| Advertisement |
Pieps DSP
 |
 The
Pieps DSP can be upgraded through the earphone jack. This is a powerful feature
because it allows you to get new features as they become available. To determine
which version of the software
you have, hold down the DSP's "?" button and turn on your transceiver.
The cost to upgrade (in the USA) is around $20. Contact a
Pieps Service Center for additional information. You can learn more about upgrades on the
Pieps website.
July 2007, version 5.0
Version 5.0 includes the Smart Transmitter,
iProbe support, the ability to
test the transmitting frequency of another beacon, an "old beacon mode" (where the little men blink if a
continuous carrier is detected), improved Mark and Scan functions, and
an improved self-test. You can read a brief summary of the new features in this
press release.
December 2006, version 4.0
Version 4.0 includes a new feature called a Smart Transmitter. Here is
a brief explanation of this feature. (I tested this in version 4.0 and again in 5.0.)
Consider two cars at an
intersection with their turn signals on. If the cadence of the turn
signals is not identical, there will be times when the lights of both cars
are blinking at the same time, periods when they are partially overlapping, and periods when the lights are blinking
independently. This also happens with two transceivers. There are times
when both transceivers are transmitting a "beep" at the same time ("signal overlap"),
times when they are partially overlapping, and times
when the beeps do not overlap. Unfortunately, when the beeps overlap, the searching transceiver
treats this as one beep. This makes it difficult for the searching beacon to distinguish between multiple victims.
With the Smart Transmitter feature of the Pieps DSP, the DSP
continually scans for a second transmitter while it is transmitting (i.e.,
it is receiving and transmitting at the same time). If it receives a
signal from another transmitter (as happens during a multiple burial, but
also while standing next to your buddy), the DSP will adjust the cadence of
its "beep" so it isn't overlapped by the other beacon's "beep." I
have tested this feature several times and it works
well (it takes one to two minutes for the DSP to analyze the other beacon
and adjust its cadence). The Smart Transmitter feature
works when there is only one other beacon transmitting and that
beacon is relatively close (approximately 5 meters).
Some people have expressed concerns that the DSP's changing cadence will confuse the searching transceiver. I expect that the
"confusion" caused by the DSP's changing cadence (which only happens once and occurs within two minutes) is less significant than the confusion caused by signal overlap issues.
You can read
this very technical paper regarding the overlapping of signals during
multiple burials or this
abbreviated report.
 December 2006, version 3.1
This version
includes a handy frequency
tester that allows you to test the frequency of your friend's beacon. The image to the right
shows a Pieps DSP checking the frequency of a Tracker. Learn more about the Pieps frequency tester here.
Version 3.1 also improves the Mark function which is used during
multiple burials.
This version was free to customers at
Pieps Service Centers.
2005-2006 Season, version 2.8
Version 2.8
was released during the 2005-2006 season. This version dramatically improves the DSP's ability to locate out-of-frequency transmitters (i.e., older analog transceivers).
It flashes "500" if the transmitting beacon is out-of-frequency. Learn more
here.
|
