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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly General Di...iFly General Di...Weather from ADS-B (Echo)Weather from ADS-B (Echo)
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9/21/2020 12:03 PM
 

I'm just testing an install of a Uavionix Echo in my RV.  I am using the iFly GPS app on my Samsung Galaxy Note S20 Ultra. I can see other traffic in the app but can't figure out how how in-flight weather works.  I can click on my aiport and go to the weather tab and see no updated METAR info.  My airport just shows "No weather".  How does this get populated in the app from the ADS-B feed?  I do have my app checked to try and use internet to download weather in flight.. does this interfere with receiving ADS-B updated weather info? 

 
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9/21/2020 10:57 PM
 

Brian, let me be the first to welcome you to the iFly family!  A quick question - are you checking the ADSB weather while on the ground?  If so, unless you happen to have an ADSB tower adjacent to your airport you won't see any weather updates. 

FWIW, our usual approach to getting up to date weather in iFly is this - (I use the android version exclusively, other versions might differ a bit in their operation).

First we provide internet access to our tablets through my telephone's wifi hotspot.  We next start iFly on our Android tablet and let it access the internet through our wifi connection while we do our preflight walkaround.  This gives iFly a few minutes to access the internet and download current weather and notams.  Before turning off my hotspot, I use the Mapmode menu to verify that iFly has downloaded the current wx info - it usually takes much less than a minute.

We then turn off the hotspot to allow the tablet to search for and connect to my ADSB receiver (a Stratux).  One we're flying and can begin to receive ADSB info from the nearest tower we can check the ADSB status by touching the ADSB instrument - which will bring up the ADSB status info.

You state that you are using an Android device - it won't connect to more than one data source at a time.  When your Samsung is connected to your uAvionics echo, it isn't connected to the internet, but that really isn't a case of the ADSB receiver blocking or preventing your Samsung from getting data from the ADSB device.  For example, if you could maintain a consistent internet data connection while in the air on your Samsung, you'd get wx updates - but you would also miss out on traffic alerts which IMHO are priceless - hence the value of ADSB, wx, notams and traffic all rolled into one data source.

 
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9/22/2020 8:20 AM
 

Thanks for the response.  I'm launching the iFly GPS app while on the ground, and downloading updates using cellular data, not ADS-B.  All the weather data is updated and all the airports around me have colored dots on them (showing the weather).  Upon engine start, my phone then connects to the echo wifi and I start receiving traffic in the area.  The colored dots disappear on the airports and when I click on my airport it says No weather available.  Mind you, I have only been doing short 20-30 min flights and not flying cross country or anything.  Maybe it just needs time to download the weather updates via ADS-B?  I'm just west of Atlanta airspace so I'm pretty sure ADS-B coverage is strong for the busiest airport in the world. I just wanted to make sure all the ADS-B data came in the same feed.  Just curious as to why I'd receive traffic but not weather.  I'd much rather see traffic so this is a really cool aspect to be able to see that data in the cockpit. 

 
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9/22/2020 10:24 AM
 

Brian, it sure sounds like you are doing everything correctly to get wx on your android.  I don't have my stratux here at home so I can't see the same behavior as you describe.  Just testing my android at home, when I start iFly it updates from wifi.  I put my phone in airplane mode to turn off the data connection, then scrolled around looking at airports.  The colored dots and wx were still available to me.

AFAIK, ADSB pushes regional updates every 2.5 min and CONUS every 15.  There are others here on the forum that are much better versed on the intricacies of ADSB - hopefully they will add their input.

 
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9/22/2020 10:48 AM
 

Thanks Mark.. I've run into another weird situation with using the ADS-D device connection.. when I pinch to zoom the maps while in flight, the underlying basemap isn't loading.. I think it has something to do with not being connected to the internet.  I'll take a screenshot next time I go flying to reach out to support to see what's up with that feature. 

 
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