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Technical Support / Re: Problem Receiving FLARM with Rosetta (in France)
« Last Post by exfirepro on April 04, 2024, 04:36:08 pm »Hi again Guy,
Thanks for the feedback.
Unfortunately, this post is by its very nature somewhat complex, but please bear with me.
From the logging screen messages, my money is still on a barometer failure, but the problem with remote diagnosis is trying to determine whether there is something else going on in the background that is causing the barometer to stop reporting.
If you were in the UK I'd just get you to send it back for testing, or send you a replacement Bridge to swap in, but I have spoken to Ash (who builds, tests and dispatches the units and tells me you have been in touch about installing another ATOM in the South of France). He advises that returning the unit to the UK from France for testing/repair can cause all sorts of problems with Customs (Douaniers) in both countries, so he advises that we should first try to ensure that the problem is definitely with the Bridge and not the Raspberry Pi.
To do this, we need to open the unit and check if there is a correct voltage on the Bridge (supplied from the Raspberry Pi motherboard).
If you are happy to give this a try, you need to proceed as follows...
Power down the unit and remove the power cable, microSD card and the antennas. Next remove the brass nut securing the P3i SMA terminal (which is part of the Bridge board) into the end of the case (nothing will move at this point).
Now open the top cap at the opposite end of the case. If it hasn't been opened before, you will need to split the PilotAware label along the obvious joint line across the top of the case with a sharp blade. Now gently press down the centre of the cap next to the joint to release the single securing clip and you can slide the top cap away from the body.
Having removed the cap, you now need to split the upper part of the case from the lower part. They are held together by two hidden clips along each side of the case. Start with the one which is mid-way between the audio jack socket and the now open top cover. Push a thin blade gently but firmly into the split line and the upper and lower case should pop apart. Try not to force the blade in too hard or you might break the clip. There is a second clip on the same side mid-way between the power and HDMI sockets, which should pop more easily once the first one is open. You can then do the same with the two clips on the opposite side (which are in exactly the same positions) and carefully remove the upper case - slipping it off the P3i antenna connector which you took the brass nut off earlier. You are now looking at the PilotAware Bridge, which is mounted on top of the Raspberry Pi.
The first thing to check is that the Bridge connector at the right side is fully seated onto all 40 pins of the Raspberry Pi GPIO connector (I'd be extremely surprised if it isn't). Next, temporarily refit the antenna to the P3i connector, replace the microSD card and power lead and power up the unit. You should now be able to clearly see the Red 'Power LED' on the motherboard under the P3i antenna connector and the disc activity LED next to it (which flashes green during boot or when writing data to the microSD card, but is otherwise 'unlit'). As the unit boots, you should also see a couple of LEDs start to flash on the underside of the Bridge at the opposite end to the antenna connector, but ignore these for the moment.
First, you will also see 3 sets of test points, one marked 'IN +5v and GND' and two marked 'OUT +5v and GND' . If you have a multimeter, you should be able to get a reading from these test points with your meter on the low voltage scale - mine are all reading 4.95 volts (with the unit powered off a USB battery pack). This will confirm whether the Bridge is receiving power from the Raspberry Pi.
Next go back to the LEDs on the underside of the Bridge. The one nearest the HDMI terminal is the P3i Transmit/Receive indicator, which will briefly flash red to indicate Transmit and Green to indicate Receive of P3i signals (once the Bridge starts functioning). The other LED (next to the RJ45 Ethernet Socket) is the Bridge Status LED (marked Status on the upper surface of the Board). This will initially flash Red 4 times, then used to progressively change to Green Flashes as each of the various stages became active in the same sequence as the list of reports on the Home Screen, so 1090 Rx, P3i T/Rx, Baro and GPS. This was changed some time ago, however, so that the Status LED simply stops flashing Red when each of the 4 stages becomes active, - so NO Green Flashes on the Status LED. I have just checked one of my test units and get 4 Reds at initial boot, then decreasing to zero as each stage becomes active. Having just brought mine back indoors, it has lost its GPS fix, so there is now just a single red flash (which equates to NO GPS as indicating on the Home Screen) then a long pause which equates to 3 'missing' flashes for the other 3 'working' functions, then a single red again for 'No GPS'. In your case, I would expect to see a blank equal to two flashes, then two red flashes in succession, though that depends on whether your unit is seeing any 1090 traffic.
Give this a try and let me know how you get on.
Best Regards
Peter
Thanks for the feedback.
Unfortunately, this post is by its very nature somewhat complex, but please bear with me.
From the logging screen messages, my money is still on a barometer failure, but the problem with remote diagnosis is trying to determine whether there is something else going on in the background that is causing the barometer to stop reporting.
If you were in the UK I'd just get you to send it back for testing, or send you a replacement Bridge to swap in, but I have spoken to Ash (who builds, tests and dispatches the units and tells me you have been in touch about installing another ATOM in the South of France). He advises that returning the unit to the UK from France for testing/repair can cause all sorts of problems with Customs (Douaniers) in both countries, so he advises that we should first try to ensure that the problem is definitely with the Bridge and not the Raspberry Pi.
To do this, we need to open the unit and check if there is a correct voltage on the Bridge (supplied from the Raspberry Pi motherboard).
If you are happy to give this a try, you need to proceed as follows...
Power down the unit and remove the power cable, microSD card and the antennas. Next remove the brass nut securing the P3i SMA terminal (which is part of the Bridge board) into the end of the case (nothing will move at this point).
Now open the top cap at the opposite end of the case. If it hasn't been opened before, you will need to split the PilotAware label along the obvious joint line across the top of the case with a sharp blade. Now gently press down the centre of the cap next to the joint to release the single securing clip and you can slide the top cap away from the body.
Having removed the cap, you now need to split the upper part of the case from the lower part. They are held together by two hidden clips along each side of the case. Start with the one which is mid-way between the audio jack socket and the now open top cover. Push a thin blade gently but firmly into the split line and the upper and lower case should pop apart. Try not to force the blade in too hard or you might break the clip. There is a second clip on the same side mid-way between the power and HDMI sockets, which should pop more easily once the first one is open. You can then do the same with the two clips on the opposite side (which are in exactly the same positions) and carefully remove the upper case - slipping it off the P3i antenna connector which you took the brass nut off earlier. You are now looking at the PilotAware Bridge, which is mounted on top of the Raspberry Pi.
The first thing to check is that the Bridge connector at the right side is fully seated onto all 40 pins of the Raspberry Pi GPIO connector (I'd be extremely surprised if it isn't). Next, temporarily refit the antenna to the P3i connector, replace the microSD card and power lead and power up the unit. You should now be able to clearly see the Red 'Power LED' on the motherboard under the P3i antenna connector and the disc activity LED next to it (which flashes green during boot or when writing data to the microSD card, but is otherwise 'unlit'). As the unit boots, you should also see a couple of LEDs start to flash on the underside of the Bridge at the opposite end to the antenna connector, but ignore these for the moment.
First, you will also see 3 sets of test points, one marked 'IN +5v and GND' and two marked 'OUT +5v and GND' . If you have a multimeter, you should be able to get a reading from these test points with your meter on the low voltage scale - mine are all reading 4.95 volts (with the unit powered off a USB battery pack). This will confirm whether the Bridge is receiving power from the Raspberry Pi.
Next go back to the LEDs on the underside of the Bridge. The one nearest the HDMI terminal is the P3i Transmit/Receive indicator, which will briefly flash red to indicate Transmit and Green to indicate Receive of P3i signals (once the Bridge starts functioning). The other LED (next to the RJ45 Ethernet Socket) is the Bridge Status LED (marked Status on the upper surface of the Board). This will initially flash Red 4 times, then used to progressively change to Green Flashes as each of the various stages became active in the same sequence as the list of reports on the Home Screen, so 1090 Rx, P3i T/Rx, Baro and GPS. This was changed some time ago, however, so that the Status LED simply stops flashing Red when each of the 4 stages becomes active, - so NO Green Flashes on the Status LED. I have just checked one of my test units and get 4 Reds at initial boot, then decreasing to zero as each stage becomes active. Having just brought mine back indoors, it has lost its GPS fix, so there is now just a single red flash (which equates to NO GPS as indicating on the Home Screen) then a long pause which equates to 3 'missing' flashes for the other 3 'working' functions, then a single red again for 'No GPS'. In your case, I would expect to see a blank equal to two flashes, then two red flashes in succession, though that depends on whether your unit is seeing any 1090 traffic.
Give this a try and let me know how you get on.
Best Regards
Peter