Topics

1

Technical Support / WiFi repeatedly connecting/disconnecting

« on: May 18, 2023, 09:57:02 pm »

A mate is having problems connecting to a PilotAware Classic unit running 20230316 from his phone (Android 11). It works fine with an Android tablet, but on his phone the WiFi connection repeatedly connects and disconnects (about 5 seconds later). I can replicate this behaviour with my own Android 13 phone.

It looks to me like it's Android not playing ball with an Internet-less WiFi access point. Slightly odd as it's worked fine from his phone in the past. I'm assuming something's changed in Android recently, or possibly something different in PilotAware 20230316 that Android doesn't like (I'm somewhat dubious, but with the same problem afflicting Android 11 and 13 I wonder if a change has triggered something).

As far as I can tell Android just doesn't like that there's no Internet available on the AP and I need to find a way persuade it that it's fine. There's lots of suggestions online for fixing this in various versions of Android over the last few years, so I've a series of things to try next time I can get near the device, but wondered if anyone else has experienced this problem and fixed it? I note the troubleshooting page references turning off the Android power saving facility, but it's not clear what setting that is in contemporary Android.

2

Technical Support / Incessant beep

« on: July 19, 2020, 12:22:25 pm »

Now I'm back flying again I've noticed that I'm getting an incessant regular beep through my headset every few seconds whenever I plug the Pi's audio output into the plane. It disappears when I unplug. Is this PilotAware? Is it trying to tell me something!?

I think the flight before last I ended up rebooting to 'fix' the problem. Thinking about yesterday's flight, I think I only got traffic alerts through SkyDemon. It was relatively quiet though. Maybe the two are related. is the beeping telling me something's stuffed?

It's a PilotAware classic running 20190621 into a TY91 then through to my Bose A20.  I think I've ruled out everything else as it only occurs when I plug in the PilotAware audio output into the Trig TY91 audio in, but I could do a bit more digging trying a second headset, etc.

3

Technical Support / Which Raspberry Pi

« on: September 16, 2019, 10:10:07 pm »

Am about to order an upgrade to my Raspberry Pi 2 to isolate the WiFi dongle from some drop-out issues I've been having on my PilotAware Classic. Although I suspect it's partly power supply issues. (Can't reallly justify a wholesale Rosetta upgrade).

However, I need to decide between Raspberry Pi 3B or 3B+ now that both work with the PilotAware software. I've found a supplier, but the latter seem to be in short supply with RS offering back-orders for Feb 2020!

Raspberry Pi 3B and 3B+ in comparison suggests power consumption is somewhat less on the 3B, with a few features missing/reduced. Much advantage of the older model for PilotAware?

4

Technical Support / Not receiving known PilotAware and ADS-B equipped aircraft

« on: September 01, 2019, 11:56:28 pm »

Rather odd behaviour with PilotAware today. Flew to Blois with G-CJAK and C-SLNT this weekend (and others, but those were in our return formation today). All three aircraft including mine (G-XLAM) are ADS-B transponder equipped and have PilotAware devices connected to SKyDemon.

I have not been able to see G-SLNT all weekend in SkyDemon. Initially put this down to reception problems due to him being directly behind me and my device being sat on the dash. No problem with others. No difference with him in front. Something's up.

I had time to do a bit of digging during our hours of flying today:
* G-CJAK visible in SkyDemon and verbally in PilotAware audio output.
* G-SLNT not visible in SkyDemon (maybe I saw him once but not long enough to screenshot and shown as a hex [ICAO?] code which I assume was his due to location), very occasionally verbalised by PilotAware audio output.

Traffic display appears to show lack of CSA in mode column for G-SLNT (presume those are Mode-C, Mode-S and ADS-B?)



Radar display appears to show G-SLNT ahead of me (and G-CJAK) behind. Why does it appear here yet not in SkyDemon? I've never managed to get SkyDemon to filter traffic even though I know it's supposed to be able to. With hindsight should have checked with my phone too.



Logs appear to show CRC errors. Is this normal, or related?



Have pulled device from the plane, so can extract logs if I know what I'm looking for.

5

Technical Support / "No internet access detected, won't automatically connect" on Android tablet

« on: June 03, 2018, 11:01:39 pm »

This has been bugging me for a while, but I thought to note it down for further research after flying today.

My PilotAware works fine, but I have to go through the process of connecting to the WiFi hotspot on every aircraft start. This is because Android reports "No internet access detected, won't automatically connect" (and asks whether I want to stay connected, although the answer generally doesn't matter). Invariably, I forget until after I've asked SkyDemon to 'Go flying' and have to backtrack.

I guess - as the error message suggests - Google is figuring out the PilotAware doesn't offer Internet access and refusing to remember it for future reconnection. I'd much prefer if my tablet would jump straight on the WiFi hotspot as soon as it appears.

Has anyone worked around this one?

I can see potential solutions but (settings, additional app, etc.) each needs trying against the PilotAware unit which is in the aircraft so if someone's solved it already knowing how could be handy.

6

Technical Support / Raspberry Pi 2 Model B 1.2

« on: March 05, 2017, 09:55:30 pm »

Just thinking of upgrading my Raspberry Pi to a 2B to get the audio output and bearing-less targets.

Are there any major PilotAware-specific differences between the 2B and 2B version 1.2?

• Raspberry Pi 2 Model B £29.40
• Raspberry Pi 2 Model B v1.2 £33.98

7

Technical Support / Transfer radio board and license to another Rapsberry Pi

« on: October 13, 2016, 09:20:32 pm »

I'd like to shift one of my PilotAware units from the original Raspberry Pi to a newer Rapsberry Pi 2B to take advantage of the extra features. I recall the license is tied to the MAC address of the Pi Ethernet now instead of the WiFi dongle as originally. Is this easy to do? (I presume it's not automated!)

8

General Discussion / Customise WiFi SSID

« on: July 08, 2016, 09:57:49 pm »

New release (which I'm struggling to get to auto-update for some reason) has reminded me of a feature request from my time on Fly-UK. Wrote a post but never managed to get sufficient time/signal to send it at the time:

"Using PilotAware to good effect today on Fly-UK. Great for keeping track of a group loosely formating together. Great to see what height the group above are achieving with the cloudbase. And handy for visualising the commercial jet Aberdeen were kept us away from - although curiously not the rescue helicopter on track (no ADS-B transponder?)

However, it can be confusing on departure from a large event such as the Great North Fly In when there's multiple aircraft with PilotAware departing together - too many different units appear in the tablet WiFi list. Although it's generally obvious from signal strength which PilotAware is yours if you try to connect too soon its far too easy to connect to someone else's unit. Could consideration be given to changing the WiFi SSID to include the the aircraft registration, or just make it generally customisable?"

9

General Discussion / What sets the default ident?

« on: October 13, 2015, 09:21:02 pm »

Just put together a second PilotAware device so I can follow a friend to Le Touquet at the weekend but had trouble seeing each device from the other. Turns out they have the same ident set by default - 001F72 - which caused everything to go a bit wonky. Fine now I've changed them both but just wondered how this default ident is derived and whether this is normal given I have two very similar setups for testing (Sam SkyDemon on phone and tablet).

10

General Discussion / DVB antenna or 1090MHz specific?

« on: September 12, 2015, 09:58:28 pm »

Just ordering bits from China. Is everyone just using the stock DVB antenna (presumably tuned around 700MHz) for the ADS-B receive or is it worth ordering a 1090MHz specific one?