"the Pulse" Mod

[Brandon]

Well it looks like Cisco has done it again. Except this time, he's going super high tech and bringing together a team of coders.

The Pulse mod sounds like it's going to be the next big breakthrough in PVs. I honestly thought it was a joke until I got to around page 5 of the thread. I dislike posting links to other forums here, but I feel it necessary this time. The full description and thread can be found here: http://www.vapersforum.com/showthread.php?t=15615

The Pulse is microprocessor controlled PV, pulsing power to the atomizer at variable voltages. Pulse width modulation is something I've not ventured into yet in my DIY hobby projects, but there are tons of benefits. I just never thought about it being used to power an atomizer

Here is quote from Cisco outlining the abilities:

Some of the features that will be available, maybe not in the first runs, but the PV has the ability to have code updates installed. If a new feature is designed the code and/or software can be updated.

*Micro processor controlled

*User controlled power setting

*Infinitely adjustable voltage (from standard 3.7v to 6v+)

*Adjustable power curve (max. 10 sequences per drag)

*Customizable power curves (max. 10 sequences per drag)

*Profile sharing (download and install other users profiles)

*Dual battery operation 2 3.7v protected 18350's(features enabled)

*Single battery operation (features disabled, uses 3.7v protected 18650)

*USB pass-through capable (Features and profiles disabled)

*wall pack power Pass-through @8v (features enabled)

*Customizable LED notifications

*Vaping usage log with time and date stamping (coding not complete)

*Auto Atomizer resistance detection (coding not complete)

*Battery protection

*Low battery notification

*Atomizer connector short circuit protection

*Advanced software settings mode

*Auto device install via USB

*Toggle profile mode (PV can store 4 profiles)

*Profile change on the fly (change loaded profiles without USB connect)

Thus far he says it will be available later this summer around June/July, and hasn't fully estimated the purchase price yet. The only hint in that regard is that he said it will definitely *not* be under $200. I personally don't expect to see it for much less than $300 considering what this beast can do.

[VaPOOrizer]

Well it looks like Cisco has done it again. Except this time, he's going super high tech and bringing together a team of coders.

The Pulse mod sounds like it's going to be the next big breakthrough in PVs. I honestly thought it was a joke until I got to around page 5 of the thread. I dislike posting links to other forums here, but I feel it necessary this time. The full description and thread can be found here: http://www.vapersforum.com/showthread.php?t=15615

The Pulse is microprocessor controlled PV, pulsing power to the atomizer at variable voltages. Pulse width modulation is something I've not ventured into yet in my DIY hobby projects, but there are tons of benefits. I just never thought about it being used to power an atomizer

Here is quote from Cisco outlining the abilities:

Thus far he says it will be available later this summer around June/July, and hasn't fully estimated the purchase price yet. The only hint in that regard is that he said it will definitely *not* be under $200. I personally don't expect to see it for much less than $300 considering what this beast can do.

Well, it has tons of bells and whistles, thats for sure.. but for me, less is more. That is too much crap going on there, too much can go wrong, and over $300.00? It better be able to fetch me a beer! LOL If you get one, I'd love to see a video review..

[stormchas3r]

Wow, talk about keeping up with technology. That would be awesome to own something like that. I'm not familiar with cisco's products. Were can we go keep track of this?

TY,

Rob

[Mike]

This sounds like something that may be superior to other devices...,,BUT,..Is it really worth it? It's nice to have a lot of different toys and I like knowing that I have several different high and low voltage units. The truth is, to me anyway, that I find the best vaping experince with my standard 510 batterys and a low resistance atty with a drip tip. It doesn't get any better than that for me. My 6v homemade passthrough does a great job with a standard atty when I'm driving around in my truck but you just can't beat the tiny size and performance of a standard 510, IMO.

[FTJoe]

For some it will be...I'd rather have a bunch of backups instead. I like the mega batts with the LR atty. Have a mega PCC so it stays fully charged (probably shortening the life of the battery tremendously). Best for me is the spade with an LR and drip tip...got 8 batteries coming soon as I'm down to 1.

Edited May 7, 2010 by FTJoe

[Kragax]

Im still inlove with my vypr. I do use my 510 and 510 pass thrus though. Lived on my pass thru yesterday as I left the vypr in the van all day.

[Burn]

Everything Cisco mentions for the mod does make sense although I also feel less is usually more. However, I do realize that PVs in and of themselves is an emerging technology and we could very well be looking back at this thread in a couple of years and be laughing about the "primative caveman mod" that Cisco rolled out in the summer of '10.

[Brandon]

*****EDIT: Cisco didn't actually make the screwdriver, it was Trog. Apologies for my misinformation*****

Thus far the only way to keep track of the Pulse's development is to keep track of it on his thread at Vaper's Forum.

To those not familiar with Cisco (and of course I'm not personally familiar with him, just his history, writings, and apperances on VaporCast) he's commonly known as the godfather of mod-PVs. Not that making the first mod was his idea, nor did he actually come out with the first mod.

But he was one of the first. The Laser Pointer Mod and the ScrewDriver mod are essentially his. And he was also one of the first to make detailed tutorials. And this will be his first mod that he's making commercially.

Nowadays tutorials are a dime a dozen, but that wasn't the case in the twilight years of vaping.

In any case, I know for a fact that this type of mod is a step in the right direction. The more we distance vaping from smoking the better off we will be. Smoking never had electronics, pulse width modulation, or firmware

Like every purchase I make, I won't be the first one. I'll wait for a few reviews first.

But even with that said, I still plan on making a Nuck's FistPack.

Edited May 7, 2010 by Brandon

[Sinikal]

(Moving to mod tips and tricks)

[SickDripzz]

A wall outlet powered pass-through at 8 VOLTS? Did I read that right?? I'm in, I'm sold, I want one! Nah not quite but that is damn impressive. I would be willing to snag one of these bad boys if they are really made out to what they're supposed to be... but this is as epic as it gets with e cigs so far; 3 bills on one device? Yikes! Better have the power of two Jokers used simutaneously lol

[Ray]

I'm sticking with 100% mechanical.

Mods are pricey and componets burn or wear out.

Batts and attys are reasonable compared to packs of analogs, so if the mod lasts, you'll be able to save in the long run. IMHO

Of course, I'd be willing to BETA TEST anything

Edited May 7, 2010 by Ray

[Tektronik]

I agree with many people on this thread. So far the "less is more" aspect might be the way to go for right now, but think of all the technology out in the world that we use everyday. Think of how complex a cell phone PDA is. We use those everyday and can't function without one. I just want to wait and see how well their quality control will be on it.

Pulse modulation is certainly a good idea ( I kid you not, I was on the phone three weeks ago with my buddy and we were talking about that very same idea-we both work in avionics-I work on radar and he works on electronic countermeasures-both systems use pulse modulation and we are very familiar with it). Some of the main benefits applied to vaping will be longer battery life and longer atomizer life- if you set your power curves correctly. It's that first burst of energy that hurts an atomizer every time you press the switch. With an adjustable power curve, you can start off "weak" and gradually increase the power, saving your atomizer over each activation. What would be really cool is if you could adjust other elements of modulation, like the pulse width and pulse recurrence frequency; you could stretch your battery life even longer by bringing the average power down. That would be like being able to tweak your sports car's engine computer (the volumetric table, for example) for better gas mileage or better performance!

Like i said, I'm more curious about the quality control of each device than anything else. Then again, you could still go through several atomizers before you find one that works because the quality of atomizers also stink. Then yet again, it all comes down to how reliable your source of power is. These cheaply made batteries that we all use could easily ruin any device no matter how simple or complex it is.

I want to own one of these things, but I think I will wait for version 2 or even 3 before I pick one up for myself.

[GDub]

Yeah, in my experience the more components used the more likely the device is to fail. That aside a device like this is appealing to me. It's just really refreshing to see people taking a completely new approach to these devices.

[Brandon]

For me, if this mod lives up to the hype it would be a very sensible purchase. I say that not owning any high voltage portable device. The only high voltage device i own is a VaprLife passthrough (and the car adapter to use with it). Besides the fact that the "vaping power profile" is customizable, the fact that the voltage is variable would be worth it to me. I was *this* close to buying a joker, but the OCD in me said to wait until there has been at least one month of reviews on it. And even with the announcement of the Pulse, I'm still tempted to spring for a joker.

But the wifey bought me a playstation3 a week ago for our anniversary, so now I've also got the fever for a 46" panasonic plasma so that we can watch blue ray movies. (sigh) Too bad an extra $grand$ won't suddenly materialize in my bank account!

[Brandon]

DougP925, one of the mod developers, joined the discussion to speak more on the technical aspects. This one excerpt from his post has pretty much sealed the deal for me.

Regarding battery power roll-off compesation, this PV will be constantly monitoring the battery power and as the battery begins to weaken, the PV will automatically inrease the pulse width and duty cycle. This means that the user will not notice that the battery is weakening until the battery is depleated and needs to be re-charged. Of course, there will be a cutoff point where the PV will prevent the user from operating past the batteries maximum discharge point. (Safety cutoff)

Basically, you'll be getting full power up to the moment the system senses the batteries are dead and shuts them off... I likie.

[ddavelarsen]

...

But even with that said, I still plan on making a Nuck's FistPack.

Say Brandon, how about making two? <hint> I'd love to have one but I think that is beyond my fabrication capability. PM me some day if interested. Seriously.

Meanwhile, I'm with you on the future of PVs too. I think technology is going to continue to push vaping into a more and more successful lifestyle. And differentiate it from smoking.

[GDub]

The more I think about this mod and spend time reading up on PWM the more I really like it. The ability to ramp the power really should prolong atomizer life, and with this device you could really dial in your atomizers to power them precisely the way you want to. Even if this is $300 I would still rather purchase it than any other mod I've seen to date (provided the manufacturer provides a good warranty) it's a totally new take on powering the atomizer, and according to the research I've done is vastly superior to what we are using today. Sign me up guys, if this thing is even close to what they are saying it will be this is the PV for me.

[ddavelarsen]

I'm with you GDub, this sounds like the cat's meow. I'm probably gonna spring for the VVPV when it comes out, unless there's some reason to believe this is going to follow almost immediately. I'd wait a couple weeks for this even at close to $300. It'd be a choke, but I could rationalize it sufficiently, I believe. I've said for a long time, just let American ingenuity get hold of this tech, and watch what happens! I'm really looking forward to American attys; that's gonna be the golden moment...

[GDub]

I'm with you GDub, this sounds like the cat's meow. I'm probably gonna spring for the VVPV when it comes out, unless there's some reason to believe this is going to follow almost immediately. I'd wait a couple weeks for this even at close to $300. It'd be a choke, but I could rationalize it sufficiently, I believe. I've said for a long time, just let American ingenuity get hold of this tech, and watch what happens! I'm really looking forward to American attys; that's gonna be the golden moment...

I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger and buy a Joker now, I'm not buying any other PVs until this thing hits the market. I'm not 100% sure I want to be an early adopter, would kind of like to sit back and watch the reviews roll in, but there's another part of me that says just buy it the day it comes out. Who am I kidding, I'll probably have it on pre-order!

[benjamin1990]

This sounds like it way too much for any normal person to handle and even afford. im not sure if i like this mod or not. it sound cool and all but just not something for my taste. well i just wanted to comment and put my opinion out there. thanks for listening.

[Brandon]

I love the comments here. Honestly, look what this device is and what emotions it's envoking from us. It's expensive as hell in the PV world, that's no doubt. But it's also a break-away from what we're accustomed to. It has the blending of what we crave (flavor, throat hit, vapor, and nicotine), power / battery life, customizable experience, and also the connection with others in our community (via sharing customizable vaping profiles). So it definitely has a fusion of many different aspects of our life.

Yes it's awesome. But at the same time, it steps on toes and crosses boundaries that we've not passed before. Will it be worth the very high cost? By the description, yes it will. And while I'll be the first to admit that I can be drawn in by sales tactics, I also know that the #1 most important piece of information I've EVER gathered about a product comes from reviews by people like me. I've always waited for information from people that are as OCD as me, and will most likely do the same here. But until that moment comes, I'll keep a special place in my mind for such a powerful and special device such as this

I love the VaporTalk forum and also enjoy reading all the other PV forums, and I have a special place in my heart for VaporCast. All these different venues give me an outlet to people that enjoy vaping though I live in a place where it's nearly unheard of. Sharing vaping profiles gives me yet another outlet to learn, talk, and share with others.

[GDub]

Here's how I look at the $300+ price tag, this has taken some real R&D. This isn't just another big battery mod, it's a completely new way to power our atomizers. People aren't complaining about shelling out $170 for a Joker, for my dollar I'd rather spend another $130 and get something like the Pulse. I think maybe a lot of it is most of my "toys" cost a whole lot more than $300, so it seems pretty reasonable to me. I'd sure be disappointed if the device failed inside of a year at that price, but hopefully it will come with at least a 3 month warranty or more, after that amount of time most electronics I have dealt with either have broken or work well for awhile. Spend some time looking into Pulse Width Modulation if you are not familiar with it, this really is one of the most efficient methods of providing variable voltage.

[Jeffb]

Here's how I look at the $300+ price tag, this has taken some real R&D. This isn't just another big battery mod, it's a completely new way to power our atomizers. People aren't complaining about shelling out $170 for a Joker, for my dollar I'd rather spend another $130 and get something like the Pulse. I think maybe a lot of it is most of my "toys" cost a whole lot more than $300, so it seems pretty reasonable to me. I'd sure be disappointed if the device failed inside of a year at that price, but hopefully it will come with at least a 3 month warranty or more, after that amount of time most electronics I have dealt with either have broken or work well for awhile. Spend some time looking into Pulse Width Modulation if you are not familiar with it, this really is one of the most efficient methods of providing variable voltage.

Then there are those of us who will probably buy the Joker & the Pulse.

[GDub]

Then there are those of us who will probably buy the Joker & the Pulse.

LOL... true that!

[Mark]

Then there are those of us who will probably buy the Joker & the Pulse.