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My learning curve with ADSB-In and Stratux
About 3 months ago I bought the Stratux parts, including an AHRS chip, off of Amazon and assembled a Stratux ADSB-In box.
One of the companies that assembles these units, and sells them for about $75 more than the parts themselves, has an article on the web about the lack of quality control of these components. They state that this is a good reason to buy a pre-tested unit from them - and they offer free replacement if it doesn't work.
At first I thought it was just salesmanship. Then I found out how right they were. I had repeated problems with the components. Not only that, but unless you are knowledgeable in troubleshooting computer code there is no way to know exactly which component isn't working. I just kept replacing components until something finally worked. This was a frustrating, aggravating, process. If I had to do it over again I would gladly have spent the extra $75 for the pretested, warrantied unit.
Oh, and I did buy an external gps puck, thinking the internal GPS was not getting a clear signal. I located it under the canopy, on top of the fuse, right behind my head - a very clear view of the sky. Guess what? The external gps would not receive a signal at all - and I reinstalled the internal GPS. I won't even mention the part where i tried to connect an external ADSB antenna - and yep, you already know the story...
I came so close to just driving over the Stratux with my Jeep it wasn't even funny.
So, two months later, I finally got the *%$#!! working.
I connected both my cellphone (that has a Ram mount on the turtledeck) as well as my IFly GPS 740b. The unit has been working consistently for the past month or so (though I still expect it to fail every time I turn it on...).
Then I started flying with this new traffic information. Since i regularly fly thru some congested airspace I hoped this information would reduce my stress level during flight.
In fact, it did the opposite. Apparently there are friggen planes everywhere I fly! They're above me, they're below me and they're coming head-on. This new information was driving my stress level to new heights. I found myself spending more time looking at the GPS for traffic than looking out the window.
I have flown in this same area for 30 years and rarely saw another airplane. On one hand it was somewhat sobering to think I had been flying in and around so many aircraft without realizing it.
On the other hand I seriously considered just not flying with ADSB so I wouldn't have to stress about all these other aircraft. Yes, I know this was a rather stupid thought, but I seriously considered it.
I realized that maybe there was a learning curve to this technology and that I would feel more comfortable with it over time. I changed the visibility and alerts from "everything in the sky" to more practical distances and altitudes. As my hours using the system grew I began to trust in the information I was seeing. If it said the converging aircraft was a thousand feet above me, and in level flight, then I could pretty much count on that.
I learned to ignore some of the traffic and only focus on "real" potential conflicts. So after a month of flying with ADSB-In, it is starting to actually reduce my stress level during flying.
In my case there definitely was a learning curve. Now I'm glad I didn't just stop using it - or run it over with my Jeep. I now understand there is a reason why some of the manufactured, certificated units are much more expensive. At least I hope they have more reliable components, and software, then the low budget Stratux.
Still, when it works, it works well, but ADSB-In does take some getting used to!
I hope this helps those who may be considering ADSB-In and/or Stratux systems.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gil DeVault on
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Yes I agree Gary. now that I'm all checked out in my plane, I want to fly it, not mess around with something I have very little understanding of. How do you like your ifly? I have the programs on my Ipad mini and cell phone. So for so good. Next is learn how to use and understand the synthetic vision.
Gil
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Permalink Reply by Gary Welch on
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I had been flying for years with the original Ifly 700. About a year ago it started having problems so I decided to go with the crowd and bought an Ipad mini 4 to run the IFly app.
I'm not an Apple guy and hated it. Sold it on ebay and bought the 740 B.
I love the IFly and the attitude of the company. The sunlight readability of the 740b is great.
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Permalink Reply by John Austin on
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They do suggest on the Stratux board not to just pull power because it can screw up the SD card.
That information is obsolete (if you have a Raspberry Pi 3 and a quality SD card!). Unfortunately, when someone reads something on the 'net, it gets perpetuated and doesn't take advancements and improvements into account. I didn't think that was correct, so I contacted Chris Young, the primary developer of the Stratux, and here's what he said ... information current as of today:
Hi John,
It's fine to pull the plug. Earlier Pis (Raspberry Pi 1) had issues with SD card corruption, so this idea that one must safely shut down the Pi is pretty well ingrained for many people. With the Pi3 and a decent quality SD card, there should not be a problem.
I don't really encourage users to do a "safe shutdown". The main reason is that some battery packs actually do the opposite. You shut down the unit via software, the power consumption goes to zero, the battery pack shuts down. After a few seconds, the battery pack "forgets" and senses a load is connected, then re-starts the unit!
Hope that helps,
Chris
I think some with Pi 3's have still had problems because they buy a "name brand" SD card on Ebay or Amazon and actually receive a poor quality, knock-off clone fake. Best to get your cards from a trusted source, for sure!
Kind of ironic that he doesn't encourage a "safe shutdown," but there you have it!
... guess I'll forget about using that "Stratux shut down" button on the iFly 740!
John
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I bought my second SD from Stratux, not sure which Raspberry I have. I tried to reload my SD card with no luck. Anyway thanks for the input, I will be partnering my Stratux with my ifly 740b. The old one makes a nice paper weight. I bought the larger battery and found out don't place it anywhere close to your compass!
Gil
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good info! Thank you!
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Permalink Reply by Rob A on
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Use a 2GB sd card and not the larger ones. 2 GB is enough and with a larger card there is more potential for corrupted data.
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Permalink Reply by Samuel McNair on
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I bought one of the first 50 Flybox Stratux kits offered. It went together easily and worked flawlessly with my IFly GPS. I bought a second one after my crash and it also worked flawlessly. I did this right after moving to Wichita, and what I saw on the ADS-B and the thought of all of the other non - ADS-B aircraft out there was un-nerving. But just because you have the ADS-B keep your head on a swivel. Lots of no AC with no transponder out there still, gliders being the worst as they are virtually invisible and fly rather randomly.
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I have Stratux, and on my way back to Missouri last week from Wisconsin I was amazed at how many planes were in my vicinity even though I was trying to look out for all the traffic I knew would be in the area from Oshkosh. Sue was a relief to see the ones moving away than the ones closing! I flew very clos to two major Class B air spaces, Chicago and St Louis with a couple of class C areas as well. Great addition to the cockpit
Gil
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I was skeptical at first but now I HATE flying without it.
Two weeks ago I'm cruising a long way from anywhere at 7500 feet. I get an alert about an aircraft at my 6. I touch the icon and note he's doing close to 200 knots. At first he's 50 feet lower, then 20 feet, then 0 feet. And he's coming up fast. Screw it, I think, and roll into a hard left turn. As I roll out on a 90 degree differential I watch a large twin fly thru the space I had just vacated.
This was no joke and the best scan in the world is not going to pick up an aircraft rapidly approaching on your 6.
What struck me was where I was at - so far from much civilization and any airports. Yet here was a damn plane wanting the exact same tiny airspace as mine.
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