Maestro monthly battery charge on new units?

Paul G4AFU

I have a borrowed Maestro to run with my 6600. It's the old model that needs a monthly charge to keep the internal backup battery charged. Do the later models (B?) still need this regime?

David Decoons, wo2x

No. But probably good idea to still check it on a regular basis and also use it. I have two, one at work and one for home and portable use in the park in summer. Dave wo2x

KC2QMA_John

When my Maestro is not in use I leave is connected to the 12v power brick that came with Maestro 24/7. Lithium Ion batteries like the one inside the Maestro last the longest when a full charge is maintained, also unlike the old nickel metal hydride and other older rechargeable batteries Lithium Ion batteries should not be fully drained and recharged as this will shorten the life dramatically.

So basically leave it charging at all times when not running portable on battery power!

Bob K8RC

John,

Just so you know, there's a flaw in the design of the original Maestro that complicates the "constantly on charge" plan.

When there's a power outage and power is restored, older Maestros will boot themselves up! Since the advent of "smart grid" systems, most utility outages around here take the form of a short outage, followed by a brief restoration of power then followed by a longer outage if the grid fault is severe enough.

I, too, leave my Maestro on charge all the time but discovered that, after an outage as described, it had booted up and drained the main battery and was in the process of dying on the 'inside' one when discovered during a prolonged outage.

Bottom line, if you have a power outage of more than a couple of hours, make sure the Maestro is turned back off.

I am told the 'B' models don't have this problem.

Cheers,

Bob

KC2QMA_John

I never heard anything about the charging issue you describe with the “A” version.

I thought the only difference was a slightly different tablet inside.

If someone from FRS could comment on this that would help clear the air.

Bob K8RC

If you have an 'A' you can duplicate it easily. Put it on charge, unplug it for a few seconds, then plug it back in and it will boot itself up. If the power dies again while it's on it will drain its batteries.

The comment from Flex is "crickets". It's a hardware design flaw they didn't catch in development that would cost them some bucks to correct.

I inquired and got nothing...

KC2QMA_John

I Have the "B" version so I should be good to go.
BTW the way I always leave my Maestro is with the battery door open and the charger connected to the Mogix power bank and the 120v AC/12VDC adapter that comes with the Maestro connected at all times unless I go portable.

Bill -VA3WTB

Bob, was the comment from Flex on the phone or posted?

Bob K8RC

I got NO answer. But others report their behavior is identical.

Bob K8RC

Here's the link to the official "we can't fix":
https://community.flexradio.com/flexradio/topics/maestro-auto-boot-at-power-application

Bill -VA3WTB

I remember reading that thread, I was wondering because I didn't recall Tim saying  "crickets" and that it was to expensive to fix?

If some people live in an area with poor power it would be a pain to have it restart. For me, I may have a power outage once a year, so the auto turn on would never be an issue.

Bob K8RC

THEY AREN'T GOING TO FIX THIS HARDWARE FLAW!!!!
i REPORTED IT AS A PROBLEM AND GOT NOTHING.

WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY?

I provided you the link to show you the official non-answer.

They **** up the design (do you know anything else that acts like that?), they know it and they aren't going to do anything about it.

That's crickets.

Bill -VA3WTB

That Is all fine and I understand, now I know the response you posted was only your take on it, not an official answer, Tim did not say it was to expensive to fix it.

Tim did say that a software update would not fix it.
Must be the reason for the new Meastro to fix some of the short commings in the older one.

Bob K8RC

GTH

Bob K8RC

GTH