Topics

16

General Discussion / PAW sans PAW Rx/Tx

« on: May 11, 2019, 11:56:16 am »

This should be a simple one for you gurus 

A guy I've been conversing with in Oz is looking for an easy way to get ADSB In and then displayed on his MGL EFIS (via RS232). I've described PAW and how it would also give Mode C/S indications but obviously not OGN R and no multi-lateration when it comes out. I don't know if Oz Runways (similar to Sky Demon) is able to display traffic but that is easy enough to find out and it is more the traffic to his EFIS that he's interested in and the FTDI cable is an elegant and simple solution.

Now, the obvious snag is not being allowed to transmit etc on the PAW frequency in Oz but what I would like to find out is if there is a way in which PAW can be used as an ADSB receiver etc without it transmitting on the PAW frequency and how we could go about disabling that function.

That's it.....over to the experts 

17

General Discussion / GPS Splitter

« on: February 03, 2019, 02:22:57 pm »

It looks like I'm going to end up with 4 GPS antennas in my machine. 1 for the MGL iEFIS Lite. 1 for the super duper MGL SP12 SIL = 3. 1 for my Funke BF157 'backup instrument' and, finally, 1 for my PAW.

I have read various things about some (SP12 in particular) requiring a ground plane and the distances required between GPS antennas. All of this means I could be struggling to find suitable locations. Now, this is not impossible and if it comes to it then I'm sure I'll cope but I was wondering about the viability of a GPS splitter. Something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Symmetricom-58536A-GPS-4-Way-Active-Antenna-Signal-1x4-Divider-Splitter-N-Female/283194294918?_trkparms=aid=555018&algo=PL.SIM&ao=1&asc=20131003132420&meid=fbb6b1e433e5445f9ed94b55dba9766d&pid=100005&rk=1&rkt=2&sd=361827897630&itm=283194294918&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

I was thinking that the SP12 GPS could be the 'master' input (since it's needed for the SIL = 3 etc) and then the other units could run off the splitter.

So, wise gurus of the Forum, what do you think? Am I worrying unnecessarily about the distance between GPS antennas? Is a ground plane really necessary for the SP12 GPS (it says so in their manual)? Do GPS splitters work or do they degrade the signal? In other words do I or don't I 

I have written to Mr MGL himself as he knows his stuff but realise there is a LOT of collective intelligence here on the matter, so thought I'd write twice.

18

General Discussion / PAW Shop

« on: October 29, 2018, 10:01:26 am »

If I go to:

http://pilotawarehardware.com

I get a pretty picture and a padlock on the right side. If I click the padlock to unlock I am asked for my user name and password. I have tried to use the same details as here but to no avail.

Is this facility available only to those with a licence or am I able to access the shop even though my PAW is bought but still unused in its box (not because I don't love it but because I'm still in foreign climes)?

19

OGN-R PilotAware / What does OGN-R re-broadcast?

« on: September 10, 2018, 07:58:42 am »

Dear people wot know stuff,

The SkyEcho2 thread on the Flyer Forum raised a question in my tiny brain and I'm sure someone here will know the answer. Gaz mentioned that Turweston had seen his ADSB on their OGN-R and told him they could see him. I think, following his response, that we're both on the same hymn sheet and believe that it was actually the PAW unit part of the OGN-R station that saw him but I just wanted to clarify a couple of points.

Now, I know an OGN-R ground station is based on the PAW box of goodies and like any PAW should be able to see PAW, ADSB and, I presume, Mode C/S. A ground station will also be receiving, as I understand it, Flarm data for the nearby area over the OGN via the Internet. My question is what does that OGN-R ground station re-broadcast to be picked up by nearby P3I capable receivers?

I cannot imagine it will re-broacast Mode C or, at the moment, Mode S as those are bearingless and only based on signal strength. However, the Mode S multilateration is a different animal and I understand the OGN-R stations will be used to re-broadcast Mode S (MLAT) once the system is up and running.

What about P3I and ADSB that the ground station can see? I would imagine that re-broadcasting ADSB wouldn't be too useful as it has such a strong signal that they'll be picked up by a PAW unit anyway but how about P3I that is detected, for instance, 20km south of the ground station and sent to a PAW unit in an aircraft 10km to the north that wouldn't be able to see the southerly traffic (perhaps)?

Thank you, wise ones.

20

General Discussion / CO Detection

« on: July 18, 2018, 12:53:57 am »

I saw this on the Stratux Facebook page and thought it was interesting. Apparently the new Sentry has this feature (http://flywithsentry.com)....which is basically a Skyecho 2 with the ADSB Out removed and CO detection added. I think it would be a useful add-on if it's possible to integrate it into PAW but only offer it as a thought as I have no idea if there's space available/capacity to handle the calculations/power etc etc etc.

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-ccs811-air-quality-sensor/raspberry-pi-wiring-test

Of course, this wouldn't be as useful as Bluetooth audio.....have I mentioned that before 

21

General Discussion / Hmmm, would it work?

« on: May 16, 2018, 02:40:09 am »

I saw this. You know what I'm thinking 

https://www.amazon.com/Case-Official-Raspberry-Touchscreen-Display/dp/B01HV97F64/ref=pd_rhf_dp_s_nonshared_vtp_t2_1_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01HV97F64&pd_rd_r=K584PWWZMNKBGNNX7E08&pd_rd_w=Wtf6M&pd_rd_wg=tieC0&pf_rd_i=desktop-rhf&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=5688869962467094655&pf_rd_r=K584PWWZMNKBGNNX7E08&pf_rd_s=desktop-rhf&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=K584PWWZMNKBGNNX7E08

Edited to add a less clunk version but still robust:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1503651


Edited to add even more 

Well, I fired up Google and realise that I am probably quite a few centuries out of date regarding the advances with these Pi thingies. Apparently I haven't discovered anything new regarding these TVs and they haven't only just hit the streets  but I've learnt a few things. When looking at the official Pi 7" display there is a built-in function to allow you to share the same 2A power supply twixt screen and Pi. So that's a good thing; no extra wires, batteries etc. Most of the boxes into which you can fix the 7" display have decent fixings which would allow the peripheral equipment (GPS & ADSB dongles, antennas etc) to be fitted into the unit securely.

So, my thinking is could this be a reasonable, portable way of displaying the PAW radar display? Obviously you could still have the WIFI dongle to output to Sky Demon etc but as a stand-alone system I think this would have some merit.

22

General Discussion / Rosetta

« on: May 04, 2018, 08:15:33 pm »

Well, we can't just have this hidden where we can't comment 

http://forum.pilotaware.com/index.php/topic,1248.0.html

I think the 80mm display will be very interesting. Shame I won't be at Popham to have a butchers.

23

Technical Support / Pimping The GPS

« on: May 04, 2018, 07:09:15 pm »

Today's stupid questions (0256 JST  ). Is it going to be possible to somehow pimp the GPS output to a Mode S extended squitter to enable SIL 1?

At the moment my plan is to use the GPS output from my MGL EFIS as the position source for a Trig TT21 transponder to enable ADSB Out. As we ALL know ( ) this would presently give me SIL 0 and, therefore, cloaking device to certified receivers. Having spoke to the MGL Guru, I am assured their GPS does actually conform to SIL 1 but it would need the paperwork doing before he can turn on the 0s and 1s that would enable the transponder to sense the presence of a pimped GPS signal and switch itself to SIL 1.

According to Trig, the transponder will automatically configure itself to SIL 0 or SIL 1 depending on the GPS 'code' it receives, telling it how good or gooder it is.

I was wondering if there is a relatively easy way for PAW to change the GPS dongle, or whatever else needs to be done, in order to get the proper GPS output signal to an extended squitter to enable SIL 1.

Some might argue this would also slightly mitigate the Sky Echo 2 'threat', as their unit has SIL 1. Of course, it would only affect those using the GPS to a Mode S for ADSB Out but every little helps.....possibly 

24

General Discussion / UAT/978 In

« on: April 17, 2018, 02:11:30 pm »

 I have used the search function but could not find specific answers to my question of:

Would it be possible to get 978 MHz piped into PAW, in addition to the existing 1090 MHz for ADSB and 868 MHz for P3I?

Now, I suspect the answer is 'no' and I think the reason will be something to do with either the Raspberry PI capabilities/processing power or the ability to have 3 antenna inputs. But I'd like to hear it from any of you guys in the know, instead of my guesswork.

Of course it has to do with getting the weather overlaid onto SD etc, as with SkyEcho, Stratux and so forth.

I appreciate ADSB Out from PAW is, as previously discussed, a BIG step too far but the receiving of some wigglies that are already in the sky might not be so insurmountable. Note: MIGHT NOT 

Where am I wrong this time 

25

General Discussion / SIL and invisibility

« on: April 16, 2018, 02:29:10 am »

Wherever ADS-B technology is used it is worth highlighting that most ADS-B In traffic receivers will only display aircraft traffic that generate a non-zero quality indicator, (also referred to as SIL 1). In contrast a zero quality indicator (referred to as SIL 0) ADS-B Out, is ignored and not displayed on a traffic display – rendering an aircraft invisible.

Spurred into reading about the Trig TN72 by Giver's post, I came across the information above and I have to admit that I am now a bit confused.

Let's say I don't have an 'approved' GPS source, such as the TN72 but I wish to use the extended squitter capability of my Mode S transponder to transmit ADSB data. I might have something like the non-approved GPS output from an EFIS (MGL in my case) or it may be similar to the non-approved GPS output from a PAW unit (as in Giver's case). I understand that in both these scenarios I would set the SIL value to 0 in the transponder setup. But then I look at the information above from Trig!

They say that if I have a SIL of 0 then I'm not going to be displayed on a traffic display. Now, does this mean all traffic displays? Will a PAW user with the standard ADSB receiver and Sky Demon not be able to see me?

I don't think this is correct and I suspect that it may be a case of certified ADSB In systems not being able to see me because they only allow SIL 1 or better to be 'seen' and filter out SIL 0. Non-certified ADSB In systems, I think, will be able to see me (as they don't filter SIL 0) but I'd be very grateful if anyone that knows 'stuff' can categorically confirm or deny the information from Trig.

Could this also be linked to the appearance or non-appearance of aircraft in such cases as http://forum.pilotaware.com/index.php/topic,1229.0.html

26

General Discussion / SkyEcho 2

« on: April 15, 2018, 09:06:31 am »

I'm sure there's quite a few of us who have seen this bit of kit by now and at first glance it looks quite attractive. Obviously it receives both frequencies (1090/978), so can get weather as well as ADSB. They claim to be able to receive Mode C/S. It's in a neat one box, one solution (with internal antennas), has a pimped GPS for a better SIL and they've got the price in the 'doable' bracket.

There are still a couple of unanswered questions; the main ones being can it be used while still squawking Mode S and what apps can it be used with.

What I found interesting was the blurb on the website which states:

Additional optional functionality available for purchase:

Internal AHRS available via GDL 90 for synthetic vision and attitude indicator capabilities on EFB apps.
External receivers for additional traffic types such as PilotAware™ and FLARM™
LCD traffic warning display
Flight Data Recorder

Can anyone from the PAW team give us any idea of what the SkyEcho people are talking about with "External receivers for additional traffic types such as PilotAware™ and FLARM™"? Is this the first you've heard of it or is there really an integration of PAW features into the SkyEcho2? I notice the SE2 has the facility to receive Bluetooth and USB C but neither of those seem to apply to PAW, so I was wondering how these 'external receivers' (whatever they mean by that) are actually going to communicate with their box of tricks.

Certainly interesting times ahead, as people say when these gadgets appear 

27

Technical Support / Videos

« on: March 20, 2018, 08:55:13 am »

It seems to me that certain topics often get repeated. Sometimes it's a result of laziness and a seeming inability to use the search function, other times it's just the result stemming from a different problem. We regularly see Peter telling people how to update things, or re-install such-and-such and I just wondered if it was worth a few videos being made of how to do these things. I don't know about others but if I am shown how to do something I'll grasp the idea straight away. That's not really the case with reading instructions (but that may have more to do with my X + Y).

If this is considered a worthy idea and, more importantly, something that could easily be done by the lovely people of PAW, do you think it would be worth us listing what videos we think would be worthwhile?

Just kicking off from other threads, I would like to see the two methods of updating PAW shown and how to do a complete re-install. These videos could emphasise things like not renaming files, making sure old ones aren't on the USB, installing on the root directory etc.

What is the opinion of our august company 

28

General Discussion / MORE ADSB Antenna Stuff

« on: February 06, 2018, 07:31:33 am »

Some time ago I bought one of these antennas for the ADSB reception side of things:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ADS-B-RadarBox-SBS-RTL-SDR-1090MHz-ADSB-Magnetic-Antenna-Aerial/391638799640?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908103841%26meid%3D67593422c47a48f18d150eb3f8870d9e%26pid%3D100227%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D5%26mehot%3Dlo%26sd%3D391638799640%26itm%3D391638799640&_trksid=p2054502.c100227.m3827

I got this because it has an SMA connector, which will go nicely with the Flight Aware ADSB dongle I have. SMA connectors were bought in order to ensure less risk of the connections coming apart, in what will be a permanently mounted PAW.

The antenna above is going to live inside the tail end of a fabric covered aircraft. It has a 30mm magnetic base.

My question is (drumroll), does this antenna need a ground plane to sit on? If so, I assume it will be about 140mm square (1/4 wavelength being 69mm).

I'm asking because I've become a bit confused with too much reading. I know I need a ground plane for a transmitting antenna (such as my transponder) but I really don't know if I need one for a receive-only antenna.

I've also been reading that the ground plane (when used) should have the same dimensions as the antenna length which, although a multiple, seems to be at odds with other wise words that counsel 1/4 wavelength.

I know I've done too much research and have just confused myself, so maybe someone could set me straight (using simple words). Thank you  .

29

General Discussion / Audio Options

« on: November 12, 2017, 12:25:17 am »

Yes, I'm afraid I'm still thinking of PAW audio options 

The aux in to the Trig radio is going to be used for the EFIS warnings etc and I really don't want to complicate matters with mixers etc, when there are other options available. So, radio aux is not really a player.

One option is to split the 3.5mm jack output and run two wires to an aux-in on the headsets. Unfortunately this, for me, means the Bose A20 when I'd prefer the DC One X (which doesn't have aux in).

Second option is to plug a Bluetooth transmitter into the 3.5mm jack and BT it to the headsets. I would have the BT transmitter plugged into a USB source so it can permanently charge. Good solution but I plan on having my PAW permanently mounted and hidden behind the panel. I THINK the BT transmitter's battery would discharge over a period on non-use i.e. no auto-shutdown when power is removed and would then need to be turned on once aircraft power is supplied (and USB powered). I'm assuming the pairing to the headsets would remain even if the battery did discharge but it could be a potential pain trying to locate it and turn it on. Not insurmountable but not ideal when you're working from a design clean sheet. PAW BT to headsets also means no Sky Demon BT audio. Again, not a huge deal but......

SO, onto my question    I'm stuck in a hotel in Japan at the moment and have no access to any of my gear, so I have to rely on you kind souls of the WWW but what I'd really like to know is if the PAW audio can be input to an iPad Mini via the 3.5mm jack (male to male lead) and then be 'rebroadcast' (with Sky Demon audio) via the iPad Bluetooth to the headsets. I think this would also allow the normal other iPad functionality, such as telephone, as it is the type that has a sim card in it. The iPad will be panel-mounted, so there's no problems with turning power on etc and no fiddling behind the panel. This also means I don't need an aux in to the headsets and can buy the ones I want, rather than ones I'd prefer not to. Another assumption here, that I can't test, is that two headsets can be Bluetooth(ed) to an iPad at a time.

Please note that I do appreciate all thoughts but really do not want to start installing switches or buttons into my, very clean design, panel. 'Stuff' is hidden to protect my OCD 



Edited to add: I've just been having a look at the Sky Demon manual and it talks about audio alerts for traffic, in the chapter discussing connections to the likes of PAW and the use of the Flarm protocol. As of yet, I have absolutely no experience of using SD and it is only something that I WILL be installing when I eventually get my aircraft etc.  If I read this correctly, SD uses the Flarm data to show the traffic on the SD screen and issue the audio warnings accordingly. I can only imagine that the Mode C, S, ADSB and PAW data are all being transmitted to SD via the Flarm protocol, so it won't miss out any of the warnings. In this case, is there any need to actually have an audio output from PAW via the 3.5mm jack? I know it says so on the PAW manual but I don't know how up-to-date that is compared with the latest software versions of PAW and SD etc. If SD is chucking out the same audio information then that would solve the problem without leads or BT transmitters from PAW, as the data will all be sent via WIFI and then one could just use the iPad BT to go to the headsets.

Or have I got it all wrong.......again 

30

General Discussion / More Antenna Queries

« on: October 09, 2017, 06:16:51 am »

I think my head is going to explode with the different types of connectors and adapters I need and I am now totally confused as to what I actually do require. My intention is to eventually remote mount the PAW behind my panel and use external antennas. I have bought two of the antenna extension leads from the shop, as well as the GPS mouse. I will follow the links on the how-to-do-it PDF and purchase the relevant SMA to MCX adapter for the ADSB. The problem isn't at the PAW end but, rather, at the antennae ends and what I'd really like is an idiot's guide to exactly what adapters I need. To make matters worse, I'm in Australia (well, actually Japan at the moment) but all my gear is in England, so I can't even look at it, so I rely on Google images   

To start with I have bought a GAV 868 external antenna for my PAW (pictured in the attachments). Now according the information I can glean, these have an N-type connector. Seeing as I'm going from the male end of the extension lead then it would make sense that I want a female SMA adapter to a male or female N connector but I have no idea of which one. There is a GAV 868 to Flarm cable available through one of the outlets and that looks like the picture in the attachments, so does anyone have any idea which gender of N connector I need to get by looking at the photo. To prove just how dim I am, I don't even know for sure which end is the SMA connector (but I think it's the big one).

The same applies to the ADSB receiving antenna (but I'm a little happier on this score but would like to confirm my thinking). Again, I have the extension lead to go to from the ADSB antenna to my PAW (via the SMA to MCX adapter) and so will have the SMA male end at the antenna. This time I have a TED-type of antenna and a BNC connector (attachment). This looks to me like a male BNC jack, so I THINK I want a BNC female to SMA female adapter but would appreciate any contrary information.

Although I've read all the information on the antennas and posted enough junk of my own, I'm still a bit unsure if I'll use an external ADSB antenna but only because I'm still not convinced my locations will be suitable compared to the transponder antenna (which I understand puts out quite a few wigglies). I think I may be in a position to mount a ground plane that is approximately 1 metre wide underneath the seats of my machine (when I eventually get it). The transponder antenna is mounted approximately 30cm from the right edge, so that clearly eats up some of the distance I can put between the PAW and ADSB antennae. I was thinking of mounting the GAV 868 in between the two 1090 MHz aerials, as that should hopefully deconflict a bit but I'm still unsure if those sort of distances are too short between a transmitting/receiving transponder antenna and a listening ADSB antenna (obviously on the same frequency). Likewise, it might even be the PAW antenna is too close to the transponder; I don't know. If that proves impossible then I'll external mount the PAW (the GAV 868) and put the ADSB antenna behind the baggage area, inside the fabric fuselage.

All that is by-the-by though if I can't figure out which adapters I need so please feel free to chip and educate Captain Dimbo on exactly what he needs to buy.

Thank ya'll 

(I apologise for the posts of pictures but I couldn't shrink the photos to fit into one post without losing too much detail)