Just updated - Radar screen not working

[jcross]

I have just updated my pilotaware classic.
The radar screen is not showing any aircraft no matter how close they are.
Over on traffic they are all greyed - which it says means they are outside of the threat range.  But I tried a few configs it doesn't change.

Included screen shot, and config.

Can anyone see any obvious mistake in my config?

This is running a playback if that helps - but I usually do test it on the ground.

[exfirepro]

Hi jcross,

Looking back at your previous posts, it looks like it’s been quite a while since you have been on here. If so, welcome back.

If you are trying to test the Radar Display, I would strongly advise powering the unit up outside, and waiting for live traffic, rather than trying to test from previous track files.

Things have moved on massively with PAW since you last posted. Although track replay buttons are still included on the Tracks Screen, we don’t do track replays on PAW these days. It’s been so long since I tried this facility in fact that I can’t even say if it still works. Quite frankly, I’d be surprised. Edit: it does, but with limitations as described in my later post below. As you can see, all the traffic on your traffic screen is as you say greyed out, which means it won’t be displayed on the traffic screen or sent to your EFB and most of the replayed traffic is reporting as FLARM - which will certainly confuse the software.

Track Files can be replayed far more effectively nowadays using the online Aircrew replay tools - see https://aircrew.co.uk/playback and https://aircrew.co.uk/playback/groundstations so the ‘in-unit’ PAW Track Replay tools have effectively fallen into disuse.

While on the subject, I notice that you have ‘Positional Contacts Settings’ filters set in Configure for Horizontal and Vertical Display Ranges. These settings will limit your display and should only be set when the PAW is being used with an EFB which doesn’t have its own vertical and horizontal filters. For commonly used EFBs like SkyDemon or EasyVFR, we recommend that the PAW filters are left at the default ‘Display All’ setting, with Vertical Range set in your EFB where required. Horizontal range (for known position moving aircraft - which includes ADSB, Mode-S/3D and FLARM/OGN Uplinks) is automatically limited by your display screen range limits.

The RADAR Screen (as you can see) has its own horizontal and vertical range settings.

Hope this helps

Best Regards

Peter

[jcross]

Thanks for your swift reply.  So I understand that its probably ok its just that functionality is broken / not maintained.

That is a problem for me.  You may remember my project where the pilot aware classic lives in an actual instrument with a pizero driving a sunlight display? (see attached) - the volume sets the intercom voice output level.

This uses the radar screen which until now, every update I need to modify the source very slightly to work with that tiny screen (320x240).  In order to maintain that, I really need to be able to generate traffic.  My mod consists of changing the grid, reducing the font / size of the on screen widgets and making the config closed by default, fixing the range to 15km.  It doesn't usually take very long to do and subsequent radar revisions it was even easier.  From the latest build, the blocks showing connectivity of the parts is ideal.

So I need to be able to generate traffic - just a handful to check it.  Otherwise I might have the planes way too big like last time!  If you know of a method, someone reached out to be previously but we never followed it up, then that would be very helpful.  As it is right now I may need to revert to 2019 build.

A final thought is that, if I can get one piece of traffic to show, I could probably just inject that response or just hardcode some traffic.  I don't have the SDR to hand because its in the plane, but I do have GPS.

What we could do is if I make the mod, I could submit it back to you for inclusion in the official code as a small screen option.  Its a bit lazy in a way because I could just receive the traffic information via UDP and do it myself - but the radar screen did 90% of what I needed and on the latest pizero runs really nicely.

Hope you or someone can help.

-James

[Admin]

Hi James

In the positional contacts settings
Set the options to the widest settings both vertical and horizontal
This will enable all traffic to be sent, without pre filtering

Thx
Lee

[Admin]

Actually something strange is going on
Many of the contacts are described as flarm, which does not sound correct
Please describe your entire setup in detail

Thx
Lee

[exfirepro]

Actually something strange is going on
Many of the contacts are described as flarm, which does not sound correct
Please describe your entire setup in detail

Thx
Lee

Lee,

That’s because James is using track replay as his traffic source.

Peter

[jcross]

Not much to describe - this is seen with any browser connected to the Pilotaware as supplied. 
Its a pilot aware classic as supplied some years ago.
Let me grab a trk file maybe that will help.  But the demo trk files don't really work either - one or two planes from 30,000 feet show up.
https://www.jcross.co.uk/files/Tracks.zip

Failing that, if its a mod (my mod) that has broken the update, I can always just grab a fresh copy.
I assume the update file is a zipped filesystem of what changed? thus there might be something peculiar to my copy.
I think last time I just created a radar2 directory.

Will be nice to get it working - its been a switch on and go solution for the past 4 years.  Particularly important for my father who can just about manage to turn a switch on buy anything else too much faff.

[exfirepro]

Hi James,

Be aware that most of the recent software versions require a complete fresh install. IIRC you can only 'update' to the latest (20220805) if you are already running the last-but-one (20220531).

I've just been trying the Track Replay Function for myself to check its functionality - as I said above it's been a considerable time since I've used it. Like you, I also used one of the Demo Tracks, as most of the other tracks on this unit (my testing and development 'spare') are based on a fixed position at my home.

Track Replay still seems to work as it was designed to - i.e. sending data to SkyDemon - but we always had two issues. Firstly, the replay traffic always shows as 'Flarm' (possibly a legacy of when we developed direct Flarm Traffic Integration Lee?) and is always 'greyed out', but it still shows on SkyDemon (with my PAW and SD filters set wide open). Secondly, unless we completely remove all 'live' traffic inputs (antennas and SDRs) we get a 'mix' of replayed and 'live' traffic - such as I am seeing right now, with my ATOM Station and one fairly distant CAT showing live (but the CAT outside your previous 20Km filter range). Finally, the replayed traffic mixes with any received live traffic to create a new (corrupted) track file which is a composite of the combined historical traffic from the replay and any received live traffic. 

Having said that, is it critical for the test traffic to be within your chosen 7Km range? I am just outside that range from Edinburgh Airport, but could probably pop down and grab some traffic with my unit and send you the track file if that would help.

Best Regards

Peter

[jcross]

I think what I'll do is start fresh and presumably I can copy my tracks back on - and then I can try it.
At each stage when there was a change major enough to prevent me upgrading I refreshed it - so if it will update then I just used the update.  I get terribly confused and only recently started writing down what I did last time!

I have reported previously that the track replay was a bit dodgy - and in some cases incorrect, I used it to develop an ESP32 solution.  But in this case, I just want one or two planes to show.  I can of course just fudge the XML, but I don't know / can't remember what the format is, hence me being lazy and just doing the bear minimum with the radar screen.  I know there's also a complication of the type of plane - which presumably just loads different png for those?

No, doesn't have to be within 7km - any track that shows me some planes will do.
Can I not just grep my track files and replace the type?
So - ANY track file that displays planes - real or not, is fine, also helps if they are turning as well because I think I also had to fiddle with the projected line too.
Alternatively - I would guess that you must have had a test source?

Anyway, thanks for the help, that little display looks awesome with the rain displaying on it as well.  The screen is a custom sunlight readable display and its is very bright and works very well.  Its also probably saved my ass a couple of times, so don't want to be without it.  PS- I like to have the reg showing on the radar too because meeting your friends at 4000 ft is tricky otherwise.

[jcross]

I started afresh and it still doesn't work for anything recorded on a track.
I do however seem to receive real traffic via the GSM route.
This means I don't really know if its working or not.  But, using that I have managed to hack the bits I needed (maybe).