PilotAware
British Forum => Technical Support => Topic started by: turkeysneck on April 12, 2017, 07:51:40 pm
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I installed everything following all instructions, it seemed to work, picking up commercial aircraft.
I flew it for the first time and it just doesn't work. Can't seem to pick up anything. I'm close to throwing it away. Any ideas.
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I installed everything following all instructions, it seemed to work, picking up commercial aircraft.
I flew it for the first time and it just doesn't work. Can't seem to pick up anything. I'm close to throwing it away. Any ideas.
Hi again turk,
Where do you fly from?
I can assure you PilotAware definitely does work and generally works extremely well. Even if flying in the middle of nowhere, you should be able to see some traffic, even if only high level commercial, unless both your receivers are 'defective' or you have your traffic filters completely closed down. You say you were picking up commercial traffic before taking PilotAware into the air, so if it is not working now, something must have gone wrong with the equipment, installation or setup (e.g. settings) since, so we need to get to the bottom of what is going on.
OK, so where do we start. I know from previous posts that like me you fly a flexwing trike and have over the past few months had advice on the forum on antenna and gps locations and discussed display options, so can you describe to me how and where you have fitted the various PilotAware components in your Trike and what display option and power supply you eventually went for.
Are you able to log onto your PilotAware's Home Screen and post screen grabs of the Home, Configure and Traffic Pages so I can see the settings please. Photos of your installation might also help.
If not, can you please describe the settings or data visible on each of those screens.
Hopefully, once we deal with these basic issues we will have a better idea of what is going on and can move forward towards a solution. Bear with me.
Regards
Peter
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To be honest I've got so fed up with it I've pretty much lost interest with it. So I've learn how to do the basics again.
I fitted the unit under the seat, the large aerial I fitted near the rear wheel, I fitted a gps mouse in the front of the pod behind the screen and the small thin aerial I stuck on the fuel tank.
The power is supplied using the largest rechargable battery that is recommended.
The aircraft was in the hangar and it picked up a commercial jet at 30 thousand feet which I think is picked up from the little aerial, so putting it under the seat doesn't seem to affect it.
I flew alongside my friend in another flex wiing running Skydemon yet it wousldn't see that.
I will have to try and log into the home screen again on Friday if I can remember how to do it.
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OK,
To get to your Home Page, after turning on your PilotAware go to 'settings' on your tablet, look for the PilotAware xxxxx Wifi and connect to it, then open your Internet Browser and type 192.168.1.1 in the box and press enter. That will take you into PilotAware.
Once the PilotAware screen appears, use the Tabs along the top to change between screens and take screen grabs or let me know what you find.
Regards
Peter
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I flew alongside my friend in another flex wiing running Skydemon yet it wousldn't see that.
Does your friend also have a PAW, or a transponder with ADSB?
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I flew alongside my friend in another flex wiing running Skydemon yet it wousldn't see that.
Does your friend also have a PAW, or a transponder with ADSB?
He does but hasn't set it up yet and no transponder only Skydemon.
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OK,
To get to your Home Page, after turning on your PilotAware go to 'settings' on your tablet, look for the PilotAware xxxxx Wifi and connect to it, then open your Internet Browser and type 192.168.1.1 in the box and press enter. That will take you into PilotAware.
Once the PilotAware screen appears, use the Tabs along the top to change between screens and take screen grabs or let me know what you find.
Regards
Peter
I'll try that tomorrow thanks.
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I flew alongside my friend in another flex wiing running Skydemon yet it wousldn't see that.
Does your friend also have a PAW, or a transponder with ADSB?
He does but hasn't set it up yet and no transponder only Skydemon.
Most likely the reason you cannot see each other ;)
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turk,
I did wonder about that point in your earlier post. PAW isn't a radar system and can only detect aircraft transmitting any one or more of PilotAware P3i, Mode C, Mode S or ADSB, which is a fair number of aircraft. For those not transmitting any of these (of which there are still plenty), we must unfortunately still rely on visual scan.
Let me know how you get on once you manage to check your settings and we can help optimise your setup so you can see as many of those in the 'detectable' list as possible.
Regards
Peter
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It may well be working fine but what makes me think it is isn't is, I flew last weekend with a lot of acitivity and plenty of aircraft in the circuit yet not one was visible.
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Chances are the others don't have PilotAware or ADS-B.
You can enable Mode C detection as well, you only have Mode S selected at the moment.
I can see you're picking up airliners there so I can't comment on the P3i stuff, but the ADS-B stuff at least appears to be partially working. I don't know what sort of airliner density you're flying in.
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When and where was the reading taken.
That seems a low number of aircraft TBH
Do I recall reading your antenna is not gisible to the sky ?
Thx
Lee
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Chances are the others don't have PilotAware or ADS-B.
You can enable Mode C detection as well, you only have Mode S selected at the moment.
I can see you're picking up airliners there so I can't comment on the P3i stuff, but the ADS-B stuff at least appears to be partially working. I don't know what sort of airliner density you're flying in.
Ok I will figure out how to enable Mode C as well.
Actually that was taken today with it in the hangar.
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When and where was the reading taken.
That seems a low number of aircraft TBH
Do I recall reading your antenna is not gisible to the sky ?
Thx
Lee
The reading was taken today in the hangar, so I don't expect it to pick up anything.
I've moved the small antenna to the front of the pod now.
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Am I right in thinking that if someone is using Skydemon I should be able to see them ?
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I am confused why you would think that ?
SkyDemon is a navigation tool
I am interested to know what led you to think this
Thx
Lee
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I am confused why you would think that ?
SkyDemon is a navigation tool
I am interested to know what led you to think this
Thx
Lee
So am I, I thought I read it somewhere, obviously not.
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Turk,
I have been at the airfield all day, so have just managed to read the posts and note the other's comments all of which are valid. Thanks for the screen grabs. My own comments are as follows: -
1. As I said a few posts higher up, PilotAware can only 'see' aircraft transmitting one or more of PilotAware P3i, Mode C, Mode S or ADSB. SkyDemon is (to quote Lee) a Navigation System - it does not transmit anything, so you will NOT see aircraft using SkyDemon (or any other navigation program) unless they are ALSO transmitting one or more of the above.
2. Your PilotAware Home Screen clearly shows that your system was fully working at the time the screen grab was taken - viz. all status lights showing green.
3. Any detection system will however struggle to receive signals from other aircraft unless the receive antennas have a clear view of the sky. This is reflected in the fact that the only aircraft showing on your Traffic Table are commercial aircraft using very high power ADSB or Mode S transponders. Signals from the lower power transponders or ADSB normally used by GA aircraft will be very effectively blocked by metal hangar construction, aircraft metalwork, human bodies or tanks full of fuel, all of which will very effectively screen your antennas. This will be significantly more evident in the case of PilotAware P3i signals which at only half a watt are at least 200 times weaker still than even low power GA transponders - though still adequate for operation over at least 20Km in clear line of sight with good antenna positioning.
5. ADSB and P3i Detection is automatically selected, but signals could still be excluded by relative altitude settings in your Navigation System - you still haven't said what system you are using, so I can't really help you here until you do. Your Home Screen clearly shows 'NO NAVIGATION DEVICE CONNECTED'.
4. You have 'Mode S' Detection selected, but don't expect to see many as you have the control filters closed right down to the absolute minimum settings - Ultra Short Range is designed to detect ONLY high power transponders (generally in commercial airliners) from no further away than a few miles - e.g. when transiting or operating from or immediately adjacent to a major airport. For general use, you need to be running Short Range or Medium Range. Your altitude filter is set to +/- 500ft - so you won't see any Mode S equipped aircraft more than 500ft above or below you. If you hope to see Mode C or Mode S aircraft you should initially set +/- 2000ft as a MINIMUM or preferrably +/- 4000ft until you get used to seeing this type of target.
5. As Paul S says, you can't expect to see Mode C transponder equipped aircraft at all as you have no Mode C Detection selected. If you want to detect Mode C transponder equipped aircraft in addition to Mode S, you need to set 'Mode CS Detect' to Mode CS(Beta) - if you have no transponder, or Mode CS +Filter (Beta) if you have a Mode C or Mode S transponder fitted to your aircraft.
6. Paul is also correct that even though there is a lot of aircraft around, if they are GA or microlights, it is highly unlikely that they are transmitting ADSB or P3i - which would only leave very close Mode S potentially 'visible' with your current settings.
7. Take the plane outside and try the settings recommended above and you should start to see more aircraft appearing on your Traffic Table. Then we just need to sort out whatever display option you are (or are not) using.
Regards
Peter
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The next step is to convince everyone else at your airfield to get a PilotAware so you'll be able to see them and they can see you.
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Do we have any experienced PAW users near Shobdon? I think it would be a darn sight easier to meet with turkeysneck and provide another PAW to configure and test his/her system?
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Moffrestorer (Chris Adams) Has an A/C based ar Shobdon
Thx
Lee
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Morning Ian,
I agree, that would be the best option, but if he sets his PilotAware up as I suggest and takes the aircraft outside the hangar, he should at least start seeing something more than the occasional CAT report - or at least we will be able to narrow the problem down to display settings.
Small steps but ever forward ;) :)
Regards
Peter
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Hi Turkeysneck,
My aircraft with PAW permanently installed is based at Shobdon. Are you based there or close by? I'm happy to help if you're having problems with your unit, setting it up or interpreting the results. Send me a private message via this forum if you want any assistance.
Regards,
Chris
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Thanks everyone for your help but today (yes i'm based at Shobdon) it finally started to work, complete with sound. It's a mystery to me but all of a sudden after a reboot it started working and has worked since.
I still don't know now what the problem was but whatever it was seems to have sorted itself out.
Thanks again.
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Glad you've got it working, turk. Thanks for letting us know. If you do ever get to the bottom of what was going on, please come back on and let us know. It all adds to the common knowledge pool, which is the great strength of forums like ours.
Regards
Peter
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Turk,
I also experienced some problems several weeks ago that a reboot (as opposed to power offf/on) sorted out. Glad to hear your up and running OK now.
Chris
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Chris,
If you bump into Turk (metaphorically speaking), it would still be worth comparing settings to optimise his display, Thanks
Peter
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Glad you've got it working, turk. Thanks for letting us know. If you do ever get to the bottom of what was going on, please come back on and let us know. It all adds to the common knowledge pool, which is the great strength of forums like ours.
Regards
Peter
I will of course, thanks again.
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Chris,
If you bump into Turk (metaphorically speaking), it would still be worth comparing settings to optimise his display, Thanks
Peter
I would do for sure, but I don't know who he or she is. All I can do is go around checking necks out. Though I'm sure my own turkey(neck) will be worse!
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Chris,
For some reason Turk has Gone a bit shy. His Reg Info has disappeared from his earlier post - which I assume is how Ian tracked it down to Shobdon - I also did, but was trying to be discreet!! When I looked on G-INFO it showed photos of a Black Quik R Explorer - very nice plane Turk by the way! - with a Black and Red Wing if I recall. Turk, please don't be embarrassed we are only trying to help, if you know Chris or can identify him, please speak to him - we are all on the same team and can only gain by helping each other. Its NOT about embarrassing anyone 8) ;) :)
Regards
Peter
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which I assume is how Ian tracked it down to Shobdon
Nope, Lon and Lat from the screenshots plus a comment that Turkysneck made regarding hangar. I wasn't so nosy as to look up the reg on G-INFO :P Actually G-INFO doesn't tell you where the aircraft is, which is what I wanted to use to help him/her find a PAW Buddy.
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Chris,
For some reason Turk has Gone a bit shy. His Reg Info has disappeared from his earlier post - which I assume is how Ian tracked it down to Shobdon - I also did, but was trying to be discreet!! When I looked on G-INFO it showed photos of a Black Quik R Explorer - very nice plane Turk by the way! - with a Black and Red Wing if I recall. Turk, please don't be embarrassed we are only trying to help, if you know Chris or can identify him, please speak to him - we are all on the same team and can only gain by helping each other. Its NOT about embarrassing anyone 8) ;) :)
Regards
Peter
I haven't gone all shy at all, but it's working fine now so thankfully I don't need any more help, for now anyway.
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Turk,
I have just re-read my earlier post which was sent late at night - no excuse of course. I realise now that it could come across as derogatory, which was certainly NOT the spirit in which it was posted. My thought process was simply that knowing that Chris is an experienced long-term PilotAware user, helping him to 'find' you would put you both in touch enabling him to offer the benefit of his local knowledge if needed and giving you a local contact with a PilotAware if you want/need to do any further testing. There was no insult or disrespect intended whatsoever, I assure you. If you ever get to meet me, hopefully you will realise that's not my style at all - mild leg-pulling maybe, but I was brought up to respect others and their opinions.
My only 'defence' is that having engaged in such an intense exchange of information whilst trying to sort out your setup, I felt I was beginning to know you and thought I was acting in your best interests. Please accept my apologies if you feel this was not the case. I will try to be more careful in future. Again Sorry. :-[
Best Regards
Peter
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Turk,
I have just re-read my earlier post which was sent late at night - no excuse of course. I realise now that it could come across as derogatory, which was certainly NOT the spirit in which it was posted. My thought process was simply that knowing that Chris is an experienced long-term PilotAware user, helping him to 'find' you would put you both in touch enabling him to offer the benefit of his local knowledge if needed and giving you a local contact with a PilotAware if you want/need to do any further testing. There was no insult or disrespect intended whatsoever, I assure you. If you ever get to meet me, hopefully you will realise that's not my style at all - mild leg-pulling maybe, but I was brought up to respect others and their opinions.
My only 'defence' is that having engaged in such an intense exchange of information whilst trying to sort out your setup, I felt I was beginning to know you and thought I was acting in your best interests. Please accept my apologies if you feel this was not the case. I will try to be more careful in future. Again Sorry. :-[
Best Regards
Peter
Peter, no need to apologise you have done nothing wrong. I'm grateful to everyone for the help.