My Attempt at a $115 ADS-B Receiver Build for Foreflight

Mine has changed slight since post #214. Hub has been replaced by two short USB cables and a full charged battery was able to power this config for approx 3 hrs yesterday.

Working on a dual power source, easily switched between the current KMASHI battery and the 12V USB adapter, without having to unplug the power source from the Pi unit.

Might have to add a cooling fan for the Pi, CPU averaged 51C yesterday, just concerned it might go higher in all the components were in some form of low profile case.

Sorry about the photo, I just have it laying about running of the power adapter while I play with Linux.
 

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My case design is coming along smoothly, I have things refined pretty well now, and plan on writing a PM to weirdjim in the next day or two with mechanical drawings and pictures to get an idea of his opinion on an internal antenna design.

The stratus works quite well with an internal antenna so it's definitely possible.
 
Anyone have it working on FlyQ V2.0 ? I know you have to change the SSID to "Stratus12345" ...
The disconnect behavior is what we've all experienced since the first release of StraTux. I sent in another email to FlyQ support over the weekend and am waiting to hear back. It's somewhat ironic given FlyQ was the first app to "accept" data from the original Stratus outside of ForeFlight ... yet it's the one app we've not been able to get to work.
 
I was thinking something like the attached

This design keeps the box somewhat flatter (not as tall), for visibility in case of placing on dash.

I'm thinking of using velcro under the Pi and the power source to keep them from moving.

I'm leaving enough room for a GPS chip on top of the Pi, if desired.

This also allows for two antennas.

I'm not quite done yet, I have a couple of options I'm exploring for the antenna placement. I need more venting too.

Right now it's 6" by 7". The height I'm working out, but it's under 4 inches.

Maybe put some rubber under it for no-slideys.

I'm just doing this for fun; it's easy to play with.

Try:
https://www.tinkercad.com

If it looks like it might work out nicely, maybe I'll 3D print one and see how it goes.
 

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Mine has changed slight since post #214. Hub has been replaced by two short USB cables and a full charged battery was able to power this config for approx 3 hrs yesterday.

Working on a dual power source, easily switched between the current KMASHI battery and the 12V USB adapter, without having to unplug the power source from the Pi unit.

Might have to add a cooling fan for the Pi, CPU averaged 51C yesterday, just concerned it might go higher in all the components were in some form of low profile case.

Sorry about the photo, I just have it laying about running of the power adapter while I play with Linux.

Is the second flash drive the 1090? If so, model number?
 
For home use, I made up a couple of collinear antennas using Rg6, heat shrink, and some PVC pipe. Works great on 1090, but I'll need to do a Yagi to get the 978 base station. I have an old 950 STL dish I might try to resurrect, too.

Yeah, collinears are pretty simple once you understand what is going on. However, even with a collinear you get to a point of diminishing returns.

Yes, 1/2 wave is theoretically near infinite resistance in a perfect world. But then the real world comes into play. I use Mininec for modeling. Really works pretty well as long as you understand the limitations.

I really like Eznec. I have yet to get data from Eznec that didn't come out REAL close to the real world. Voyager went around the world on a few Eznec antennas.

Only one time have I achieved near-zero current - in a folded unipole de tuning skirt - managed to throw foot-long arcs across a vacuum capacitor.... With only 5 kW of power (at medium wave).

JEEZUS MURPHY. 12 inches of arc is difficult to do in air. How in the hell did you do it in a vacuum capacitor without getting interwinding arcing in the matching inductor?


Jim .....
 
Yeah, collinears are pretty simple once you understand what is going on. However, even with a collinear you get to a point of diminishing returns.

Concur. Likewise with pretty much any antenna.

I really like Eznec. I have yet to get data from Eznec that didn't come out REAL close to the real world. Voyager went around the world on a few Eznec antennas.

Yep, same base techniques. EZNec is more graphical and pretty easy to use. My experience with Mininec has been outstanding - been using it since the '80's.... but with either one you have to get the model right - EZNec makes that a lot easier.

JEEZUS MURPHY. 12 inches of arc is difficult to do in air. How in the hell did you do it in a vacuum capacitor without getting interwinding arcing in the matching inductor?
Jim .....

No matching inductor given the impedances involved - and we're talking vacuum variable capacitor. The arcing started in the air across the body of the cap (and from the cap to the large metal box it was mounted in).

Much longer story, best told over a cold beverage.
 
I also just put one of these together last night! (exact same reddit thread, instructions, parts, and results).

However, I had help. My 8 year old daughter did most of the work :D. Yes, everybody, it was really that easy.

Haven't flight tested it myself but plan to tomorrow, hopefully.

I saved some money since I already had the velcro... ;)

I didn't need the 8yr old but I'm having problems with Pi Filler. Keeps crashing on me. I've sent an email to Ivan, waiting for a response.
------
Bit the bullet, powered up the Win7 box. Installed the software on the miniSD, loaded it onto the RPi. Connected the power and the NooElec drive with antenna. On the RPi, I have a green/yellow light and a red light, both constant.

Turned on the iPad, but it can't find wi-fi "stratux"

Hm....Do I need to install Raspbian? On the Part 2 page, it states "Raspbian pre-configured image released"
--------------------------
Another update...

Which version of the complete package to download? stratux-v0.2r1 or stratux-v.0.1-08...?
-------------------------
Installed v.0.1-08. Green light on the Pi, light on the NooElec but still no wifi to the iPad or the computer.

Any ideas?
 
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I didn't need the 8yr old but I'm having problems with Pi Filler. Keeps crashing on me. I've sent an email to Ivan, waiting for a response.
------
Bit the bullet, powered up the Win7 box. Installed the software on the miniSD, loaded it onto the RPi. Connected the power and the NooElec drive with antenna. On the RPi, I have a green/yellow light and a red light, both constant.

Turned on the iPad, but it can't find wi-fi "stratux"

Hm....Do I need to install Raspbian? On the Part 2 page, it states "Raspbian pre-configured image released"
--------------------------
Another update...

Which version of the complete package to download? stratux-v0.2r1 or stratux-v.0.1-08...?
-------------------------
Installed v.0.1-08. Green light on the Pi, light on the NooElec but still no wifi to the iPad or the computer.

Any ideas?

Hate to ask, but ... You did install the WiFi dongle? And it does match the specs?
Just checking.
 
I didn't need the 8yr old but I'm having problems with Pi Filler. Keeps crashing on me. I've sent an email to Ivan, waiting for a response.
------
Bit the bullet, powered up the Win7 box. Installed the software on the miniSD, loaded it onto the RPi. Connected the power and the NooElec drive with antenna. On the RPi, I have a green/yellow light and a red light, both constant.

Turned on the iPad, but it can't find wi-fi "stratux"

Hm....Do I need to install Raspbian? On the Part 2 page, it states "Raspbian pre-configured image released"
--------------------------
Another update...

Which version of the complete package to download? stratux-v0.2r1 or stratux-v.0.1-08...?
-------------------------
Installed v.0.1-08. Green light on the Pi, light on the NooElec but still no wifi to the iPad or the computer.

Any ideas?

I experienced a similar issue. Check the capacity of the SD card again on the computer, if it shows 56 MB, you need to reformat the SD card load the Stratux image again. Some people have suggested formatting using the software specific to formatting SD cards (google SD card formatter) for Windows. Since you have a Mac, try formatting using your Mac (Disk Utility) and use Pi-Filler to reload the image.
 
Hate to ask, but ... You did install the WiFi dongle? And it does match the specs?
Just checking.

No problem - I do the same thing - start at the very beginning regardless where the problem is. I bought the specific package from Amazon over the weekend.

Yes, SDR is connected. On the Pi - steady red light, blinking green. On the battery - it's on. On the SDR - with version 0.1 the light was on, now with v 0.2, the light is off. I hooked the Pi to my tv with the HDMI cable (without the SDR attached) and got nada - No Signal Detected.

Well, at least I'm not trying to use it today to fly to Salida for lunch - got busy doing real work for money.
 
I experienced a similar issue. Check the capacity of the SD card again on the computer, if it shows 56 MB, you need to reformat the SD card load the Stratux image again. Some people have suggested formatting using the software specific to formatting SD cards (google SD card formatter) for Windows. Since you have a Mac, try formatting using your Mac (Disk Utility) and use Pi-Filler to reload the image.

Started on the Mac. Pi Filler crashes, hence my email to Ivan, and hence using the Win7 box.

Hm...I wonder....I reformatted on the Mac using SDFormatter_4.00B but loaded on Win7.

But you have identified one symptom - capacity is 56 MB. Off to get the google software.
 
No problem - I do the same thing - start at the very beginning regardless where the problem is. I bought the specific package from Amazon over the weekend.

Yes, SDR is connected. On the Pi - steady red light, blinking green. On the battery - it's on. On the SDR - with version 0.1 the light was on, now with v 0.2, the light is off. I hooked the Pi to my tv with the HDMI cable (without the SDR attached) and got nada - No Signal Detected.

Well, at least I'm not trying to use it today to fly to Salida for lunch - got busy doing real work for money.

You say the SDR is connected. The big blue thing.

What about the little black WiFi module? Is that plugged into one of the other USB ports?

 
Started on the Mac. Pi Filler crashes, hence my email to Ivan, and hence using the Win7 box.

Hm...I wonder....I reformatted on the Mac using SDFormatter_4.00B but loaded on Win7.

But you have identified one symptom - capacity is 56 MB. Off to get the google software.

When I tried to reformat my SD card on Win 7 using SD card formatter, load the image, and check the card after the image was written, the card was empty and the capacity was 56 MB. Then I switched to mac, reformatted and loaded the image using Pi-Filler and everything worked fine.
 
You say the SDR is connected. The big blue thing.

What about the little black WiFi module? Is that plugged into one of the other USB ports?


Is that the tiny USB thing with no directions? Downside of the original instructions over on reddit and every place else - no list of hardware, no complete details. Far too many assumptions for us big computer users.

[I've installed Oracle on the mac with less trouble. Considerably more time, but less trouble.]

I needed to reformat & reload the software anyway.
 
iu



Is that the tiny USB thing with no directions? Downside of the original instructions over on reddit and every place else - no list of hardware, no complete details. Far too many assumptions for us big computer users.

[I've installed Oracle on the mac with less trouble. Considerably more time, but less trouble.]

I needed to reformat & reload the software anyway.

Yep! That's it.
You aren't the first!

(I found the directions at the start of this thread quite useful.)
 
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No problem - I do the same thing - start at the very beginning regardless where the problem is. I bought the specific package from Amazon over the weekend.

Yes, SDR is connected. On the Pi - steady red light, blinking green. On the battery - it's on. On the SDR - with version 0.1 the light was on, now with v 0.2, the light is off. I hooked the Pi to my tv with the HDMI cable (without the SDR attached) and got nada - No Signal Detected.

Well, at least I'm not trying to use it today to fly to Salida for lunch - got busy doing real work for money.

Update - reformatted the SD card again. This time I see FAT32 as expected. But after reloading the image, back to the 56 MB, and when I connect to the TV using the HDMI card (no wifi dongle or blue widget) all I get is "No Signal" message. This tells me the image is still not loaded properly.

Next step - over to Costco or Microcenter and get another SD card. Couldn't hurt.
 
Update - reformatted the SD card again. This time I see FAT32 as expected. But after reloading the image, back to the 56 MB, and when I connect to the TV using the HDMI card (no wifi dongle or blue widget) all I get is "No Signal" message. This tells me the image is still not loaded properly.

Next step - over to Costco or Microcenter and get another SD card. Couldn't hurt.


Pi Filler works pretty reliably for me. The trick is to not insert the SD card until it says "Looking for SD card..."
 
Pi Filler works pretty reliably for me. The trick is to not insert the SD card until it says "Looking for SD card..."

aHA!

unfortunately, it crashes no matter what for me. Pi Copier appears to work, Pi Finder crashes, just like Pi Filler.

Plan K (already run thru Plans A,B,C,....)

Connecting to the tv didn't work. Fortunately, I have extra USB keyboard and mouse, and far too many monitors. Hooked all that up to the Pi, currently installing Raspbian.

So, once this is done, back to the Win7 box and do another install of stratux and hope for the best.

This is not what I had planned to do today, and so far, I've spent 6 hours trying to get this working. The hardware was trivial. How embarassing for the *nix geek.

Instructions not clear, not complete.
 
aHA!

unfortunately, it crashes no matter what for me. Pi Copier appears to work, Pi Finder crashes, just like Pi Filler.

Plan K (already run thru Plans A,B,C,....)

Connecting to the tv didn't work. Fortunately, I have extra USB keyboard and mouse, and far too many monitors. Hooked all that up to the Pi, currently installing Raspbian.

So, once this is done, back to the Win7 box and do another install of stratux and hope for the best.

This is not what I had planned to do today, and so far, I've spent 6 hours trying to get this working. The hardware was trivial. How embarassing for the *nix geek.

Instructions not clear, not complete.
If you're a *nix geek you're complicating the hell out of this. Just use dd to write the image to the SD.
 
aHA!

unfortunately, it crashes no matter what for me. Pi Copier appears to work, Pi Finder crashes, just like Pi Filler.

Plan K (already run thru Plans A,B,C,....)

Connecting to the tv didn't work. Fortunately, I have extra USB keyboard and mouse, and far too many monitors. Hooked all that up to the Pi, currently installing Raspbian.

So, once this is done, back to the Win7 box and do another install of stratux and hope for the best.

This is not what I had planned to do today, and so far, I've spent 6 hours trying to get this working. The hardware was trivial. How embarassing for the *nix geek.

Instructions not clear, not complete.


If you can't even figure out how to plug the device into a TV, then your best bet is probably just to send the hardware back and buy a Stratus.


EDIT: Pi Copier and Pi Finder have nothing to do with what you should be doing.
 
If you can't even figure out how to plug the device into a TV, then your best bet is probably just to send the hardware back and buy a Stratus.
No problems connect the HDMI cables but because the SD card didn't have the correct software, nothing was going to the tv. Load Raspbian, life is good.

EDIT: Pi Copier and Pi Finder have nothing to do with what you should be doing.

yup, know that. But they come with Pi Filler, so checking each of the 3 applications should provide some insight into why Pi Filler is crashing. Unfortunately, no insight.
 
If you're a *nix geek you're complicating the hell out of this. Just use dd to write the image to the SD.

Did it work for you? Didn't work for me. So I decided to take drastic action and follow the directions.

Plan H - Revert the SD to original format with NOOBS. Loaded Raspbian. Connects to the monitor, no problem. bash, lots of games and python. Then followed the directions on reddit and used Win7 ImageWrite to write the stratux image to the SD. Which immediately erases everything and overwrites the OS. Once again, 56 MB and no visible software but the name of the SD is now "boot". In theory, since stratux contains Raspbian, I should be able to connect to the monitor again. Nope.

Plan I - Put the SD back to original format. Ignore the directions that came with the Pi and go directly (once again) to the stratux instructions. Use Win7 image writer to load onto the SD. Plug in the wifi dongle and power but not the SDR. Wait while it boots up.

Power up the iPad. Nope - iPad doesn't find the wifi.

Start up Disk Utilities....fascinating....2 partitions: boot and the stratux image. boot is FAT16 at /Volumes/boot but the stratux partition disk1s2 isn't mounted.

Spent enough time on this...later in the week I'll try again.

Jesse - you may be right, I'm probably making this much more difficult than it should be. But when following the directions from the developer don't work, got no other options.
 
Did it work for you? Didn't work for me. So I decided to take drastic action and follow the directions.

Plan H - Revert the SD to original format with NOOBS. Loaded Raspbian. Connects to the monitor, no problem. bash, lots of games and python. Then followed the directions on reddit and used Win7 ImageWrite to write the stratux image to the SD. Which immediately erases everything and overwrites the OS. Once again, 56 MB and no visible software but the name of the SD is now "boot". In theory, since stratux contains Raspbian, I should be able to connect to the monitor again. Nope.

Plan I - Put the SD back to original format. Ignore the directions that came with the Pi and go directly (once again) to the stratux instructions. Use Win7 image writer to load onto the SD. Plug in the wifi dongle and power but not the SDR. Wait while it boots up.

Power up the iPad. Nope - iPad doesn't find the wifi.

Start up Disk Utilities....fascinating....2 partitions: boot and the stratux image. boot is FAT16 at /Volumes/boot but the stratux partition disk1s2 isn't mounted.

Spent enough time on this...later in the week I'll try again.

Jesse - you may be right, I'm probably making this much more difficult than it should be. But when following the directions from the developer don't work, got no other options.


If you were able to get NOOBS loaded onto the card after all of this, sounds like you're on the right track.


Take the MD5 of the stratux image and verify that it is: a13754819d45981ad47196d906e93519
 
If you were able to get NOOBS loaded onto the card after all of this, sounds like you're on the right track.


Take the MD5 of the stratux image and verify that it is: a13754819d45981ad47196d906e93519

But the moment I load the stratux software, everything else is erased and there's no way to get to the stratux partition.

Can't spend anymore time on this right now, class is at 6 pm this evening and I haven't finished the notes. Fortunately, all the homework got graded last night.
 
Yes, I get data streaming to both my phone and the Nexus 7 from the box I just do not get traffic or weather data just what looks like a time and a battery check. I suspect it is working just not picking up any signal from the tower.

I "built" one the other day and get the same thing (time and battery check) . I thought I just wasn't getting a signal but I do get traffic when I plug the antenna directly into my Nexus. I believe the closest antenna is at my airport so should be easy to check when I get out there. Tried both port 43211 and 4000 with same time and battery status.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
 
It took me 4 tries to get the image to load onto the card.

If you're using Win7, the latest version of Win32DiskImager is really a problem. I've (also) got the older version that works just fine. I'd use dd under Unix, but for not having a memory card reader that works on the box. So Win7 it is.

A new card might work better, dunno. Though I will probably acquire a second one.

Took the system and the iPad up near one of the 978 towers today and it works fine.

Anyone using the latest firmware able to note what I need to do before I can use 1090 (besides load the firmware and install the second receiver)? I've got the second receiver - is there a switch or setting that needs to be adjusted?
 
I just don't see why people are wanting 1090. IMO it's an absolute waste of power and complicates the device. I've been flying with a Stratus 2 and an iPad for years and unless your airplane is equipped with ADS-B out I consider the traffic to be absolutely worthless. I wanted traffic to work well, but it just doesn't, and as a result I never even turn the traffic overlay on anymore. I'd rather keep my eyes looking outside than looking at an iPad screen.

The value to ADS-B on the iPad is the weather data. The traffic picture is terrible without ADS-B out and even with that it's pretty unreliable. Given the fact that the tablet applications don't offer traffic alerts with avoidance instructions I just don't see it being worth it.

YMMV.
 
I just don't see why people are wanting 1090. IMO it's an absolute waste of power and complicates the device. I've been flying with a Stratus 2 and an iPad for years and unless your airplane is equipped with ADS-B out I consider the traffic to be absolutely worthless. I wanted traffic to work well, but it just doesn't, and as a result I never even turn the traffic overlay on anymore. I'd rather keep my eyes looking outside than looking at an iPad screen.

The value to ADS-B on the iPad is the weather data. The traffic picture is terrible without ADS-B out and even with that it's pretty unreliable. Given the fact that the tablet applications don't offer traffic alerts with avoidance instructions I just don't see it being worth it.

YMMV.

Yep, MMV.

Some of us are avgeeks and aren't always flying our own planes.... I would have *loved* to have this on 1090 a couple of weeks ago when out for a photo shoot of the Blue Angels in their fly-by of DCA. iPad, local receiver, 1090ES would have given me a bit of an idea where the breaks in the traffic were.

In the air. I can see your point. But as much traffic as there is around where I live (including the various helicopters), I enjoy watching some of it at home on Virtual Radar with the ADSB# package.
 
Yep, MMV.

Some of us are avgeeks and aren't always flying our own planes.... I would have *loved* to have this on 1090 a couple of weeks ago when out for a photo shoot of the Blue Angels in their fly-by of DCA. iPad, local receiver, 1090ES would have given me a bit of an idea where the breaks in the traffic were.

In the air. I can see your point. But as much traffic as there is around where I live (including the various helicopters), I enjoy watching some of it at home on Virtual Radar with the ADSB# package.

I know the limitations of it but I always have the XRX on the glare shield in addition to any stratus type unit, at least the XRX audio alerts gets your attention
 
But the moment I load the stratux software, everything else is erased and there's no way to get to the stratux partition.

Can't spend anymore time on this right now, class is at 6 pm this evening and I haven't finished the notes. Fortunately, all the homework got graded last night.

WTF are you talking about? Garbage in, garbage out. Check your items before you start loading things onto the card - make sure it's right. Tons of people have done this in 10 minutes, you're screwing up because you think you know better than to follow the very simple instructions.
 
I just don't see why people are wanting 1090. IMO it's an absolute waste of power and complicates the device. I've been flying with a Stratus 2 and an iPad for years and unless your airplane is equipped with ADS-B out I consider the traffic to be absolutely worthless. I wanted traffic to work well, but it just doesn't, and as a result I never even turn the traffic overlay on anymore. I'd rather keep my eyes looking outside than looking at an iPad screen.

The value to ADS-B on the iPad is the weather data. The traffic picture is terrible without ADS-B out and even with that it's pretty unreliable. Given the fact that the tablet applications don't offer traffic alerts with avoidance instructions I just don't see it being worth it.

YMMV.

Just back from a (FF VFR then IFR) flight from New England into the busy NY area, using my current crop of traffic tools: ADS-B IN (no OUT) GDL-39 with Garmin Pilot on Nexus 7, Zaon "PCAS", ATC, plus the plexiglass screens.
I saw and had lots of traffic called out today, and it seemed that nearly all of it was showing on the Nexus. (For clutter reduction I have the PCAS set to 3 mile +/- 1500 feet so it only calls the closer ones.)
The GDL-39 is dual band, and my guess is that many of my painted traffic were coming air-to-air from 1090 band, while others were uplinked from the ground stations courtesy of the nearby OUT aircraft.
So at the moment, to my pleasant surprise, at least in this busy corridor, passive ADS-B IN coupled with dual band seems to do a decent job of seeing most relevant traffic (i.e. called out by ATC or PCAS).
 
So I managed to borrow a functioning SkyRadar box and ran it side by side with the Stratux, just on my desktop at home, feeding two ipads both running WingX.

1. Stratux detected traffic faster and usually more of it

2. SkyRadar no longer displayed traffic once it was outside filter range, however the same aircraft using Stratux remained displayed, stuck in the same place on the moving map.

3. SkyRadar always displayed altitude while Stratux occasionally didnt.

Too far away from a tower to comment on WX or UAT traffic.
 
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WTF are you talking about? Garbage in, garbage out. Check your items before you start loading things onto the card - make sure it's right. Tons of people have done this in 10 minutes, you're screwing up because you think you know better than to follow the very simple instructions.

I did follow the directions, exactly as written by the OP. Multiple times. Loading Raspberry was not a problem, connected the HDMI cables, got both the command line and the gui. Used the imagewriter on Win7 to load the stratux image, which overwrites Raspbian on the SD, then connected the HDMI cables - nothing but a black screen.

Yes, it should be simple. But for some reason, it's not.
 
I did follow the directions, exactly as written by the OP. Multiple times. Loading Raspberry was not a problem, connected the HDMI cables, got both the command line and the gui. Used the imagewriter on Win7 to load the stratux image, which overwrites Raspbian on the SD, then connected the HDMI cables - nothing but a black screen.

Yes, it should be simple. But for some reason, it's not.

I have not even bothered to hook it up to a keyboard or screen directly, I just use PuTTY to connect to it and run things from the command line. For example changing the SSID or Channel used.
 
Strain relieved and added some rubber shelf liner that will hopefully make it nonskid.

Still need to hook up a serial console if only for amusement.

What are folks doing for mounting?
 

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