I can see other traffic but my the Vector chart shows no broadcasts - resolved

[FlyingPastor]

I can see traffic, and I’m not connected to a mobile phone, so receive is ok, just transmit that isn’t happy. Hmm, may have to send the unit in for testing … if PAW do that.

[grahambaker]

But is the traffic you are seeing being received by the bridge antenna, and not all by the 1080MHz antenna?

When receiving traffic you need to look at the Traffic page to determine the types of traffic being receive - the various codes indicate the type. Aircraft with a P or a U against them would indicate that the bridge is receiving.

[FlyingPastor]

Thank you. I’ll look.

[exfirepro]

Hi Neil,

Coming late to this thread, but I agree there is definitely an issue with your PAW transmissions.

Looking at the PilotAware Database (which I have just done), the Database shows your aircraft on multiple flights between March and November, the majority of which report both PilotAware and ADSB transmissions at varying ranges, as well as some apparently random Flarm Transmissions from flights between 16th March and 17th July. Looking more closely at recent flights between 3rd October and 11th November, while there are multiple reports of your ADSB transmissions from PAW Groundstations for each flight, only three of the flights (from several sites on 26th October, Cheltenham alone on 30th October, and only 6 sites on 11th November) include PilotAware reports.

I then took a look at your recent flights using the PilotAware Track Replay Tool (see this link).

https://playback.pilotaware.com/playback/groundstations/?

Set the Transmission to PilotAware, your ICAO to 407F92 and the date/time to 10:00 on 11th November with 1 hour duration, then click the search button. Once the aircraft appears, you can drag the marker along the timeline and see which stations have been reporting your progress. You can adjust the selection settings in the Track Replay Tool to replay your other flights.

These Groundstation Replays clearly show multiple dropouts in PAW transmission (the gaps in the red line) during your recent flights, and BTW also indicate that the Groundstation at Over Farm wasn't receiving PilotAware at all on any of the dates I checked, and I can't currently connect to it so I suspect it is defective.

Bearing in mind your height and the proximity of Groundstations in the area, what I am getting from the replay is an indication of intermittent signal, rather than a complete lack of transmissions. I would therefore be looking initially for a loose connection in for example the power supply (e.g. loose connection between the power lead and the PilotAware), a loose connection or bad joint in the antenna cable or a defective antenna, a loose connection between the PilotAware Bridge and the Raspberry Pi Motherboard inside the unit (the Bridge can sometimes work loose on the 40-pin GPIO connector), or some other defect - such as a faulty or obstructed GPS ( the PAW will stop transmitting if loses its GPS position).

If you need any help with any of this please get back in touch, and please let us know how you get on.

Best Regards
Peter Robertson
(East Fortune)

[FlyingPastor]

Hi Peter,

Odd that I can’t see PAW on the vector analysis yet the playback does show some.

Anyway, thank you. I use PAW as GPS on SkyDemon and I never lose signal so I suspect it is neither the power or the GPS. The aerial is new (the old one failed mechanically loading onto a trailer, so my guess is the bridge board has come loose. I’m currently on holiday so will check later this month when I get back.

As I understand it the Over Farm station is being relocated and is down, it was uninstalled some time ago and the person doing it hasn’t yet reinstalled it, hence you can’t log into it.

Best,

Neil

[exfirepro]

Hi again Neil,

Bear in mind that a Vector report is based solely on data received by the PilotAware ATOM-GRID network from flights by the nominated aircraft in the previous 30 days, and that the individual 'radials' on the Polar Diagram indicate the bearing from the aircraft and maximum distance along that bearing, at which the signal was received by one or more receiving stations. A strong signal, received by multiple stations on a variety of bearings over a longer period of time, will normally generate a more densely filled printout extending substantially round the aircraft. A less densely populated result could simply indicate a lack of flights, weak transmission, partially obscured antenna(s) at the aircraft and/or ground station, or a lack of active ground stations in the area through which the aircraft was flown during the reporting period.

In your case, Vector is showing transmissions from flights on 26th & 30th October, and 11th November, though if you 'deselect' the 26th Oct and 11th Nov., you will see that there is only a very minimal return for the 30th October, so in practice the reports from 30th October can be disregarded. Whilst the majority of the reports from the two remaining dates are at less than 20Km, this is consistent with the database records. There are a few packets reported from up to 40Km, which is again consistent with what I see in the database.

The Vector diagram (attached) is therefore consistent with what I am seeing on the database and the Groundstation Track Replay.

Thanks for the update on Over Farm. Not being 'local', I was unaware of the situation.

I look forward to hearing from you when you get back. (If you want to talk by phone you can get my number from Jill.)

Best Regards

Peter

[FlyingPastor]

That is interesting. I posted on 6 October as I wasn’t seeing flights over the previous weeks. I looked again a couple of weeks later when in conversation with someone else, but clearly before 26 October. So definitely an intermittent fault. I can say nothing has changed in my setup during that period, nor have I done any maintenance to the aircraft that might have affected connectors.

Will be in touch, thank you for your help. Sad I can’t make the EoSM Christmas Dinner this year

[FlyingPastor]

Hi Peter,

I took the unit out the plane (well buried so that took a while!) and dismantled it. The radio bridge board wasn't securely pressed down, I could see some of the pins on the connector. So I pushed it down fully, reassembled and put in the plane.

Sadly that doesn't seem to have fixed it. There is the spurious trace from 11th November, but nothing else. The aerial is new (I broke the other one in a ground handling incident), and the connections are secure. The cable came from PAW and definitely isn't short circuit, need some extra hands to check for open circuit.

I flew yesterday around d 13:50 for 25 mins in the circuit at Over and today just after 10:00 from Over across to the west side of the severn valley, down south a bit and then back to Gloucester for 35 mins (just incase you have any other tools to look).

Not sure what to do next, can I send the unit in for testing somewhere?

n

Thank you,

Neil.

[exfirepro]

Hi again Neil,

I can't see any reports on the PAW Database or the Groundstation Replay Tool for your flight on 28th, so it looks like your PAW still isn't transmitting. Did you manage to check the Home Screen to see what it was reporting? If you can do so, a screenshot might be useful.

If you were local, I would certainly be happy to run the unit for you and do some analysis, but if - as seems likely - the issue is as serious as it appears, that might be a complete waste of time and money. It might be better to drop Ash Vinning an email at support@pilotaware.com He is based near Stratford and could put the unit on his test rig for you. If it does prove to be terminal, PilotAware are currently doing a great trade-in offer against an upgrade to the new FX, which might be your best option. You would have got an email about it recently if you are subscribed to the mailing list. If not, I'm sure Ash will be happy to forward a copy to you.

(p.s. I know Gordon has just upgraded to a new FX for his Delta Jet)

Let me know either way what you decide.

Best Regards
Peter

[FlyingPastor]

Hi Peter,

I buzzed out the aerial lead today and noticed slight resistance from the PAW end to the ground plane so I cleaned up and refitted the aerial. From PAW end to aerial there are no short circuits and zero ohms resistance for both the ground and the signal. Climbed in all excited and flew, and no job The only flight on the vector is the morning one, not my afternoon one after I did the above, and it is intermittent.

I've gone through my SkyDemon logs for the last 6 months and out of all of them I have 2 where SkyDemon complains of drop outs of GPS position, and all the rest are rock solid including the flights today.

That leaves me thinking the classic maybe is dead. I've emailed Ash to ask if he will test it, just waiting for a response. At least if I have to trade in he will already have it Just hope it all happens fast enough not to miss the bigger discounts, it's a lot of money!

Thank you for your help

n

[exfirepro]

Hi Neil,

I was speaking to Ash this afternoon and brought our exchange on here to his attention, so he would be expecting your email. He can put the unit on his test rig and give you the definitive prognosis and if it is terminal he will sort you out.

Best Regards

P

[FlyingPastor]

Thank you Peter, no response yet but hopefully soon (can you nudge him to check junk next time you speak if he hasn't seen my email)

ta

n

[FlyingPastor]

So, what a journey that has been.

Ashley tested the unit and there was no error, but he reinstalled the software and I bought a new aerial cable from him (they have changed the make of cable they use). It is uncertain what the actual fault was, but given it worked on the bench for Ashley it is highly likely it was the old aerial cable (not that old, only 18 months, and it buzzed out ok, but they have changed make of cable they sell).

I fitted the new aerial cable and did two flights under the wrong hex-id then realised I hadn't checked it since Ashley reinstalled the software; the trace on the incorrect hex-id is perfect and it was definitely me given the location.

Thank you to all who have helped.

[exfirepro]

Hi Neil,

Thanks for updating the Forum and letting everyone know that your PAW is now back transmitting as it should (hopefully now back on the correct Hex ID). 

Sorry, I haven't commented on here in the interim. Ash kept me informed on what he found and we discussed options (but obviously not for public consumption) and I knew you were in good hands. Happily, we have arrived at a sensible 'low-cost' solution which shows we can still keep PAW Classics operating to today's high standards for our customers

Keep in touch!

Best Regards

Peter

[FlyingPastor]

Hi Peter,

I flew around Gloucester for 105 minutes yesterday morning (about 10:40 onwards with a short break finishing about 12:35) on my correct HexID. Height up to about 2500' at times.

As it is the first proper flight test with everything set up I wonder if you would have a moment to check that the unit is transmitting as it should?

OverFarm PAW ground station is now active so it should certainly be pinging off that

Thanks

n