All dongles RED :(

[a.alexeev.p]

Hi:) i have enjoyed my paw classic for a while, but last time it operated intermittently and today completely quit on me... any advice what could have happened?

PS
1090 occasionally goes amber/green but that’s about it

[A_Vinning33]

Hi Alexey,

The P3I and Barometer are both red because the GPS is unavailable. Please see the Status Lights article here https://pilotaware.com/knowledge-base/status-lights/
I see from the USB devices at the bottom of the table, that no GPS is present. Please can you confirm wether a GPS module is plugged into the PilotAware unit?

The 1090 light is amber because although it has detected 1090 packets (112) in your case, it has not detected any more packets within a page refresh.

Yours Ever,

Ashley

[a.alexeev.p]

Hi! Thank you very much for your reply. i can confirm I have a GPS mouse plugged in. I’ll try to test with the original GPS received then. I was not able to find a link though to a document to confirm that I have everything plugged in into the correct ports.

[exfirepro]

Alex,

Is this a ‘Paw Classic’ (Pi2) or a Rosetta?

Can you post a screen shot of the ‘Configure’ screen to show us your settings please.

‘GPS Unavailable’ indicates that your GPS isn’t present, is not plugged in properly, or is no longer working. If a working GPS is present but not seeing satellites, the reporting line would clearly show this.

It shouldn’t matter which ports the dongles are plugged into as long as the USB ports are all set to ‘Auto’ on the ‘Configure’ screen (unless of course you have a specific port set to a different setting for an external device such as a transponder or external display).

Please let us know how you get on with your other gps dongle.

Regards

Peter

[a.alexeev.p]

Thank you! With original GPS dongle and after swapping USB ports I managed to get all green once, but skydemon still never worked and later on all indications showed red again and never managed to get green. :-( It is interesting that couple weeks ago it kept working on and off... but now never managed to
PS
PAW classic

[a.alexeev.p]

configure page:

[a.alexeev.p]

UPD :-(
Just in case I have tried to reinstall the software... both with the original SD card and my other newer faster SD card... formatted it as per the manual, loaded PAW software in the root folder, powered up the unit... even after a few hours wait all I get is one red and one green light inside the unit; no flashing of them, no WIFI spot available..

Finally only worked from third attempt and it seems like I managed to get all green again in the settings page. Will test how reliably it works now, however only 1-2 aircraft shown in traffic list. I know I am in a city now with limited view, but even like that before I used to get a lot I think.

[exfirepro]

Hi again Alex,

Cross-posted before I saw your update.

Nothing on your Configuration Screenshot which would indicate an issue, though I note you have the Device Connection Setting set to ‘Auto’, which some users have had connectivity problems with. This shouldn’t however affect or be linked to your current issue.

I wish you hadn’t decided to reload the software onto both cards, as this seems to have introduced a new issue into the mix. Something appears to have gone wrong in the reformatting or download/ transfer of the software if the unit isn’t now starting properly. With the Classic, you should get a solid Red ‘Power On’ light at the bottom left through the Antenna End ‘grid’, then an alternately solid / flashing ‘Green’ immediately to the right of this as the software unpacks and loads. This green should the go out when the unit is up and running - except for flashing when data is loading back onto the card.

You can check what is going on during loading by connecting the unit to a TV or monitor with an HDMI cable before powering the unit up. Let us know what you find. If it isn’t working, you will need to try reformatting one of the cards again - or try a new one (8Gb now recommended).

It would also be worth opening up the unit and checking that the upper ‘Bridge’ board is fully located down on the multi-pin GPIO connector to the Raspberry Pi Motherboard (at the side opposite the antenna), just in case they have become partially separated.

Once you have the software fully installed and running through to where the ‘login’ point appears on screen, your WiFi Hotspot should be visible again - then we just need to sort the GPS issue.

Let us know how things go.

Update

OK, I see you have now got it running and that you are now getting all greens. Comments noted re low traffic. It would be worth giving it a run out in the open to see if that improves. Also check your altitude filters if monitoring on Nav Device (though they won’t affect what’s showing on your Traffic screen). If traffic levels have dropped significantly, I’d suspect that the 1090 SDR might have gone ‘rogue’, which can in some cases also block the GPS / WiFi signals, but let’s see how the unit goes first before jumping to conclusions.

Best Regards

Peter

[a.alexeev.p]

Thank you as always for so much details, Peter! Really appreciate it:) I have tried reformatting again and software is back. I have also checked the unit inside last night and all seemed ok. After the software reinstall it first failed to work properly, but then after I have swapped USB ports (which should not have mattered though?) and plugged in the GPS mouse (not the original dongle) it seems to be working well, except for not showing any traffic, even though it used to show a lot even in similar conditions (but not that very location I am in right now). Will keep monitoring and let you know how it goes. Thank you very much once again.

[Admin]

The gps is not recognised in the usb listing
This points to a hardware fault, either the pi or gps

Thx
Lee

[a.alexeev.p]

Thank you, Lee What shall I do then if it doesn't go back to operating normally and reliably? is trashing it and buying a rosetta is the only option or is there some support available? I'd imagine it is not under warranty or anything since it's been a few years

[exfirepro]

You you can trade in your Classic against a Rosetta, provided it is  essentially  a ‘working’ unit, or you could upgrade your existing Classic to a Raspberry Pi 3B or 3B+ Motherboard and replace any faulty (GPS and/or SDR) dongles - the 3 series motherboards have on-board WiFi.

Regards

Peter

[a.alexeev.p]

Update

OK, I see you have now got it running and that you are now getting all greens. Comments noted re low traffic. It would be worth giving it a run out in the open to see if that improves. Also check your altitude filters if monitoring on Nav Device (though they won’t affect what’s showing on your Traffic screen). If traffic levels have dropped significantly, I’d suspect that the 1090 SDR might have gone ‘rogue’, which can in some cases also block the GPS / WiFi signals, but let’s see how the unit goes first before jumping to conclusions.

Best Regards

Peter
[/quote]

Thank you, Peter! I’ll let you know:) I am not sure if I am imagining it, or some time ago PAW was showing traffic from miles and miles away and that was changed in later softwares or something to prevent overload, but I might be confusing something...

[exfirepro]

Thank you, Peter! I’ll let you know:) I am not sure if I am imagining it, or some time ago PAW was showing traffic from miles and miles away and that was changed in later softwares or something to prevent overload, but I might be confusing something...

Nothing has been deliberately changed to restrict traffic reception. If it has reduced significantly I would suspect an antenna or probably more likely an SDR fault. We have seen both of these issues with Classics as they get older, though this is by no means common.

Give the unit a good run out in the open and take some screen grabs of the Traffic screen to let us see what your unit is receiving. That should give us a better idea of what is going on.

Regards

Peter

[a.alexeev.p]

I have decided to try replace the ADS-B dongle and got one from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B018PUYPCA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 Now I am getting 8 aircraft contacts from my window in London as opposed to 0 with the original one... does it mean there was fault with the dongle or just the power is different? Any risks I face by using the new dongle?