Encore pro questions ???

snamvar · Post by **snamvar** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:23 pm

Hi,
I am using Encore pro with Remstar APAP. The compliance report does not indicate the correct time of the day using APAP. Do I need to set the time on APAP, so it's correctly stored on the smartcard? How do I do that?
Thank you in advance.

wading thru the muck! · Post by **wading thru the muck!** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:35 pm

I don't see anywhere to set the time. Maybe the machine is adjusting for you delayed sleep phase. (Sorry )

I'll keep looking, how much is the time off?

snamvar · Post by **snamvar** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:50 pm

Hi Wading,
I started using it at about 12:30 am last nigt and the report shows from 9:30 pm (3.5 hours off) to 6 am.
In general, how does the smart card keep track of the time and date?
Thanks.

wading thru the muck! · Post by **wading thru the muck!** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:55 pm

See! It's tellin you, that you should have gone to bed at 9:30 instead of 12:30. Maybe your boss is messing with it

Sorry to pester you about it, but I don't recall having to set the time and I did not see that when I browsed the setting tabs. Maybe you could try searching the help tab on the Encore Pro software for "clock" or "time"

snamvar · Post by **snamvar** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 7:07 pm

Hmmm, Are you sure you are NOT my boss? You sure sound like him !
Thanks

-SWS · Post by **-SWS** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 7:12 pm

If I recall correctly from Hugh Jass who called Respironics....

...the Remstar Auto keeps its own internal time clock, which cannot be reset short of sending it back to the factory for repair. The Remstar thus does not take any clock settings whatsoever from the PC, with the exception of time zone. You might try adjusting your PC's time zone to get the Encore Pro's time stamps rectified.

Please tell us if this works.

snamvar · Post by **snamvar** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 7:34 pm

Hi SWS,
I tried setting the time zone on my PC to Eastern time (from Pacific) and restarted Encore Pro. The hours of CPAP usage does not change. I'll try to setup the smartcard again (with new time zone on my PC) and see if tonights hours will be right. Will keep you posted.
Thank you.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 8:58 pm

Snamvar, when you start up your Encore Pro, what version does it say you are using?

snamvar · Post by **snamvar** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 5:15 am

Hi Rested Gal,
The Encore Pro version is 1.4.87. Is that the latest? I hope so

Mikesus · Post by **Mikesus** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 8:44 am

Call respironics, sounds like you might need your APAP serviced if what SWS said is true. They should be able to verify it...

-SWS · Post by **-SWS** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 8:54 am

I'd also be curious to hear if after changing the time zone on your PC, the SmartCard needs to be reinitialized. It's possible the time zone information is not transferred on a nightly basis, but on a one-time basis during SmartCard initialization or set up. I was hoping Hugh Jass could chime in to tell us exactly what he and his DME learned from their Respironics tech support call.

Interesting that the RemStar Auto maintains its own "relative" clock that is internal to the machine----and the Encore Pro software relies on the PC time zone exclusively to display the correct time stamps.

If, indeed, that's how it really works...

Mikesus · Post by **Mikesus** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 11:34 am

Could reinitialize the Smart Card

Go to Smart Card Utilities then Setup

Once the card is setup, put it in your APAP, hit start. Run it for a bit and check the time stamp...

Hugh Jass · Post by **Hugh Jass** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 12:54 pm

I've been trying to find the email I received from Respironics with no luck.

However, if memory serves me the word was to :
a) Make sure you set the time zone to the zone you are in.
b) If that doesn't work, your unit needs servicing.

Apparently the time you have your computer set to is irrelevent, since the Encore Pro software only utilizes the time zone setting to determine the time you turn your machine on/off.

Not certain about whether or not you need to clear data on smart card. Respironics made no mention of whether or not it was necessary.

Mine was originally set up to clear the data after each donwload so I suspect that I started with a cleared card at the same time I corrected the time zone on my PC.

My feeling however is that it wouldn't be necessary to clear the data from the card before or after making the change.

Regards

-SWS · Post by **-SWS** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:35 pm

Thanks, Hugh! If a SmartCard reinitialization is necessary, it wouldn't necessarily be the clearing of patient data itself that rectifies this problem----so much as it could be that's exactly when the time-zone offset variable is trasferred from PC to the Encore settings. However, that's nothing more than pondering on my part.

Mabey Snamvar can tell us what he discovers!

snamvar · Post by **snamvar** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 8:48 pm

Hi,
Thank you Hugh Jass for sharing the info. The time zone on my PC is correctly set (Pacific time). I get the "pattern of use" graph and "compliace statistics" report off by 4 hours (behind my time).
I tried changing the time zone on my PC to Eastern time to see if the "time" is changed in the reports and it's not.
If the Remstart keeps a relative time and Encore Pro translates that to local time using the PC's time zone, does Remstar have some kind of battery in it, so when you unplug the machine, it still keeps that "relative" time? It is similar to PC's in that sense!
For the past 3 days, I have been downloading the data to Encore Pro from the smart card and "Setup" the smartcard which erases all data from the card. I don't want to send the machine to Respironics! I am having too much fun playing around with it
I will cal Respironics tomorrow and find out more and keep you posted.
On another note, my fixed pressure was at 8 with CPAP. I can see that the pressure range with APAP has been 6 (minimum) to 12.7 for the past 3 nights. It seems that I need quite a variation in the pressure at different nights and the APAP it taking care of that. It's really cool