Info Important Msg from Shearwater re Tern/Tern TX

[tursiops]

I rarely dive anything but air, two tanks of nitrox on the last day in Thailand.

So, your Tern was not set on Nitrox? I understand the error was if the Tern was had been set on Nitrox with some percentage X, but the computer was now on Air.....but it kept the X setting.

 

[scubadada]

I have found this topic very interesting. Apparently, the bug was introduced in a firmware upgrade that was released on January 21 of this year. It took quite a while for it to be discovered and then promptly corrected. I wonder how it was picked up, reported by a user or users?

It appears that this error would only occur if one was using their Tern or Tern TX in the Air Mode after a nitrox mix other than 21% had been set in the Nitrox Mode. I dive a Teric and it does not have an Air Mode. I was unfamiliar with the set up on the Terns.

 

[lexvil]

So, your Tern was not set on Nitrox? I understand the error was if the Tern was had been set on Nitrox with some percentage X, but the computer was now on Air.....but it kept the X setting.

Not set on nitrox on any dive but have a preprogrammed 32% setting but didn’t switch it for the two dives since the dives were very mild, only reason for the nitrox was flight time the next morning.

 

[davehicks]

Shearwater is facing the consequences of an expanding product line. Their various computer models share a certain amount of common hardware and shared software code bases. As they add new features and segment other features to be only on model-A but not model-B the complexity and test matrix gets exponentially bigger.

It's not helpful in an engineering organization to punish people for bugs or mistakes. That just makes people hide and cover up the next mistake. Instead, you RCA the issue and adjust the process to catch the missed bugs and any others that might slip through the same cracks in the old process. Between automation, code review, unit testing, and user testing, these problems get screened out. But it's an iterative process that never ends. As long as the hardware, software and products are evolving new bugs will crop up. Most will be found early on, but it's inevitable that something sneaks out the door.

 

[inquis]

It's disheartening they added a dedicated Air mode in the first place. I believe that was for feature compatibility with competitors, exacerbated by many new OW divers not understanding Air == Nx21. (Not faulting SW for doing so, so more a comment about the apparent market demand.)