Andy Sabisch
Active member
Sorry for a duplicate post but I felt this might be lost as a reply to another thread . . . . . .
Several people have mentioned the Software Upgradaiblity option that has been listed as a feature in the literature. It will be interesting to see how this option is implemented. During the E-Trac development, software was in fact sent to those involved in the program as files which we simply uploaded with an interface that was provided but when the software reached the release level, that option was removed and the software locked down. The concern was loss of the code which is why much of the FBS circuit is in fact not patented. So the question will be what is offered / provided in the software upgrades; i.e., user interface options only or will Minelab will wiling to actually make FBS changes available to the public? It also raises the question of cost . . . . there is no mention as to the cost - if any - for this option.
Other companies have experimented with upgradibility without replacement over the years with varying levels of success going back to White's in the 1990's - some 20 years ago. First Texas offered software upgrades for a charge on some of their models as changes were found to be warranted. XP Metal Detectors offers this option at no charge on the Deus which removes the fear of buying a high-end detector and finding out a subsequent change has made your purchase obsolete or at least less effective than the current model.
Storing additional data such as ground balance readings, target ID values, etc. would require onboard memory storage and since there does not appear to be a slot for a memory card, if extra memory was not built into the circuit upfront, saving large amounts of data may not be an option even of the software could be changed to gather it.
Andy Sabisch
Several people have mentioned the Software Upgradaiblity option that has been listed as a feature in the literature. It will be interesting to see how this option is implemented. During the E-Trac development, software was in fact sent to those involved in the program as files which we simply uploaded with an interface that was provided but when the software reached the release level, that option was removed and the software locked down. The concern was loss of the code which is why much of the FBS circuit is in fact not patented. So the question will be what is offered / provided in the software upgrades; i.e., user interface options only or will Minelab will wiling to actually make FBS changes available to the public? It also raises the question of cost . . . . there is no mention as to the cost - if any - for this option.
Other companies have experimented with upgradibility without replacement over the years with varying levels of success going back to White's in the 1990's - some 20 years ago. First Texas offered software upgrades for a charge on some of their models as changes were found to be warranted. XP Metal Detectors offers this option at no charge on the Deus which removes the fear of buying a high-end detector and finding out a subsequent change has made your purchase obsolete or at least less effective than the current model.
Storing additional data such as ground balance readings, target ID values, etc. would require onboard memory storage and since there does not appear to be a slot for a memory card, if extra memory was not built into the circuit upfront, saving large amounts of data may not be an option even of the software could be changed to gather it.
Andy Sabisch
