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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly General Di...iFly General Di...Stratux/ADSB helpStratux/ADSB help
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5/5/2017 11:49 AM
 
(Not an Ifly issue) I know there are some pros here- I need some handholding with RPi, Stratux. I've looked around in GitHub, Slack, and Reddit, but so far I'm not doing the right searches. I'm having some issues that I'm pretty sure are power supply related (inadequate supply). Which forum should I concentrate on? I'm sure my problems are not new. Things I'm looking for are:
- What are the power requirements?
- Where is documentation/ information on software releases?
- I have to re-image after power tests, is this a known fault?
- My logs don't seem to have the lastest info
- Can avionics interfere with UAT tower signals?
- Is long (15 minutes) wifi connect times indicative of anything?

Thanks, Merrick
 
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5/6/2017 10:38 AM
 

How are you powering your Raspberry Pi? If you don't have a quality cable from your power source to the RPi, it will create all sorts of issues, including connectivity with WiFi. Over the counter, conveinance store phone charging cables are cheap and do not work well with the RPi. Upgrade your wires, this may solve your issues.

 
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5/6/2017 11:02 AM
 

Wow, you've really got some issues going on there. I've been a Stratux user since almost the beginning and here's what I would do in your case,

There are 3 main areas that cause flaky Stratux behavior: Power, Power, and Power.

What are the power requirements?
You can have the best power supply on the planet, but a marginal cord will cause voltage drop and power issues. You can have the best power cord in the world, but a marginal power supply will cause voltage drop and power issues. Here's the key to power issues: people think that because a charger or cord works fine with a phone/tablet, it should work fine with Stratux. But there's a key difference. The phone/tablet can fully charge over time with a trickle, but the Stratux needs 100% power NOW. When power is insufficient, the Pi will begin to shunt power to peripherals, such as the WIFI and USB ports. So the first thing to try is a new power supply and a new cable. I had a drawer full of USB cables at home, and the vast majority could not feed the Stratux. Also on the Stratux forums, several people have tested power supplies and very few of them are capable of supplying what they claim to be able to supply.

I have to re-image after power tests, is this a known fault?
Definitely not normal. It's almost as if your SD card is bad. The cards can get damaged during Stratux assembly if it's left in the Pi. Others have found teeny tiny cracks with a magnifier; I'd definitely try a new card.

My logs don't seem to have the lastest info
Logs are turned on and off via the web interface at 192.168.10.1. I don't use them so not sure but perhaps ifthey're not turned on in the web interface, and you're seeing old logs.

Can avionics interfere with UAT tower signals?
Yes it's possible, and the Pi can also interfere with avionics. I had undiagnosed Gremlins with my avionics when I tried velcroing my Stratux under the panel. The Gremlins went away when I moved the Stratux to the hatrack. Also, the 2nd most popular complaint with new Stratux builders is that "I'm not picking up any weather!". Unless you have a UAT tower in your front yard, you are most likely not going to receive weather until you are airborne and within line-of-sight of a tower. Also, go through all the tabs in the Stratux webpage and make sure everything is set the way you want it for the hardware you have.

Is long (15 minutes) wifi connect times indicative of anything?
Definitely not normal and another indication to me that something is catastrophically wrong with your setup.

In normal operation, with the latest version (1.2r2) it should take less than a minute for the Stratux to offer a WIFI signal. At this point both the red light and green light on the Pi should be/stay lit. The solid green light indicates that the Stratux booted up OK and is currently running. The solid red light indicates that there is sufficient power for the attached hardware.

I would try a new card, and flash the latest version to it. Here's some links:

http://stratux.me/

https://www.reddit.com/r/stratux/             

https://stratuxadsb.slack.com/messages   (you may have to create a free account)

https://github.com/cyoung/stratux/releases   Get your full images here

http://updates.stratux.me/builds/                 Get incremental updates here.  Update via Stratux webpage; no "re-flash" needed

 

 


Jeff Nokomis Clark, Mooney M20G, iFly app on ASUS ZenPad Z8s, ASUS ZenFone AR, ASUS Windows 10 tablet, Stratux ADS-B w AHRS
 
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5/6/2017 1:32 PM
 
Thanks guys, just what I needed. I had put a scope on the Pi, looking for glitches, but voltage looked okay, although a little low. My next step was planned to look for booting drops, which the Pi seems to be overly susceptible to. I think the card is getting corrupted when the PS is very marginal (red LED flashing fairly often, using variable power source). Using the wall source supplied with the Vilros kit has been problem free, but using a cheapo USB cigarette lighter adapter has been iffy. Same with pulling power from my PC. I really don't want to use a battery pack as a buffer/ surge source. I'll get a better USB supply, maybe add a large cap for surges. The power cord I'm using is the one supplied in the kit.

I've activated the logging operation but the file acts like it's full, so nothing further. Seems odd with plenty of free space on the drive.

I've logged on with all those forums- just couldn't get to the right info with my searches.

And thanks for the update site; that looks handy.

After the system gets going, it works very well. I was getting 7 towers with the kit's antenna. I plan to add a UAT belly antenna next week.

Thanks again for your help, you've saved me a lot of head scratching.
Merrick
 
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5/6/2017 1:42 PM
 

How are you connecting the power adapter to the plane?  Back in the old days the Generation 1 XM receiver was very power sensitve. The XM receiver was plugged into the cigarette lighter socket.  In many planes, the gounding for the socket were bad and this was causing the XM receiver to not work correctly.  It would apprear to power up, but would not work corrrectly.

Might be worth a checking.

Another power related issue with the Generation 1 XM receiver was it would not operate correctly if it was on when you started the engine.  I put a switched ligher socket on mine to allow me to turn it off before starting, then turning it on after starting the engine.

 


Craig Lawton-Fort Sill, OK KLAW, PA24 250
 
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