Hi Roger,
I’m sorry to hear you are having such problems with your PilotAware.
Having spent almost 4 years as a ‘volunteer member’ of the PilotAware Development Team, I can say without fear of contradiction that you certainly don’t... ‘need a degree in computing to own and operate PilotAware’ - though some knowledge of computing is certainly not a disadvantage.
Like you, I am retired and (at least according to my wife) spend far more than a fair proportion of my time working on PAW and OGN-R development, testing and trying to help others on this and other Forums, so I certainly share your frustration when things don’t go to plan or meet expectations.
This is without doubt the most significant of the many PAW upgrades that I have had the privilege to be involved in over the years, which is why it requires a full manual update of both the Raspberry Pi Core as well as the PilotAware Software. This update also adds software necessary to enable direct update of both the core and PAW software via Ethernet from now on, to make the procedure easier for users in the future by supplementing the previously available Full Manual or Intermediate USB update options. It is therefore, admittedly, probably not the best choice for those who have never attempted a full manual update before, though in practice it need be no more complicated than any other manual update, provided the instructions are carefully followed to the letter. I can assure you the procedure is no easier with far more expensive devices.
Knowing the complexity of the software however, and from previous experience with full manual updates, anticipating issues, the decision was taken to supplement the Full Manual Update option with preloaded microSD cards for those who feel unable to perform this task themselves.
WRT the last part of your statement, you are of course entitled to your opinion, but there is clear and irrefutable evidence that far from reducing traffic seen, any EC device correctly used to support and supplement visual scan significantly increases the proportion of traffic seen and identified. In fact the percentage of traffic not picked up by PAW is reducing significantly with each successive development release, making PAW without doubt the most comprehensive traffic receiver on the market and if you also make proper use of the PAW audio warnings, there is absolutely no reason to be ‘eyes in’ for any significant length of time during flight.
Regards
Peter