Author Topic: Nothing showing on PAW Vector  (Read 1300 times)

Gary Nelson

Nothing showing on PAW Vector
« on: August 23, 2022, 06:39:35 pm »
I recently purchased a PAW Dongle for the iGrid update. There was an issue, mysteriously resolved by moving the dongle from position 4 to position 1 (as per a recent previous closed  thread)

Now checking PAW Vector (406C23) there is zero PAW or FLARM activity showing,  despite having flown on 11th, 13th, 18th, 20th and today (23rd)?

PS I double checked today and the PAW configure page has my correct Hex code.



exfirepro

Re: Nothing showing on PAW Vector
« Reply #1 on: August 23, 2022, 10:57:31 pm »
Hi Gary,

Something strange here.

I have just checked the PAW Database (10.45pm) and there are lots of reports from multiple ATOM sites for 406C23 for all of the recent dates you mention. Vector is also reporting coverage for PilotAware, Flarm and ADSB (I have attached the PAW report for the 11th to 23rd August which I have just produced as an example).

Are you sure you pressed the [GO] button at the right hand of the selection to initiate the Vector reports? Simply hitting the 'Enter' key on your keypad doesn't initiate the report.

The only other reason I can think of is that the Vector system might have been down when you checked earlier - though I am unaware of any problems.

Best Regards

Peter
p.s. the other thread isn't actually 'closed' - I just adjusted the thread title to let people know that between us we resolved the original problem (i.e. that the iGRID Network wasn't appearing on your PAW Network Screen).

« Last Edit: August 24, 2022, 09:16:46 am by exfirepro »

Gary Nelson

Re: Nothing showing on PAW Vector
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2022, 09:51:47 am »
Hi Peter

1.   I just looked again at Vector on my iPhone 12. If I select "Base Station" rather than "Rosetta" before I press GO, it all seems to work  :D. I suppose selecting Base Station shows my visibilty to Base Stations (and therefore to others)

2.   When I selected Rosetta, then (as per my first post) there was hardly any days to select and little to see. What is that function for ? If it is what my Rosetta "sees" then why is there hardly anything there?

Gary
« Last Edit: August 24, 2022, 09:56:47 am by Gary Nelson »

Admin

Re: Nothing showing on PAW Vector
« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2022, 12:16:57 pm »
2.   When I selected Rosetta, then (as per my first post) there was hardly any days to select and little to see. What is that function for ? If it is what my Rosetta "sees" then why is there hardly anything there?
It is what your Rosetta sees - reported back to iGRID

Thx
Lee

exfirepro

Re: Nothing showing on PAW Vector
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2022, 02:47:06 pm »
Hi Gary,

Sorry, I was going to answer the above earlier but had to go out at short notice.

You are correct with comment 1. - the 'Base Station' setting reports your transmissions as received by PilotAware ATOM Ground Stations, by utilising the data reported to the ATOM-GRID Database via our secure network (this is what we have been used to seeing historically as it was the only option available to us).

Re - comment 2. - As Lee has already reported, the 'Rosetta' reporting setting is designed to report what your Rosetta sees - as reported back to the database via iGRID. This of course depends on the rollout of iGRID and effective cellular connectivity back to our Network from aircraft.

This is a NEW SETTING OPTION which is still running as a Beta, hence the presence or purpose of which hasn't been formally announced or explained - (until now), so when you said in your OP...

'Now checking PAW Vector (406C23) there is zero PAW or FLARM activity showing,  despite having flown on 11th, 13th, 18th, 20th and today (23rd)?'

...and 'neglected' to mention that you were talking about using the Rosetta setting - I naturally assumed that you were using the default 'Base Station' setting, hence why I didn't immediately recognise the issue you were describing.

Having had a quick look back at your flight records from the database (via https://aircrew.co.uk/playback/groundstations) I can see no cellular reports prior to the 23rd - and on the 23rd, only from about the Isle of Sheppey inbound - which would explain the lack of iGRID traffic reports and therefore the lack of data in the Vector reports when using the 'Rosetta' setting.

Hope this clarifies the situation for you.

Fly Safe, Best Regards
Peter
« Last Edit: August 24, 2022, 05:04:57 pm by exfirepro »

Gary Nelson

Re: Nothing showing on PAW Vector
« Reply #5 on: August 25, 2022, 05:33:27 pm »
thanks lee and peter - so to be clear "Rosetta" will only show anything when flying with the hotspot on and low enough for my phone to be connected to a mobile cellular mast ?

exfirepro

Re: Nothing showing on PAW Vector
« Reply #6 on: August 29, 2022, 05:09:18 am »
thanks lee and peter - so to be clear "Rosetta" will only show anything when flying with the hotspot on and low enough for my phone to be connected to a mobile cellular mast ?

You are correct - The ‘Rosetta’ setting on ‘Vector’ will only report flights with the hotspot on and where iGRID was fully connected back to the PilotAware servers via the cellular network, but this doesn’t necessarily mean you need to be flying particularly low. I have had excellent results with flights at up to 6,000 ft.

From the work we have already done, we know that cellular coverage is highly dependent on positioning of your mobile device in your individual aircraft. We have been testing this for almost a year now (which is why iGRID is technically still a ‘Beta’ release). Current thinking is that best connectivity ‘may’ be achieved where the mobile device has a limited view of the ground which will restrict the number of masts the device is trying to access and thus reduce ‘mast hopping’ - but of course this will vary depending on mast density and other factors (such as flying height) in the area in which you are flying. More work is in hand to try to verify this, so to an extent the jury is still out. The more users who test the system in ‘real flight’ conditions and feed their experience back to the group, the better our knowledge will be.

Best Regards as always,

Peter

Admin

Re: Nothing showing on PAW Vector
« Reply #7 on: August 29, 2022, 09:15:50 am »
Just to follow up on Peter
iGRID is never intended to be a replacement for direct and indirect reception
The goal is that the user should not care what path The data takes, we call this Multipath Conspicuity

All indirect reception is complimentary
- ATOM
- SkyGRID
- iGRID

What is important is that all data is labeled with its relevance, both in terms of accuracy and latency- this is what we have worked hard to perfect, and continue to do so


Thx
Lee