Jandy PDA died. How to ID my Aqualink system version?

[chaoticlife]

This is my first post here, but I've been lurking and learning since we bought a house with an existing pool in mid-2009.

As of sometime last week (while I was out of town), the Jandy PDA isn't working.

When we turn it on, we see, "Handheld 1.37" and "Waiting", then the backlight starts flashing off and on, and that's all it does.

I went to the panel outside, it is labeled "Aqualink RS Purelink"

I opened it up and had a look at the chip. This is printed on it:

PDA 8
P&S
8273

When I go to buy a replacement PDA online, how do I tell if it will be compatible?
I am also considering the iAqualink instead of a replacement PDA, so any advice on that is also appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[H2_Whoa]

I would contact Jandy with that information if you would like to confirm your firmware version. As long as the handheld and the antenna J-box are compatible, they should work with your Jandy panel.

It appears that your handheld is from Dec 2005 (from revision list here)

You may want to upgrade both the handheld and the receiver (antenna - j-box) to the newest version 3 as Jandy has addressed some issues such as responsiveness. This way you will know they are compatible with each other and the additional cost will be worth the upgrade.

I you want to upgrade to the iAqualink, you will require revision R firmware which comes as a kit IQ-900-RS that includes a replacement control panel board (with updated cpu daughterboard attached) and the antenna (J-box) that connects to your wifi network. If you have more than the standard 8 channels the cpu will need to be brought to a Jandy distributor to be exchanged for the proper number of channels.

Further to that, with the iaqualink, your handheld will not be capable of programming the new control board. You will need to do this through the iAqualink interface as the kit is for the RS system not the PDA. I understand Jandy will be releasing the PDA version "IQ-900-PDA" in the first quarter of 2013.


The above information is based on what I understand to be correct. I will be upgrading my 16 channel next week, but wanted to give you some information since there were no other replies.

 

[chaoticlife]

Hey H2_Whoa, thank you for your response. I'd have sworn I thanked you last week when you posted, but I don't see it, so must have missed the submit step some how.

The link you provided was just what I needed to figure out where I am on the Jandy firmware continuum, and now I know what I need to look for when the time comes. Fortunately for me, my PDA miraculously came back to life after I read your post, so I can now (hopefully) take my time and plan the upgrade to the iAqualink sometime in the coming budget year.

Cheers!