Track file discrepancies

[Smaragd]

I give below the link for a track file on Playback from a flight this week from our strip near Bath to Haverfordwest. Viewed on Playback it shows more than a dozen irregularities lasting about a minute each (including an interesting excursion to The Netherlands!). The data in the track file shows a somewhat different story - breaks of around 5 minutes (eg 112658 to 113553, 113609 to 114054, 120619 to 121054). Any ideas on what is causing these dropouts? Unit is PAW Classic with latest update.

Trevor
https://playback.pilotaware.com/playback/?track=ccc38309

[Smaragd]

Just to note: ground station replay doesn't show any discrepancy for the first two time periods mentioned, so what is happening appears to be confined to the recording process. For the third time period there is loss of contact with ground stations, but that may be because I was not in range of working stations in that part of Wales.

[exfirepro]

Hi Trev,

A weird one! (The report, not you  ).

Looking at your linked track playback, the immediate thought is multiple GPS dropouts - indicated by the sudden changes in recorded altitude. Not sure why the sudden jump to the Netherlands though. You also say that the glitches aren't as visible on the groundstation playback. This leads me to wonder whether the gaps in track data (from your PAW) indicate some sort of issue with your microSD card - with data failing to be properly recorded.

Remind me of your Reg/ICAO Hex and I'll take a look at the groundstation playback and the database.

Best Regards
Peter

[Smaragd]

Than you Peter. G-DENS, 40263C. Is a fixed amount of card space allocated to track files and would overwriting when full cause a temporary dropout?

[steveu]

Than you Peter. G-DENS, 40263C. Is a fixed amount of card space allocated to track files and would overwriting when full cause a temporary dropout?

I'd put money on it being the SD card overall.

If they get very cold then they fail to respond properly. They are also not the most reliable of media.

It might be worth considering a brand new card?

[Smaragd]

Thank you Steveu. I flew yesterday, was tracked fine by ground stations but the track file showed a sudden excursion after lift-off near B to the middle of the North Sea! I'll try a new card; please remind me - do I just plug it in or do I have to register it in some way?

[steveu]

Thank you Steveu. I flew yesterday, was tracked fine by ground stations but the track file showed a sudden excursion after lift-off near B to the middle of the North Sea! I'll try a new card; please remind me - do I just plug it in or do I have to register it in some way?

There are destructions on the PilotAware site. If you use this but use a fresh card instead of reformatting the old one:

https://www.pilotaware.com/knowledgebase/manual-software-update

Make sure you have all the details copied from the old card. If you can't access it then find the licence number from your last renewal, other stuff should be easy to find out. Do not forget to sort out call sign and ICAO code!!!

[Smaragd]

Again thanks!