iFly GPS Forum

Brian:

I finally get it. IFLY is saying out of range in reference to weather only, not targets, which explains what I am seeing..

Out of range would seem to indicate that my aircraft is out of range of the tower, but that is an erroneous assumption and when you change it to "tower idle", why not have it say "no weather" if that is all that is missing from the data stream. When I look at the status box I can see when the last Nexrad weather came in.

I think the status box may be a good place to allow the user to know what is happening with weather and targets without crowding the Nav screen. When you look in the status box it says "not receiving data." Aren't rebroadcast targets considered data? If you are receiving rebroadcast targets from those without ADS-B out then the tower isn't actually idle...is it? Only idle for weather?

Maybe it's just me, but this new technology seems to be unnecessarily confusing.

I am getting fewer "no heartbeat" messages since I installed the latest Navworx software, but it still happens on occasion and the status box indicated "disconnected" even though the WiFi signal from navworx is strong.

I think connecting by RS232 is much more reliable than WiFi. My research into WiFi dropout issues indicates that certain tablets and phones are more susceptible to WiFi dropout due to a) cockpit electrical interference b) interference from ground-based WiFi as an aircraft gets closer to the ground in metropolitan area with many WiFi in use c) some units can tolerate poor signal to noise ratios better than others.

With that in mind, Navworx is considering allowing users to change WiFi channels in the hope of finding channels that works best in the user's cockpit environment.

I'm going to keep a written IFLY log on my 1800 nm trip to OSH starting Tuesday the 19th. If I see anomalies that should interest you I'll start the log and when I land for fuel I'll send the bug report. One of my wingmen will have his Stratus on board and we'll be able to compare target and weather acquisition.

By the way, a friend says he likes the information that IFLY gives on his phone compared to the information his panel mounted device provides. He uses RS232 on the panel device while using WiFi to his phone using IFLY.

John

Flew again with my wingman with him using IFLY with Navworx through RS232 link.

I had "lost WiFi connections" and "out of range" indications while he did not since he is using RS232. Only when we were low in the pattern of a remote airport did he get out of range.

So anyone using WiFi with Navworx and IFLY will need to know that depending on:

a) the brand of tablet or phone can make a difference on a uninterrupted WiFi connection

b) the amount of electrical interference in the cockpit.

c) the number of WiFi devices on the same channel whether on the ground or low over metropolitan areas.

d) the amount of signal to noise a tablet or phone can handle.

e) anything on the phone or tablet that tries to force the unit to connect to the Internet even if in the airplane mode

I'm still waiting for Navworx to allow WiFi channel changes. Don't know if that will help, but I'd like to try.