Power FLARM operating voltage

On Friday, July 27, 2012 2:02:51 PM UTC-7, 2G wrote:
Yesterday I had a near miss (100 ft) with another glider with a FLARM brick. I had my transponder on, but it didn't matter because the FLARM was in-op. He had noted previously that the FLARM seemed to shut down when the battery voltage dipped below 12.5 V. He confirmed that by switching to his backup battery which was at a higher voltage; the FLARM shut down again when the voltage of the backup also dropped below 12.5.



I checked the manuals of the Power FLARM and the FLARM brick and could not find a specification for operating voltage, except the FLARM listed 12-28 VDC, but not an explicit minimum voltage.



Question: what IS the minimum voltage?



Opinion: if FLARM suffers from reliability issues such as these their usefulness will become virtually nonexistent.



Thanks,



Tom

I just measured the current draw on the Brick Power Flarm to be 177 to 182 mAH. Using the small rectangular display. This info was not given in the manual. I believe it is because of the various power outputs the brick can supply this number will vary directly on installation variables.

Battery voltage in my case was 12.8 VDC.

Tom 44