On Wednesday, November 18, 2020 at 6:51:21 AM UTC-8, Moshe Braner wrote:
On 11/18/2020 9:18 AM, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Moshe Braner wrote on 11/17/2020 8:12 PM:
...

How long should a unit be allowed to go beyond a year without updating?
one month? One year? 10 years? You are suggesting that units with newer
versions must recognize the version of other Flarms and compensate for
their reduced functionality, giving us a system that is not operating as
well as it could - which reduces our safety.

Eventually, older versions must be updated. You accept this when you
install it, and it can easily be part of your annual inspection. If you
have a Flarm compatible display, it will announce the need for the
update; if you choose a non-compatible display, it is your
responsibility to remember when to update. This is no different than
expecting pilots to update their charts and check for NOTAMS.

Perhaps every Flarm unit should have a loud, annoying buzzer that
activates at the end of the first flight with outdated firmware :^) In
the meantime, Ramy's "Johnny Appleseed" approach and reminders at
contests and camps are worthwhile efforts.
AFAIK, the FLARM units transmit position reports in the blind, and there
is no reason they should stop doing that if the firmware is old. On the
receiving side, they need to interpret the data packets that come in.
As long as they can understand those packets, they should use them.

As I mentioned in my other posting, at any given moment some
properly-updated FLARM units have firmware that is up to a year older
than others. Perhaps even a larger gap, since when you "update" it you
get some version of the firmware from the FLARM web site, that is
already some months old. Last spring we were told to use an older
version 6.8.x for PowerFLARM since the latest version 7.x had some bug.

And my guess (would love to hear from those who really know) is that the
data packets themselves have not changed in some years, even as the
algorithms the unit uses to predict which ones represent a collision
hazard have improved. Yet another reason why a unit with older firmware
should keep on operating.

Of course one should do the firmware updates, but what upsets me is the
unit refusing to operate at all if you don't. Like I said, it should
instead give some sort of semi-annoying reminder, like an occasional sound.

I requested the same from Flarm team. I am hoping they will come up with a better solution.

Ramy