On 11/19/20 3:39 PM, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Dan Marotta wrote on 11/19/2020 2:13 PM:
On 11/19/20 11:21 AM, 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. Â*Â*Isn't that like buying a license to active the passenger
side seat belt in a car?Â* Or the rear brakes?


Maybe if you pay extra they'll sell you the feature where it keeps
on working after the firmware "expires"?Â* (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!


Eric,

A lot is made of such features as IGC recording.Â* But, since my glider
happens to have an engine, the IGC recording is useless unless I buy a
license for it.Â* The firmware has all been written and is installed
and, with a few characters inserted during the "installation", it will
function.

Fortunately, I knew that going in and did not need an ENL license.Â* My
ClearNav and ClearNav vario each perform the engine noise recording
function and at zero extra cost.Â* Now I suppose ClearNav could disable
the function, lower their price by $50 and then charge $50 to enable
the function but I think that would just **** people off.

My guess is they chose to license it for exactly the reason you state:
most pilot will have varios, loggers, or flight computers already doing
the IGC logging. By disabling the Flarm IGC logging and charging less,
they expect to get more people to buy their unit. That seems like a good
deal - "you only pay for what you need".


That's an odd form of capitalism. Giving more than expected increases
market share historically. Oh, wait! There ain't no competition...

Frankly, I don't care about the IGC license as I have other avenues.
Audio is handled by my ClearNav, so no problem there. The second
antenna, however, is a safety item and should be included. The license
was already installed in my unit when I bought it. BTW, I would have
paid for that one, but would grumble about it.

--
Dan
5J