SkyRadar ADS-B - iFly Owners Q&A

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SkyRadar ADS-B

10/20/2011 8:03 PM

dmorozovx

Joined: 11/20/2010

Posts: 24

Re: SkyRadar ADS-B Modified By dmorozovx on 10/21/2011 7:44:23 AM

I have laptop with WIndows XP, so I went on the website and dowloaded 2.08.14 version driver pack.

The download is the zip file: CDM20814_WHQL_Certified.zip. I unzipped it to a seperate directory: "USB Driver" for example. What you end up with is several files and directories under there.

Then I powered up the SkyRadar and pluged in the USB cable from SkyRadar to the computer. The operating system detected the FT232RUSB UART device and asked if I want to install the driver. In Windows 7, acording to previous posts in this thread, this driver is downloaded automatically from Internet. In WinXP is does not. So I selected an option to manually locate the install files and pointed the selection to the "USB Driver" directory.

From there the operating system scans the directory and pickes out files/drivers it needs. It actually asked me for the directory location twice. The installation completes and the operating system reports that the device has been succesfully installed.

What this proves is that the USB interface on SkyRadar device (and USB cable in my opinion) is ok and communicating. Since there is no SkyRadar application for PC, it is hard to say if there is any usefull data available from SkyRadar, but that is step 2 in troublshooting.

Hope this helps,

Denis

10/22/2011 7:59 PM

Paul

Joined: 8/3/2011

Posts: 35

Re: SkyRadar ADS-B

I've had the SkyRadar for a while - we bought it at Oshkosh along with the iFly.

One thing I noticed was that if I put it any near the compass it would cause the compass to read incorrectly. I tracked this to the little GPS puck - it has a magnet inside! It isn't necessary to use the GPS with the iFly but it is useful if you use the SkyRadar with other devices, such as an iPad.

The purpose of the magnet is to make it easy to put the GPS somewhere in a car. It doesn't have anything to do with the workings of a GPS. And it isn't very useful in an airplane which is made of aluminum or composites.

The magnet is under the silver label on the bottom of the puck. To remove it, carefully peel back the label. Remove the magnet and stick it on your refrigerator where it may be useful. The magnet is about the size of a nickel so I replaced it with a nickel and put the label back on. You can leave out the nickel but if there is nothing behind the label it will be easier to accidently tear the label off.

Now the SkyRadar doesn't affect the compass.

10/22/2011 8:04 PM

tk

Joined: 7/25/2011

Posts: 5

Re: SkyRadar ADS-B

I plugged mine into my truck using a camera cord that I had handy.

I did not recieve any errors........but I did not recieve any info either, but I think I need to be in the air to pick up info?????????????

The ifly was purchased in late july early august.

tk

10/22/2011 9:15 PM

Mike D.

Joined: 1/15/2010

Posts: 1213

Re: SkyRadar ADS-B

It seems I read something in the many posts about the SkyRadar that the USB cord must have all (5?) wires within. Apparently some cables have less depending on the specific need of the product (camera's for example) .

10/22/2011 9:25 PM

jtblohm

Joined: 7/20/2011

Posts: 20

Re: SkyRadar ADS-B

Same results here, no error messages, no messages at all for that matter, that's the frustrating part. I also was able to connect to my laptop via wireless, but of course, since I have no application that can take advantage of it, it's simply another way to confirm that the unit is indeed alive. I am taking it flying tomorrow to see if I pick up anything in the air. There appears to be only one standard for this type of cable, and if you can get your computer to recognize the SkyRadar and successfully install the driver, you should have the right cable.

What we need is some kind of acknowledgement from the unit regarding the proper operation of the Interface; a pop up window upon program start or something of that nature; going flying and fiddling with the device can be distracting, never a good thing.

Regards,

JTB

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