New battery guidance for Perdix 2 in latest V99 firmware

[Divin'Papaw]

As part of the V99 firmware update, specific to the Perdix 2, Shearwater has updated their battery guidance to go along with an update to the battery gauge for the 1.5V lithium battery type.

Link to the Perdix 2 Firmware Release Notes

 

[steinbil]

I wonder why they didn't release this for the Perdix and Perdix AI as well. Doesn't sound like a hardware issue. If I'm right, it's kind of disappointing to see firmware improvements not being released to older models...

 

[SquareJ]

I wonder why they didn't release this for the Perdix and Perdix AI as well. Doesn't sound like a hardware issue. If I'm right, it's kind of disappointing to see firmware improvements not being released to older models...

I'm positive if these models, I have one, were capable then it would also work. Must be a hw limitation.

 

[jborg]

This looks like the "Avelo mode for large-screen computers" update, so I guess the Peregrine TX and Perdix 2 are the chosen Avelo supporting models for now (no Avelo on the Perdix AI). If and when there is a feature/bug update for the older models I suspect they'd include the better battery monitoring there...

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I'm positive if these models, I have one, were capable then it would also work. Must be a hw limitation.

+1

The circuit boards on the Perdix AI and Petrels are different than the Perdix 2. The Petrel 2, Petrel 3, Perdix, Perdix AI, and Perdix 2 all share the same firmware base minus any hardware/model specific features. If this new battery gauge was compatible with the hardware in the other models, Shearwater surely would have released it for those models as well. Circumstantial evidence certainly, but that would be my assumption given the evidence.

 

[jborg]

I mean, the release notes are quite explicit about how this works.

For the 1.5V lithium battery type, improves battery gauge by saving previous state. [...] By saving the battery state before turn-off, any recovery that occurs while the unit is off can be disregarded.

It remembers the previous battery level so that if it showed "low battery" when turned off last week, it'll show that when it turns on again and not show a possibly incorrect "all good" that will deteriorate to "low battery" in 30 minutes.

It doesn't seem to require any particular hardware.

I like Shearwater as much as anyone, but this is clearly just not being bothered to release a new firmware for the other units yet. Maybe they will in the future; maybe they won't.

You might ask why the Perdix AI didn't get Avelo mode, too. Maybe it's coming in the next release for the Perdix AI.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I mean, the release notes are quite explicit about how this works.

It remembers the previous battery level so that if it showed "low battery" when turned off last week, it'll show that when it turns on again and not show a possibly incorrect "all good" that will deteriorate to "low battery" in 30 minutes.

It doesn't seem to require any particular hardware.

I like Shearwater as much as anyone, but this is clearly just not being bothered to release a new firmware for the other units yet. Maybe they will in the future; maybe they won't.

It could easily be tied to specific hardware. You seem to be making assumptions about how it works from a functional description in the release notes. Perhaps the older circuit boards don't pass the same type of information to the firmware? I mean, you certainly COULD be right. But if that were the case, I would have expected them to release it for all models using the same firmware base. Given that they didn't leads me to believe it is not entirely a software-only solution. Time will tell.

Regardless, this new firmware requires different guidance on storing the computer long-term with 1.5V Lithium batteries and I wanted to make sure Perdix 2 users saw this update.