Hi FerryAir,
so many questions,
Ok, so I suppose the first question is, who did you buy this unit off ?
There was a beta trial using the ARF board. This was never "the real deal" and in fact in October last year we discovered that the ARF board was not up to the job, and also there were supply problems and repeatability problems.
I am sure the PAW Unit I purchased was a Beta Trial version using the ARF board, it also had a barometric upgrade according to the builder. I acquired it as a Trial unit to see if it was something I could use as a User Friendly unit..... I think it categorically proved it wasn't a User Friendly unit for the Electronically inept.
So an announcement was made to say DO NOT use it whilst we designed and tested something that was up to the job. This also needed CE marking.
I wasn't privy to any announcement by email, I probably read something on the forum because it was around October 2015 that I banished the unit to the darkest corner of my Avionics cupboard thinking this unit is trash.
This was accomplished and tested over the winter.
There are lots of articles to keep everyone up to date on what was going on, posted in the "Latest News" and other threads on this site.
To be honest I had banished the unit to the darkest corner of my Avionics cupboard thinking this unit is trash & doubting that I would bother to bring it back out of the cupboard again..... it was only that I read that a few of the Fly UK guys were planning to use PAW that made me pull the unit out of the darkness & see if it would work? With regards to " lots of articles to keep everyone up to date on what was going on, posted in the "Latest News" and other threads on this site ". is wasted on me as I have more important things to monitor than something that bamboozles me at the best of times & might as well have been written in swahili for what benefit it would be if I read it.
The ARF board is not compatible with the PilotAware Bridge.
So am I to understand that the Beta testing unit I have is about as useful as an Ashtray on a motorbike now? I can see Airline traffic on it but I am guessing my PAW unit doesn't show up on their monitor? # Just as well I have MODE 'C' or MODE 'S' in the aircraft I fly
#
We announced when the PilotAware became properly available that the early adopters (those who bought ARF units before Oct 15th) should not be out of pocket, and so we offered to discount these against the fully tested and legal units or bridge.
This was publicised as "The great ARF replacement program". You could send your ARF back and have a discount against a proper unit. This closed on the 6th of June. We replaced hundreds of ARF's with Bridges at a discount price.
This again was probably an announcement that I didn't receive by email & certainly wouldn't have paid attention to the forum entries as I didn't look at the forum whilst my unit was in hibernation in the warmth of the avionics cupboard.
I think you need to make it clear who the "trader/builder" was. We don't know of any and there certainly aren't any official ones other than the PilotAwareHardware website. Though I must admit, it is open hardware, so anyone is free to do so, but they should make it clear to you what you purchased, and definitely not sold it to you after the announcement.
The Builder of my unit is firstly not a " Trader " He built 3 units & sold me 1 of the 3 for the cost of the bits & pieces ( he might have added the price of a Cream Cake into what I paid but nowt else. )
If the closing date for the discount concession was June 6th 2016 I see no benefit in disclosing who built my unit, though it was certainly built before October 15th 2015.
So, where does that leave you ?
You have an ARF type board plugged into a Raspberry Pi b+ presume ?
With the limited knowledge I have I can confirm I have a Beta Testing unit that has a ARF BOARD & a Raspberry Pi & had upgraded barometric capability.
It's up to you where you go from here, there are now hundreds of PilotAware out there.
You can either buy a Bridge, which comes with a license and add it to your old Pi and hardware, but this won't give you the latest functions as you need a Pi2, or you can buy the complete unit, which comes fully tested and licensed, with Bridge, all hardware, and based on a Pi2.
If I buy a bridge, which comes with a license & add it to my old Pi & hardware what are the functions that I won't get?
If I opt to buy a complete unit, which comes fully tested and licensed, with Bridge, all hardware, and based on a Pi2 what is the price to buy ?
Or you could buy a Pi2 yourself and a Bridge and create a full unit yourself.
With me knowing that Electronics is a Black Art I am not even contemplating creating a full unit myself, if folk like yourself couldn't get it right in the Beta Testing stage I have no chance of getting it right at any time of my life. I could ask my Father in Law as he was a Ferranti Electronics Management bod, but even he is electronically inept these days !!!
All details of the official hardware are on the PilotAwareHardware site.
Of course, if that really is all Double Dutch to you, then that is why we created the full unit, fully tested and pre loaded, so that if people aren't electronically minded and they "just want a unit that works" without worrying about what is in it, then just buy the full unit, and it will do so !
I think buying a Full Unit seems to be the way to go..... I guess it just depends whether I can justify spending money on something that I neither understand the gubbins of or whether I have that much faith in being the Final unit...... I am guessing that these units could be akin to mobile phones where the latest model of PAW is currently the 'i-phone' but by the time Fly UK 2017 comes around the latest version would be the 'i-phone 7'
Hope this helps,
Your Message was interesting to read, however I read it but understood very little as it was of a techie nature.
best regards
Dave.