Loss of Connectivity in Sklydemon

[Jim13]

Hi again,

I have been experiencing random loss of connectivity between my PAW and Skydemon. I originally thought that it might be power related but have just used an ANKER 20100 and whilst it worked for a few hours, it has now lost connectivity and displays a banner saying "Failed to establish a connection with the Butterfly Connect Unit".

Can anyone suggest a fix?

May thanks,

Jim

[Admin]

Hi Jim

OK, lets get some background information

1. What is your navigation device iPad / Android ?

2. What Version of PilotAware are you running

3. What connection method are you using from SD to PilotAware,
- Flarm Method, or
- PilotAware Method

4. When connectivity was lost, was the message given 'Connection to GPS lost'

5. Now you are seeing the message "Failed to establish a connection with the Butterfly Connect Unit"
What WiFi is it showing you are connected to ?

Thx
Lee

[Jim13]

Hi Lee,

Please find the following info,

1  I am using and Ipad

2 Version V20161124

3   Using FLARM

4  I belive so but can't get back to that screen at present
.
5 Still connected to PAW Wifi

Thanks,

Jim

[exfirepro]

Jim,

From a check of your previous posts, you have been experiencing 'drop-outs' in various guises since way back in January.

I take it this is still the same 'home-built' PAW unit?

If you can manage to log back on, can you post fresh screengrabs of the Home Screen and also the Logging Screen from as soon as possible after you manage to get the WiFi connection please so we can see what is going on.

In addition to the points Lee has listed, there are several issues I think we need to check: -

Are these dropouts occurring in the plane - not indoors where GPS signal might be an issue?

I know you have recently bought a new Anker Powerbank as recommended by Lee and it's almost certainly fine, but can you post a link to where you got it from so we can check as some of the newer -supposedly 'intelligent' - power banks won't run PAW properly.

The common factor with both your recent power supply arrangements is the Power Cable. I know it is (or at least was) a 20AWG cable, but can you please try gently 'wiggling' it where it goes into the PAW while watching the red 'power' LED at the lower left of the antenna end of the unit to see if it flashes or goes out. The reason I suggest this is that I have just had to replace a power lead on a colleague's PAW as the micro-USB connector had become loose, causing the unit to drop out due to vibration in flight.

There could of course be a problem with the WiFi dongle? The screen grabs should tell us.

Finally, what version of SkyDemon are you running? It would be worth updating both PilotAware and SD to the most recent versions, but let us try to get to the bottom of the current problem (sorry no pun intended) first.

Regards

Peter

[Jim13]

Hi Peter,

Yes it is the Home built one.-





Attached are the screenshots:

Drop outs are occuring in the Aircraft.

After receiving the Anker Power Bank yesterday it ran for 4 hours without any problem in my conservatory. However today after about 3 hours it started to drop out and would not reconnect.

Power Bank details as follows: -

 Dear Customer,

Thank you for your order from AnkerDirect. Fulfilment by Amazon has shipped the following items. This completes your order.
  You can track your shipment by visiting https://www.swiship.co.uk/t/DpgNlqbCH.

Dispatched via HERMES_UK (estimated delivery date: 29/08/2017 GMT)
Tracking No: 7621237816785951
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Qty    Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1      Anker PowerCore 20100 - Ultra High Capacity Power Bank with on...
        SKU:A1271012,B00VJSGT2A

Tried wiggling the power lead shows no problem.

I believe that I am running the latest versions of both PAW and SkyDemon:

Running version 3.8.2.77 of SkyDemon & Version 20161124 of PAW.

Hope this helps.

Many thanks,

Jim

[Jim13]

Further screenshot

[Admin]

Hi Jim

5 Still connected to PAW Wifi

That is quite unexpected, if you are still connected to the PAW WiFi, but are unable to connect SkyDemon

The first thing I would say is to upgrade to version 20170721, there have been may fixes which could affect this, and if possible, I would recommend a full install using the zip file if you have the time and inclination, which I presume you are capable having made a homebuild unit.

Also I am assuming that the Battery pack was fully charged when you started your test ?
I run a 10000mAh Anker which goes 4-5 hrs when fully charged

Thx
Lee

[Jim13]

Hi Lee,
Updated as suggested with full version but still the same problem.

Cheers,

Jim

[Jim13]

Have also now arranged for replacement WiFi Dongle as I bought mine at the beginning of the year and I noticed on the forum that there may have been some problems with them at that time

thanks,

Jim

[exfirepro]

Hi again Jim,

Thanks for the update. Just for clarification, the latest version of PAW allows two options for connecting to SkyDemon, but you need to set your WiFi connection and SkyDemon differently depending on which version you want to use.

The first is the 'standard' 'via FLARM' option, which sends the data via a 'TCP' link. This requires 'SkyDemon/Setup/Connectivity Options/External GPS/Traffic Source' to be set to 'FLARM' and also the 'FLARM Options 'Air Connect Key' at the bottom of the Connectivity Screen to be set to '6000'. If this option is chosen, you the use 'Go Flying - Use FLARM' option as before.

The second option, only available using the most recent updates, is to receive the data via 'UDP', which was added because it can in some cases reduce 'dropouts'. To use this option, your pad"s Wifi must be set to use a 'dynamic' 'DHCP' IP address (simply choose 'DHCP' rather than 'Static' in 'Settings/WiFi/PilotAware xxxxxxxxxxxxx' on your pad). You then need to set SkyDemon's External GPS/Traffic Source to 'PilotAware' (no 'Air Connect Key' this time) and when you 'Go Flying' select 'Use PilotAware'.

Worth checking if you can still connect to PAW via your existing WiFi dongle.

Regards

Peter

[Jim13]

Hi Peter,

I was aware of the SkyDemon option but have not yet tried it.

I assume that you did not see anything untoward of the screen dumps of the logging and home pages.

Thanks once again

Jim

[Admin]

Hi Jim

Just noticed this is an old release can you update to the latest release and see what difference that makes. There have been a lot of fixes in the last nine months

Thx
Lee

[Jim13]

Hi,
After Lee's last response regarding using SkyDemon as opposed to FLARM, the SkyDemon connection worked for fine.
Also received replacement WiFi dongle and now both FLARM and SkyDemon are working correctly.

Many thanks for all your advice

Jim

[exfirepro]

Hi Jim,

Glad you've got it working. Thanks for the update.

Regards

Peter