Just getting to use it

[ian_h]

Hi
I have just started using the PAW in a Piper Tri pacer with aerials mounted on front cowling powered by higher ampage cigarette lighter adaptor.

Couple of quick questions:

I am fairly frequently loosing the connection between the ipad/Sky Demon and the PAW unit. Does the connection automatically drop when the ipad screen saver comes on? If so is there a fix or do I need to disable screen saver when flying?

I fly out of Shoreham and see all the commercial Gatwick traffic but don't remember, after several trips, seeing any local non commercial traffic. Any checks I should do to see if it is working properly?

Many thanks

Ian

[JCurtis]

When SkyDemon is running in flying mode it should disable any screen saver itself.  What are the error message(s) given?

[ian_h]

Hi
I can't remember the explicit message but Sky Demon stops tracking location until wi fi connection is re established.
Currently seems to occur every 5 minutes or so

[JCurtis]

If you need to reconnect SkyDemon to PAW every few minutes then I would suspect that the PAW might be rebooting. 

After it has been on a while, and you have seen a disconnect, go to the web interface on the tablet (the way as you did to enter your licence key) and look at the home screen.  Check the PAW uptime, it should be showing the time since you powered it up, if it shows a lower time then you may have a power related issue.

The Uptime is shown in the screen shot below, in my case the time was 11:11:14 and uptime was 2 Hours 8 Minutes.

[exfirepro]

Hi
I have just started using the PAW in a Piper Tri pacer with aerials mounted on front cowling powered by higher ampage cigarette lighter adaptor.

I fly out of Shoreham and see all the commercial Gatwick traffic but don't remember, after several trips, seeing any local non commercial traffic. Any checks I should do to see if it is working properly?

Many thanks

Ian

Hi Ian,

Further to Jeremy's advice above, he is correct about the iPad screensaver issue. I run my PAW with an iPad Mini 3 and have never experienced the screen saver coming on when running PAW. I have occasionally experienced dropout problems if I keep switching between for example SD and the PAW screens, which I need to do fairly often during testing. This has generally been because I have 'single pressed' the home button to change back to SD which effectively means SD has to be restarted. Double clicking the 'home' button to reselect SD usually prevents the link from dropping out.

I also agree with Jeremy about checking to see if the PAW itself has been dropping out. I presume you are using the supplied power lead, but cigarette lighter adapters are notoriously inconsistent. It must provide at least 2 amps at 5 volts consistently to run your PAW reliably. I know Lee and others now recommend this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-PowerDrive-2-Port-Charger-iPhone/dp/B00VH84L5E/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

....though you will also find others recommended in the forums.

With regard to your comments about other traffic, remember that with the exception of Commercial ADSB, there are still relatively few ADSB and PilotAware P3i units out there. Have you enabled 'Mode-S' in (Configure)? It is disabled by default to let new users get used to the basic system before being bombarded with other information. You need to select a 'Mode-S Separation' level (try +/- 30,000 ft initially to see what appears, then reset to say +/- 2000 ft for practical use) and also set a 'range' in 'Mode-S Detect'. The Medium or Short Ranges are best for general flying but 'Long' Range will bring in contacts from further away. Or you could try the 'Testing' setting but be prepared to be swamped with alerts from very far off CAT Mode-S traffic - hence for Testing only.

Similarly, you need to have appropriate settings in SD / Settings / Navigation Options set for 'Show Within Vertically' and 'Show Bearingless Targets' enabled.

I take it you have read the PilotAware Operating Manual at...

http://www.pilotawarehardware.com/dl/PAWOperationManual.pdf

....and are aware of the audio out and the significance of the various alert messages.

Hope this helps

Regards

Peter

[ian_h]

Many thanks for the feedback

I suspect the issue is a poorly fitting cigarette charger plug.
I think we have the Lonestar charger socket from LAS in the panel but the charger plug is a little loose.
I seem to remember there may be 2 different sizes of cigarette charger. Has anyone come across this?

I wasn't aware of the location limitation with Mode S. I have now enabled PAW to detect bearing less inputs and will play around to see if I can get some additional returns

Ian

[JCurtis]

Many thanks for the feedback

I suspect the issue is a poorly fitting cigarette charger plug.
I think we have the Lonestar charger socket from LAS in the panel but the charger plug is a little loose.
I seem to remember there may be 2 different sizes of cigarette charger. Has anyone come across this?

Ian

There are two variants of the "standard" cigarette lighter socket and A and and B generally split between US and EU, but the difference between them is only around 1mm or less so practically it doesn't make much difference.  There is also the much smaller ISO 4165 sockets too, though you don't see many of these around.

Plug in chargers however, they can vary quite a bit, some are also very curved and smooth and will work their way out with not a huge amount of vibration. 

Check the +ve pole (point on the end) of your charger is 'springy' to ensure it keeps some gentle pressure - some plug in chargers have fixed ends and will cause intermittent connections.

[ridders]

I fly out of Shoreham and see all the commercial Gatwick traffic but don't remember, after several trips, seeing any local non commercial traffic. Any checks I should do to see if it is working properly?

Many thanks

Ian

Ian you may see me if your about at the same time. I fly from Deanland.
Unfortunately my unit keeps rebooting, loosing connection to Skydemon, a bit like yours. 
I have a hunch its down to a temperature problem with it being on top of the instrument panel and getting overheated on some hot days, both times it did it after having sat on dash for some time - I dont believe its power as I am using supplied USB cable and my power pack is a beefy Anker one.

[brinzlee]

If its a heat problem I wonder if covering the top of the box in this might help a little

https://www.rapidonline.com/Mechanical-Fastenings-Fixings/Ultratape-08061004530Y-Rhino-Aluminium-Foil-Tape-30MIC-100mm-x-45-7m-87-1738?IncVat=1&gclid=CjwKEAjw2PK7BRDPz5nDh9GjoGcSJAAybcS39H0_xjiROlwXifJx5Hr9lbmj7NdqHiw01phqdxBNJRoClbXw_wcB

[AlanG]

Hi

Mine can get a bit hot when it is sitting in my window sill when static testing so I folded a piece of black card loosely round it to keep direct sun from striking the plastic.  Made quite a difference.  Used with a bit of blue tack it may help behind the windscreen.  Even blue tacked direct to the top of the unit would provide some air between the surfaces.

Alan

[Admin]

From element 14 website

The Raspberry Pi is built from commercial chips which are qualified to different temperature ranges; the LAN9512 is specified by the manufacturers being qualified from 0°C to 70°C, while the AP is qualified from -40°C to 85°C. You may well find that the board will work outside those temperatures, but we’re not qualifying the board itself to these extremes.

I have the ability to list the temparature of the CPU Core, so plan to add this to the home screen

[Paul_Sengupta]

Do you put heatsinks on the commercial ones? I've put heatsinks on my Pi 2, but I never bothered with my B+ units.

[Admin]

Do you put heatsinks on the commercial ones? I've put heatsinks on my Pi 2, but I never bothered with my B+ units.

This is an option, although the temperature specs are conforming to Commercial

    Commercial: 0 ° to 70 °C
    Industrial: -40 ° to 85 °C
    Military: -55 ° to 125 °C

[JCurtis]

I'd be surprised if the Pi got too hot that it reboots by itself. 

I wound't be surprised if the DVB dongle overheated and took the 5v rail down though.  Measuring mine now the metal RF connector and USB are running at 57c, out of direct sun and the office AC is keeping things a steady 21c ambient.  The only real solution for that is airflow...

[ridders]

Recent use and it seems to be settling down, mostly.
I did have one reboot this weekend where I left the unit in sun on the dash, running while I fueled up at Rochester. When returned to P1 seat, SD had lost connection, iPad couldnt see the PAW WIFI and I rebooted it to find the wireless again.

I have a FLIR temperature monitoring device that can attach to a mobile phone at work, so I will borrow that next time and see just what surface temp's the case is getting to sitting on top of the black instrument panel cover, under the screen.
It could well be the wireless dongle sweating itself to exhaustion.