Messages

1

Technical Support / Re: USB ports losing connection

« on: May 20, 2022, 07:33:17 pm »

Swap the cable used and test, often the cables wear and cause intermittent connection. 

I've been asked to swap lots of USB sockets on equipment, but quite often the problem is actually the USB cable and the owner hasn't bought a new one, thinking they just last forever.  Pluggable cables are consumable items.  It's quite rare for a socket to be physically damaged unless it has been put under physical stress.

2

Technical Support / Re: Radar page blank

« on: May 18, 2022, 05:45:56 pm »

Hi Sean

Lots of things are changed, but without an iOS developer kit - I have no way of debugging the Safari browser core :-(
I have access to someone who may be able to - can you tell me which version of Safari you are running ?

thx
Lee

I have a current Apple Developer licence, though it's been quite a while since I've done anything with iOS, if that helps? 
I use it for internal Mac stuff and running the various Betas...

3

Technical Support / Re: Weak P3i transmission?

« on: March 08, 2022, 08:55:25 pm »

As I've posted elsewhere before...

If the SMA connector is damaged on the Bridge, I generally can repair them for the cost of the connector and return shipping.  I ask you make a donation to your local air ambulance as payment for the repair.
With the whole PilotAware unit I can also check the RF output power of the Bridge board is OK too, if there isn't anything obviously wrong elsewhere.

4

Technical Support / Re: Polar diagram shows no activity with PilotAware

« on: December 31, 2021, 10:45:16 am »

If the config is OK, I can easily test the RF output from the Bridge. Some people have had damaged connectors too. I have repaired these for the cost of the part, and just ask for a donation to your local air ambulance.

5

General Discussion / Re: TIS-B/FIS-B Trial commences from Lasham and Goodwood

« on: September 16, 2021, 11:01:22 pm »

I liked a recent comment on Flyer...

For example, TV masts offer huge line of sight coverage. So popping one of these ground stations even half way up would do the trick:
But other masts/towers are available if this is an officially sanctioned and licensed installation.

The majority of UK TV transmitter sites are privately owned by Arqiva, they rent use of the infrastructure to the broadcast companies.  Just 'popping' anything onto a TV mast is an exercise not to be undertaken lightly, nor cheaply.

If they design, build, and certify some suitable ground and mast equipment, you might be able to rent access to one of their masts.  You'd have to pay them to install and maintain it too.  Expect this to be a multi-year process and ongoing contract.  Plus add on the require data links to make it all work.

Other sites may be suitable, but there hasn't really been any 'national infrastructure' for a number of years now.

I wonder how such a national reception and TIS-B/FIS-B broadcast network would be funded, both for the initial capital investment and ongoing running costs.  No doubt part of the remit of the trial will be to determine this.  If the plan is not to build a National rx network to feed these re-broadcast stations, where do they think the data will come from?  All of the flight tracking website data sources rely on a multitude of privately run RX stations.

Still, it makes entertaining reading.

6

Technical Support / Re: Clicking Sound in Headset

« on: August 20, 2021, 10:16:17 am »

If powered from the aircraft, check the ground connection of the power supply. If you can measure it how many ohms between  ground at the power supply and the battery?

7

Technical Support / Re: Have to manually connect to PAW every flight

« on: July 03, 2021, 11:08:26 am »

Auto-connect may not be available on open WiFi networks, only those with a password.

8

Technical Support / Re: Pilotaware classic adsb not working?

« on: June 06, 2021, 09:14:32 pm »

Thanks Peter, I use a Charge 2 for power, and have an earlier screenshot from that day showing power ok, so I'll pursue the dongle & antenna question. Fortunately, I have a spare antenna from my early experiments. Unfortunately,  my classic PAW is buried behind the panel (one of the disadvantages of a permanent  installation). Maybe I'll take the opportunity  of upgrading to a Rosetta, whilst I have it apart.
Cheers

Jeremy is the expert and will correct me but you can connect a USB lead to some versions of the Charge 2 and it will talk to a laptop and tell you how much current is being taken.

I have tried this.

USB diagnostics. Program in use is PuTTY, 57600 baud, 8, N, 1.

The original charger versions have a terminal interface as @steveu shows above, the v2 units use a Windows management program to get the port status and manage profiles.

9

Technical Support / Re: Pilotaware classic adsb not working?

« on: June 06, 2021, 03:06:20 pm »

Hi Bob

might be worth contacting Jeremy Curtis regarding the Charge2
I recall there were some Charge2 devices with a firmware issue resulting in power problems,
he can give you instructions on how to obtain the info and fix this - if it is the case

Thx
Lee

The issue was some of the really early Charge2 units, from back in 2014/2015.  If Bob can drop be either his serial number, order number, or postcode from the order I can look up the order.
The e-mail address is on the website.

10

Technical Support / Re: USB port

« on: May 26, 2021, 09:32:52 pm »

Previously I have been known to use a little blob of hot glue to hold micro USB cables in, although that has only been in cases where I really don't want to remove it for some considerable time.

11

Technical Support / Re: Ongoing power problems

« on: April 11, 2021, 08:48:31 pm »

Tried it, but couldn't find the parameters on page of of the manual but they are in the FAQ. 57600, 8, N, 1 for anyone else.

Odd, I downloaded the v1 manual from the website (there are different tabs for version 1 and version 2)...

Diagnostics Port
On the rear of Charge2 is a mini-USB socket which gives additional information over the status lights. It can be used to see the state of the ports and how much power is being drawn per port. When connected to a computer this port emulates a Serial interface. You will need serial console software, such as Hyperterminal, to connect to the port.
Baud Rate 57600 Data Bits 8 Parity None Stop Bits 1
No Flow Control
The port will provide the status of the ports every few seconds or details of any faults detected. E.g.;
     Port 1: Charging (2264ma)
     Port 2: Charging (0967ma)
Pressing any key will bring up a menu, from which various options are available. Exiting from the menu returns to the default of outputting the port status every few seconds.

The PAW power is about right, the larger burst of current when it transmits isn't very long so won't get seen.  The chargers have a very fast transient response and recovery so a bursty draw from the likes of a PAW is not a problem.

12

Technical Support / Re: Ongoing power problems

« on: April 11, 2021, 08:45:54 am »

You can use the port on the back of the Charge2 with some terminal software and it will show the current draw on the port. 

Is there a link to some destructions, please?

I got to here:

https://charge4.harkwood.co.uk/support/

and here:

https://charge4.harkwood.co.uk/support/faq/

but being a bear of little brain I wasn't sure if I could just put serial parameters into a terminal program on any OS then press any key, or if I needed the Charger Manager software?

I've look on my keyboard but can't find an "Any" key...   

.NET means Windows?

For the V1 units, such as yours, you can use any serial terminal program. Plugging it into most computers will auto install it as a serial port. The details are in the v1 user manual (page 4). By default it will output the status of the ports every few seconds, no need to do anything bar set the post speed in your terminal software. If you then send any character it will go into the menu.

For the v2 units there is a Windows utility to display power and manage charger profiles.  Plus a separate utility to update the firmware in the charger when required.

13

Technical Support / Re: Ongoing power problems

« on: April 10, 2021, 08:30:03 pm »

You can use the port on the back of the Charge2 with some terminal software and it will show the current draw on the port. 

I have seen recently a PAW that was getting 5v at the Polyfuse report a Voltage warning.  Which was a surprise and seemed odd, it seemed to be working fine.

Note, many of those USB power monitor devices will correctly (well close enough) show you the voltage going into them, but there will be a drop on the output port. 

14

OGN-R PilotAware / Re: Data consumption

« on: March 01, 2021, 08:05:11 am »

Unfortunately this method does not discriminate between data destined for LAN or WAN addresses on eth0
You have to run tcpdump on the eth0 interface, exclude traffic sent to the LAN, and count the data

Thx
Lee

Yes, I put that caveat in the above post. It should exclude any internal data via the loop back port though.  A worst case data set is probably better than no data or educated guesses.

15

OGN-R PilotAware / Re: Data consumption

« on: February 28, 2021, 04:41:32 pm »

Do you get SSH access onto your own OGN node?  If so, this is a quick and dirty method for getting some stats.

You should just be able to run ifconfig and the Pi will give you the network stats.  Naturally, this includes any local traffic including the SSH session, but it would provide a worst-case set of numbers.

The Pi I have displaying some CCTV for example...

Code: [Select]

$ ifconfig

wlan0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.10.61  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.10.255
        inet6 2a0b:e541:30c:64:b6fc:adb5:8d58:32ad  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x0<global>
        inet6 fe80::9498:487b:aa50:8605  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether b8:27:eb:31:b0:dc  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
  -->   RX packets 313753834  bytes 3917725983 (3.6 GiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
  -->   TX packets 166464981  bytes 2120530336 (1.9 GiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0
This is my WiFi interface, which since the last reboot has transmitted 1.9Gb and received 3.6Gb.

You can also just view the stats direct with...

Code: [Select]

cat /sys/class/net/wlan0/statistics/tx_bytes
cat /sys/class/net/wlan0/statistics/rx_bytes
.. change wlan0 for, probably, eth0 if you use the wired interface.  Note this is in bytes, so divide by 1073741824 for Gb.

So reboot the OGN station, take some numbers at the end of each day, average them and you will have the worst case consumption.

There is probably some way of just getting the stats for the process running the OGN side, or perhaps the TCP port or remote OGN node address.  I don't tinker with the Pi often enough to know what is in the various images out there.

Anyway, just a thought.