Moshe Braner wrote on 11/19/2020 2:06 PM:
On 11/19/2020 1:21 PM, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Moshe Braner wrote on 11/19/2020 9:31 AM:
On 11/19/2020 11:12 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
On 11/18/20 4:41 PM, Richard Pfiffner wrote:
According to Flarm the New Fusion transmits and receives on both A and B Flarm Antennas.

http://www.craggyaero.com/fusion.htm



Richard
www.craggyaero.com


That looks to me like you can buy a license to activate the "B" antenna. **Isn't that like
buying a license to active the passenger side seat belt in a car?* Or the rear brakes?


Maybe if you pay extra they'll sell you the feature where it keeps on working after the
firmware "expires"?* (As long as the data packets are still compatible.)

Dan: We have no choice about seat belts and brakes, which are mandated by law. Do you want to
go there with PowerFlarm? :^(

Dan: Buying a license for an optional feature (also known as "buying an optional feature") is
like buying the "primo" optional interior for your new car, except you can do it anytime,
even years after the purchase, unlike that fancy interior. Would you rather they included
everything that is now optional, and charged you for it, instead letting you pay for only
what you need?


Moshe: They give me the updates FREE anytime I want one. I'm not going to whine about the 10
minutes it takes me to read the update instructions and load it into the glider. The present
system seems like a good compromise: all units are no more than 1 year behind in capability,
at no $ cost, and very little time and effort. As pilots, we are required to "update" our
gliders every year with an inspection, to "update" the pilot every two years with a flight
review, to keep our charts and database current yearly or less, to "update" our parachute
every 180 days - I think we should expect a pilot to also handle updating Flarm!


I have no problem with the updates, I do them, and certainly recommend everybody do them.* My
problem is with it stopping to operate if for whatever reason somebody didn't do the update
yet, even if in fact the data exchanged still allows interoperability.* That is an unnecessary
hit to safety, for everybody around.* And it may have contributed to the recent collision we
were discussing.* There are better ways to nudge people to update the firmware.

I'm not sure it goes inoperative to nudge the pilot; instead, it may be to prevent the need to
"dumb down" the new versions that have to cope with the outdated unit while is within range.
But the larger issue is: What if the pilot ignores or doesn't notice the nudges, how long
should the unit operate with outdated firmware? One month? One year? 5 years?

You are counting on the pilot doing the right thing later instead of on time, and I don't see
any reason he won't continue to postpone the update; after all, "it seems to be working fine -
what's the rush"?


--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1