Messages

46

Technical Support / Error Message every 5 mins in Log file "mount : can't find /boot in ......."

« on: March 02, 2018, 03:32:32 pm »

Hi Lee,

In the PilotAware Log file (20180129) I am getting a mounting error message repeated every 5 minutes. The PilotAware appears to be operating as expected. Any idea what this is reporting?

This is the sequence of events in the log after a system reboot (earliest event at the bottom as in the log).

(15:09:30)......etc etc
mount:  can't find /boot in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab
mount:  can't find /boot in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab

# ...REPEATED AT  5 MINUTE INTERVALS

mount: can't find /boot in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab
(15:04:17) FILESYS           : Mount RW
mount: can't find /boot in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab
(15:04:17) FILESYS           : Mount RO

#Rebooted system. All as-expected initialisation messages. Then the message above.

Best regards
Chris

47

OGN-R PilotAware / Re: Station Transmission Constraints on Re-Broadcast

« on: January 26, 2018, 04:38:54 pm »

Thanks Lee. Interesting thread.

I would rather see the full (10%) duty cycle utilised but where it is likely to be exceeded then prioritise for those closest radius to the ground station. My thinking is that I would rather be getting a longer general view of what is about ahead of me to improve situational awareness as well as the alerts for immediate attention. If OGN-R is normally throttled to only give foreshortened range data it means one has to keep looking down to get an update rather than look out. Worse it may create more gaps between stations where we currently already have poor coverage. There is an inherent assumption in this that one is listening to the closest base station but for some without the benefit of a decent external aerial systems in the plane, the poor placement of the internal aerials means that reception is often patchy; somewhat directional and not necessarily close-by. At the moment at PWRADLEY I'm seeing relatively low utilisation (frequent Benson traffic) although when a swarm of gliders comes over in the summer it all gets more active.  In the plane I have benefited from OGN-R transmissions that have highlighted gliders that are in my immediate vicinity and been glad of the warning. Am I right in thinking that two base stations close to each other will tend to transmit over each other or is there a collision detect process built in to the transceiver to limit this?

Keep up the good work.
Thx Chris

48

OGN-R PilotAware / Re: New OGN Build 07-Aug-2017 not firing up RTLSDR

« on: August 17, 2017, 02:16:48 pm »

Thanks All,

You are right Lee the 07-08-17 build does not initialise the RTLSDR on a Pi B+ V1.2 but is now running perfectly on a Pi B2 as PWRadley.

Thx
Chris

49

OGN-R PilotAware / New OGN Build 07-Aug-2017 not firing up RTLSDR on Pi B+ V1.2

« on: August 16, 2017, 05:20:09 pm »

I was using the June version successfully but have rebuilt using the latest 07-08-2017 OGN build. All loads as expected until the point where you run ./do-cfg.sh. All the standard questions are fine but when it comes to initialise and test the RTLSDR it just drops through all the gain tests in less than a second without actually doing anything.

If you manually run the test using, for instance, the command
sudo ./gsm_scan --ppm 1 --gain 50
the test returns nothing and it returns immediately to the command prompt.
Interestingly if you omit the sudo then you get a 'Segmentation Fault' message returned. The earlier build did not require the sudo in order to work correctly.
Any thoughts please?

(the earlier build still works so nothing wrong with the equipment and I've repeatedly rebuilt the 07-08 image from scratch on different memory cards with identical results. The RTL is visible in the USB list.).

50

General Discussion / Multiple Wifi Networks in the Cockpit

« on: May 20, 2016, 05:23:27 pm »

Hi Lee,
I dropped a message to Admin on the topic of multiple wifi Networks appearing in the cockpit as a result of work I am doing with FASVIG. I suspect that you may not have picked it up. Would it be better if I posted the note here instead?
Cheers
Chris
ps. Looking forward to the release of the next batch of shields for PAW hoping I can get one.

51

General Discussion / Re: RPi 3 may halt during booting at Rainbow screen using a RPi B or RPi2 build

« on: March 03, 2016, 12:18:59 pm »

Experience of the latest release of the Raspberry Pi 3 (RPi3) Hardware. Up until now it has been possible to put a Raspbian OS sim into any of the RPi's A,B or 2 and they all just boot up. Some of us have experienced problems getting the RPi3 to boot using a build created (updated and upgraded to the latest libraries) using a Rpi B/2. The RPi 3 stops booting immediately at the initial Rainbow screen. Early days yet so hopefully this may get addressed quickly by the Rpi team. Whether RPi3 will ever be a suitable platform for PAW is a completely different question but the on-board wifi would be helpful if it did work with PAW. Info as at 03-Mar-2016.
Chris

52

General Discussion / Re: Mode A and Mode C (Military use)

« on: March 01, 2016, 06:49:59 pm »

I took the PAW out for a test in a PA28 and it picked up the ADS-B planes at about 10-15Nm with a stubby 1/4 wave aerial. We were advised of Military Helicopters operating at low level which we saw but as expected these do not currently show up in PAW. I see from the RAF's excellent AirClues online magazine Issue 14 that in an article which mentioned airprox and Class G "that many military aircraft are now equipped with TCAS and many others are being upgraded. All military aircraft squawk Mode3A/7001 with C when low flying and if they have a transponder use it with Mode3A/7000 Mode C selected to make themselves more detectable by TCAS-equipped aircraft" - and hopefuly by ourselves as the Mode A/C work comes to fruition.
Chris

53

General Discussion / Re: USB-GPS Working in PilotAware GlobalSat BU-353S4

« on: December 21, 2015, 10:41:37 am »

GlobalSat BU-353S4 working great! Many thanks. It's SIRF lV.
Its showing remarkably accurate Altitude against known location height.
Thanks again.
Gerry

Following Gerry's success, my BU-353S4 did not appear to be automatically recognised as a GPS device in the most recent releases (Nov-Dec'15). In the device table it shows as a Prolific Technology, Inc. PL2303 Serial Port. I did get it working by going into the PAW Configuration Menu and changing the Port Table entry for the device from AUTO to GPS (default speed 4800 baud) and following this with a reboot. To repeat information detailed elsewhere you need to know which number port your BU-353S4 is plugged into. Looking at the USB ports with the Ethernet port to the left: Port 1 top left; Port 2 bottom left; Port 3 top right; Port 4 bottom right.

The Bad Elf GPS Pro+ 2300 also works but is correctly detected automatically without needing to update the table.

Chris
G-DATG

54

General Discussion / TRX-SER Error Message in latest version

« on: December 20, 2015, 01:59:33 pm »

There is a strange messages in the start up process towards the end on the 19th Dec build.

Mounting File System READWRITE
Mounting File System READONLY
TRX-SER: ERROR!!! comms buf=' '

Connection works as before to SkyDemon and the ARF is transmitting on 868.3MHz so not quite sure to what this error message refers. Is it relevant?

Also pleased to see that this build also works on PI2 (despite including a ARM/ARM7 warning message in the log). Haven't yet tried the ARF in the Pi2.

Someone earlier reported that the USB GPS Global Sat BU-353S4 worked with PAW. It hasn't worked in the previous build or this Dec one. The device shows up as a 'Prolific' device.

Good new configuration menu. I did note that the TX counter on the Pi2 was increasing despite not actually having the ARF unit fitted.

I have a slightly dodgy USB connection on the RTL unit so it disconnects sometime and consequently the ADS-B detection stops and no further planes are identified. If reconnection is made the RTL unit does not appear to reinitialise and no further planes are detected. Is it meant to restart on reinsertion?

55

General Discussion / Re: barometric pressure

« on: November 14, 2015, 09:58:55 am »

The MPL3115A2 is a low current device and appears to be fine on the Pi 3.3v. The ARF needs its own 3.3v feed to power the transceiver.

56

General Discussion / Re: barometric pressure

« on: November 13, 2015, 12:08:02 pm »

I'm about to add this sensor too.

This article is helpful http://ciaduck.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/mpl3115a2-sensor-with-raspberry-pi.html

Connections from the mpl3115a2 board routing back to these Pi connection pins

Pin 1 VCC 3.3v
Pin 3 SDA
Pin 5 SCL
Pin 6 GND

Chris

57

General Discussion / Re: Aerial socket Adapters

« on: November 08, 2015, 03:59:41 pm »

Looking to experiment with different aerials for the TV/ADB-S Dongle with the micro socket or wish to use a home aerial to test/receive better ADB-S and/or TV, then a useful adapter to have is an "MCX plug to Coax Socket" adapter. Available from such places as Maplins (Code N62LN as at Nov'15).

58

General Discussion / Re: Power Supply & USB Power Cable

« on: November 08, 2015, 03:34:15 pm »

I use a minigorilla (www.powertraveller.com) 9000mAh to power in-flight equipment. Been using this unit successfully for some long time - essential equipment for long flights and trips. Using it also avoids the noise on the aircraft bus; the disconnects on start etc and the inability of some socket-based USB adapters to safely handle the load (although TomTom's hi-capacity one works well in the car for charging iPads and may well be great in a plane - to be checked out).

I have run the PilotAware unit in broadcasting mode with active ARF, RTL, Wifi 5370 and GPS (Bad Elf 2300), powered solely by the minigorilla for at least 4 hours with no hiccups at all.

59

General Discussion / Re: Skydemon and external BadElf Pro+ GPS

« on: November 08, 2015, 02:36:25 pm »

The Bad Elf GPS+ (BE-GPS-2300) appears in the USB list as "SGS Thomson Microelectronics".
In the GPS Sentences (USB) it appears as Msgs=<number> (+<number>) Fix="DGPS  fix" Mode="Undefined" Satellites=<number> {where 'number' is the relevant count}

I needed to make no configuration changes to make it work, just plug and go (the USB can be added and removed on a running system). I have the "ElfPort (tm) speed" set to 'Default' in the Bad Elf Advanced configuration menu

60

General Discussion / Re: Skydemon and external BadElf Pro+ GPS

« on: November 08, 2015, 01:22:33 pm »

Just for info for Bad Elf users: the Bad Elf 2300 GPS+ supports both NMEA and Bluetooth. You can connect the Bad Elf to the Pi via a USB cable and it works. You can also have the Bluetooth on on the Bad Elf so that at any stage in SkyDemon you can switch from FLARM to using the GPS directly on the iPad (although hopefully we won't need to do that too often).

Great project!!: keep up the good work.

ps. The PilotAware units could also be attached to large structures such as TV Masts and other features although I haven't checked if the P3i standard allows the message to differentiate between point items such as planes, and masts which have location, height and depth. It would also be useful later on to be able to differentiate between gliders, balloons, singles, twins and fixed items to be able to get programmes like Skydemon to alter the graphic (which it can already do to an extent)