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I am a novice diver and in the process of acquiring my gear (it seems ever so slowly). I'm now working on regs. All of my diving will be in warm waters, probably about 15-20 dives per year and I do not anticipate becoming involved in anything other than recreational diving for several years to come. I understand the benefits of going with higher end regs such as Scubapro, Apex, Atomic, etc. and in fact, really like many of the features of these higher end regs. Of course, with them comes a much bigger price tag. During my research I have come across many good comments and reviews of Oceanic's Alpha 7 reg, which is more in line with my budget and seems like a really good reg for the money. I would be interested in hearing from any board members who have had the opportunity to dive the Alpha 7 PX2 and would also be interested in hearing from any one who has compared the Alpha 7 PX2 to some of the other higher end regs I mentioned.
The Oceanic Alpha 7 PX2 is a very simple design that uses an unbalanced second stage with the classic downstream valve. It uses a gas deflector that serves to channel the incoming flow into the mouthpiece. This creates a low pressure area from the fast moving, directed flow. This creates a form of vacuum assist to help keep the second stage diaphragm/lever depressed during inhalation. It's been around for a long time, actually since the early 70's. I've got two older US Divers from that era with the same basic design. The Mares Nikos second stage was almost identical to the Oceanic version.
It works well, and has no moving parts. If you limit your diving to below 100' or so then it will serve you well for recreational dives. It is easy to service, and the parts kits are realtively inexpensive due to the simpicity of both stages.
Oceanic has very good workmanship on their regs and reportedly stand behind their products with factory support of the the dealerships.
I personally use Mares regs, but have come to respect the Oceanic regs.
Oceanic makes some nice regs. The PX2 is a good first stage. Its a piston, so I wouldnt recommend it for cold water diving, however since you plan on doing warm water diving, no problem there. The Alpha 7, like Greg said, is an unbalanced second stage, because of this, I wouldnt use it for dives deeper than around 100-130 ft. For the average rec diver who stays within the rec limits, it will be fine. Sometimes it comes down to price, and I understand that. Regs can be expensive. The APeks, Scubapro, or Atomic regs would all be gravy... Get a reg that meets your needs. Anything else would be overkill. Sometimes, people like to get the best. Its just like cars... some people drive a Ford or a Chevy, others like BMW's or Mercedes.
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