinks it is...and that is when the machine will update any data on the LCD screen.
On the SD card...doesn't matter...the files are written to the SD card until the machine is turned off and final session close out data is written.
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Pugsy is on the right track however the actual chronological time you turn the CPAP on and off again is not the deciding factor. If a "session" runs past 12 p.m. GMT (I believe around 7 or 8 a.m. EST) and is longer than 4 hours it will update the screen once the device is shut off, if the "session" is less than 4 hours it will wait until 12 p.m. GMT before updating the LCD data.
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I also spoke with Philips tech support (my DME had no useful info) and they confirmed that one must view the onscreen data within 30 minutes of final wake (or it resets for the next sleep session) . . .
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The Philips tech said, however, that the transmit time can be altered by pressing the SEND button on the modem to force transmission. Since it transmits every 24 hours automatically, forcing transmission resets the clock from whatever time you've pressed the SEND button. Now my transmission time is set for 5:00 PM in the afternoon and should not interrupt my onscreen display during my sleep cycle. We'll see...
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Your compant's Respiratory therapist's statement holds NO validity regardless of what the Philips tech support said. The modem is designed to run a check on the flow device (CPAP) when it is scheduled to upload data, if the flow device is on and providing therapy the modem will not transmit. After a 30 minute wait the modem will try again to transmit data, if the flow device is still in use it will again not transmit and default into a waiting period. Rinse and repeat until the modem detects that the flow device is not in use while it is trying to transmit and only then will it transmit data.
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The fact that your modem was set to transmit at 5:30 a.m. tells me that your DME is not setting your flow device via the modem, they are using the card to set the prescription and then lacing the modem on the flow device. The modems are set by default to transmit 30 minutes after 12 p.m. GMT, however if you initiate an upload such as you did or your DME transmits a prescription to the modem, the default upload time is then reset to the time of that transmission. I have noticed on occasion that a client will need to initiate an upload a few days in a row before the default time resets.
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