Messages

31

General Discussion / Ordered by Rosetta upgrade and sent the bridge today

« on: June 20, 2018, 09:43:06 pm »

Hi all,

Nothing to noteworthy, but I ordered my Rosetta upgrade yesterday and shipped the bridge back today. Comical thing is, I sent it from Stratford-upon-Avon post office and upon checking the address, it is getting delivered to Stratford-upon-Avon - I was half tempted to drop it in personally, but thought that might be a little rude! The lady at the post office persuaded me to send the item 'Special Delivery' as there is no such  thing as 'First Class Tracked...' - £6.50, I'm pleased to hear that my package will go all the way to Nuneaton and then back to Stratford for delivery - at least I'm getting something for my money! :-)

Looking forward to getting the upgrade although I'm not back in the office until next week, so won't be able to collect the new bits of kit - as the office is in Stratford, you might be able to send my shipment carrier pigeon! :-)

Thanks
Rob

32

Technical Support / Re: PAW failure

« on: December 29, 2017, 07:40:23 pm »

Just to update the information in this thread - had my first flight today (Christmas is always busy). After an hour and twenty minute flight in very turbulent conditions there was absolutely no drop outs of the PAW.

I think I had three separate issues that all needed resolving to fix my issues - melted WIFI dongle and ADSB dongle and PAW bridge physically disconnecting from the Pi!

I’ll continue to monitor but think it’s sorted! :-)

I will find a way of ‘wedging’ the bridge and Pi together in the case to cover that one off!

Thanks
Rob

33

Technical Support / Re: PAW failure

« on: December 05, 2017, 09:34:29 pm »

Thanks for the replies all!

I’ve been using the Zendure for well over 18 months without issue but that certainly doesn’t mean it hasn’t developed an issue.

I’ll do some more testing now I’ve reseated the bridge and go from there. I’ll update as soon as I get to fly next!

Thanks
Rob

34

Technical Support / Re: PAW failure

« on: December 04, 2017, 09:42:24 pm »

Would this be the correct sort of thing?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3M-SMA-WiFi-Router-Antenna-Extension-Cable-Wire-Lead-Connector-Magnetic-Base/263216796636?hash=item3d48f193dc:g:Mf0AAOSwk~NZwOw3

I assume I could just attach my current antenna then.

35

Technical Support / Re: PAW failure

« on: December 04, 2017, 09:35:58 pm »

And not to keep spamming the thread, but I think I know how it's happened as well.

The case I bought isn't big enough for the PAW and the WIFI antenna within it - hence I attach the WIFI antenna when I use the PAW and have it resting on the edge of the case - the PAW at a slight angle to achieve this - hence I think it is putting pressure on the bridge and basically pulling it away from the main board - as you can see in the attached picture - I think the vibration is causing this.

So, I guess my next question is, can I but an antenna similar to the ADSB one - where I can run a connector from the bridge connector and have it stand up in the case so there is no pressure on the board?

Thanks
Rob

36

Technical Support / Re: PAW failure

« on: December 04, 2017, 09:26:01 pm »

After thinking about what Alan put with regards to whats different between home and the aircraft the only thing I could put my finger on was vibration...

so, I took the PAW apart and found that the bridge (I believe that's what it is - the circuit board that has PilotAware printed on it) was more than half way off the connectors to the main board. I could easily see each one of the pins!

So, I've reassembled it all with the connectors secured and I will see how everything goes - I'm hoping to fly soon so will report at that point. Hopefully the above would suggest the reason for a reboot.

What logging needs to be turned on to gather all system data for troubleshooting - I see lots of options under the Configure menu, but don't know what any of them mean:
Log Interface Messages
 replay  tfc  trp  adsb  nmea  nav  trx  bmp

Thanks
Rob

37

Technical Support / Re: PAW failure

« on: December 04, 2017, 09:12:11 pm »

Thanks both for the replies.

To start off, there is no difference in my home setup to the aircraft setup - I have a self contained PAW pack which I carry with me.

I have connected to the PAW and on 02/12/17, I do see two track files - a new one starts at 11:58 - this is three minutes after I switched to location services on my iPhone. The journey back (03/12/17) only has one track file. It does look as if the unit is rebooting - especially based on the data from the 02/12/17.

I have a Zendure power pack which was fully charged before the flight and is still showing full charge now.

Thanks
Rob

38

Technical Support / PAW failure

« on: December 04, 2017, 04:57:21 pm »

Hi there,

As probably known from a previous thread, I have experienced PAW failure in flight - normally after 30 minutes or so. I was kindly supplied with a replacement WIFI dongle and ADSB dongle and antennae. This appeared to work for 40 minutes or so of circuit flights the other day.

However, this weekend I flew to Cambridge and back - on the flight to Cambridge the PAW failed approximately 20-30 minutes in to the flight - SkyDemon disconnected and the PAW WIFI network was not visible on my phone - I switched to location services and everything was fine. The PAW was located on the 'dash'.

On the flight home, I moved the PAW to the rear passenger seats thinking it may be a heat issue. Again, 20-30 minutes in to the flight, the PAW failed with no PAW network available - switching to location services resolved the issue within Sky Demon.

What are the best troubleshooting mechanisms I have available - it appears that running PAW in my apartment for an hour or so doesn't cause any issues and the unit doesn't fail. What do I need to turn on logging wise to work out what may be happening?

Thanks
Rob

39

Technical Support / Re: PAW WiFi failure

« on: November 27, 2017, 09:45:48 pm »

I would just like to say thank you to David at PilotAware Hardware - I received the new parts next day which is fantastic service!

I had a chance to test the PAW at Wellesbourne over the weekend and with an hours flight, I didn't experience any drop outs or failures which is great news - it appears that replacing both of those items resolved my issue.

Thanks
Rob

40

Technical Support / Re: PAW WiFi failure

« on: November 21, 2017, 09:44:17 pm »

First off, I would like to thank all of the people who have assisted or offered to lend me parts etc. That's what makes this community great and I hope I can return this kind assistance in the future!

After David's post, I think I have this resolved and soon will have new parts to fit. I can't wait to get my PAW back up and running as it has become an invaluable aid - especially with the IMC flying I do!

Once I've got everything up and running again, I will add an update to this post to confirm this resolved my issues - hopefully it will help others in the future. It might even be an opportunity to add a 'service' section to the manual for things people should check every six months or so - I have easy access to mine and never would have thought it was the dongles melting!

Thanks
Rob

41

Technical Support / Re: PAW WiFi failure

« on: November 21, 2017, 12:23:45 am »

So after looking around it appears that the WiFi adapter is readily available in the UK, but the ADSB dongle isn’t - shipping from China with delivery between December and January. There goes my EC for a few months!

42

Technical Support / Re: PAW WiFi failure

« on: November 20, 2017, 09:39:43 am »

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the reply.

I managed to find the link to the parts, but all of the ebay items are either out of stock or the listing has ended.

Can anyone let me know the precise name of the components I need (as I don't trust the wording on some of the descriptions on Ebay - had an issue like that before!). I can then order from Ebay or Amazon - wherever has the bits.

Thanks for all your help
Rob

43

Technical Support / Re: PAW WiFi failure

« on: November 19, 2017, 12:13:28 pm »

And this is my case configuration - I would think the heat has enough space to dissipate, but I could be wrong.

44

Technical Support / Re: PAW WiFi failure

« on: November 19, 2017, 12:07:04 pm »

Hi Peter,

After reading your note about the ADSB (SDR) dongle, I decided to have a look at that one - that is quite 'deformed' as well (see attached pictures).

I'm running the latest version of PAW - Model B Pi 2, kernal=4.4.34-v7+ and PAW version 20170721.

I've checked the Configure page and none of the Log interface messages are selected. Which would be the correct ones to have turned on to troubleshoot a problem like this?

As it appears that I may have a faulty SDR and WIFI dongle (due to heat), what are the best replacements to get - I saw the 3rd party hardware items available but the WIFI dongle was sold out on the Ebay link and I haven't checked the SDR dongle yet.

I would like to replace both as anything that has melted or been heat stressed cannot be good!

Is there any benefit from fitting USB extension cables to take the heat away from the PAW unit or will the heat just travel back down the cable? My main concern is that the dongles appear to be fairly cheap and easy to replace - I'm worried about long term damage to the PAW unit itself!

With regards to my issue, the PAW unit seems to function okay on the ground for extended amounts of time but in the air (as per yesterdays example), we managed to do 30 minutes of circuits before it stopped functioning and then another 20 minute flight before it stopped. On the ground, it's impossible to replicate cockpit temperatures - my PAW sites in a case holder that I place on the 'dash' of the plane on the passenger side.

Thanks for all your help
Rob

45

Technical Support / Re: PAW WiFi failure

« on: November 18, 2017, 11:53:32 pm »

After reading the forum and spotting a post about the WIFI dongle melting and failing, I decided to have a look at mine and it certainly didn't look healthy (see attached images). The side that is melted is the side next to the ADSB antenna connection - that does get very warm!

My PAW unit was purchased directly from PAW so all components came supplied.

So, my questions are:

1) Where do I get a replacement WIFI dongle from - I'm quite happy to pay a bit extra if it stops the above problem.
2) Is it worth running a 10cm USB extension cable from the WIFI USB port to prevent this issue

and not so important
3) I couldn't find anywhere to pull the system logs from PAW - I removed the memory card and plugged in to my computer, but it could only read the boot and recovery partitions - there were another two partitions we no access from Windows. Is it possible to get the system logs if I wanted to investigate the issue further.

Thanks
Rob