Newcomer to Pilotaware who is just a bit too dense to understand the basics 😊

[FERRYAIR]

 8)Hi Forum users,

Just purchased a Pilotaware unit from a PAW Builder & to be honest I am a complete dork when it comes to Electronics.
I haven't received the unit because I literally only paid for it 8hrs ago ( as at 2015hrs 24/10/2015 ) but I am someone who when I get a new gizmo wants to play with it immediately.

Now comes the questions :
(1) I intend to run it on Skydemon & don't know how to connect the PAW unit to my Galaxy Tab3 Android tablet so that is likely to be my initial faux pas.

(2) Does the PAW unit have to maintain an internet connection during use or will it still function offline?

(3) My android Tab3 has an inbuilt GPS, will this be the GPS link I will use to run the PAW?

(4) Do you have to program your callsign into the PAW?  * I ask because I am jumping in/out of different aircraft  almost weekly and wouldn't want to be transmitting the incorrect callsign whilst flying *

I look forward to receiving the informed answers to what probably seem dumb ass questions, please explain in layman terms because I am electronically inept.

MTIA,
Peter.

[Richard W]

1) and 2)  The PAW presents itself as a WiFi hotspot.  So instead of connecting to your router or some other internet providing hotspot, you connect your tablet to the PAW WiFi.  So you then have no access to the Internet

3) If the PAW you bought includes a GPS dongle, then that is what it will use.  If not, you run an app on your tablet which sends the GPS positions to the PAW, which in turn sends them back to SkyDemon.  The app is called CollisionAware on IOS, I'm not sure for Android, but search for that in the PlayStore.

4) You put your aircraft's 12 bit ICAO code into PAW, not the aircraft registration.  Hopefully this will get translated into the registration sometime in the future.  You can get the ICAO code for your aircraft from G-INFO.  However, PAW will generate a made up value initially, and you could just leave it set to that, at least until ICAO->Registration translation becomes available.

You will need to set up your SkyDemon to connect via FLARM, with a code of 6000.  Then when you 'Go Flying', select the FLARM option.  Also, set it up to show aircraft at +/- 40000' or so, so that you can see ADS-B traffic (probably airliners), to give you confidence that the system is working.

[SteveN]

Time for a separate forum FAQ section perhaps?

[ianfallon]

Perhaps an FAQ - but am in the process of writing some new more detailed setup documentation.

[iang]

8)Hi Forum users,

Just purchased a Pilotaware unit from a PAW Builder & to be honest I am a complete dork when it comes to Electronics.
I haven't received the unit because I literally only paid for it 8hrs ago ( as at 2015hrs 24/10/2015 ) but I am someone who when I get a new gizmo wants to play with it immediately.

Now comes the questions :
(1) I intend to run it on Skydemon & don't know how to connect the PAW unit to my Galaxy Tab3 Android tablet so that is likely to be my initial faux pas.

(2) Does the PAW unit have to maintain an internet connection during use or will it still function offline?

(3) My android Tab3 has an inbuilt GPS, will this be the GPS link I will use to run the PAW?

(4) Do you have to program your callsign into the PAW?  * I ask because I am jumping in/out of different aircraft  almost weekly and wouldn't want to be transmitting the incorrect callsign whilst flying *

I look forward to receiving the informed answers to what probably seem dumb ass questions, please explain in layman terms because I am electronically inept.

MTIA,
Peter.

Please read this in conjunction with other corespondance

on your android device download an app from the google store called  pilotawareAndroid.

start up the pilotaware unit (ensure you have enough power for it as it draws a few amps), start up you android device and in settings change your wifi connection to a connection with the start of the name "PilotAware- xxxxxx" (where xxxxxx is your"serial number".
providing you are outside the pilotawareAndroid app will after a couple of minutes start to display some calorimetry.

start up you chosen nav program and set up the Flarm settings (see message from Lee about this for each nav program below)
2. SkyDemon Specific

2.1 Setup->Connectivity_Options
Select FLARM
set the Air Connect Key to 6000

2.1 Setup->Navigation_Options
Go to the bottom of the options and alter 'Show within Vertically' to something like +-40000ft,
otherwise for testing purposes, you will see no traffic

2.2 Fly
and select 'Use Flarm'


3. RunwayHD

3.1 Settings->System
Enable Flarm mode
IP Address 192.168.1.1
Port 2000
Passcode 6001
Altitude Filter(+/-ft) 40000 


4. EasyVFR

4.1 Menu->NavTools->Settings->FlarmSettings
WiFlyIPAddress: 192.168.1.1
WiFly Port: 2000
WiFly Pin-code: 6001


5. Sky-Map
Setup> Wireless Interface Setup
Enable Wi-Fi
IP address: 192.168.1.1
Port: 2000
Password: 6001
Setup> FLARM / Show ADSB traffic

6. Air Navigation Pro
configuration->sensors->FLARM-AirAvionics-AirConnect
Sensor: On
Pin Code: 6001

and that should see  you up and running


iang

[rodent0_2]

Let us know how you go one with your galaxy tab 3 as I cannot get mine to work with the paw and running pilot aware for android. Waiting for a gps dongle and hopefully that will allow it to work. Cheers Nick

[chrismills]

Look back through the forum for the Android thread. There are step by step instructions on how to get up and running with android.

Chris

[daveb]

As an equally inept user...
Does the tablet have to have a GPS to run the nav software or can you run on a really cheapo tablet without gps and use the gps on the PAW for PAW and say SkyDemon?

[SteveN]

If your wifi is connected to the PilotAware access point and PAW has a GPS then Skydemon does not need a GPS on the tablet to navigate.

[Michael Clarkson]

<pedant mode>
n settings change your wifi connection to a connection with the start of the name "PilotAware- xxxxxx" (where xxxxxx is your"serial number".

xxxxxxxxxx is not a serial number but your WiFi dongles Media Access Control Address (MAC) which is linked to your generated Pilotaware license key
</pedant mode>

I've had no issues running the device on an iOS device (iPad Air2) but over the weekend tried on a Samsung Tab S 10.5 ( Android 5.02) and Skydemon kept losing the connection. This appeared to coincide with Skydemon saying it couldn't connect with it's servers and going in to off-line mode, even though I had "Live data when planning" set under Connectivity options, I even set this to "Offline mode" but it made no difference and Skydemon still dropped the connection.

Has anyone else seen this behaviour on Android?

[Admin]

I've had no issues running the device on an iOS device (iPad Air2) but over the weekend tried on a Samsung Tab S 10.5 ( Android 5.02) and Skydemon kept losing the connection. This appeared to coincide with Skydemon saying it couldn't connect with it's servers and going in to off-line mode, even though I had "Live data when planning" set under Connectivity options, I even set this to "Offline mode" but it made no difference and Skydemon still dropped the connection.

Has anyone else seen this behaviour on Android?

Hi Michael,
Is your Android Pad WiFi or Cellular ?
Whilst connected to PAW, you will lose all internet connectivity, if your Android  Pad is WiFi

How is PAW getting its GPS fix, do you have a GPS dongle plugged into PAW, or are you using the GPS share utility CollisionAwareAndroid ?

Thx
Lee

[Michael Clarkson]

Hi Lee,

Have the ublox gps usb dongle plugged into the PAW unit. As I said I've seen no issues using Skydemon under iOS only android 5.02 on the Tab S, both iPad and Tab S are WiFi only devices.

Planning on trying on a couple of different devices later to see if it's a specific device/android 5.02 issue.

Thanks,

Michael

[Michael Clarkson]

So I tried on a tegra note 7 (android 5.1) and a lg gpad 8.3 ( android 4.4.2) both WiFi only and had no issues with dropped connections.
I then tried again on the Tab S (android 5.01) which happily remained connected for over an hour until without issue.

So at this point I'll just put the previous observed behaviour down to a glitch.

[Paul_Sengupta]

Sky Demon probably needed to download something.

Having downloaded it, it's probably now ok to connect to the PilotAware.

[FERRYAIR]

Let us know how you go one with your galaxy tab 3 as I cannot get mine to work with the paw and running pilot aware for android. Waiting for a gps dongle and hopefully that will allow it to work. Cheers Nick

I finally got my Pilotaware unit after the Post Office took 5 days to deliver it from Cambridge to Edinburgh, probably par for the GPO to take that  long to deliver a First Class Package !!!!

Anyway, being just like a impatient kid on Xmas Day I rapidly opened it and immediately switched on the unit and connected as per instructions to my Skydemon unit........Incredibly I saw 3 aircraft in my close vicinity immediately, not sure how I managed that because after about 3minutes I haven't seen another aircraft since ?

I was using it about 5nm away from Edinburgh Airport with a 45000ft height set, it seems to be that after the 3 minutes the Skydemon goes into offline mode.

I have Flarm 6000 set and have Pilotaware app running on my Tab 3 using the SD GPS but it seems to not get the GPS satellites in Flarm mode, if I put my Skydemon into " use location " the Skydemon location is almost immediate.

I must be doing something wrong because it very briefly worked, but since hasn't picked up a single thing !!!