My small set up consists nearly every plug being taken up with Metal plugs into the Flow 8.
Also The Flow 8 sits on top of a Audio Technica wireless receiver [headset] operating at 650 meg which is the legal frequency here in NZ
I noticed that my phone would loose Bluetooth connection very easily at only 1 metre away.
I had 200mm or about 8 inch short extension cables into XLRs and I figured there is a lot of metal hanging around the back or rear of the Flow 8!
So I made some longer extension cables and it seems to have corrected the issue of dropping Bluetooth.
Its the yellow XLRs I made longer
If anyone knows if there is a Bluetooth aerial within the Flow 8 or what physical part of the Flow 8 the signal is transmitted and received I would be appreciated. I do know that Blue tooth works on 2.4 meg.
Thankyou
Regards
Dave
FLOW 8 Bluetooth dropping connection
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- Posts: 122
- Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:52 am
- Location: Bedford, UK
Re: FLOW 8 Bluetooth dropping connection
Hi @NZdave , when I first got a Flow 8 I had major problems with the app dropping the Bluetooth connection. This happened even when the tablet was parked on the top of the console. I tried moving the tablet in the hope of discovering a sweetspot but to no avail. The situation improved with firmware V11739 but the connection was still not stable. I tried relocating the console away from other Bluetooth and Wifi devices but that made little, if any, difference. Repositioning cables also had no apparent effect.
Then I tried some other tablets and found that they all behaved differently. Some would not maintain a connection for more than a few seconds while others would hold up for much longer. These were all Android tablets of different makes and ages. The breakthrough came when I discovered that an HTC U11 (Android) 'phone connected quickly and stayed online. I forced the 'phone to stay awake and found that it would hold the connection for days. It would also connect and run from a different room - well over five metres away and through two walls. I purchased a refurbished HTC U11 from eBay to use as a dedicated controller and it works just as well. So it seems that the connection reliability is greatly affected by the design of the Bluetooth function in the tablet/phone.
I did not discover where the Flow 8's Bluetooth antenna is located but, with a good control device, it doesn't seem to matter.
Then I tried some other tablets and found that they all behaved differently. Some would not maintain a connection for more than a few seconds while others would hold up for much longer. These were all Android tablets of different makes and ages. The breakthrough came when I discovered that an HTC U11 (Android) 'phone connected quickly and stayed online. I forced the 'phone to stay awake and found that it would hold the connection for days. It would also connect and run from a different room - well over five metres away and through two walls. I purchased a refurbished HTC U11 from eBay to use as a dedicated controller and it works just as well. So it seems that the connection reliability is greatly affected by the design of the Bluetooth function in the tablet/phone.
I did not discover where the Flow 8's Bluetooth antenna is located but, with a good control device, it doesn't seem to matter.
Re: FLOW 8 Bluetooth dropping connection
Hi Rex.
Thanks for that.
Yes I bought a cheap Xioami Red note 9 exclusively for a dedicated controller which I still intend to use.
I did try a Huawei Mate 9 and that has really powerful Bluetooth! So much so the Flow 8 sends a text to it pair even as far as on another level of the house.
Note:
On the new Xiaomi Red 9 the phone can not display the decibel reading in the small tabs that come up when moving faders.
That particular phone only has 3 gig of system memory and just dosn't have the capacity or speed... what ever it takes to read Bluetooth from the Flow 8.
The other Mate 9 displays the decibels no trouble at all and the iPad Add dosn't have any issue either.
Anyhow thanks again.
Regards
NZdave
Thanks for that.
Yes I bought a cheap Xioami Red note 9 exclusively for a dedicated controller which I still intend to use.
I did try a Huawei Mate 9 and that has really powerful Bluetooth! So much so the Flow 8 sends a text to it pair even as far as on another level of the house.
Note:
On the new Xiaomi Red 9 the phone can not display the decibel reading in the small tabs that come up when moving faders.
That particular phone only has 3 gig of system memory and just dosn't have the capacity or speed... what ever it takes to read Bluetooth from the Flow 8.
The other Mate 9 displays the decibels no trouble at all and the iPad Add dosn't have any issue either.
Anyhow thanks again.
Regards
NZdave