New SWIFT™ AI TRANSMITTER and New Firmware Release

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Is anyone else having trouble configuring the Mini displays?
I had no problem upgrading my firmware for both my Perdix AI and Petrel 2. I can see the capability of monitoring four tank transmitters.
But when I go through ALL the Setup menus, I don't see the display pictured in the Release Notes for v84 that is headed "Mini 1".
I can't configure any mini displays.

I will try to RE-download the firmware update if the toy will let me, but that's all I can think of.
Where does the Mini 1 display configuration live in the Setup menu cascade?

Thx!

EDIT: Found my own problem. For other knuckleheads like me, the Mini 1, 2, 3 configuration menus are located in System Setup | Center Row | Edit | Change

As an addendum, I WAS able to RE-update my firmware. I don't know if Shearwater snuck in a revised v84, but my screen read "Perdix AI English (v84) will be updated to English (84)".
Don't know if they are really different.
 
Is anyone else having trouble configuring the Mini displays?
I had no problem upgrading my firmware for both my Perdix AI and Petrel 2. I can see the capability of monitoring four tank transmitters.
But when I go through ALL the Setup menus, I don't see the display pictured in the Release Notes for v84 that is headed "Mini 1".
I can't configure any mini displays.

I will try to RE-download the firmware update if the toy will let me, but that's all I can think of.
Where does the Mini 1 display configuration live in the Setup menu cascade?

Thx!

EDIT: Found my own problem. For other knuckleheads like me, the Mini 1, 2, 3 configuration menus are located in System Setup | Center Row | Edit | Change

As an addendum, I WAS able to RE-update my firmware. I don't know if Shearwater snuck in a revised v84, but my screen read "Perdix AI English (v84) will be updated to English (84)".
Don't know if they are really different.
Glad you figured it out. But I've found that it won't simply tell you you have the latest firmware. It'll just keep updating it to the same version over and over again. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Has anyone tried using 4 of the old pps transmitters at the same time yet? I'm curious at how much interface there might be.
 
I'm guessing it's like the emergency flashers at a roadside hazard location. Each one is manufactured to have the "same" periodicity.
But due to batteries or age or who knows what, they don't.
So as you sit there watching them, they're all on different sequences, but slowly drift, because one is a hundredth of a second different that another. And as you sit there, two of them seem to synchronize for awhile, then drift apart again.

With four transmitters all with the "same" interval, I imagine it could be like that. Most of the time, they're all transmitting at different times over the "same" 5.x second interval, unless you happened to pressurize/turn on two at exactly the same time. But over a long dive, I can imagine a time when two of the four start overlapping, and you might drop two tanks for as long as it takes for them to drift apart, due to fractionally different actual intervals. Could that be a problem at a critical moment? Maybe. I didn't sweat two similar transmitters for a long time. It didn't seem to be a problem. But I got a yellow for my third.
 
I'm guessing it's like the emergency flashers at a roadside hazard location. Each one is manufactured to have the "same" periodicity.
But due to batteries or age or who knows what, they don't.
So as you sit there watching them, they're all on different sequences, but slowly drift, because one is a hundredth of a second different that another. And as you sit there, two of them seem to synchronize for awhile, then drift apart again.

With four transmitters all with the "same" interval, I imagine it could be like that. Most of the time, they're all transmitting at different times over the "same" 5.x second interval, unless you happened to pressurize/turn on two at exactly the same time. But over a long dive, I can imagine a time when two of the four start overlapping, and you might drop two tanks for as long as it takes for them to drift apart, due to fractionally different actual intervals. Could that be a problem at a critical moment? Maybe. I didn't sweat two similar transmitters for a long time. It didn't seem to be a problem. But I got a yellow for my third.


I believe they are digital. I’m guessing that means the clock they use is the same clock controlling the processor(s) inside. I suspect the drift is more akin to the drift in a Casio watch than the drift of old school blinkers. I further suspect that means they wouldn’t drift enough to change from interfering to not interfering during the span of one recreational dive.
 
I believe they are digital. I’m guessing that means the clock they use is the same clock controlling the processor(s) inside. I suspect the drift is more akin to the drift in a Casio watch than the drift of old school blinkers. I further suspect that means they wouldn’t drift enough to change from interfering to not interfering during the span of one recreational dive.
Pretty much correct. In one of the Swift threads running around here, I suggested that variations in the components leads to the interval not being exactly 5.0000 seconds, or whatever it is expected to be. Shearwater confirmed that this was the concern.

The timespan of overlap would be entirely dependent on the actual rates of the individual transmitters, but it could take quite some time to clear. I haven’t popped open a Swift, it I suspect the timekeeper is some kind of crystal or oscillator. That vibrates at a set frequency. The system counts the oscillations and sends the transmit signal after the appropriate number of oscillations. All the devices in the chain have a specification and tolerance range, which means that even if they are started at different points, one could catch up to the other and lead to an interference that could take a while to clear.

The green, yellow, and gray transmitters all have different enough transmission intervals. That means that if they do step on each other, it should be cleared by the next transmission cycle. The Swift takes that a step farther by listening in order to prevent overlap.
 
Good points above, and likely true. But if true, why Shearwater's recommendation? If true, you'd discover an overlap immediately, and could depower and restart one transmitter again after the 15 min interval to eliminate the problem. Or specify to pressurize each transmitter at a different time. Or maybe the recommendation is just "an abundance of caution."

But consider that while within an individual transmitter the consistency of transmission interval is excellent, I highly doubt that any two transmitters match to within 0.0001 sec. To the extent that two crystals out of a mfr batch of thousands (before Shearwater even sees them) differ, you have a potential drift problem. The difference will determine the potential duration of an overlap, albeit inversely proportional to its likelihood.
An interesting question! What IS the similarity of
in interval?
 
Good points above, and likely true. But if true, why Shearwater recommendation? If true, you'd discover an overlap immediately, and could depower and restart one transmitter again after the 15 min interval to eliminate the problem. Or maybe the recommendation is just "an abundance of caution."

That's what I think.
 
Good points above, and likely true. But if true, why Shearwater's recommendation? If true, you'd discover an overlap immediately, and could depower and restart one transmitter again after the 15 min interval to eliminate the problem. Or specify to pressurize each transmitter at a different time. Or maybe the recommendation is just "an abundance of caution."
Undoubtedly, there is some truth to it being an abundance of caution. However, it is something that SW feels strongly enough about to address twice. First, they had PPS make green and yellow versions with different timing. Second, they spent R&D Loons on developing the Swift.

You may not discover an overlap immediately. If the faster transmitter is behind the slower one, all may appear good until well into the dive. If it occurs on land, you can try to correct by turning one of the transmitters off. You can’t really do that underwater.
 
Undoubtedly, there is some truth to it being an abundance of caution. However, it is something that SW feels strongly enough about to address twice. First, they had PPS make green and yellow versions with different timing. Second, they spent R&D Loons on developing the Swift.

You may not discover an overlap immediately. If the faster transmitter is behind the slower one, all may appear good until well into the dive. If it occurs on land, you can try to correct by turning one of the transmitters off. You can’t really do that underwater.

:rofl3::rofl3::rofl3:

The yellow and green transmitters were around LONG before Shearwater finally decided to add AI to their computers. Shearwater never even sold the green ones, as far as I know. I think Oceanic was the only one selling green ones and they stopped before Shearwater even got into AI.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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