British Forum > OGN-R PilotAware
Intermittent ATOM screen
trident:
Hi all,
I don't know if others are having similar problems, but my ATOM screen for OGN-R LongSut has become very hit-and-miss and seems to work when it feels like it.
I can get the Metar, Login and other screens fine and the Home screen refreshes itself, but when clicking on the "Radar" button, it sometimes works but often doesn't and just leaves a blank screen. Logging in and rebooting the Pi sometimes clears the problem and I can then access the ATOM screen, but shortly after it often freezes. My network is fine and I can always connect to the Pi so is this a server or firmware issue? All T's and P's for the Pi seem to be fine apart from an undervoltage warning, but I've always had that and it's never had these problems before.
Over to you learned gentlemen.
Thanks,
Frank.
steveu:
--- Quote from: trident on March 07, 2023, 11:11:44 pm ---Hi all,
I don't know if others are having similar problems, but my ATOM screen for OGN-R LongSut has become very hit-and-miss and seems to work when it feels like it.
--- End quote ---
Where is this screen? On your phone, a Pi running in kiosk mode, or some other device? I assume this is not on the ATOM Pi itself?
--- Quote from: trident on March 07, 2023, 11:11:44 pm ---I can get the Metar, Login and other screens fine and the Home screen refreshes itself, but when clicking on the "Radar" button, it sometimes works but often doesn't and just leaves a blank screen. Logging in and rebooting the Pi sometimes clears the problem and I can then access the ATOM screen, but shortly after it often freezes. My network is fine and I can always connect to the Pi so is this a server or firmware issue? All T's and P's for the Pi seem to be fine apart from an undervoltage warning, but I've always had that and it's never had these problems before.
Over to you learned gentlemen.
--- End quote ---
When you talk of rebooting the Pi, I assume you mean the ATOM Pi?
How do we know that the undervoltage hasn't simply got worse and tipped over the edge?
What sort of PSU is it? PAW support may correct me, but it needs to be capable of 2A?
If the Pi is running at a lower clock rate because of the PSU, then it could just struggle with the data processing? Poor hypothesis?
If it were mine I would resolve the PSU problem - thtat's never going to help, it might not be the fault, but may as well run it properly?
exfirepro:
Hi Frank,
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from you on here, so I have just reread all your previous posts to refresh my memory.
Unless things have changed (which I’m not aware of), when you login ‘direct’ to your ATOM (at home for example) via the same router it is connected to, and then select the ‘Radar’ display option, your device loads VRS from the Pi each time before running it. This ensures that any settings selected are specific to that display device and don’t affect settings on any other device connected via the same router.
I presume a similar thing happens when logging in remotely via the station maintainer’s network/database login. This will therefore be susceptible to a degree of delay while the VRS software downloads and opens up, the actual delay depending on the speed of the connections you are using and the amount of data which needs to be transferred.
With regard to the undervoltage issues you have mentioned, I would certainly advise investigating and trying to resolve these as they could well be causing the Pi to throttle or reset at a critical point in the process. I remember lots of discussions when you were first setting up the station about using a WiFi connection (via a Pi3B) to avoid a very long Ethernet feed cable to and up your 12 metre mast, but can’t find any details of whether you actually went down that route, or how you decided to power the unit, except that you did at one point (after finally managing to configure the unit) say…
--- Quote --- Right, what next? Get the hardware sorted and mounted, network and power cables up the mast and commission it properly.
--- End quote ---
…which makes me pretty certain you didn’t opt for the ‘now common’ route of using a +48Volt POE injector to squirt 48 volts up the ethernet cable with a matching splitter to reduce the voltage back to 5 volts at the Pi end. This raises the question as to whether the undervoltages are due to voltage drop over the length of the cable - or did you come up with an alternative solution to overcome that?
Best Regards
Peter
trident:
Hello Steve and Peter,
Firstly, Thanks both for your replies and comments. I'm sorry for the delay in replying, but family matters have got in the way.
In reply to you first Steve, the screens are on my phone, laptop and one of several PCs all connected on the same local network as the ATOM Pi. I'm sorry but I don't know what you mean by "Kiosk" mode, but I access the ATOM Pi through a Chrome browser and direct connection via local address 192.168.1.175 etc.
Yes, I reboot the ATOM Pi through the login screen and selecting option 10. The Pi reboots and after a few minutes I see the "Reconnect" window and on clicking that I'm taken to the home screen with the message" Attempting to connect to the ATOM Grid". When that clears, usually I can select the "Radar" tab and the ATOM grid screen loads fine. However, occasionally I just get an empty browser screen and no amount of refreshing will load the ATOM data. Navigating back to the Home screen, everything else works fine except the Radar tab which just leaves me with the empty browser.
In respect of the PSU and undervoltage indication, I've always seen that but only fairly recently got the reported problems. I will check the actual voltage at the Pi but can you advise at what voltage does the Pi consider too low and trigger the undervoltage flag?
The Pi is powered by a dedicated 12V 2A d.c. adapter in my radio shack and fed up the mast by decent (1.5mm^2 if I remember correctly) cable to the ATOM Pi mounted inside a waterproof diecast enclosure 12 metres directly above. There it is fed to a 5V 2A linear regulator (LM317 if I remember correctly) and on to the Pi.
It is possible there is not enough headroom from the current 12V supply and I did change the feed from a 12V 8A ex-Tait PMR repeater PSU I had previously been using. I will do some investigation and probably swap back to the 8A PSU.
Hi Peter, yes, it's been a while since I was on here last. I'm not up-to-speed on the intricate workings of the software, but thanks for trying to enlighten me.
Yes, the same thing happens whether connecting locally or remotely via the web and I have noted the delay in response due to the internet connection speed.
It seems the undervoltage may be the cause of the issue, so as above, I'll investigate and try to fix that first. No, not using POE - just 12V fed up from the shack to a local 5V 2A regulator by stout lecky string!
The data feed to the ATOM Pi is a direct Cat 5 cable connection from an ethernet switch/WiFi bridge router in the shack. The switch/router has a WiFi link to another switch/router in the house 50 metres away which then connects to the main internet router through a pair of power-line adapters. It's a bit convoluted, but short of digging a 50 metre trench from the house to the shack it was the easiest method.
I'll update you both on my findings once I've had a chance to investigate, but a more pressing problem to solve is the intermittent tripping of the RCD feeding the barn where the ATOM Pi is powered from and where our solar panels feed into the grid :'(
Thanks and regards,
Frank.
steveu:
--- Quote from: trident on March 14, 2023, 09:26:36 pm ---In reply to you first Steve, the screens are on my phone, laptop and one of several PCs all connected on the same local network as the ATOM Pi. I'm sorry but I don't know what you mean by "Kiosk" mode, but I access the ATOM Pi through a Chrome browser and direct connection via local address 192.168.1.175 etc.
--- End quote ---
Understood. By kiosk mode, I'm referring to a second RPi which runs Chrome from auto boot, no mouse or keyboard, looking only at the VRS via the relevant IP address.
--- Quote from: trident on March 14, 2023, 09:26:36 pm ---Yes, I reboot the ATOM Pi through the login screen and selecting option 10. The Pi reboots and after a few minutes I see the "Reconnect" window and on clicking that I'm taken to the home screen with the message" Attempting to connect to the ATOM Grid". When that clears, usually I can select the "Radar" tab and the ATOM grid screen loads fine. However, occasionally I just get an empty browser screen and no amount of refreshing will load the ATOM data. Navigating back to the Home screen, everything else works fine except the Radar tab which just leaves me with the empty browser.
--- End quote ---
I've seen something similar when there is a problem with bandwidth in the LAN. Low hanging fruit, easy stuff, a ten minute attempt at a fix, can you reboot all the IP chain? I'd say turn off the switch with Wifi at the ATOM/shack end, then the Wifi receiver for the same in the house, then last of all the two Powerline adaptors. Leave off for 2 minutes, then fire up starting from the Powerline adaptors, then the Wifi bridge at that end, then lastly the switch/bridge at the shack end. I suspect the Powerline adaptors have gone low bandwidth, I've seen this before.
Then you can post that I'm a grasper of straws...
I've done a fair amount of work with PoE and think especially for cheap IP cameras it can save a lot of time, and cope with long runs... Maybe this might be a long term solution.
I also think that the LM317 is up against it... says 1.5A in the data sheet and doesn't mention anything above that. One solution might be to set the output slightly higher.
RPi 3B specs say 5.1V & 2.5A. I'm going to say the LM317 is out of its depth...
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