A2 FirmWare Updates

A2/Mark-ii US_A2.6.0/TXR_A2.6.0 (31.12.2023)

Release notes

  • A2/Mark-ii US_A2.6.0/TXR_A2.6.0 (31.12.2023)
    1. FW Compatibility and installation instructions
      • US_A2.6.0 requires TXR_A2.6.0
      • When upgrading from previous versions, both US and TXR must be upgraded at once.
      • FW is compatible with all HW A2.2. All A2ii features are implemented as SW upgrade compatible with all A2.2 HW (all production units manufactured after 7/2022). All current AndiScan A2 users can easily upgrade to A2/Mark-ii.
    2. Triggering by Signal detection
      • A2ii can now trigger by direct signal detection as an alternative to standard acoustic pressure triggering. Configuration screen C2 allows to set either standard acoustic pressure trigger (ACST) or signal detection trigger (SIG), both in 10 levels of sensitivity. The highest level 10 is extremely sensitive and is intended only for very special conditions.
      • When signal detection trigger is selected, the measurement screen shows two SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) values. The first shows the standard measurement SNR the second shows the signal detection SNR. The higher both values the better. Values above 20 mean high signal quality.
    3. Series data autosaving and current series editing
      • A2ii autosaves the series data to SD card after each shot or after you edit (delete) shots. At the end, it is finalised by a manual save [Next_Long] which also opens the new series for recording. Autosaving slightly increases processing time after the shot by about 20-40% (depending on number of shots in series, type of SD card and state of its buffer). It also creates and occupies new folder even if the series is not finalised by explicit saving or all shots are deleted from series (it will create file with 0 shot count). Autosaving can be switched off in C8 configuration screen.
      • Active series measurement can be browsed directly in the measurement screen by [Back/Next] buttons. This browsing mode is indicated by showing the shot number (No) in contrast with showing total count (Cnt) when the screen shows the last measurement.
      • Arbitrary shot (either the last one or any previous when in browsing mode) can be deleted by [Back_Long] press.
      • The series is finalised (no further editable) to SD card by [Next_Long] press.
    4. Extended H measurement range
      • The signal processing in H (High) measurement range now allows for speeds up to 1500 mps.
    5. User interface improvements
      • Main measurement screen is simplified and has much larger fonts for easier reading. The original one can be chosen as an option in C8 configuration screen.
      • All configuration screens now have more intuitive editing. Pressing [Enter] in the given configuration screen activates editing mode and the current edited fields lights up. [Back/Next] change the parameter value. Another [Enter] press either leaves the editing mode or activates another field.
    6. Factory defaults reset
      • A selected configuration profile can be reset to factory defaults (by erasing its CONFIG file) in ConfigProfile selection screen (accessible by keeping [Enter] pressed during Welcome screen).
    7. Expert mode
      • Expert mode is now needed only for selecting L (Low) measurement range and for Manual (MAN) measurement mode. All other configurations are available in Standard mode.
    8. Remote Shell application and Bluetooth (BLE) connectivity
      • The A2ii can be connected to external device (any of iOS, Android, mac, win) by BLE interface. It allows to fully remote control the device and access the data stored on the device. Installation instructions and short user guide are at A2 Remote Shell web App – User Guide.

Firmware Update Request Form

    Firmware installation instructions

    AndiScan A2 has two main processing units – Main Board User Shell (US) and Transceiver board (TXR). Firmware (FW) for each of them is updated separately. The firmware file for US and TXR are named A2FW-US.BIN and A2FW-TXR.BIN respectively. For easier distribution and identification of their version, they are distributed as compressed zip files named A2FW-US.BIN_<version>.zip and A2FW-TXR.BIN_<version>.zip where <version> is the version number (e.g. A2FW-US.BIN_A2.4.0.zip). Before using them for the update procedure, they must be unzipped to A2FW-US.BIN and A2FW-TXR.BIN on your personal compter and their names must be kept exactly as they are including the capital letters.

    Version numbers of A2FW-US.BIN and A2FW-TXR.BIN do not need to be the same. The release compatibility notes will always declare which versions are mutually compatible. Updating A2FW-US.BIN is technically much easier and takes only few seconds. Updating of core low-level TXR firmware A2FW-TXR.BIN is technically much more complex procedure and it takes several minutes. Each phase of the upgrade has its information progress screen. Please, make sure that the device has a sufficiently charged battery. Powering off the device (e.g. due to a discharged battery) during the update process might have unpredictable consequences.

    All following options are generally possible (on condition of mutual compatibility of the versions). (1) Upgrading only A2FW-US.BIN, (2) upgrading only A2FW-TXR.BIN, (3) upgrading both A2FW-US.BIN and A2FW-TXR.BIN at once. You can generally both upgrade or downgrade the firmware, provided that the chosen versions (US/TXR) are mutually compatible and also compatible with your device HW.

    Update procedure steps

    1. Check the current firmware US/TXR versions of your AndiScan A2 device (C0 configuration screen) and decide whether the update is needed.
    2. Request the US and/or TXR firmware update file/files. For the following steps, they must be named A2FW-US.BIN and/or A2FW-TXR.BIN regardless of the version number.
    3. Switch off your AndiScan A2, remove its micro SD card and insert it to your personal computer. Use the provided SD adapter if needed.
    4. Store the file(s) to the root directory of the SD card.
    5. Insert the SD card back to your AndiScan A2 device.
    6. Switch on the device. The update is applied automatically. Do not switch off the device until normal operation screen is shown. Observe the progress screens and monitor for any potential warnings or errors. If there are no errors, the device finally gets into the standard operation regime. If there are any errors, contact us for resolving the issues.
    7. Check the new firmware version shown on welcome screen or in the configuration C0 screen.

    Previous versions – release notes

    • US_A2.5.1/TXR_A2.4.0 (8/2023)
      • (minor internal update) US_A2.5.1 updates internal version number storage for devices produced 8/2023 and later.
      • There is no need to update the devices already having US_A2.5.0/TXR_A2.4.0
    • US_A2.5.0/TXR_A2.4.0 (4/2023)
      • FW Compatibility. US_A2.5.0+ requires TXR_A2.4.0+. When upgrading from 2.3.x/2.2.x or 2.4.x/2.3.x versions, both US and TXR must be upgraded at once.
      • (1) Both AS2 processing units – MainBoard UserShell (US) and core-low-level transceiver (TXR) code are upgradeable. This allows much more radical changes to the unit behaviour.
      • (2) A new FastResponse-TRG mode is introduced. It substantially reduces the unit TRG recovery time when there are many other shooters on the firing line and false readings “***” triggered by others block the reading of the true shot. It is made a default mode activated by a standard short press of [Enter]. The original full response mode is activated by a long press of [Enter] and it is indicated by black “*” in the Armed display white flag.
      • (3) TXR_A2.4.0 has optimised more robust internal signal processing that substantially reduces a chance of getting false readings (with low range margin value) caused by strong vibrations.
      • (4) Up to 10 Configuration Profiles can be set (e.g. for different rifles or measurement scenaria). Selection of the profile is activated by pressing and keeping pressed the [Enter] button during the welcome screen. The DATAxx.CSV contains a ConfProfile marker. Also, for easier orientation in stored data, a subset of folders is dedicated to each profile (e.g. ConfProfile 2 uses F200..F299). Default profile #0 uses (for backward compatibility reasons) through the whole range F000..F999.
      • (5) DATAxx.CSV files contain additional data: Time Stamps for each shot, and numerical values of PowerProfile. PowerProfile data is a set of 16 numbers [0..8] describing relative signal strength over the measurement window segments.
      • (6) New Folder/Session Management (FSM) mode enables (a) a direct access to setting Folder and Session number, (b) listing Series files in Folder, (c) deleting Series, (d) deleting Folder. FSM mode is activated by a long press of [Enter] in DAT mode. When deleting Folder/Series, the time progress sequence of Folder/Session is preserved. The newer one will go after the highest number already used. If the maximum value of the Folder range number is reached, the device tries to find some unused number in Folder sequence. If there is no one, the device prompts the user for action to empty the space. If the deleted Folder or Session is the last one, than its number is reused, otherwise it is increased as usual.
      • (7) Actions associated to buttons in Firmware Config/Diagnostic are made more consistent with standard operation modes. [Mode] key moves to the next screen or exits the mode.
      • (8) PowerProfile display is enabled in both Standard and Expert modes.