PilotAware Unit Trials

[AlanB]

Flew my pilot aware with a ground based unit also switched on and monitoring.

Airborne pilotaware detected by ground until about 7nm while ground based unit was lost by airborne unit at about 2nm. Supect limited by power supply as using a iPhone type battery recharge pack on the ground unit. Airborne unit powered by a high power battery with a 2amp outlet and short,15cm, usb cable.

I'm also ads-b out transponder equipped and range of detection not an issue.

Overall pleased with the detection range of the Of the pilot aware signal provided it's only a power supply issue with the ground based unit.

[ianfallon]

Do you have your PAW connected to your transponder to give the ADS-B out or something else ?

[AlanB]

I have my panel mounted GPS, AVMap, connected to the transponder as part of the NATS trial.

[N6010Y]

Test my PAW unit today in my Commander 114.

Had the complete unit behind the rear parcel shelf - totally unobtrusive in the cockpit and behind the plastic bulkhead.

Everything worked perfectly using iPad mini and Skydemon.

Cross checked the USB GPS with my Garmin 430 and 2nd iPad - everything spot on.

Whenever the PAW showed traffic in my iPad mini - I looked up and there it was!

Great stuff!

[bryannortje]

So took my PA for its maiden flight yesterday morning and all seemed ok at start up but SD just showed me as still on the ground. I tried all sorts of re-starts including a second iPad. After nearly an hour in a hold pattern over Banbury trying all sorts of settings and no success i headed back home (EGBT). Enroute back i thought i should try a separate power supply as this in the whole scheme of things was the only change from previous successful road testing and bench testing. Aircraft power supply to the PA   through USB2 power supply which i did not expect to be an issue. I connected a stand alone battery power pack. Success was achieved and i managed to see other air traffic as well as IanF device in his loft. picked him up from just over 2 miles away at 4000ft which i thought wasn't too bad. unfortunately he was not home to let me know how far he could pick me up from.

Has anyone else had the same issue? i checked my PA power consumption and with all running it uses approx 581mA.  The USB2 unit should be more than capable to supply so i need to do some voltage supply and amp output checks with it to see and ensure its not faulty.

[N6010Y]

Re the power supply issues, and I dread saying this for obvious reasons, but, I've never had a power supply issue.

In the aircraft I run the PAW from a USB power adaptor from the 24v cigarette socket or a portable battery pack.  I ensured that the output from the USB adaptor/battery pack was capable of 5v and 2A; the same requirements for charging iPads etc.

Now that I've said this - what's the odds that I start getting power issues!!!

[BobD]

I plan a flight from Gamston to Leicester today (Friday 23rd October 2015), between 11:30 to Noon, and then return from approx. 14:00 to 15:00. I plan to route outbound to the east, outside CAS, but may return direct with zone clearance (might even land at Nottingham to fill up).

If anyone is monitoring their PAW around that time, I would be interested to hear if they can pick me up (Cessna 182Q G-BFSA).

BobD

[falcoguy]

bryannortje

Please contact Jeremy Curtis directly.

I remember another forum post where a problem was found with charge 2, I don't know what it was - but I think its to do with start up consumption - whether this will cause the problems you describe I don't know - but you really do need to talk directly with Jeremy.

Regards

dave

[JCurtis]

bryannortje

Please contact Jeremy Curtis directly.

I remember another forum post where a problem was found with charge 2, I don't know what it was - but I think its to do with start up consumption - whether this will cause the problems you describe I don't know - but you really do need to talk directly with Jeremy.

Regards

dave

The early version had a firmware issue, when the stepped consumption as the likes of PAW booting could be restricted.  This was first seen with an iPad Mini and the "smart" lightning cable doing things passive cables don't, a firmware fixed sorted it out.

The current Charge2 is a more efficient power supply, with even fewer emissions than previously.  It was also put through formal testing by an avionics company to obtain an EASA minor mod approval, with luck the paperwork should be through soon.

I've swapped bryannortje's unit out for a new one (or will when I get it shipped out to him today) rather than just update the firmware.

[bryannortje]

Thanks Falconguy - Jeremy and I already have addressed the potential issue and a replacement unit will be winging its way to me soon 

[EricC]

The raspberry pi instructions recommend a +5v  2amp power supply.

[GarethHorne]

In terms of GPS I suspect having a uBlox GPS dongle might help - it's one less link in the chain as you don't need the collision aware app running.

I've got one on order, it's on the slow boat from China though, so I thought I'd give the PilotAwareAndroid app a go whilst I'm waiting. The internal GPS in the Nexus 7 tablet has always worked fine with SkyDemon in the past, although I do agree having everything self contained in the one unit sounds preferable, functioning independently of anything else on board.

U-blox7 dongle arrived from China on Wednesday, fitted it to the Pilot Aware box immediately, and it's been running constantly on the ground for 5 days without any apparent issues. No need for the PilotAwareAndroid app now, so that means I can  connect to the PC version of SkyDemon on the ground to monitor traffic. It will be interesting to see how it performs airborne.