Gary,
Lee means a problem with a software update would cause the issue on
everyone’s device(s).
The problem isn’t (just) the fibreglass over the GPS. The frame round the lower front edge of the bubble canopy must also be affecting signal reception in that location and I’d be surprised if there isn’t metal or carbon fibre (both impenetrable to weak satellite signals) in there somewhere. As Lee and I have both said - move the GPS out into the clear and if the problem still persists, it’s time for a new one!
Interestingly I came across a similar problem yesterday. I got a phone call the day before about a SkyRanger, fitted with PAW Rosetta, the Owners of which were reporting ‘No ADSB’ Warnings on their Trig TT21 (Data supplied from the PilotAware)
and SkyDemon was also reporting loss of GPS (which thanks to Tim D & Co is now a
specific warning). My prognosis based on the obvious common factor was a GPS fault in the Rosetta - either a defective or incorrectly seated module, or a positioning issue. On asking over the phone where the Rosetta was fitted, I was told ‘under the Right-Hand Seat’, so I decided to fly over with a spare remote GPS Mouse and take a look.
Sure enough, on examination, I found that the Rosetta was indeed under the Right-Hand Seat - cable-tied to a metal cross strut - and to allow the downward-oriented attached antennas to poke out through the floor, the unit was mounted
UPSIDE DOWN! So to have any chance of seeing satellites, the GPS antenna had to look through its own circuit board, the SDR / Raspberry Pi / Bridge, seat construction
and the Instructor / Passenger’s Backside, - no wonder it was only reporting 3 or 4 satellites at best - and they must have been ground reflections *
The obvious ‘fix’ was to swap the existing GPS for the remote GPS Mouse, which can go up on top of the left-hand ‘top tube’, but time constraints due to ongoing training precluded fitting it while I was there so it had to wait until the end of the day. I am hoping to receive a phone call later today reporting significant improvements and will be watching on VRS today with interest.
Best Regards
Peter
Edit: for anyone who has read this in the last 10 mins or so, I don’t know what happened to the last two paragraphs when I first posted, so had to retype them
* Further Edit: sorry - I was only being facetious above - for the avoidance of confusion the satellite signals that were being received may well have been via reflection, but if so it would more likely have been off aircraft metalwork, not the ground.
