PilotAware
British Forum => Technical Support => Topic started by: a.alexeev.p on December 31, 2017, 02:38:23 pm
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On my first flight with PilotAware I had a GPS mouse plugged in (instead of the default dongle). GPS Mouse and the device with dongles themselves were on the dashboard of PA28 with clear view of the sky. Attached to recommended anker powerbank and PAW supplied power cable. However in two flights 45 minutes GPS signal was lost (once in each flight).
Fix was easy ie I just had to press stop navigating and start navigating again, but ideally I would like that not to happen again.
-SkyDemon
- Mode C/S Enabled +/- 2000
- Short Range
- Mode C/S+Filter Beta
-Audio cable was plugged in to my headset
-Version 20170721
- Paw bought in November 2017
-iPad Air first generation
Could you please advise me of how it can be sorted out? Unfortunately support never replied to me when I submitted a form online on the website.
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Alex,
Can you tell me what version of SkyDemon you are running and also what connectivity option (Flarm or PilotAware) you had selected in SkyDemon please.
Regards
Peter
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Thank you for your reply Peter! It is 3.8.4.83 for SD. iOS 11.0.3 and PilotAware selected in Connectivity options :)
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Thanks Alex,
I have to say that I have run a PAW 'Classic' with a remote GPS mouse for over 2 years now and connectivity with this setup has proved extremely reliable. If anything, moving the GPS clear of the main unit reduces screening of the WiFi dongle so this setup should make PAW connectivity more reliable.
When you say 'GPS was lost' - do you mean you got the standard SD message 'No data has been received from your GPS device for some time, and the connection is therefore lost. Check your device settings to ensure connectivity and try again' ? AFAIK this means that there was some sort of data interruption between the two devices, but not necessarily loss of GPS itself.
Does your iPad have a 3/4G sim and what setting do you have in 'Connectivity Options' for Internet Access? In some cases, 'Live Data when Planning and Flying' can cause SD to try to connect to the internet in flight and can cause a conflict if no Internet Access is available. If in doubt, select 'Live Data when Planning'.
If this happens again, it would help greatly if you can try to get a screengrab of the PilotAware Home Screen. The 'UPTIME' Status Line, shows how long PilotAware has been running since its last start and will confirm whether Pilotaware has continued to run through the loss of connectivity (which I suspect it has) and the screengrab will also confirm your GPS status.
The other thing you could try is varying the WiFi power in the Network settings, but do so carefully and check for issues before making any other changes. A minor change to 20mW might make a difference to connectivity reliability and would be worth trying. be aware that your unit will restart to make the change take effect. I would leave the Mode and Channel as they are meantime.
Let me know how you get on
Regards
Peter
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I don't remember a specific message to be honest as it was all in flight and little time to pay close attention. I don't think there was any error message, rather the aircraft symbol was not there so I just stopped navigation in SD and started it again it without needing to reconnect in settings or anything else.
Mine is 3G so yes indeed may be changing that setting could help.
Ok, so after landing but before switching PAW off I'd need go to 168.1.1 and do screenshot?
Thanks a lot again!
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Hi all,
i know this is a topic already discussed in the forum but i need to understand what's happening to my unit.
I Always had this issue and with the new release with the lighter protocol (Pilotaware instead of FLARM) i was hoping in a better result.
I Always used an Ipad Mini 2 and thought it was a problem related to that because old and slow but now i am using an iphone 7 plus which sould be faster and getting the same problem: randomly i get the "no valid GPS signal".
GPS is not the issue, i have my PAW unit also connected through RS232 adapter to my EKP-V and it never have GPS disconnections or issues.
I tryed all which means power reductions, wifi and BT off on all the devices on board etc. but issue is still there.
If someone have some idea is welcome
Regards
Federico
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Hi Federico
I am sure I have asked tge question already, but what is the power supply ?
The fact that the gps continues feeding the rs232 device, this rules out a full power related reboot, but could be related to a brown out on the wifi
Finally, can you reproduce this issue on the ground and in the air ?
Thx
Lee
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Lee,
on the ground never had issues.
Tested several combinations for powering the unit including powerbank with 3 amps output but no changes.
Federico
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Frederico, can you try switching you iPhone to airplane mode, and enable only the Wi-Fi to connect to the PAW. make sure all other phones are off.
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I also wrote a post on similar topic but no resolution as testing showed yesterday. Even tried with iPad Pro this time to rule out poor tablet performance. The message I get is something around the lines “the was no GPS data received from the device for too long so we gave up on it”. Then skydemon also said “cannot access a disposed object. Object name system.net.sockets.socket” not sure if that is a separate SD issue but appeared straight after the GPS failure message.
Normally happens within first 5-15 mins since start of PilotAware. Happened on 3/3 flights but never was an issue at home. So on 2/3 flights it happened still on the ground. Was PAW just feeling too cold?
Could it be that PAW just goes crazy from such close transponder signal?
Power is not an issue - always use same ANKER bank with recommended cable. Please help.
PS
Currently testing at home and getting ADS-B red (see screenshot). Whats that- not getting signal or faulty connection in the dongle?
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sorry, could not do the screenshot again but same thing happened now 3/3 times on aircraft within 5-15 minutes of launching PAW: NO DATA HAS BEEN RECEIVED FROM YOUR GPS DEVICE FOR SOME TIME, AND THE CONNECTION IS THEREFORE LOST. CHECK YOUR DEVICE SETTINGS TO ENSURE CONNECTIVITY AND TRY AGAIN. Been working perfectly for past 2 hours at home. Even tried new tablet but on plane still happens. That same error message from SkyDemon was mentioned in a few other posts by members, but could not see a solution proposed as they normally had other issues that I did not experience.
By the way, when testing home I see that PAW Auto-Generated a HEX code. When I fly it does not do any warnings about my aircraft but still shows my registration on SkyDemon when I fly. If I manually override HEX does that mean I won't see my own registration when I fly but I have to do it every time I change aircraft?
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Alex,
Just re-read your posts on both 'loss of GPS' threads, but there is insufficient information to determine what is going on.
The Red ADSB 'light' is inconclusive. The entry shows that the ADSB Dongle is present ('Connected') but that while ADSB messages have been received (Messages=18823), no ADSB traffic has been received in the past 5 seconds (+0).
I think the best option would be to ask Lee to take a look at your track log files. Can you download the relevant files from the 'Track' Screen on your PilotAware to a USB stick so you can transfer them to a PC or laptop and we can make arrangements to get them from you to do this. If you need help, I can talk you through this. Do you have a Dropbox account or similar that we can use to transfer the files as they will be pretty large?
Regards
Peter
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It could be that there are too many ADS-B targets being received and Sky Demon is being overloaded.
I think there's going to be a revision at some point where you can limit the range of targets sent from the PilotAware, which might make things better.
In the meantime, perhaps try a smaller aerial for ADS-B! Maybe try leaving the aerial off the ADS-B side (the thin aerial) all together for a flight or two, see if that makes a difference.
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Thanks a lot Peter! Yes later I found that indeed ADS-B red might be due to me being at home
Please see the track file from two days ago as GPS dropout remains the main issue. As my memory serves me right SkyDemon gave the error message even before we started moving for power checks (definitely before take off):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k8me5sb7mmtkfrn/2018-01-19_14-00.trk?dl=0
Thank you!
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well ADS-B is red only sometimes and other times it is green so guess it is how it should be then when not receiving messages, but main issue probably remains GPS
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Thanks Alex,
There seem to be an awful lot of PFLAA and PAWRT messages compared to the number of GPS messages shown, though I am looking at the log 'manually' so haven't looked very far through it so far.
I will ask Lee to take a look as he can analyse it much more efficiently and I know he will be very interested to see what is going on.
Regards
Peter
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Taking a look now.
I will replay to skydemon see if it shows anything.
Alex, FYI you could also try this.
1. unplug the SDR dongle
2. go to http://192.168.1.1
3. select the track in question 2018-01-19_14-00.trk
4. click play
5. connect skydemon
watch to see if SD drops out ...
Thx
Lee
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Hi Alex,
I think Paul Sengupta raised a valid point.
Whilst rerunning your tracks, I was surprised to see A/C picked up greater than 240km WOWWWW
What is your antenna setup ?
A highly tuned setup can result in many contacts sent to SkyDemon, and I have shown that in some tests I can cause an overload somewhere in the system - not sure if that is SkyDemon or the networking.
In the release after 20120721, there is a limit to the number of contacts (I think it is set at 32 closest),
I have seen at one point 49 contacts passed to SkyDemon.
thx
Lee
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One more track: GPS loss happened while stationary at hold ie after starting moving but before takeoff https://www.dropbox.com/s/9vm1rdfw13ibx6v/2017-12-16_09-06.trk?dl=0
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One more track: GPS loss happened while stationary at hold ie after starting moving but before takeoff https://www.dropbox.com/s/9vm1rdfw13ibx6v/2017-12-16_09-06.trk?dl=0
Hi Alex
I have sent you a PM
thx
Lee
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Hi Alex,
I think Paul Sengupta raised a valid point.
Whilst rerunning your tracks, I was surprised to see A/C picked up greater than 240km WOWWWW
What is your antenna setup ?
A highly tuned setup can result in many contacts sent to SkyDemon, and I have shown that in some tests I can cause an overload somewhere in the system - not sure if that is SkyDemon or the networking.
In the release after 20120721, there is a limit to the number of contacts (I think it is set at 32 closest),
I have seen at one point 49 contacts passed to SkyDemon.
thx
Lee
Thank you for the reply:)
so set up was:
I had a GPS mouse plugged in (instead of the default dongle). GPS Mouse and the device with dongles themselves were on the dashboard of PA28 with clear view of the sky. Attached to recommended anker powerbank and PAW supplied power cable. Antennas first two times standard set up as supplied out of the box, second time I put the big antenna on extension lead.
-SkyDemon
- Mode C/S Enabled +/- 2000
- Short Range
- Mode C/S+Filter Beta
-Audio cable was plugged in to my headset
-Version 20170721
Also, I tried to play one of the tracks yesterday- the one from December 16 and unless I terribly lost concentration - it seemed all ok, no interruption noted and yellow aircraft was always seen in SkyDemon. Are you saying it should not have picked up aircrafts that far away? But the new software update not available yet?
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The other thing about losing contact on the ground before starting is that other Wifi networks may be present on the ground, and the tablet may be temporarily "distracted" in looking for a Wifi connection with a backhaul of internet rather than the PilotAware, or just scanning around other available Wifi connections.
"GPS" issues are rarely actually GPS issues, more to do with the Wifi connection or rather the "connection" somewhere between the two bits of software, mainly Wifi.
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https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202831
Alex
Do you have “auto join networks” enabled ?
Thx
Lee
Ps another interesting article
http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-set-wifi-priority-in-ios-for-iphone-and-ipad-to-get-best-wireless-performance/
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https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202831
Alex
Do you have “auto join networks” enabled ?
Thx
Lee
Ps another interesting article
http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-set-wifi-priority-in-ios-for-iphone-and-ipad-to-get-best-wireless-performance/
I got "Ask to Join Networks" DISABLED which is described as "Known networks will be joined automatically. If no networks are available, you will have to manually select a network"
That was one of the concerns potentially, but the thing is the problem occurred only inside aircraft with 3-5 maximum conflicting networks (eg my mobile phone and passengers'_ but NEVER when tested at home where we get same 3-5 networks plus another 20 from nearby flats...
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https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202831
Alex
Do you have “auto join networks” enabled ?
Thx
Lee
Ps another interesting article
http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-set-wifi-priority-in-ios-for-iphone-and-ipad-to-get-best-wireless-performance/
I got "Ask to Join Networks" DISABLED which is described as "Known networks will be joined automatically. If no networks are available, you will have to manually select a network"
That was one of the concerns potentially, but the thing is the problem occurred only inside aircraft with 3-5 maximum conflicting networks (eg my mobile phone and passengers'_ but NEVER when tested at home where we get same 3-5 networks plus another 20 from nearby flats...
Hi Alex
Unfortunately the method by which it scans and selects alternate networks is quite complicated (if you take a look at the link I supplied), it would be interesting to see the effect of enabling "Ask to Join Networks", to see if this could be an issue
Thx
Lee
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will do :) thank you!
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Evening all ..
My 2p's worth on this subject too ...
I had 'similar' issues today whilst airborne (I took the PAW/ipad min with me to test, with my normal ipad setup for 'skydemon only' use with a BadElf Lightning GPS being used for live navigation)
The PAW did have a few drop outs enroute - I have a second ipad mini hooked up to the PAW unit, and with SD running it would loose the GPS signal at irregular intervals (this happened most of the way from Nottingham to Sherborn). After a fuel stop, the second leg (Sherborn to a private site near Tenby) saw me just using the ipad mini on the Radar screen via Safari (and toggling back and forth between the main screen & traffic screens on separate tabs) - this time there appeared to be no drops in communication.
I left things as they were for the return journey (Nr Tenby back to Nottingham) and the radar screen stayed 'online' and displayed mainly airline traffic all the way back - the odd switch to the traffic screen showed traffic with mode C & S as expected
I'll do some more testing over the next few days and report back (as per previous posts, testing on the ground doesn't throw up any SD GPS disconnects too ...)
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Evening all ..
My 2p's worth on this subject too ...
I had 'similar' issues today whilst airborne (I took the PAW/ipad min with me to test, with my normal ipad setup for 'skydemon only' use with a BadElf Lightning GPS being used for live navigation)
The PAW did have a few drop outs enroute - I have a second ipad mini hooked up to the PAW unit, and with SD running it would loose the GPS signal at irregular intervals (this happened most of the way from Nottingham to Sherborn). After a fuel stop, the second leg (Sherborn to a private site near Tenby) saw me just using the ipad mini on the Radar screen via Safari (and toggling back and forth between the main screen & traffic screens on separate tabs) - this time there appeared to be no drops in communication.
I left things as they were for the return journey (Nr Tenby back to Nottingham) and the radar screen stayed 'online' and displayed mainly airline traffic all the way back - the odd switch to the traffic screen showed traffic with mode C & S as expected
I'll do some more testing over the next few days and report back (as per previous posts, testing on the ground doesn't throw up any SD GPS disconnects too ...)
Thanks a lot for this! Yes, please keep us updated, but do I understand correctly that so far it seems like skydemon is most likely to be the problem?
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Not sure if SD is the issue to be honest, hence the need for more testing
I'll also put my PAW back to it's default config too - I'm also using the 'external' mouse GPS (VK-162) and the Nooelec Nano 3 with a tuned 1090 antenna, all wrapped up with the power source in a small enclosure.
I'm going to revert back to the out of the box setup and see if that's any better, just in case the changes have introduced any issues ...
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Sean and Alex, are you having to reconnect the tablet/phones to the PAW Wi-Fi?
Or do you just restart 'Go Flying' in SkyDemon?
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Just press “go flying” again for me:)
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Alex
How are you connected from SD
Flarm or PilotAware ?
Thx
Lee
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Ian ..
I needed to reconnect to the Wifi hotspot when SD bombed out...
No wifi disconnections when using the radar screen ...
I'm set to connect with FLARM on SD as per the instructions ..
Everything is back to 'as supplied' today so I'll see how it goes whilst airborne
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Lee, it is PilotAware selected in connectivity options, not FLARM.
Thank you!
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Hi Sean
I needed to reconnect to the Wifi hotspot when SD bombed out...
No wifi disconnections when using the radar screen ...
These two conditions are un-related I think.
If the WiFi hotspot disconnects it can only be due to the following
1. PilotAware has rebooted (usually due to power related issues)
2. The iPad/aPad has switched to an alternate WiFi connection
in the case of (1), this is easily identified, if you can look at your TRACK's page there will be a break in the track files for the time when the power goes off, could you check that ?
There will appear a TRACK file whose date would be at initial power on, and a subsequent at a reboot (if it occured)
In the case of (2), as I mentioned to Alex, do you have the option 'Ask to Join Networks' selected ?
I think if selecting this, it will not switch without user input
Thx
Lee
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Hi Alex, Sean
If you have access to a 2nd (apple) device, I wonder if you could try an experiment
download EasyVFR (Basic) from the iTunes store - its free
Configure to connect to PilotAware on UDP port 2000, IP 192.168.1.1
if you can run both devices in parallel, I would be interested to see if both connections to SD and EVFR disconnect
Thx
Lee
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Ok will try, though not sometime soon. Also messaged SkyDemon support, will see if they reply
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Though if select UDP it doesnt let edit IP, only if TCP is selected. Also, default pin is 6000 whereas in the manual 6002, so which is right?
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EVFR does not have a connect/disconnect. If there is an issue you will see a sideways scrolling banner saying 'inaccurate position data' or similar words.
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EVFR does not have a connect/disconnect. If there is an issue you will see a sideways scrolling banner saying 'inaccurate position data' or similar words.
Well ... kind of, EVFR has an automatic retry on disconnect, so it still has the notion of connect/disconnect
But, I am interested in the reporting of GPS lost at the same time SD disconnects
Thx
Lee
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Though if select UDP it doesnt let edit IP, only if TCP is selected. Also, default pin is 6000 whereas in the manual 6002, so which is right?
So long as the IP=192.168.1.1 and PORT=2000, that is ok
6000 is the pin you should select - I will double check the documentation
Thx
Lee
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Reply from SkyDemon:
“The message you're getting is indicating that SkyDemon has heard absolutely nothing from the "connected" device for some time, and that's why the connection is lost. This is quite the opposite of the hypothesis that SkyDemon is being overloaded. In fact it would be impossible to overload SkyDemon with traffic information.
It might be worth trying the specific PilotAware connectivity option in SkyDemon's Setup menu, if you're not already doing so, or try the FLARM option if it's the PilotAware option that's resulting in a lost connection.”
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Hi Sean
I needed to reconnect to the Wifi hotspot when SD bombed out...
No wifi disconnections when using the radar screen ...
These two conditions are un-related I think.
If the WiFi hotspot disconnects it can only be due to the following
1. PilotAware has rebooted (usually due to power related issues)
2. The iPad/aPad has switched to an alternate WiFi connection
in the case of (1), this is easily identified, if you can look at your TRACK's page there will be a break in the track files for the time when the power goes off, could you check that ?
There will appear a TRACK file whose date would be at initial power on, and a subsequent at a reboot (if it occured)
In the case of (2), as I mentioned to Alex, do you have the option 'Ask to Join Networks' selected ?
I think if selecting this, it will not switch without user input
Thx
Lee
Thanks Lee
I'll check the tracks and post my findings later ....
RE the "Ask to Join Networks" switch ...
On the Ipad Air (main device) this is on
On the Ipad Mini it's off
Not sure how this would change things - it only applies to "New" networks ..? (ie, no known networks are available)
The mini was in use yesterday as the test display and was the one disconnecting
Today, I took the Air up and had SD sat there during a training sortie - no disconnects wifi wise, but at least 3 "Lost GPS" messages appearing in SD (in the big green box across the top half of the display). This is with the PAW back in it's "As delivered" config
I'll download EVFR and see what that does - I've three ipads I can use for various configs ...
Cheers
Sean
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Hi Sean
Today, I took the Air up and had SD sat there during a training sortie - no disconnects wifi wise, but at least 3 "Lost GPS" messages appearing in SD (in the big green box across the top half of the display). This is with the PAW back in it's "As delivered" config
OK, this is a different issue, this means the GPS really has lost a lock, and is telling SkyDemon it has lost a lock. This is different to a WiFi drop which is a communication loss.
Where do you have PilotAware situated - does it have a good view of the sky for satellite visibility ?
Thx
Lee
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Hi Sean
Today, I took the Air up and had SD sat there during a training sortie - no disconnects wifi wise, but at least 3 "Lost GPS" messages appearing in SD (in the big green box across the top half of the display). This is with the PAW back in it's "As delivered" config
OK, this is a different issue, this means the GPS really has lost a lock, and is telling SkyDemon it has lost a lock. This is different to a WiFi drop which is a communication loss.
Where do you have PilotAware situated - does it have a good view of the sky for satellite visibility ?
Thx
Lee
Ok - I see the difference there ..
The PAW is cable tied to the rear of a RAM mount, which in turn is suckered to the inside of the canopy
The UBlox GPS is in clear view of the outside world, extended on a short USB extension - pic to follow
BTW - can the tracks be viewed in anything that allows fast forwarding ? - The recording from this morning seems to be the full hour+ of the sortie in real time (playing back in SD)
Tks
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Had same question regarding forwarding... probably not except you can a) may be edit the track and delete the beginning? b)make it play when you are not watching but do screen recording if your device and your nerves are ios11 capable :)
yes, issue seems different and the extension cord for GPS should have solved it though.. weird.. for me I have been with GPS mouse when the other "original" issue kept coming up
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PAW as fixed to the rear of the RAM mount
GPS is vertical when mounted and has unobstructed view as its mounted on the inside of the canopy
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Hi Sean
Today, I took the Air up and had SD sat there during a training sortie - no disconnects wifi wise, but at least 3 "Lost GPS" messages appearing in SD (in the big green box across the top half of the display). This is with the PAW back in it's "As delivered" config
OK, this is a different issue, this means the GPS really has lost a lock, and is telling SkyDemon it has lost a lock. This is different to a WiFi drop which is a communication loss.
Sorry Lee, I disagree. I have had these dozens of times and the GPS is as happy as Larry, what is not happening is the reception of the UDP packets by the tablet. This is either because they are not transmitted, or they are being swamped by other radio noise. The tablet will remain connected to the Wi-Fi hotspot but hear nothing. This prompts SD to issue a 'Waiting for Device' message. If this continues too long SD drops its flight. I do agree that the loss of Wi-Fi connection is most likely a different issue.
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Hi Ian
The reported message was lost gps, not waiting for device
There are 2 possible conditions,
sending and receiving gps messages containing invalid gps messages
Or, no reception of gps messages
The former causes a pause, the latter a disconnect
Thx
Lee
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Sorry, My misunderstanding.
I assume then Sean is getting 'GPS Signal Lost 0 Found'?
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Sorry, My misunderstanding.
I assume then Sean is getting 'GPS Signal Lost 0 Found'?
Yesterday, yes.
Monday was a complete drop out of the wifi signal.
The tracks saved down on the PAW are split into 3 sections for Mondays flight (flight time was a little over 3 hours) - I know 2 of those were me power cycling the PAW as it wouldn't reconnect.
Wind has stopped play today, should be back up in the air tomorrow and will carry on testing.
The PAW was in the enclosure shown below (the Pi was removed from the stock black case). The mesh across the top is thin aluminum (for cooling) , the rest of the case plastic. All components / cables are very secure when the Pi is in place on the stand-offs. The ipad mini is attached to the case lid via another RAM cradle that's bolted to the lid, giving me a pretty much self contained unit (P3i antenna has been removed on the pic to be re-fitted to the original setup)
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The tracks saved down on the PAW are split into 3 sections for Mondays flight (flight time was a little over 3 hours) - I know 2 of those were me power cycling the PAW as it wouldn't reconnect.
Hi Sean
if there are 3 sections, then that means 2 reboots as you say.
Can you supply a spec of the power supply you are using - I am not familiar with that
could it be using any 'soft start' technology on current draw ?
Thx
Lee
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Hi Lee
I use Dell Power Companions (the 12000mAh ones)
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dfo&sku=451-bblz
USB Output is 5v, 2.1a
No issues with power during testing or prior to this ...
Cheers
Sean
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PAW as fixed to the rear of the RAM mount
GPS is vertical when mounted and has unobstructed view as its mounted on the inside of the canopy
Sean,
That could be an issue - the Ublox GPS(s) work much better when the gps antenna (which lies flat on the PCB under the 'black-printed' side of the UBlox dongle) is horizontal. In your other setup, the Mouse GPS is mounted pretty much level as I understand it.
Regards
Peter
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That's correct Ian ...
Further testing has shown that the GPS works best (for me anyways) when it's not in close proximity to the Ipad ...
Current setup has the PAW strapped to the back of the RAM mount, which in turn is suckered to the canopy. (This 'sort' of makes sense - the PAW in the enclosure has an external mouse type GPS, but also has an ipad mini fixed to the enclosure lid - prior to trying it in flight, all testing was done with the lid / ipad separate ...)
Moving the GPS away, if only by a foot or so, improves the situation and results, so far, in only one 'lost GPS message in SD.
More testing on the ground has confirmed this (the UBlox 7 is also flatter when on a USB extension so that may / may not assist things.
My GPS 'Mouse' has had its cable shortened for use in the enclosure, so another had been ordered (with the 2m cable) to see how that fares ...
More in the air testing to be done (along with 2nd ipad running EVFR) on Sunday - it'll be an easy day with no Nav kit needed so if it does prove to be a problem still it won't be an issue ...
Wifi wise, things seem to have been fine so far - I'm wondering if the enclosure, with the very close proximity of the batter pack / cables and aluminum vent along the top was causing problems (it's an in-shielded plastic case so you'd think it'd be fine)...
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Ah, this is something we figured out a while back with the Wifi and it's why you can select the power, standard and channel. You can't have the PAW and the tablet too close together. At one point in the early days, my tablet would only work between something like 60cm and 2.5 metres from the PAW...any closer or further away and it wouldn't work.
These days, on the lowest power, it works down to about 6 inches from the PAW. But I think for reliability it would need to be at least a foot or two away.
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Ok ... that helps
I think I'll grab another RPi (already have the Nooelec ADSB dongle and GPS Mouse) and do some separate testing without the ipad mini on the enclosure, and keep any eye on distances to the device running SD
Does anyone know if the separate bridge that's offered for sale comes with the P3i antenna
I assume I should be able to use the 28 day demo key for testing ..? - no point having two licenses!!
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Paul,
I missed that one! Extremely close proximity could potentially create a screening situation, where the case of the pad blocks the WiFi signal. I certainly used to get obvious screening if I ran a FlarmMouse with its standard antenna ‘behind’ the iPad, so now use a remote antenna. When I’m running my PAW in the car (during testing) the PAW and iPad mini are about 6” or so apart and that seems to work OK with the default WiFi settings.
Regards
Peter
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It's the same with a plastic cased tablet. Wifi connections don't like being too close together in my experience. I'm guessing it's something to do with power control and swamping, though it's only a guess.
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Ok, so today and yestetday for the first time the issue repeated when at home. Confirmed from home page that the device did not reboot. Potentially, looks like the problem indeed might be in nearby wifi devices, but no real evidence to confirm that yet... in theory having everything else around on flight mode might help
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Alex, I suggested doing this before. But I would also update to the latest version of the software.
Cheers
Ian
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Alex, I suggested doing this before. But I would also update to the latest version of the software.
Cheers
Ian
Thank you Ian! Yes, all credits to you:) It is just that I do not fly super often so had to check all other options people suggested at home.
Though, I must admit that if that is the solution - great yet unfortunate. One would not normally need their phone in flight, but what if.. say check METAR for diversion
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More progress today...
I hooked the GPS up on a 50cm usb extension so I could mount it flat in the aircraft, and keep it away from the Ipad ... seemed to work ok for a while, then it froze...
A quick look at the status screen showed the GPS as red, and nothing showing as connected in the device list below (just the ADSB and Wifi showed as connected..)
SD had an interesting message - searching for Satelites, 9 Found (in the green box) , but stuck displaying that ....
Pulling the GPS from the end of the extension and connecting back into the PAW (vertical this time) brought is back online, and all continued to run for the next 90mins or so - SD ran as expected with Nav and traffic data showing up as expected ....
ll try a different USB extension tomorrow (I have a longer, better quality one) just in case that caused issues , but that's the best session I've had in the air so far ...
I may just have to stick to using the Mouse GPS and having it mounted some where away from the ipad ...
All in all, progress, and no Wifi drop outs either ...
Pic shows the message, and the location of the (flat) GPS dongle before popping it back into the Pi
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I had a drop out of the wifi signal on Friday. SD dropped the flight with an error message that vanished before I could read it. Then when I checked the wifi connections pilotaware wasn't there as being available. In the end I unplugged the wifi, ADSB, GPS and battery, then plugged them back in. It worked after that.
I'll look at the log tomorrow to see if there are any obvious messages there. :(
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So.... just to update things ...
I took the PAW and a couple of iPads out .. Nottingham to Swansea & return via shondon ...
Configured as per originally shipped with the addition of the GPS dongle on a better quality extension, albeit still curled up behind the iPad ..!
Software had been updated to the latest release, and the PAW powered from the Dell power companion as per normal .. I did use the PilotAware protocol instead of flarm this time.
No dropouts seen at all through out all 3 legs (I left the PAW powered up during the stops), and plenty of traffic displayed on SD - big (and high) commercial stuff and plenty of lower level GA type stuff too, but nothing transmitting P3i ...
I’ll be leaving this setup as is for now as it seems to be running well.
I’ve picked up another RPi and cloned the Micro SD card over to it. GPS , ADSB and WiFi are functioning correctly using the Nooelec Nano , VK 162 mouse GPS and an identical WiFi dongle (no bridge yet, and a 28 day temporary license, but it’s the WiFi / GPS area I’m concerntrating on as they were the areas that I had issues with...) I’m using this one to test the case based setup to see if that has any hiccups that I can duplicate
All in all a good session...!
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All in all a good session...!
Good news!
There was a lot of work put in to try and improve this, so lets see if this does improve things.
I think there are still issues with 'electrically noisy' environments, but these are more difficult to overcome unless moving to a wired interface
Thx
Lee
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Excellent news Sean, Glad to hear things are working better. I’m sure you will keep us informed on developments.
Best Regards
Peter
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Evening all ...
More testing carried out today during a long stint of pleasure flying .. this time again with 2 ipads. The usual one running Skydemon and the mini showing the web based radar display.
PAW left running from 10:30 to 15:35 on the Dell power companion and only used 40% of the battery which was a good result in my book.
But back to PAW - flawless today - Skydemon had no GPS drop-outs at all, with both devices retaining their connections and displaying traffic / alerts correctly (A friend of mine flew by and was surprised when I called him up having seen approaching on Skydemon...)
As has been mentioned, I've upgraded to the most recent software version and use the PilotAware connection in SD .... plus I'm using the VK-162 GPS Mouse for better placement options and it's all working really well.
I'll take out the cased 'V2' version on my next flights - it's just a RPi running a clone of my SD card on a trial license (seems to be working fine) with a NooElec ADSB dongle and the VK-162 GPS (wifi dongle is the same as the stock unit). I don't have a second bridge but in testing it's worked well enough showing Mode C/S traffic from the ADSB side of things so I'll see how that one works out .
Interestingly, doing some ground based testing shows that the standard ADSB dongle with a cut down stock antenna shows exactly the same traffic as the NooElec Nano 3 (again with a cut down stock antenna), but when I pop the 'Tuned' stubby NooElec antenna on the Nano 3 far less traffic is shown ... I've yet to do some in the air testing, but on the ground the stock antenna seems to be a better bet ...
Assuming the cased PAW tests out ok in the air, I'll try with the iPad mini re-attached to the front of the enclosure and see what that does .... I'd really like to get that working as it's a one box solution that's easily moved between aircraft.
Cheers for now
Sean
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Hi there I wonder if you guys can help out here I have just purchased pilot aware again (built version this time)
I have input license key but have no gps signal keeps telling me no data for too long and to check settings
Tried to download the latest release to sd card but was informed (by computer) that sd card required reformatting
I have downloaded and copied files across as requested by the read me file but still getting same message also got flashing red(2)lights and green Lights(3)which I have read as an error message?
Can you help?
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Can you post screenshots of your home page and config page?
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Can't even get that far I got my pilot aware system from Tommy came home and went through registration process got the code input the code then connected pilot aware to skydemon to get no gps message can't get to a home page or configuration page and I can't get back into registration page as Pilot aware is telling me that the mac address is in use?
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You've lost me there.
Who is Tommy?
SkyDemon has nothing to do with my request.
What do you get when you connect your tablet or phone to the PilotAware hotspot and after it has connected, enter the IP address of http://192.168.1.1 into your tablet or phone internet browser?
Please post a screenshot of the display. Shout if you don't know how to do this (we need the tablet or phone type)
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Hi Woodysr
Sounds like you may have purchased this unit 2nd hand and trying to re-licence it using a different email address to what it was originally registered. I think this is probably why you are being told that the Mac address is in use as it has been licenced to a previous owners email address. I think Lee may have to sort that one out for you.
There is also the possibility that if you have used a previously cashed config page in your browser that it could have caused the wrong mac address to be saved to the config file. You may have to do a full re-install of the software via the SD card if that is the case.
Alan
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Hi Woodysr2
Back to stage 1.
Are you saying that when you browse from your iPad for a WiFi HotSpot, you cannot see one called
PilotAware-xxxxxxxxxxxx ?
What led's are flashing on the pilotAware unit
Thx
Lee
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Hi there again sorry just got back in from Gym
I have managed to get home page loaded
I am being told license has expired GPS unavailable clients disconnected adsb disconnected trx disconnected
don't know how to take screenshot on ipad mini will check and see if I can do that in a minute
main problem was I was trying to go to homepage on PC I think although I did make sure that PC was connected to pilotaware wifi.
I have already had to re install software as I followed instructions on the read me text telling me to download software format sd card extract files then copy to SD card
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Hi woodysr2
If the license has expired - all bets are off.
What is the MAC Address of the device I can check in the Database
Thx
Lee
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Still got flashing red and green buttons
Hopefully screenshot is attached
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Unit is a whole 10 days old so definitely not expired lol
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Hi Woodysr2,
OK good I can see your License in the DB, can you also post a screenshot of the configure page where you entered the license code
I suspect you entered the code incorrectly
All Letters and numbers are in the range 0-9 A-F
Common mistakes are interchanging B/8 and 0/O
Thx
Lee
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Hi Lee just got back into the configure page to find there was no code there a whole line of zeros have input the code and surprise surprise I now have a working pilot aware.
I shouldn't be allowed near a computer without a minder I remember trying to input the hex code for the plane after putting in the activation code so possibly screwed it then I will need to try and input that again but at least I can now get to home and config pages so a result also found out how to take screenshots woo hoo every day is a school day lol
Thanks for your replies hopefully all is now sorted just in time for the snow.
cheers
William
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Great news William. If you can not fly or drive due to snow, then you have some time to get used to all the options and settings in comfort from home :-)