GC2 Battery Indicator

[rmyoung88]

HI All,

New GC2 owner. I've read the threads - charge for 4 hours, let it decharge at least once a month etc etc.

Is there no battery indicator on when the GC2 will run out of battery? Sucks bringing it to the range and having it die when I get there. Will just charge it before I leave now, but wanted to know if I am missing anything.

Thanks,

[andygg1986]

You can hit the button with the double arrow that points to the left to bring up the menu. Go down to About and hit OK. Then you can see the battery voltage. It depends on how old your battery is, but fully charged will be around 7.5V and it will run down to about 6.5V. If you check when it is plugged in, you will see that the voltage is up around 8.5V because it charges at a higher voltage. There is no percentage indicator though.

[rmyoung88]

Thanks Andy!

[Wundej]

You can hit the button with the double arrow that points to the left to bring up the menu. Go down to About and hit OK. Then you can see the battery voltage. It depends on how old your battery is, but fully charged will be around 7.5V and it will run down to about 6.5V. If you check when it is plugged in, you will see that the voltage is up around 8.5V because it charges at a higher voltage. There is no percentage indicator though.

Anyone else find it absolutely nuts that a $5000 bit of electronics would not have a simple battery indicator? Such a simple interface design item that is clearly missed.

[Ronsc1985]

Anyone else find it absolutely nuts that a $5000 bit of electronics would not have a simple battery indicator? Such a simple interface design item that is clearly missed.

It does, What do you think the voltage reading, visible every time you turn on the device, is? A percentage of charge display is fairly useless in a device like a GC2 which has a variable current drain depending on what type of shot you are hitting.

[Wundej]

It does, What do you think the voltage reading, visible every time you turn on the device, is? A percentage of charge display is fairly useless in a device like a GC2 which has a variable current drain depending on what type of shot you are hitting.

I’m not talking about instantaneous readings that are fluctuating due to current draw (flash on/off). I’m talking about simple steady state readings that any simple electronic device can do. I’m missing how a % charge value would be useless if a simple algorithm was used to filter out the large variations introduced by a quick pulse of the flash.

Not sure why you’d defend a poor interface design that would require someone to press a bunch of buttons to get the current state of charge while using an electronic device.

[Ronsc1985]

I’m not talking about instantaneous readings that are fluctuating due to current draw (flash on/off). I’m talking about simple steady state readings that any simple electronic device can do. I’m missing how a % charge value would be useless if a simple algorithm was used to filter out the large variations introduced by a quick pulse of the flash.

Not sure why you’d defend a poor interface design that would require someone to press a bunch of buttons to get the current state of charge while using an electronic device.

This isn't complicated. When you turn on the device initially you just look at the voltage reading. If it's plugged in you don't care since it is running on the charger output.. If it isn't plugged in and you have no access to an ac outlet note the voltage and if it's getting close to 6.5 volts find a power source.

Your comments about transient readings illustrate you have no concept of what reading a battery voltage means. When you read the voltage by whatever means there are no transients and even if there were the low output impedance of these type of batteries means the reading does not fluctuate any meaningful amount. The voltage reading does give a indication of how close you are to the unit shutting down but since the current drain is shot type dependent (more flashes for slower ball speeds) a percentage charge indicator gives no better information then just reading the voltage. ..

[Wundej]

This isn't complicated. When you turn on the device initially you just look at the voltage reading. If it's plugged in you don't care since it is running on the charger output.. If it isn't plugged in and you have no access to an ac outlet note the voltage and if it's getting close to 6.5 volts find a power source.

Your comments about transient readings illustrate you have no concept of what reading a battery voltage means. When you read the voltage by whatever means there are no transients and even if there were the low output impedance of these type of batteries means the reading does not fluctuate any meaningful amount. The voltage reading does give a indication of how close you are to the unit shutting down but since the current drain is shot type dependent (more flashes for slower ball speeds) a percentage charge indicator gives no better information then just reading the voltage. ..

You are missing my point. Im not claiming to be an EE or being an expert in the battery system in the GC2. Really no need to be condescending, there are simple ways to explain things to someone that is wrong that don’t make you come across as all high and mighty.

You clearly have an issue with someone wanting a useful bit of system feedback or maybe I didn’t explain it properly.

My point is:

The battery has a current state of charge. That could be any percentage from 1-100 of its usable capacity. This percentage is useful to the end user. Why would we want to have to go through the About screen mid way through the session when there could easily be a small reading on the screen showing that info. The rate of depletion will obviously change due to flash activities, but the percentage of remaining charge could easily be shown on the main screen.

[brock]

I know what you mean Wundej. It's crossed my mind a time or two that it would be nice to have a batt. indicator. Although, I'm glad to learn the volts trick - thanks, guys. Now that we can connect to BT during a session in FSX2018 it's not so bad. Having to quit a round in regular FSX because GC2 died used to be irritating.

[Ronsc1985]

You are missing my point. Im not claiming to be an EE or being an expert in the battery system in the GC2. Really no need to be condescending, there are simple ways to explain things to someone that is wrong that don’t make you come across as all high and mighty.

You clearly have an issue with someone wanting a useful bit of system feedback or maybe I didn’t explain it properly.

My point is:

The battery has a current state of charge. That could be any percentage from 1-100 of its usable capacity. This percentage is useful to the end user. Why would we want to have to go through the About screen mid way through the session when there could easily be a small reading on the screen showing that info. The rate of depletion will obviously change due to flash activities, but the percentage of remaining charge could easily be shown on the main screen.

One more time. You turn on the GC2 and one of the start. up screens displays the current battery voltage. How close to 6.5 volts tells you exactly how close, in voltage differential, to fully discharged you are.if not connected to the charger. This gives you a precise indicator of how much battery charge is left.
If you charged the battery before leaving for the range. It also tells you how your battery is dong with respect to it's end of life by the current fully charged voltage vs about 7.5 volts when the batteries are new. This degradation can become a problem if you do not follow the instructions and completely discharge the batteries every month or so.

High and Mighty? If having things you obviously do not understand explained to you hurts your "feelings" you must have a difficult time learning anything.
.

[Wundej]

One more time. You turn on the GC2 and one of the start. up screens displays the current battery voltage. How close to 6.5 volts tells you exactly how close, in voltage differential, to fully discharged you are.if not connected to the charger. This gives you a precise indicator of how much battery charge is left.
If you charged the battery before leaving for the range. It also tells you how your battery is dong with respect to it's end of life by the current fully charged voltage vs about 7.5 volts when the batteries are new. This degradation can become a problem if you do not follow the instructions and completely discharge the batteries every month or so.

High and Mighty? If having things you obviously do not understand explained to you hurts your "feelings" you must have a difficult time learning anything.
.

One more time, you are missing my point. Why argue that there shouldn’t be something on the GC2 LCD to show this info without having to monitor during startup or press some buttons during use? Poor user interfaces are designed by people who think there is only one type of person and everyone uses them the same way. Just because one person is fine doing something in an inefficient way, doesn’t mean there isn’t a better way to accomplish it that would give others a better experience.

I understand that the voltage is shown at startup and in the About screens, I get that I can find the info. It’s not the best way to make a user obtain the info.

Nobody’s feelings are hurt, but I guess you may not realize how certain wording comes across on the internet. You don’t seem to be open to learning about User Experience/Interface Design, or how things can be perceived in text. Everyone could use feedback on how their actions are perceived. It’s how we become better communicators, being willing to take it is a different thing. I’ll move on now. It is what it is at this point.

[p3eps]

Now that we can connect to BT during a session in FSX2018 it's not so bad. Having to quit a round in regular FSX because GC2 died used to be irritating.

This feature alone is worth updating to FSX2018 for!! I asked them for the ability to reconnect whilst in-play for about 2 years until they finally implemented it.
Especially annoying as the ‘resume saved game’ in the older versions didn’t work properly - and caused several issues with scoring, where you were when you saved it, and it stopped logging your FSX Live stays afterwards!