Messages

31

Technical Support / Re: Current Fault Indications.....what do they mean please?

« on: March 07, 2024, 07:47:44 pm »

Clive,

I haven’t been on the Forum for quite a while. I got out of the habit as there was (as you have reported) nothing new on here for months, and I am only now back on and playing catch-up!

Have you managed to resolve this yet?

Just a few comments to hopefully help clarify a few points…

Thanks for all the feedback.

The traffic MODE column above shows traffic at up to 800km away so I figure that's coming through either the ATOM or the dongle.

The MODE column indicates the type of signal being received by your PilotAware from each aircraft - C = Mode C, S = Mode S, A = ADSB (commercial or from a transponder) reports as ‘CSA’ because the transponder is still transmitting Mode-C (altitude) + Mode-S (hexID and other data) in addition to the ADSB signal, ‘lower case’ a = df18 ADSB (e.g. from a SkyEcho), P = PilotAware. All of the aforementioned indicate direct reception via you antennas unless accompanied by one of the following) - O = ‘Other Mode (normally FLARM / FANET), ’ M = MLAT (triangulated Mode-S/3D), U = Uplink from an ATOM and G = uplink via iGRID.

I’m a bit confused by your comment about ‘traffic at up to 800km away’, - that’s a heck of a long way for direct reception and uplinks are normally restricted to around 60Km from your location (though this can vary depending on where you are).

I messed with the 1090 extension cable and things were better so I bought a good quality RG58 cable that doesn't seem to have made any odds, the old one was a flimsy one. My hangar mate re-appeared again the other day when flying together so all I have atm is ok.

This certainly seems to indicate an issue with the cable or connectors. RG58 is by the way getting near its ‘acceptable loss limits’ at 1090MHz, so is only advised for relatively short runs. I’m pretty sure the cables supplied by PilotAware are LM240 or similar, though I’d need to check.

Dongle reception; metal aeroplane under a metal panel, a dongle in my son's fibreglass plane even was much better with the pad antenna. The Dongle is the types that look like a zip drive.

A 4G dongle or other 4G receiver, such as a phone, needs to be able to ‘see’ the antennas on cellular towers on the ground, so not great if sealed inside a metal (or carbon fibre) box. Experience, however, indicates that a normal phone works fairly well in most aircraft if it has a reasonable view outside the ‘metal box’. In a fabric or fibreglass aircraft it will usually work fine even in your pocket.

How do I power the dongle externally but still have it giving data to the PAW unit via the USB?

This has already been covered. You can power the dongle from a USB power pack (battery) or a separate USB source powered from your aircraft power supply. It can’t, however, supply the received data to your PAW via USB - You have to set up a WiFi hotspot on the dongle - (though you seem to be saying yours doesn’t provide that option which surprises me) - or from your phone or tablet, then connect your PAW to that hotspot by setting up an iGRID link on the PAW Network Screen.

NOTE: the iGRID Network field won’t appear on the PAW Network Screen until you have an iGRID Access Dongle plugged into one of the PAW USB ports. You mention elsewhere using the redundant WiFi dongle from your original ‘Classic’ setup. While this may work, I would advise using a new iGRID Access Dongle from the PAW Store as your old dongle could well have become faulty through extended use.

406436 is my number. I'd still like the PAW signals to look a little better so aircraft don't disappear and re-appear when close. Going to try the old antenna on the panel to see if it has a better view out the front than the external BNC connected metal one under the belly, under the rudder pedals, below the 0-320 which is a big lump of obscuration of course.

Thanks all, Regards, Clive

I tried to look your aircraft reports up on the PilotAware database, but for some reason the server isn’t coming up at the moment. I will try again later. I did manage to get you up on Vector via the link from pilotaware.com. Your ADSB transmissions are looking good, but your P3i coverage and range are both very poor, which normally indicates an antenna issue. First thing to do is thoroughly check the P3i antenna and connections. If you don’t have an antenna tester, you can do a simple test by disconnecting the antenna cable from the PilotAware and checking electrical continuity with a multi-meter on a resistance (Ohms) setting (you can use a length of insulated wire to extend the probe to reach under the aircraft). Centre pin at PAW end of coax to antenna radiating element under the aircraft (assuming this is exposed) should be zero or at least very low resistance - the same with outer of plug at PAW and the ground plane or metal body of the aircraft. Centre pin to outer (at both ends of the cable, and between the wire radiating element and aircraft ground, on the other hand, should be infinitely high resistance. If any of these readings are not what they should be, there is a break or bad in the cable/plugs (high or infinite resistance in the first two)  or in the latter case - low or zero resistance indicates a short circuit somewhere along the line (such as a rogue strand of the coax braid touching the centre conductor inside a plug). If no improvement is noted, by all means try your end feed antenna directly on the PAW, but be aware that externally mounted antennas under the aircraft should give far better results - especially in terms of communication and uplink from ground-based ATOM Stations as long as they aren’t hidden close to (for example) undercarriage legs or similar.

Hope this helps

Best Regards

Peter
p.s. when Lee says ‘The status page will give a warning’, he means the ‘STATUS’ row on the PAW Home Screen - Thro=OK will change to Thro= throttled (usually accompanied by VOLT=Error in the first box on that row).

32

Technical Support / Re: license renewal

« on: March 07, 2024, 03:50:27 pm »

Tommy,

Not sure what has happened here. I have PM’d you.

Best Regards

Peter

33

General Discussion / Re: Rosetta FX

« on: March 07, 2024, 03:15:48 pm »

Thanks - that's only a partial answer though.
Yes - i agree that a chunck of the contacts i see on Rosetta are bearlngless.
The question then is, if i have an FX unit instead - how much of that do I lose. e.g. if 50% of the traffic i currently see if mode c/s and i only get 50% of that via rebroadcst (FX) then i've lost 25% of the traffic i used to see.
i'm not picking fault - i'm just trying to figure out if buy a new rosetta or new rosetta fx

Hi marioair,

I have been absent from the forum for a while, so just catching up with what's been going on in my absence.

That's a difficult question to answer and IMO depends to a great extent on where you are likely to be flying.

As the person who instigated the development of Bearingless traffic detection on PilotAware way back in 2015, and who was responsible for most of the subsequent testing and development work with Lee, which led to the inclusion of Mode-S detection in the system when the PAW Classic was first released in May 2016, I have a strong interest in supporting its ongoing operation - at least until the need for it can no longer be justified.

That said, I am aware that the percentage of GA traffic having ‘only’ a raw Mode-C or Mode-S transponder (estimated back in 2015 to be around 70/80% of all ‘EC transmitting’ GA aircraft) has reduced considerably in the intervening period - due to the increasing adoption of ADSB out from Mode-S transponders, plus the widespread adoption of PilotAware, FLARM, SkyEcho, Fanet, etc. in significant numbers by the GA community (helped in no small part by the recent EC Rebate subsidy).

In addition, the development and rapid expansion of the ATOM-GRID network, supplemented by the introduction by PilotAware of SkyGRID and more recently iGRID, means that a significant proportion of ‘previously bearingless’ Mode-S traffic is now being uplinked as ‘known position’ aircraft - provided that they are within range of the requisite number of PilotAware/360Radar ground stations to allow their positions to be triangulated, and that you are in range of at least one ATOM station, in contact with one by relay via SkyGRID, or in reliable contact with the ground network via iGRID.

That, however, leaves those aircraft which are only transmitting Mode-C (which for practical purposes can’t be effectively triangulated), plus those Mode-S who are outside the range of ground station triangulation, which won’t be reported either visually or audibly by FX.

So the main issues for consideration (in respect of the above) when choosing whether to move to FX or stay with PAW Classic/Rosetta come down to whether or not you habitually fly in areas not effectively covered by the ATOM-GRID/360Radar networks (which of course includes the majority of Europe as well as the remoter parts of the UK) - or where there is still a high proportion of ‘Raw Mode-C’ transponders - and to what extent you would benefit from the significant improvements in efficiency (and hopefully reliability) you will obtain by moving to Rosetta FX - with or without an associated FLARM installation.

Sorry, I can’t provide any specific figures, but I hope this helps with your deliberations.

Best Regards

Peter

34

Technical Support / Re: Anker recommended Power Supply... doesn't work

« on: December 05, 2023, 10:25:50 pm »

ILIMB

This is the link to the version of Anker PowerBank that was originally recommended...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00VJSGT2A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have also had satisfactory with both of the following...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B019GJLER8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00Z9UY65G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Can you post a link to the version(s) that you are having trouble with please.

Regards

Peter

35

Technical Support / Re: PAW audio to Trig radio

« on: October 25, 2023, 05:05:44 pm »

Hi Dave,

Take a look at this thread, which should help explain what you are looking for - at least from the PilotAware end...

http://forum.pilotaware.com/index.php/topic,1962.msg20981.html#msg20981

I seem to remember in the past suggesting a Search for 'Audio Out' using the Search box at top right, from the Forum Home Screen to ensure maximum depth search of the Forum. There might already be something on there to help with your Trig. If you are still having problems, please come back to me.

Best Regards

Peter

36

General Discussion / Re: Sold aircraft (with PAW). Do I need to notify Pilot Aware?

« on: October 18, 2023, 11:10:20 pm »

Hi Rich,

While the new owner can 'adopt' the PilotAware, it helps greatly if they can provide the name/email address of the unit's previous owner in order to facilitate transfer of any unexpired licence period remaining on the unit. Perhaps more significantly in your case, this also allows PilotAware to remove the previous owner from the database for that unit, ensuring that they won't be sent renewal emails for a unit which they no longer own or have any control over.

In practice, it just makes the whole process much simpler and more straightforward.

Best Regards

Peter

37

Technical Support / Re: Using PAW Classic's 5v header for fan power?

« on: October 08, 2023, 10:22:52 pm »

Hi Tim,

I have certainly run a fan in one of my development Rosettas in the past - when testing dual RTL SDRs for multi-band reception, but that was in pre-iGrid days so only had the on-board WiFi to consider. In your case you have (as you state) two WiFi dongles to power as well. In my case, the fan was powered directly from the 5volt-out points at the USB end of the PAW Bridge board. There would certainly be no problem in giving it a try - you just need to keep an eye out for any sign of under-voltage errors appearing on the PAW Home Screen (or on the Radar Screen if you habitually use that).

i would be very interested in hearing whether that definitely has an effect on your WiFi connectivity.

Best Regards

Peter

38

Technical Support / Re: Enabling Traffic on an Advanced Flight Systems EFIS

« on: October 05, 2023, 04:03:05 pm »

Andrew,

My guess would be that TBD means ‘To Be Done’ - i.e. work in progress - but Lee would have to advise.

As Steve says, if you can give us some more info about your unit, or a link to the installation/setup manual(s), we can take a better informed look for you.

I take it you are using the Orange and Black wires in the FTDI to supply Data Out and Ground respectively. Also as Steve has said, matching baud rates both ends is Critical.

Best Regards

Peter

39

Technical Support / Re: WIFI / unit offline

« on: October 05, 2023, 03:52:06 pm »

Hi GAVSI,

There should be a solid red light visible (but not particularly clearly) through the slots next to the 869.5MHz P3i antenna to indicate that power is present on the board, with a green light adjacent flashing intermittently as the unit boots up. If no red light present, you have some form of power supply issue. Also worth checking  that the micro SD card is fully seated in its slot (between the two antenna connectors) before powering up the unit (carefully slide it out and gently push it back in again).

If power is present, can you attach a monitor or TV screen to the HDMI output of the PAW? That would let you monitor whether the unit is running through the boot sequence properly. Look out for any error messages on the text lists. It should eventually reach a ‘login’ prompt (though you don’t actually log in).

Let us know how you get on and we can advise further.

Best Regards

Peter

40

Technical Support / Re: “New Updates Available” message not clearing

« on: August 16, 2023, 12:13:56 pm »

Hi Martino,

I saw your message earlier, but was out in India at the time - and saw that Lee had already replied.

As this is a relatively new development, it has presumably not made its way through to the instruction manuals yet.

Standard functionality with the latest PAW software and iGRID installed, is for PAW to automatically check for updates in the background via iGRID, whenever iGRID is operating. If new software is found, this is then automatically uploaded to the PAW via iGRID and its presence announced on the PAW Updates screen (which is not immediately visible) and on the default PAW RADAR screen (as you found).

The standard procedure after noticing the 'New Updates Available' message should be to swap to the 'Updates' screen at the first available opportunity (once back on the ground) and initiate the installation of the already uploaded software from there. The 'New Updates Available' message will then disappear from the RADAR screen.

The procedure is the same for all PAWs (Classic or Rosetta) provided iGRID has been installed and is active.

Hope this helps clarify the position.

Best Regards

Peter

41

General Discussion / Re: Igrid phone

« on: August 03, 2023, 05:02:12 pm »

Hi cyclone1,

I don’t use a z fold 3, but I have been using a Samsung Galaxy S9+ very successfully ever since we first started testing the iGRID prototype software almost two years ago. It has performed consistently throughout - in fact it was originally ‘too good’, in that it was seeing too many 4G masts from altitude, so I had to reposition it so that it is partly screened from the ground. In practice, simply keeping the phone in your pocket with the hotspot turned on should give great results (my original tests involved flights of up to 2 hours at altitudes up to around 6,000 ft with consistent results.)

Hope this helps.

Best Regards

Peter
p.s. Thinking about it, I should probably consider a phone upgrade - but the S9+ still does everything I need it to do and continues to do them does well.

42

Technical Support / Re: No traffic showing on Radar display

« on: July 02, 2023, 09:25:32 am »

Point taken Paul,

But remember that historically, the PAW Config Screen filters were instigated way back in time, well before the development of the Radar Screen. At that time Lee had been asked to add filters for those using more basic display software that didn't have its own built in filtering options - hence the way it works. Filters set in Config automatically apply to all data being processed in the PAW - irrespective of where it is subsequently sent - which is why the standard recommendation is to leave them 'wide open' unless you have a specific need not to.

That then means that the only filtering that is done is your individual selection in your chosen display system - whether that be an external one such as SD, EVFR, etc or the 'pseudo external' PAW Radar Display (where the Radar Screen Vertical Setting acts as a 'traffic filter' and the Horizontal Setting acts as a 'Display Limit Zoom / Range Tool'.

Not sure how difficult (or appropriate) it would be to change the way it works unless there is a need to use the Config Range Filters to control display via RS232 yet for some reason allow the Radar Screen settings to be kept 'wide open'.

I'm sure Lee will respond in due course.

Peter

43

Technical Support / Re: PAW Classic now reports Volt=Error and works intermittently

« on: July 02, 2023, 12:14:51 am »

Hi EC,

As the designer of the Charge2 and Charge4 aviation power supplies, Jeremy is the expert when it comes to power supply issues and his advice here certainly bears out anything I would be suggesting myself.

4.8V with no dongles attached certainly sounds low to me - and 4.62V at the USB ports with the other dongles attached is clearly indicative of potential current overdraw in one or more dongles and certainly likely to trip in the Voltage warnings - though actual dropouts are obviously of greater concern than 'warnings'.

If you don't find any problem with the cigarette lighter socket supply voltage or ground resistance, I would certainly suggest swapping in a replacement juicEbitz Core Series Power Cable (with 20AWG power wire) and (if that doesn't improve the situation) another (preferably Anker) USB adapter - restricted at least initially to solely powering the PAW. If that still doesn't resolve the issue we need to ask Lee to take a look at log files from your unit(s) to see if they show any other voltage specific issues or pointers.

Best Regards

Peter

44

Technical Support / Re: No traffic showing on Radar display

« on: July 01, 2023, 11:56:05 pm »

Hi Ray,

The filters for 'Known Position' Traffic  in PAW / Configure are designed for use only with display systems such as XCSoar which don't contain their own filter set. For all other systems, these filters should be left at the default 'wide open' setting - 'Display All' - and your personal preference then set in your display software. Bearing in mind that the horizontal display limits for known position traffic are automatically controlled by the zoom level (and hence horizontal display range) set by the limits of your tablet screen, you normally only need to select an appropriate vertical range (e.g. in SkyDemon - 'Show within Vertically' in Settings/Navigation Options).

Hope this clarifies the position.

Best Regards

Peter

45

Technical Support / Re: PAW Classic now reports Volt=Error and works intermittently

« on: June 25, 2023, 07:43:22 pm »

Hi Easy Cruising,

There are still plenty of PAW Classics on the go, but they are getting a bit long in the tooth. As with any electrical equipment, the early ones in particular are liable to show the occasional issue as they get older.

Looking at your problems logically, you state that 'you don't think it can be a power issue', but also say that '...on the Home Page and Radar Screen you often get 'Voltage Errors' reporting'. Those are both clear and unequivocal evidence that there is a Power Issue with your PAW - albeit one that may be intermittent. The question we need to address is 'what is causing the problem?' It could down to a number of reasons, and might be due to more than one single fault. The first thing we need to ensure is that the power source is adequate to maintain 5 volts when a current of 2.1 Amps or more is being drawn from it. It's easy to say that the unit is rated at (say) 5 volts at 2.4 Amps and 'has always worked fine', but remember that power adapters can develop faults just the same as any other electrical equipment and that if you are using a two port adapter to power your PAW and are also powering a second device from it (such as a tablet or phone - which is NOT Recommended by PAW BTW), the second device could well be overdrawing the supply, causing the Voltage to drop. This may well have been working for years, but as your display device gets older its batteries degrade and the power requirement on the 'charger' to keep it running can get higher and can easily overdraw the supply (which usually also causes high levels of RF interference in your comms systems).

The next check has to be the power cable, which (as Jeremy has reported) can degrade through use (they are not 'infinite life' items). The connectors can also degrade over time - especially if plugged and unplugged regularly or carelessly. The MicroUSB socket at the PAW is particularly susceptible to heavy-handed connecting or disconnecting. Fortunately the Power LED, which on the Classic is visible through the perforated end plate at the opposite side to the P3i Antenna SMA Connector provides an easy 'first check' (if you don't want to invest in a power meter). This is a Red LED, which should remain ON and solid Red at all times when the unit is powered. This allows a quick rough and ready test to be carried out by gently wiggling the power cable, while observing the LED. Any blinking or failure of this LED indicates a power dropout. Look for evidence of problems at the USB-A (power supply) end, along the length of the cable itself, or with the MicroUSB plug or the power socket in the PAW. Cable faults can be fixed by replacing with a suitable high quality* USB to MicroUSB cable available from the PAW website. A faulty power socket in the PAW is a harder fix and is usually easiest fixed by replacing the Raspberry Pi motherboard (which of course gives you the opportunity to 'upgrade' to a Raspberry Pi3 with on-board WiFi -  see later).

* NOTE: High Quality means having a minimum 20AWG Power wire inside the cable and a maximum length of not more than 1 metre.

Other known causes of power issues are individual components (such as dongles) developing faults and drawing a higher than normal current. This can apply to all 3 dongles, though the 1090 SDR or WiFi dongle are the more common culprits. You state that the ADSB dongle gets very hot, which could be an indication, though as you say they often run hot, but go on to say that you get the same continual voltage error with only the Wifi dongle inserted - which could point to that being the faulty component, though not necessarily the only fault.

I would therefore suggest carrying out the above tests and let us know what (if anything) you find.

Best Regards

Peter