PilotAware
British Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: bharb on June 02, 2016, 06:00:59 pm
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Hello!
I use my Pilotaware unit on chartered planes and it works great as far as I have seen on ground (have not been in the air since I received mine). The only downside is the case, because it feels like all the dongles will get lost soon and therefore its hard to recommend to the typical "old school pilots".
Did anybody think about a case which includes all the components inkl. the dongles, maybe printed with a 3d printer?
Cheers,
Bernhard.
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Aviation Tech and Hardware have a 3D printer that we use to prototype parts.
3D printing would be excessively expensive, £20 - £30 each case on a short run basis.
Having some bespoke cases injection moulded for the unit just *might* be part of the roadmap if funds permit. Like all these things (take CE marking for instance) the initial costs are expensive.
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Hi we did a lot of work on this 4 month back. Just do a search on this forum for " custom cases "
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Thanks for the reply, I really like your case Richard. I am trying to get these components here in Austria now, hopefully the result is as good as yours ;)
Cheers,
Bernhard.
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Hi we did a lot of work on this 4 month back. Just do a search on this forum for " custom cases "
Hi Richard,
I tried that but your thread didn't come up. After a bit of searching, I eventually found the information you were referring to. To save anyone else the same hassle, here is the link for anyone else looking for this thread - http://forum.pilotaware.com/index.php/topic,133.msg1882.html#msg1882
I still like the idea of your 'all in one' case by the way :) :)
Regards
Peter
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Does anybody have a solution for a more stable power connector? I do not trust the mini usb thing.
Cheers,
Bernhard b
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Hi Richard,
I tried that but your thread didn't come up. After a bit of searching, I eventually found the information you were referring to. To save anyone else the same hassle, here is the link for anyone else looking for this thread - http://forum.pilotaware.com/index.php/topic,133.msg1882.html#msg1882
I still like the idea of your 'all in one' case by the way :) :)
Sorry I could not add the link as I was replying on my iPad, you found it in the end, good
I did drill some 3mm holes in the top of the case over the usb connections in a round shape like a small speaker to help with venterlaton, the case has Been working well and all the usb connections are protected.
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Does anybody have a solution for a more stable power connector? I do not trust the mini usb thing.
Cheers,
Bernhard b
The micro-USB B connector on the Pi is pretty robust, rated at 10,000 cycles over the original Type A at 1,500. With the micro range of connectors the sockets have been made more robust and the idea is the connector on the cable wears out faster as its easier to change the cable than the connector.
That said there is a huge difference in the quality of the USB sockets available, but I suspect the one on the Pi is one of the decent makes and the cable supplied with the PilotAware kit is one of the good ones too.
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Does anybody have a solution for a more stable power connector? I do not trust the mini usb thing.
Cheers,
Bernhard b
Hi Bernhardt / Jeremy - comments noted
Agree it is a good connector, but I had mine come out a couple of times with one of my early test units - possibly a poor quality cable. As it is now mounted up behind the dash, I made a 'stirrup' from a cable tie, which goes right round the PAW body, held to the power cable itself by a separate small cable tie round both ends of the main stirrup and the power cable. The 'buckle' end of the main 'stirrup' cable tie stops it slipping through and I cut another buckle off another tie to stop the free end slipping through. Reasonably tidy and cleaner than wrapping tape round to hold the cable in.
Sorry not able to add photo as I'm not at home, but will add a photo later.
Regards
Peter
Postscript October 2016 During a recent 'refit' I discovered that the reason the cable had been coming out was that the Pi board was incorrectly seated inside the case, preventing the microUSB from seating fully home and latching in place (my fault entirely - this unit was a home build). I simply reset the board in its proper position and the 'problem' is sorted. So if your cable comes out, check the seating of your Pi in its case - especially if you have had it out for any reason. 😳
Peter
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Another option is to put sone hot glue around the micro plug body once it is installed, this solution may be better for a permanent fit !
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I,m currently redesigning my PAW case...... I was thinking of adding a fan to help with cooling the ADSB receiver, but giving the fan some thought..... would the air flow affect the pressure sensor? If the airflow can exit as fast as it goes in would it still affect?
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I,m currently redesigning my PAW case...... I was thinking of adding a fan to help with cooling the ADSB receiver, but giving the fan some thought..... would the air flow affect the pressure sensor? If the airflow can exit as fast as it goes in would it still affect?
It's a long shot, but you may have heard about the Bernoulli effect? ;D ;D
Pressure is lower in a moving fluid. (and the faster it moves, the lower the pressure) So yes, it could.
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Thank you David. I will try to see what happens. The fan is a small 12v 40mm. The test will be to have it pushing air in and turn it over to pull air out. The test should be simple. I will add a switch so an on/off test can be completed when monitoring the numbers displayed on the home page of PAW.
PS. Looking forward to the PAW presentation at Sherburn Aero Club on the 10th November.
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Hi Richard,
Watching with interest. Reminded me to post an update (see above) re my 'power lead coming out' fix - problem now sorted with no recurrence.
Regards
Peter
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Peter
I'm just awaiting a few parts to arrive befor testing can begin (on the kitchen table) I will update my findings but I think adding a fan will start to give inaccurate pressure readings.
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I bought two PAW units. On one the Micro USB is fine, on the other it is well sloppy and falls out. I reseated in the case as oer Exfirepro's suggestion but no improvement.
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Hi JollyRog,
if you swap the cables over, is it the cable that is a sloppy fit or the socket on the Pi ?
cheers
Dave.
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It's the socket Dave. I've tried a bunch of different cables in there, all with the same result. The unit works properly, until the cable falls out.
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The idea that moving air, in itself, will change the indicated barometric pressure is probably flawed, otherwise your indicated altitude would change as you accelerate down the runway :) however, that said, it would probably dependn the relative siting of the fan and the baro chip.
What will definitely make a difference will be if the fan results in a net change in static pressure within the case, which would be avoided by making the inlet/exit (depending on the way the fan is blowing) large enough to not restrict the flow. Definitely worth testing.
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What will definitely make a difference will be if the fan results in a net change in static pressure within the case, which would be avoided by making the inlet/exit (depending on the way the fan is blowing) large enough to not restrict the flow. Definitely worth testing.
Graham
That will be part of my test to set inlet/outlet placed in a position to be minimal effect. Positioning the fan is not a problem with the case I will be using. I'm still awaiting a few parts for testing and will report my findings.
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It's the socket Dave. I've tried a bunch of different cables in there, all with the same result. The unit works properly, until the cable falls out.
PM sent.
cheers
Dave.
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All,
Just an update on the Fan test... It has no effectt on the pressure sensor at all.
Took note of the pressure before staring the fan, After running there is no change to the indicated pressure in the home page, stopping the fan and letting it settle and still no change. Also checking publish Pressure from Leeds/Bradford reading exactly the same. The conclusion is a fan can be added with no problems to report.
The Case is still a Prototype but the fan is 5v USB powered from Charge2 which is also powering the PAW
Charge2 is 12v to 28v so allows it to be powered in a 28v aircraft. (A Question from another Member) BUT the FLARM RedBox is 12V so running both from a 28V aircraft is not an option. There must be a way around this I'm sure. The Fan may be better run on 12V from the power supply internal as the 5V Fan is a little noisy like a Computer. I found the 12v 40mm Fan much quieter but is a different make. Once used in the aircraft you will not hear the fan over the engine.
I have Added a volume to the front of the case this simply allows me to turn PAW voice down if required with ease. There is no Audio Amp. The case looks very tidy with out the FLARM RedBox on top, But i'm designing for fitting behind the aircraft panel out of sight.
The FLARM still needs to be updated Once a Year, It would be nice to be able to do this via the USB through PAW. Lee, can this be possible?
The front panel has also got a USB access for the Updates which allows it to stay in the aircraft.
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Hi Richard,
Looking good, though perhaps a bit on the big side for my own installation inside a flex wing pod :(. WRT the 'red box' there are lots of converters out there to allow running 12 volt equipment in 24 volt vehicles (e.g. most lorries), so you should be able to incorporate a suitable converter if you need to run the red box (and 12 volt fan) from 24 volts. Good news on the fan. I always reckoned that as long as there was sufficient 'free area' to prevent internal pressurisation that would be the case. Nice to see it proved. I would guess a 12 volt fan would probably run smoother and hence quieter and probably a bit heavier construction, so possibly longer lasting.
I like the idea of a manual audio volume control. A colleague has just built a mixer to merge his radio and PAW input to his intercom, which also provides this function. Much easier / quicker than trying to adjust the PAW audio from the configure screen in flight. I know several others have fitted mixers previously and although I don't need it to match levels, I may go down this route just to provide rapid and convenient audio adjustment.
FYI, I have been using USB stick for some time now to update PAW with the FLARM Integration engineering updates and it works great - extremely fast - and also allows super fast downloading of PAW track logs. Much faster and simpler than the old methods, though there is one minor issue when you put your 'stick' back into a windows PC as Windows doesn't recognise the PAW.pgp 'update' file and mistakenly reports the stick as 'faulty'. Simply ignore this 'warning' and all is fine.
IIRC the 'red box' can be updated via the data cable, but not sure this could be achieved from PAW without seriously upsetting F*ARM's legal department though!
Keep up the good work
Regards
Peter