New release-20170619

[PeteHD]

Lee said:

The next release of SkyDemon will have an option to select 'PilotAware' which uses UDP messaging
Although you can continue to connect using the FLARM connection method if you wish.

What would be the benefit?
I note you mention the kernel would need upgrading, this relates to the Pi os? How is this done...no idea where the hotspot website is        - Update:worked that bit out and updated

Also noticed with the update that I'm seeing ground vehicles as warnings, they seemed to have disappeared recently(or maybe they weren't around!)
Thanks
Pete

[znww5]

I too, was wondering what advantage (if any) UDP would have over the FLARM mode.

[Admin]

I too, was wondering what advantage (if any) UDP would have over the FLARM mode.

There are a number of NAV Applications which now support traffic over UDP or TCP, these include
- XCSoar
- RunwayHD
- SkyDemon (Work in Progress)

UDP is a lighter protocol and has the potential to mitigate the issues of
'connection lost to GPS device'

If you are not experiencing any connectivity issues, then I would say continue as you are.
there are a small number of users reporting connectivity issues, this may well go some way to solving those issues.

Thx
Lee

[znww5]

Thanks for that Lee. I have yet to encounter loss of GPS with SD, but worth knowing there's already a fix.

[Rogerthedodger]

I had reached the point of frustration with lost connections between PAW and SD (previously reported/discussed on these forums but not solved) that I had given up using PAW. However as of today I have the latest version of SD and the latest software on PAW. This now allows me to select PAW in SD as my GPS source (previously I had to use FLARM). I have been testing the connection at home on two Android tablets and provide a link to a video of the result (see below and notice the "waiting for device" message on the larger tablet at the 5 second mark)). The cheap 7" tablet has no problems, but the more expensive 8" has random and intermittent messages "waiting for device".

However the big change and huge improvement is that SD does not drop out of "flying mode" and just waits until the message clears and then carries on.

I have tried various PAW wifi settings without noticeable difference. So although there is a huge improvement in useability of PAW with SD I am at a loss as to why the cheap tablet ploughs along happily, whilst the expensive (Lenovo Tab3 8" Android 6) one keeps stopping with the "waiting for device" message.

Any help much appreciated as it would be nice to get this resolved for everyone affected.

Video ... https://youtu.be/F8dJIcpz-ss

[RobertPBham]

Do you know anyone with an iPhone/iPad that you could test with your PAW?

That should narrow down whether the drops are due to the connection with PAW or just your devices.

WIFI is a weird beast - I've had HP laptops that regularly struggle to establish and maintain connections and Dell laptops that never drop. It could be the channel you are using - some devices struggle with certain channels.

Hence the reason I'm suggesting an iPhone/iPad - I have both and never suffer connections drops.

[tfede]

Hi,

with my I-Phone and I-Pad i had a lot of loss of gps connection issues before the update.
I have to say now with the latest PAW release and the latest SD release it works perfectly. I tested it for about 90 minutes flight and was very stable.

I will have some more longer flights in the next 2 weeks, we will see if stability is permanent.

Federico

[Paul_Sengupta]

One thing that may be happening is that the tablet is looking for an internet connection. As it can't find one on the PAW Wifi hotspot, it may go searching for others. I don't know how tablets do this or how to switch off this behaviour! Perhaps there are some Wifi manager bits of software which either interfere or could fix this, I don't know.

[Vic]

I have the same tablet as Roger above (Lenovo Tab 8-3, one of the few Android tablets to have GPS nowadays) which I bought to replace my ageing Nexus 7 2012 which kept dropping the Wifi connection when too close to the PAW.

All was well with PAW and this new tablet running Skydemon until the last two releases of PAW software. The device now occasionally disconnects (every 5 or so mins) if I use FLARM mode and frequently disconnects (every 10 seconds at least) if I use Piotaware (UDP) mode.  As Roger says, the auto reconnect works fine

I have tried different WiFi power settings and changed from Mode G to B to no avail and disabled the tablet's  'advanced' feature of notifying whenever a public wifi internet connection is available, making me suspect it was sniffing around for other connections and missing UDP packets out. .. The problem still existed on my last flight however... This log clip of my 50 minute flight shows everytime it happens by means of a red dot on the height view of the log...



Curiously, the 'Waiting for device' keeps coming up when I replay the track recording from the paw using the Lenovo but not on my phone sitting next to it!

It's looking like therefore a quirk of the popular Lenovo tablet with the latest versions of Pilotaware!

[Vic]

Messing about with this over the afternoon the issue seemed to have completely disappeared after I dynamically increased the WiFi power a few times , with the UDP connection being completely stable. An hour later, including a 45 minute complete power down of everything to also let them cool, it returned after around ten more minutes stability.  ..I'm discounting heat as being the cause therefore.

While the UDP is losing connection, I also have trouble connecting to the PAW through the browser with a "HTTP request method not supported" message.

One thing that is really bugging me though, I can't clear an IP address from the Static IP Address field. I don't use Static IP addressing from DHCP but I have set a reserved address in the router to assign with the MAC address of the PAW (one I can remember ..192.168.1.172). This address appears in the static address field of the PAW and it can't be blanked...

   This still appears even when only connected wirelessly..Is this 'normal' / Could it be the cause of the problems I am experiencing?

I have once again dynamically changed the Wifi power (up from 20mw to 50 Mw this time) and the UDP connection in SD is stable once more!  Weird

Vic