Airsense 11 Time Zone Change

[SarcasticDave94]

When the Dr. Dolittle looks at the data, the time looks just fine. Wonder how long it'll be before this non adjustable clock data hinders someone's compliance data?

[ScottZZZ]

Funny I found this thread today after looking at my Oscar data and finally figured out it was an hour off. My Resmed AS 11 in the clinical menu is set to GMT +/- 0  which doesnt make sense to me.  I'm in Austin, TX so I guess this should be -6? I too find it bizarre that there is no way to change this or sync it with any sort of NTP server.

Mine also showed GMT +/- 0 in the menus.  I suspect the DME set the machine up (including the time zone) via cellular, and for some reason (probably a firmware bug) the time zone setting wasn’t shown in the menus even though the machine used it.  After setting it manually via the menu, the menu now shows the zone I set.

[ScottZZZ]

Mine also showed GMT +/- 0 in the menus.  I suspect the DME set the machine up (including the time zone) via cellular, and for some reason (probably a firmware bug) the time zone setting wasn’t shown in the menus even though the machine used it.  After setting it manually via the menu, the menu now shows the zone I set.

ERROR -- I have to correct myself here regarding what the menu shows.  (I should never rely on my memory, lol.)

I just double-checked, and the menu on my AS11 still shows "GMT +/- 0", just as when it was delivered.  And clicking that to see the list of time zones, the "GMT -0" option has a checkmark beside it.

However, the data is being properly recorded, and the "CurrentSettings.json" file correctly shows {"TimeZoneOffset": "-08:00"}, consistent with my having set GMT -8.

So, either by design or by firmware bug, the MENU does not show the current TZ setting -- rather it always shows GMT +/- 0.

The only place I can find the actual time zone setting is inside the \Settings\CurrentSettings.json file on the SD card.

[thepiecesfit]

ERROR -- I have to correct myself here regarding what the menu shows.  (I should never rely on my memory, lol.)

I just double-checked, and thhe menu on my AS11 still shows "GMT +/- 0" in the menu, just as when it was delivered.  And clicking that to see the list of time zones, the "GMT -0" option has a checkmark beside it.

However, the data is being properly recorded, and the "CurrentSettings.json" file correctly shows {"TimeZoneOffset": "-08:00"}, consistent with my having set GMT -8.

So, either by design or by firmware bug, the MENU does not show the current TZ setting -- rather it always shows GMT +/- 0.

The only place I can find the actual time zone setting is inside the \Settings\CurrentSettings.json file on the SD card.

Same for me. Inside the menu both show show GMT +/- 0. The CurrentSettings.json shows -5. I guess that makes sense now since we just had Daylight savings end 11/6. I don’t know if this is something the DME typically does but now I am an hour off. Not sure what the long term solution is. Resmed really needs to implement some kind of NTP time synchronization.

[ScottZZZ]

Same for me. Inside the menu both show show GMT +/- 0. The CurrentSettings.json shows -5. I guess that makes sense now since we just had Daylight savings end 11/6. I don’t know if this is something the DME typically does but now I am an hour off. Not sure what the long term solution is. Resmed really needs to implement some kind of NTP time synchronization.

I think the best solution is set it to match "Standard" time in your zone, then just leave it alone.  It will be off an hour during the summer in DST locations, but that isn't a huge deal and can be accommodated in Oscar preferences (as can the few locations that are off by 30 or 45 minutes, rather than even hour increments).  Of course, people who travel a lot may have a bigger issue.

I believe the Oscar team is contemplating how to best solve the various time-zone issues, so there will probably be even better ways to handle the shift in a future version.   

If my AS11 had been 2 hours or less in error, I would have just left it alone.  But it was 3 hours off, which risked crossing Noon if I slept past 9AM -- and that "splits" a session across two days, since Noon begins a "new day".

[Pura Vida]

I think the best solution is set it to match "Standard" time in your zone, then just leave it alone.  It will be off an hour during the summer in DST locations, but that isn't a huge deal and can be accommodated in Oscar preferences (as can the few locations that are off by 30 or 45 minutes, rather than even hour increments).   Of course, people who travel a lot may have a bigger issue.

I believe the Oscar team is contemplating how to best solve the various time-zone issues, so there will probably be even better ways to handle the shift in a future version.   

If my AS11 had been 2 hours or less in error, I would have just left it alone.  But it was 3 hours off, which risked crossing Noon if I slept past 9AM -- and that "splits" a session across two days, since Noon begins a "new day".

This last point is something that happened to me.  Sometimes, I have difficulty getting to sleep, and on the weekend, I would sleep past 9am PT.  It shorted my current day and added time into the next day (which also creates an additional mask on/off episode b/c it thinks I'm taking a very extended break until I resume sleeping later that night).

I haven't looked at the data in a few days, but it seemed ok since I made the change to GMT-8 for my Pacific time zone.  To your first points, I hope this doesn't get buggy when DST changes again, and I do travel into new time zones, which sounds like another (related) issue.  Hopefully, Redmed can fix these issues to be more user-friendly.

[WIN4US]

If the ResMed developers did the time formula correctly, then it should maintain the time like all the cellphones do. They get the time from the wireless carrier's MTSO switches which most if not all are synced to a known accurate clock source. That's why when you travel to another time zone, your cellphone time changes automatically and is accurate. This method is important because some time zones ( e.g. Arizona Mountain Standard Time) don't change when daylight saving time changes occur. 

If the AirSense 11 time is different from your cellphone, then ResMed must improve the AirSense 11 time formula.  I'm sure they didn't omit in their thinking that some people take their life saving CPAP machine with them when they go on vacation or business to another time zone and in some cases where there is no cellphone coverage (would require a manual method too). I assume too, that the AirSense 11 is checking the time it gets from the wireless carrier on a frequent basis to correct the time given any power outage impact to the AirSense 11 clock. The AirSense 11 firmware/software must all take those conditions into consideration including switching to manual capability if carrier signal is not obtainable and notifying the user when they need to set the time on the device because it has determine loss of or no signal to set the time. 

I tried calling ResMed to talk to someone in technical support who could transfer me to their developer group or convey my concern to them and I got nowhere but a referral to my supplier of the ResMed 11 device... surprise, they didn't know what to do. Maybe this Apnea Board has some means of conveying the clock/TZ concerns to ResMed for clarification and if necessary updating their firmware and any impacted software and user manual. Hopefully they can make management of the time on the device user friendly and intuitive for senior and disabled users/customers.

[Crimson Nape]

You are not Resmed's customer., at least in their eyes. The DME is. The end user is just an annoyance that they have to put up with while they sell their product.

[ScottZZZ]

If the AirSense 11 time is different from your cellphone, then ResMed must improve the AirSense 11 time formula.
...
I assume too, that the AirSense 11 is checking the time it gets from the wireless carrier on a frequent basis to correct the time
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I tried calling ResMed to talk to someone in technical support who could transfer me to their developer group or convey my concern to them and I got nowhere
...

At this point, none of us know where the AS11 gets its time, or how frequently it updates (if at all).  

There is no time display in the menus to directly view the machine's current time.  Data records written to my AS11's SD card are 38 seconds behind NIST (and my iPhone) time.  That could infer the clock is 38 seconds off, though there could also be some software / buffering delay included in that. 

It may be getting time from cell tower, or it may be getting it from the MyAir server when it connects there.  There has been no discernable change in the 38 second offset over the last 60 days, so it is probably syncing somewhere periodically, as clocks in similar devices tend to drift a little when left on their own.  

I can say for sure that the AS11 (like every other PAP machine I'm familiar with) does NOT automatically track DST changes.  And with no ability to change the clock, the only way to adjust it for DST is to change the Time Zone to "one zone off" -- and that also requires deleting any stored data.  For most people, it's probably better to just leave it at "standard time" and not worry about DST.  But it could be a bigger issue for people who travel far and frequently.

As Red said above, Resmed doesn't consider us patients to be their customers.  It's primarily DMEs, and probably to a lesser extent, the sleep clinics and doctors they try to please.  So sadly, unless the time handling impacts DMEs/clinicians, Resmed really has no incentive to improve on it.

[GuyScharf]

It may be that the AS11 has its time and date set at the factory and doesn't do updates (unless perhaps there is a special tool for DMEs). We've seen one example of an AS11 whose date was off by 13 years, if I remember the date correctly. It didn't fix itself.

F&P Sleepstyle is similar in that it is impossible for a user to set the date. On my test machine, the date was off by 34 days. I've seen examples of the date being off by years. But at least you could set the time on that machine.