FireBoard Pulse: In-Depth Tutorial

[@thecurtisjackson]

I'm trying my first cook (smoking a brisket) this morning using the Pulse. I have one minor problem and one HUGE problem. Minor: Couldn't get the pop-up in the app to add the Pulse. I first tried doing exactly what was done in this video: I charged my 2 stacked Pulses overnight, unplugged them from USB-C power, walked into the kitchen where my Fireboard 2 with S1G antenna was already on, and removed the Pulse from the charger. Nothing happened in the app. I finally went back to the room where my USB-C power cable was, plugged the charger back into USB-C power, THEN removed the Pulse from the charger, and got the alert. Annoying. The documentation should either point out that the charger has to be plugged in when you remove the Pulse to add it the first time, or that you only have X seconds after unplugging the charger to remove the Pulse and get the pop-up. HUGE problem: I inserted the Pulse into the meat, took the meat outside and put it on the smoker. But I forgot to bring the Fireboard 2 with me. I went back inside and retrieved the Fireboard, but by the time I got back outside it was no longer receiving any data from the Pulse. As far as I can tell, because there is no power button on the Pulse, the only way to get it working again would be for me to remove it from the meat, clean it, put it back on the charger, then pull it off again, wait for the Fireboard to see it, then insert it back into the meat. Maybe I'm missing something. But it sure looks like if you move the Fireboard out of range during a cook, even for only a minute or two, the Pulse gives up and powers itself off, and there is no good way to get it sending data again. This is just like the age-old problem with Apple products: the product is simplified so much that it just works. Until there's a scenario the company didn't allow for, at which point you're screwed. Update: That is not the problem. The problem is apparently that the S1G signal cannot get through from inside my Weber Searwood 600. I removed the first Pulse from the meat and added the second Pulse I bought to the app. Being careful to carry the probe and the Fireboard 2 outside together, I placed the Fireboard on top of my pellet hopper, about 1 foot from the meat (through the smoker's lid). I waited to verify that it was still receiving data from the second Pulse. Then I opened the smoker, inserted the second Pulse into the meat, and closed the smoker. The Fireboard 2 never got another temperature reading from the Pulse, and after a while the Pulse could no longer be seen on the Fireboard or in the app. To get the Fireboard any closer to the probe I'd have to put it inside the smoker. I guess S1G isn't all it's cracked up to be. I am deeply disappointed, because I really wanted to use the Pulse to monitor rotisserie cooks where a wired probe is simply not an option.

[@johnhurlbut]

I have a Yoder YS1500S and a Firebird 2 Drive for my Big Green Egg. My two Pulse's are on order, but I'm curious how do you connect the Pulse to the Yoder or the Fireboard 2? I love that you can see ambient temp and internal temp with one probe and run drive off of that. That's going to be SUPER helpful!

[@txfieros]

One part skipped over there when looking at where you can change the device name is “paired device”. I have not been able to successfully get Pulse to talk to Spark even when putting the paired device as the Spark. I’m assuming this option is to tell the Pulse what device to send the information to if you have multiple devices like I have (the spark and FB2 drive). The Spark just goes to sleep when woken up even if the Pulse is set to pair to the Spark. I can see on my app, that data never gets to the cloud. When having the Bluetooth only or S1G The FB2 it pairs up easy and sends data up. Still wondering how the Spark fits in 🤔

[@rosscree5236]

I would love to hear how it can function with FireBoard Drive.

[@PBP20DD]

When using the pulse with the drive 2, will it work the fan blower, for example when the ambient temp get lower than the set temp, will the pulse start the fan blower when connected to the drive 2 to raise the temperature to the set temperature 🤔

[@jomommajokes5836]

trying to run my pit off the ambiente for my turkey smoke guess ill have to run the pit off a random food probe at the grate.