Setting up the software

[ColinC]

hi,

I am new to the Raspberry Pi so setting up the software was a bit of an adventure for me. I thought that I'd pass on a couple of pointers.

The SD card formatting program Lee recommends would not recognise the SD card when it was in my very expensive Dell lap top, but I used my wife's HP and it was fine. So, if you have that problem try another computer, or perhaps a card reader off eBay!

Having formatted the card, I downloaded the software zip file, opened it in 7zip (or win zip) and copied the contents to the card. You need to do that so that the readme file is at the root of the card
And not in a sub folder as it is in the zip.

Having done that, I Inserted the card, plugged in the wireless and TV tuner dongles as well as a mouse and keyboard into the Pi. An HDMI cable then connected the Pi to our TV set and I applied  power.

Amazingly no smoke!

The next bit fooled me. It comes up with a dialog asking to select an operating system to install. There were three items, so I checked them all on the basis that more is better and clicked install.

The operating system and software was then unpacked from the image on the SD card, a process that takes a while. The prompts seemed to suggest it was working, so I then
1) set the wireless network on the iPad to connect to the device instead of our internet and
2) started up the CollisionAware app on the iPad and turned P3i on then
3) opened up SkyDemon. In SkyDemon you have to configure FLARM to on in the setup menu and set the Air Connect Key to 6000. Then click on Go Flying and turn FLARM on.

That's about it I think.

On subsequent reboots of the PilotAware device, it starts up without any intervention, you just have to connect you iPad to it and 'go flying' with FLARM.

I hope the above is an accurate reflection of what to do. Hopefully Lee will point out any errors and I'll fix them.

Regards,

Colin

[Admin]

Hi Colin
I think the OS to install is called P3I.
There are a mixture of names at the moment P3I, CollisionAware, these all need standardizing to PilotAware

In the CollisionAware App, there is an entry 'ICAO', if you have a transponder, you should set this to the same value, a 6 digit hex value, ie 0-9,A-Z.

If you do not have a transponder, I suggest setting this to the last 6 digits of the WiFi name, I will automate this at some point in the future. So if the WiFi is:-
pilotaware-0123456789AB

set the ICAO to:-
6789AB

Thx
Lee

[Vince]

I've now got the software installed with wifi and ADBS dongle installed but still need to wire in the Ciseco ARF board.

What next?

Also tried logging in but did not know the root or pi passwords?

I would be interested in interfacing this into my Garmin 495 and Zaon XRX?

Vince
Ex. Thrasher jockey, now a speed whore!

[Admin]

Hi Vince

I need the MAC address of the wifi dongle, this is used for licensing, but its all a bit manual at the moment
The wifi name will also give me the MAC address

I am thinking maybe I should create some pre configured sdcard/wifidongles, and then I can just sell as a package, this would make the software installation much simpler

Thx
Lee

[Mig29fuk]

Lee HI1
A pre-registered WiFi Dongle and SD Card would be a great option and especially when momentum of users gets going.
Although building my own Pilot Aware I would be very happy to purchase a turnkey built Unit too. Keep me on the list to purchase.
Regards
Gerry

[Mig29fuk]

Lee Hi...Help!
I've booted my system which only has WiFi Dongle at moment.
Two things.
It asks me for 'pilot3i-rpi' Login as I'm not booting to Desktop?
Should I get a WiFi Hot Spot with only Dongle. It's an Edimax EW 7811Un Nano Dongle. I'm purchasing a Ralink RT5370 version from Amazon to meet your advice.
Regards
Gerry

[Vince]

I have two wifi dongles:
001986811F0C
001986811B39

Vinc

[Admin]

Lee Hi...Help!
I've booted my system which only has WiFi Dongle at moment.
Two things.
It asks me for 'pilot3i-rpi' Login as I'm not booting to Desktop?
Should I get a WiFi Hot Spot with only Dongle. It's an Edimax EW 7811Un Nano Dongle. I'm purchasing a Ralink RT5370 version from Amazon to meet your advice.
Regards
Gerry

Hi Gerry
I dont think the edimax is supported on debian as a hotspot, only a client, it needs to be a ralink 5370 chipset. You will see the wifi without the other parts

Thx
Lee

[Mig29fuk]

Lee
Should I be left in Terminal Mode requiring a login for pilot3i-rpi?
I'm using the latest download.
Regards
Gerry

[Admin]

Lee
Should I be left in Terminal Mode requiring a login for pilot3i-rpi?
I'm using the latest download.
Regards
Gerry

Hi Gerry,
What you are seeing is correct, but there is no need to login.
Normally of course, you would not have a display connected to your HDMI port, and hence would not see the login prompt.
The normal connection to PilotAware will be over the WiFi connection from SkyDemon, RunwayHD or EasyVFR, connecting directly to a server running on PilotAware.

The main issue you have is that you need the correct dongle (as discussed), and the dongle MAC address needs enabling in the software.

At the moment the licensing is pretty horrible, because it is statically defined in the downloaded zip file, which unfortunately means that once you give me your MAC address, you will need to download and install again.
I am in the process of trying to fix this, so that PilotAware runs a web server, which would allow you to simply connect to the WiFi hotspot, run up your web browser and enter a code, without all this nonsense of downloading and installing again.
All these things take time, and it will clearly take time to 'mature' into a more user friendly product, so please bear with me 😓

Not sure when your dongle is due to arrive, but I may have the web server interface up and running before the end of the week.

Thx
Lee

[Shortwing]

Get in touch if you want any web assistance, I think there is some slick things we could do

[Mig29fuk]

Thanks Lee
I'll restrain my enthusiasm and slow down.
The Forum is proving really useful!
G

[Vince]

So should I download the latest version to get it working?

[Admin]

So should I download the latest version to get it working?

Yes please go ahead, I have now built a simple web server to allow a license code entry.

I will email the license code tomoorow morning for your 2 dongles

Thx
Lee

[Vince]

Thanks, installed and web server working.