FYI: Pieps DSP v6.2

**Soups** · 10-10-2008, 03:38 PM

I was in contact this week with a Liberty Mountain rep. He mentioned that a version 6.2 update for the Pieps DSP beacon is available. He didn't say what the new version improves on and I couldn't find anything on the website. Just an FYI.

**SeatownSlackey** · 10-15-2008, 01:11 PM

dont have the v5.0 to compare side by side to but here's the info that came w/ my dsp that i just picked up.

lil tough too read but couldn't upload my first scan as it was too large of a .pdf file. PM me if you would like me to send it to you directly.

**Dug** · 10-15-2008, 01:17 PM

I have the 5.0 firmware card right in front of me. It's the same as the 6.2, word for word.

Weird. They must have changed something.

**Dobish** · 10-15-2008, 05:18 PM

they changed the processing speed, as well as the beacon's ability to work with the I-probe or whatever the fancy pieps probe is....

**Dobish** · 10-16-2008, 11:12 PM

5.0 is faster and added the Iprobe feature. 6.2 or whatever it is now does everything faster, but same functions... in a multi-victim burial, the distinctions between the vicitims is higher within the unit. Unless you are doing tests on the actual processor speed you will not know it. 6.2 is to 5.0 as to 4.2 was to 3.0 No upgraded features, but your unit was faster at finding people. 6.2 does multi-victim at a distance faster...

The more signals the unit is receiving, the harder it is for it to break down each one into a digital signal and maintain a fast processing speed. The whole idea of the updatable programs is to make that processor more efficient.

A couple of years ago, I was doing a test on the distance range of transmitting and receiving beacons, as well as how that differed with battery life of both the receiving and transmitting beacons..... I was going to do range w/multi-victims, but i did not have the time to run through the data, but it was pretty noticeable that with more than 3 beacons, the pieps 3.0 did a lot worse than the 4.2

**Soups** · 10-17-2008, 02:44 PM

Nice. Thanks for that breakdown.

**Jonathan S.** · 10-26-2008, 09:03 AM

I conducted a brief check of the 5.0 and 6.2 side-by-side and didn't notice any differences. For example, scan feature took exactly the same amount of time, and both still got messed up on counting the correct number of transmitting F1 beacons (because of the continuous carrier). But add'l testing could have turned out some differences of course.

**Dobish** · 10-26-2008, 09:05 AM

did you play with the flag feature, that is really where i noticed the big difference in speed, when i had multiple flags.

**Jonathan S.** · 10-26-2008, 09:20 AM

That's still on the to-do list -- I need to update this:
http://www.beaconreviews.com/transceivers/shefftz.htm
. . . for the new firmware versions of all three of those beacons.
(I was also hoping to add the new ARVA 3 Axes to the test, but unfortunately only three are in the entire country.)

**Jonathan S.** · 11-11-2008, 08:38 PM

This seems to confirm that the only new features for 6.2 are for . . . enhanced functionality only with regards for deactivation via iProbe?--
http://www.pieps.com/en/news-mainmen...se-dsp-62.html

**Dobish** · 11-11-2008, 08:44 PM

I talked to one of the uber-techy folks today from Pieps and they said that the only real difference is the fact that v6.2 has a real-time battery life indicator, so it doesn't drop in bigger increments like the old version used to..... i never noticed that on v5, but they said that with some batteries, it makes a difference.

**Jonathan S.** · 11-11-2008, 09:55 PM

Interesting -- I wonder if it will also be less pessimistic than other beacons' battery power meters.
In general, seems like the DSP is similar to other beacons down to about 75%, then after that it drops off very dramatically.
A friend ran some formal tests. He also noted that a DSP will transmit for *days* even once it says 0%.

**Dobish** · 11-12-2008, 12:14 AM

after talking to the guys today, it seems as though the versions below 6.2 were not set up with real-time battery life, so it would stay at 100, and then it would drop to about 75, then it would take a very long time, then drop down to 50, then 25, and then 0. I did a test a while back, and it seemed as though the pieps still gave the strongest signal with very low batteries. the tracker, the M1, and the F1 all gave much lower signals with low battery life.

I have run my pieps for 2 days straight with it showing a battery life of 0%, and I have run it in search mode for 3 hours straight with a battery life showing Zero. I am interested to see what happens with the new version...

**Jonathan S.** · 11-12-2008, 08:42 AM

Originally Posted by Dobish

after talking to the guys today, it seems as though the versions below 6.2 were not set up with real-time battery life, so it would stay at 100, and then it would drop to about 75[...]

Anyone here experienced that? With firmware 4 & 5, I've found battery consumption between 100% and 75% to be predictably gradual.

**Dobish** · 11-12-2008, 08:49 AM

it depends on the batteries... if i use cheap batteries, it would drop to about 80 after about an hour. better batteries would be more predicable.

**Jonathan S.** · 11-12-2008, 08:55 AM

Drop to 80% after an hour of . . . transmitting? searching?
Either way, sounds like some terrifyingly poor-quality batteries!
Personally, I've never noticed any significant differences in battery life among brands, although I did measure their lengths after that Ortovox battery compartment door retrofit where some smaller-sized AA could lose contact. Consumer Reports has also run some battery life tests.
(And I love how despite what we always say about using name-brand batteries in beacons, BCA and Pieps ship their beacons with off-brand obscure batteries like Godzilla SuperPower that you'd usually thinking twice about putting in your TV remote control.)

**Dobish** · 11-12-2008, 09:00 AM

an hour of transmitting.... they were really cheap ($1 store) because i didn't have anything else. When i put them into my battery tester at home, the power said 93%, so i guess it was just the reading on the meter.

the range of the beacon doesn't seem to be effected. Most of the time with good batteries and v.5 my battery meter was pretty consistent. i haven't had the desire to go through a pair of batteries just to watch the meter go down...

**hutash** · 11-16-2008, 06:59 PM

It's nice to know I can run my batteries down to near zero. That will save me $1.50

I put in fresh batteries at the beginning of every season anyway. I guess I don't get out enough, because mine are at 99-100% at the end of the season.

I guess it is time for the annual "put fresh batteries in your beacon" thread.

**Dobish** · 11-16-2008, 11:31 PM

well some of us need to use our batteries to run our MP3 players....

**counterfeitfake** · 11-18-2008, 11:21 AM

So how do we get this upgrade? I didn't see the form online yet.

**Jonathan S.** · 11-18-2008, 11:27 AM

Based on this chart:

Originally Posted by Jonathan S.

This seems to confirm that the only new features for 6.2 are for . . . enhanced functionality only with regards for deactivation via iProbe?--
http://www.pieps.com/en/news-mainmen...se-dsp-62.html

. . . not sure it's worth the bother for anyone who already has a relatively recent firmware.

**pechelman** · 11-18-2008, 11:48 AM

i havent read all of this thread, but to comment on battery life

ive had pieps v3 and 5.0
each for 1 season of usage

v3 seemed to be a bit more consistent as far as batt indication
new batts would be at 100% for 15 days or so
then drop to 97-5, and over the course of a one day outing, would drop to something like 90
id turn it on the next day, and would read 97 or whatever

v5.0 is very erratic
last year i stopped touring at batt indicator of around 83
this year I turned it on with the same batts, just for S&G's, at 94
I did one tour, and it dropped to 87
turned it on the next day, and it was at 92
daily fluctuations on v5 have been as much as 15%, but always seem to return to within 1-2% of where I turned it on the day prior.
not too confidence inspiring in all honesty

my recco is to just change it after about 75-100 days depending on how much you tour and practice
or just once every season.

definitely going to update to 6.2 knowing they improved the batt indicator