PB420E APAP - I'm Officially Impressed

Wow, RG.

Well, not really lurk reading - I'm too much of a responder for that... this was the first time I logged in ages, and happened to see a 420E thread.

I've just been very very busy -

O.

Hi ozij,

Good to hear from you. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post.

ozij wrote:By the way - a few nights nights ago I was so congested I couldn't breath through my nose at all - the machine clocked 4 apneas in 5 mins, shot the pressure up to the max - and I was out of bed with my heart banging. this was one of the very very few night I didn't even use the machine again . . .

That's interesting, Ozij. I find myself taking my mask off with the PB420E as well, and a couple of times went back to sleep with the mask off despite my intention to put it back on "shortly". With Respironics machines I just never ever did that.

The reason I've been taking the mask off with the PB420E is that I wake up with one of my eustacheon tubes plugged. I then take the mask off to relieve pressure. The eustacheon tube clears, but I then have to wait a few minutes before putting the mask back on, otherwise it'll immediately get plugged again. Not sure why the PB420E would be any different from the Respironics machines in this regard, but it is. Maybe it's a machine response phenomenon. In the week or so I've used the PB420E, this may already have happened more than the total number of times it happened to me with Respironics machines.

ozij wrote:Silverlining:
1. In the begining I diligently saved the file for each night, with its own date, so I know where to find the night I want to look at. The files are not big, and doing it that way means you won't start loosing data when the 201th session slips in instead of the first.

I usually clear all data at about session 195 - 197 and just keep on saving, though I no longer do it daily.

2. In the first (synthesis screen) you can either export all the nights in it (up to 200) to a decriptive text file, or else, you can click on the preferred date, and when only that is blue, you'll get the (descriptive) data for that night only, which you can export.

3. The details screen lets you select your view by sessions, settings, or a 96 hour record -- you use the pencil for that.

4. You also export data into files that are are easily imported into Excel - again, in the beginning I did this daily, creating a main data file (with lovely multi colored charts eventuall...) into which I cut and pasted the nightly session data.
The exports are *.se for the session data, *.24h for a 24 hour collection and *.96h for 96 hours - the most time you have for detailed data.

If you use the .SE file you get you sessions one by one. The nice part about using Excel was that I created a rule not to calculate the session AHI for sessions shorter than an hour, since that squews the data.

5. The data exported is sightly different from the data presented, there's a mishandling of mixed apneas - see my Jabberwocky thread if you're interested...

Thank you for all the details. This is useful info. It seems strange that 24 hours of data can be exported, but not selected for the screen display. I stumbled upon the capability to select specific sessions. That suffices for my purposes as it grays out areas other than the selected sessions. Still, it would have been less confusing if the data had been broken down by nights as Encore Pro does it (at least Encore Pro usually provides a single night's data).

I'm still a novice with Silverlining 3, so your descriptions further my understanding. I'm still working on optimal adjustment too. This stuff always seems to take time.

I still like the PB420E and think it's a great little machine. It certainly fills a niche for travel, although I'm not sure it'll be replacing my Remstar just yet.

I also really like the Silverlining software. It is definitely superior to Encore Pro in regards to usability. It also sports easy and flawless installation.

ozij wrote:Great to see so many oldies together in this thread!

Well, not that I consider myself "old", ozij, but it is good to hear from you, and I thank you for your detailed response. ( Just kidding about the old part, ozij. I know you weren't calling me old - but on the other hand, I guess I'm not exactly young either.)

Regards,
Bill

I know what you mean by karmic debt, Will.

I've learned such a lot from so many - and been helped so much when I was a beginner - !

Bill, Some of Encore Pro's statistics are much more informative that Silverlining's, but you can get quite a bit of 24 hour data of you click on a date (a 24 hour period for Silvelining is from noon to noon) - the details on the right ("Analysis Period") change accordingly,


Did you notice that when you use the cross bar in the details screen Silverlining will give you the exact date and time if where you're pointing? And depending on which part of the graph you're in, it will give you the exact pressure, or leak or leak or the settings a that very moment. It also gives you the session number on the bottom of the graph. And remember to collapse the screen to view the detailed calculations give on the right side again, they will vary based on which middle button you click.

Another nice point - you can check recommended pressure at differnt percentages by clicking on the tool icon (hammer screw and monkey wrench) at bottom right.

Silverlining is like a kind of treasure hunt - click where you can, and see what you find. Take a look at the compliance screen - click on the bottom icon in the middle part, and then select a session number and then click on the session number (only that will respond, other numbers in the row won't)... not 24 hours, but not bad either....

I wouldn't know about the machine and "taking of the mask" relationship. The one other night in my life when I had this total congestion (without a cold) was way before cpap time...

Enjoy !
O.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): Encore Pro, CPAP

ozij wrote:Some of Encore Pro's statistics are much more informative that Silverlining's, but you can get quite a bit of 24 hour data of you click on a date (a 24 hour period for Silvelining is from noon to noon) - the details on the right ("Analysis Period") change accordingly,

Yep, I found that already. I guess I kinda spoiled by intuitiveness of the Encore Pro data.

ozij wrote:Did you notice that when you use the cross bar in the details screen Silverlining will give you the exact date and time if where you're pointing?

Yep, I found that too. I was bit lost with a couple of nights of data until I found the cross-hairs tool. I guess I couldn't believe the software wouldn't just automatically separate days when making the graphs. Of course, I understand the Silverling software has been around for a good long while now, so maybe the original software developers didn't really have any good examples to use in developing their work.

ozij wrote:And depending on which part of the graph you're in, it will give you the exact pressure, or leak or leak or the settings a that very moment. It also gives you the session number on the bottom of the graph. And remember to collapse the screen to view the detailed calculations give on the right side again, they will vary based on which middle button you click.

Yes, the detailed calculations are nice. The detailed calculations provided by Silverling strike me as more useful than those provided in Encore Pro.

ozij wrote:Silverlining is like a kind of treasure hunt - click where you can, and see what you find.

Your analogy is right on target, ozij. Working with Silverlining is at least entertaining in that regard. I suppose once one gets used to the Silverlining software you use it for what it's worth - just one of those areas where one takes the good with the bad.

ozij wrote:Take a look at the compliance screen - click on the bottom icon in the middle part, and then select a session number and then click on the session number (only that will respond, other numbers in the row won't)... not 24 hours, but not bad either....

That's an excellent feature, ozij. It provides the sort of flexibility in displaying data that Encore Pro lacks.

Overall, I'm impressed with the machine and the software, although I do see areas for improvement. My gripes are minor though. That said; at the current time PB software has a huge advantage over their competitors, in that at least they make their software available to patients. Hopefully, PB will continue to make their software available.

ozij wrote:I wouldn't know about the machine and "taking of the mask" relationship.

I woke up in the wee hours of the morning again last night with my eustacheon tube plugged and had to take my mask off for a little while. Either by luck or by determination, at least I didn't fall back to sleep without my mask on.

Maybe the problem with the eustacheon tube will resolve itself, or maybe I'll stumble upon something which helps.

Regards,
Bill