No C/S traffic plus iPad runs v slowly

[William Harrison]

I have re-commissioned my PilotAware with the new software key. But have two problems (plus one other question):
1. I use Runway HD running on an iPad mini 2. It is displaying airline type traffic but I cannot see any mode C or S traffic. Nor can I see any glider/FLARM traffic.  I know there has been plenty of both during the 3.5 hours of test flying I've done in the past week. This is with the filters set wide open. Any idea what the problem is? How should ModeC/S traffic be shown in Runway HD?
2. The iPad slows right down after about 15 minutes, for example, taking approx 60 seconds to "catch up" with true heading and position. If Pilot Aware is switched off and on again, the iPad operates normally again at first, before progressively slowing down again. Is this something to do with logging? What can I do about it?
3. A question: Am I right in thinking that Pilot Aware's "radar" display does not require Runway HD to be running (i.e. could work stand alone, with the iPad's only function being to display the output)?

[Paul_Sengupta]

Sorry, I don't have RunwayHD so I can't answer how it deals with "bearingless" targets. Sky Demon has a tick box on whether you want to display bearingless targets and displays them as a ring around your aircraft with an altitude.

I can answer 3, and that's that the Radar display is independent of anything else running apart from the PilotAware itself.

[exfirepro]

Hi William,

I have just checked Runway HD and it's help manual. Runway HD shows 'bearingless' Mode C/S targets using concentric warning rings around your aircraft in the same way as SkyDemon. Were you seeing these before you updated your PilotAware licence? Have you checked your PilotAWare Configure settings to make sure 'Mode CS Detect' hasn't been accidentally turned off?

Next, under the 'General' tab on the Runway HD 'Dashboard', check your FLARM settings, though I'm sure they must be OK or you wouldn't be seeing ADSB traffic. Unlike with SkyDemon, I can't see any specific setting to control the display of 'bearingless' targets in Runway HD, though I must stress I am not particularly experienced with this software.

What makes you certain that the aircraft you saw were definitely transmitting Mode C/S? They may have had transponders but not active - or not even fitted.

I take it you are aware that PilotAware doesn't directly receive FLARM traffic and will only display this type of traffic in the vicinity of a PilotAware OGN-R relay station?

Not sure why your iPad Mini is 'slowing down', but I would be very surprised if this is directly related to PilotAware. I run an iPad mini 3 and have never experienced this. I think it's much more likely that the pad has become 'congested' with apps or is running multiple apps in the background causing it to slow down. Try reducing the number of apps running in the background by double clicking the home button and shutting down unnecessary apps.

As Paul has already said, you are correct, the PilotAware Radar display operates as a stand-alone, selected from 192.168.1.1, though it can also be run on a separate device (e.g. an old unused phone) in parallel with your main tablet display.

Regards

Peter

[Admin]

Hi Willie

1. I use Runway HD running on an iPad mini 2. It is displaying airline type traffic but I cannot see any mode C or S traffic. Nor can I see any glider/FLARM traffic.  I know there has been plenty of both during the 3.5 hours of test flying I've done in the past week. This is with the filters set wide open. Any idea what the problem is? How should ModeC/S traffic be shown in Runway HD?

I ran this up on my iPhone, and this is what it should look like :-
Thx
Lee

[Admin]

Hi Willie

2. The iPad slows right down after about 15 minutes, for example, taking approx 60 seconds to "catch up" with true heading and position. If Pilot Aware is switched off and on again, the iPad operates normally again at first, before progressively slowing down again. Is this something to do with logging? What can I do about it?

Can you post your FLARM settings under RunwayHD ?
This is what I have, what are you using as your GPS source, the iPad or pilotAware ?

[William Harrison]

Here are my FLARM settings. Is there anything wrong here?
The two reasons I am confident that there was plenty of C/S traffic when I test flew the system were:
  1. The Mode column in the Traffic page of Pilot Aware showed numerous C and CS entries.
  2. I was flying in the vicinity of various major aerodromes where many light aircraft were operating.
However, none of these was seen in Runway HD (or ever has been). This is not an update issue as I never saw them when I used the system initially with "September 2016" software. Might I have a faulty PAW unit or have I failed to configure something correctly?
Re the question on GPS source, how would I know which it was using? The iPad itself is the Mobile spec which happily runs Runway HD without any external GPS. Would the system default to this rather than the Pilot Aware GPS source?
Re the point made about indirect routing of FLARM signals, yes, I do appreciate that. I thought they were pretty long range. Should I have received something in the corridor between Cambridge and Sywell?
Re the suggestion that I might have too many apps running, this was not the case. I only ever have Safari and Runway HD operating. Any other suggestions about the iPad slowdown issue would be very welcome.

[Admin]

Hi Willie

As far as mode CS is concerned the traffic table shows everything but only sends data to the navigation application if it is judged to be important.
There is no point in reporting everything to the navigation device because a lot of the mode CS traffic has a  Signal strength which is too low
 If you want to make more traffic appear in the navigation application then you can change the sensitivity of the detection to long range. This may have the effect of notifying you of aircraft which you will not be able to get a visual

Thx
Lee

[Keithvinning]

Hi William

Re the point made about indirect routing of FLARM signals, yes, I do appreciate that. I thought they were pretty long range. Should I have received something in the corridor between Cambridge and Sywell?

Yes you will see gliders from afar. In the corridor between Cambridge and Sywell there is an OGN-R station at Everton (Sandy Bedfordshire), Corby and Husbands Bosworth. We could do with a station in Cambridge itself. Any offers. OGN@pilotaware.com

[JCurtis]

Hi William

Re the point made about indirect routing of FLARM signals, yes, I do appreciate that. I thought they were pretty long range. Should I have received something in the corridor between Cambridge and Sywell?

Yes you will see gliders from afar. In the corridor between Cambridge and Sywell there is an OGN-R station at Everton (Sandy Bedfordshire), Corby and Husbands Bosworth. We could do with a station in Cambridge itself. Any offers. OGN@pilotaware.com

Hmm, I'm in Cambridge, might be able to put an antenna on the office, can't get one on the house and the solar PV blocks anything in the attic.  Kind of depends on what is needed to be installed etc.

[William Harrison]

Lee, I've checked and tried everything that has been suggested in this thread. However, the "no C/S or glider traffic" issue remains (curiously, the slow running iPad issue mysteriously sorted itself out yesterday). The unit appears to show all the professional traffic going in and out of places like Stansted and Luton but not (as in not ever in the 12 months I've had it) does it show GA traffic of any kind. The latter is the only relevant collision threat of course. So, what is wrong? Could it still be a configuration issue or is it a hardware issue? How do I check this? How do I remedy it?

[exfirepro]

Willie,

Re-reading all the posts in this thread, the thought just occurred to me that the symptoms you are describing i.e. no Mode C/S are exactly what I would expect to see from an older 'homebuilt' unit based on a Raspberry Pi 1B. Because the Pi1B isn't powerful enough to cope with the loads, it was excluded from processing Mode C/S (and audio warnings) when these were introduced in the newer software.

In your case, however, you say Mode C and CS entries are appearing on your Traffic Screen, so this presumably can't be the case. I have to admit therefore to being baffled.

Can you just confirm that it is a commercial PilotAware 'Classic' with P3i RF Bridge please.

You say you are seeing Commercial (presumably ADSB) traffic, so the 1090 MHz receive and decode side must be working.

Are you seeing any PilotAware P3i traffic?

Perhaps you could power up the unit and post screenshots of the Home, Configure and Traffic Screens, so we can see what is going on. This may help.

Regards

Peter

[Admin]

Hi Willie

This is all very strange

Lee, I've checked and tried everything that has been suggested in this thread. However, the "no C/S or glider traffic" issue remains

Can you please post the following pages from your PilotAware
1. Home Page
2. Configure Page
3. Traffic Page

(curiously, the slow running iPad issue mysteriously sorted itself out yesterday). The unit appears to show all the professional traffic going in and out of places like Stansted and Luton but not (as in not ever in the 12 months I've had it) does it show GA traffic of any kind.

You been out Flying with PilotAware - and never seen any GA Traffic ?

Also could you go to the tracks page and send me your most resent five track files
Thx
Lee