iPad not showing traffic but iPhone is

1

I have an iPad mini and iPhone 5s, both using the latest iOS. I see traffic on the iPhone just fine but not on the iPad. A friend has a unit with the same iPad and Openflight system and I get the same results from his Openflight system yet his iPad works fine with my Stratux. Both systems have identical settings. I’ve determined it is iPad related but I’m not having any other problems with the iPad. Any ideas?

2

When that happens there’s usually another app running in the background that has the required data port locked up. For example, somebody tries out ForeFlight then later launches WingX. ForeFlight is still in the background and still owns the port so WingX never gets data.

Another possibility: the version of your EFB app on the iPhone is recent and has support for ADS-B, but the version on your iPad is old and does not. If you don’t have auto-update turned on and the iPad is a few years old this is quite possible.

Which EFB are you using? Which versions are installed on the iPad and iPhone?

3

I have somewhat the same issue with my mini iPad. Have never seen a target on it yet. Being a new user, I figured its just pilot error so far. What does a target look like? I do see Device Status: Online and I do see ADS-B in the GPS Status box, so I think it means its connected, but never see a target… yet.

4

Here’s a screen shot of FF with a single traffic target - the small arrowhead-shaped icon due west of KMKC. The +27 indicates that the aircraft is 2,700’ above me.

IMG_0089.jpg1536×2048 1.24 MB

If you have a dual-band system (a system with both 978 MHz and 1090 MHz) you should be seeing some number of targets throughout the “flying day” (roughly 6 AM - 11 PM in most areas). If you are not:

  • Check to make sure you have the Traffic layer enabled in your EFB app.
  • Check to be sure you have the antennas connected to the correct bulkhead jack.
  • Make sure your power supply is capable of providing at least 2 amps.
  • Check the 1090-ES message count in either the app or the web interface. It should show some number of 1090-ES messages.

If you’ve done all of the above and you’re still not getting any traffic targets you may have a bad 1090 MHz radio module or a bad connection between the radio module and the antenna.

If you have a single band receiver, you won’t receive much if anything in the way of traffic unless you’re at altitude and in the vicinity of an aircraft equipped with ADS-B Out.

5

I check the first 3 items and I am good. Not sure where to find the 1090-ES your talking about. I have the dual band hi gain remote antenna’s with remote gps. The only place I see maybe of what your talking about is under, Menu, About, Connected Devices and then on the line listed as “Traffic Rpts/Shown/Updts 12,0,3486”, if that helps.
Of course this is setting on the ground.

6

I found the 1090-ES you were talking about in the FlightBox utility app. All is green in the status except a yellow dot under UAT Towers: 0. Reading on the Report page, all is well. Hmmmmm

7
  1. I use Foreflight and always have so the idea of having another app in the background can’t be valid.
  2. The version on the phone and iPad are the same and all of the settings are identical - 7.7.2.
  3. The receiver is working fine as my iPhone and my friend’s iPad is getting traffic and weather but not my iPad.

So, with all of that I still feel that it is limited to my iPad but still can’t find any other symptoms. I have reset the iPad to new and restored this last week and haven’t had a chance to test it yet.

Thanks for all of the input.

8

I’m seeing this same behavior with a dual band FlightBox.

  1. Same version of iOS on both iPhone and iPad
  2. Same version of Foreflight running on both devices
  3. Latest update of FlightBox software, but the “original” version of Stratux
  4. The only apps running on the iPad are Foreflight and the Settings app (to reset the wifi connection)
  5. In my case, the iPad is wifi only (no cellular capability)
  6. When no traffic or current position is displayed, the FlightBox app on the iPhone reports all is well (all status indicators are green (NOTE: number of UAT towers may be yellow when no towers are in range.)

We just landed after a 10 day trip. Position information and traffic were intermittent throughout the trip. I was looking for some type of correlation or pattern (number of UAT towers, shutting down Foreflight, resetting the wifi connection, etc.). No joy.

9

On the iPads with issues:

  1. Upgrade to ForeFlight 8.
  2. Check http://192.168.10.1/ and see the 1090ES reception bar and/or the “Traffic” tab on that page. Is everyone receiving traffic messages that is reporting an issue?
  3. Enable traffic layer: http://sportysnetwork.com/ipad/wp-content/blogs.dir/8/files/2014/05/traffic-layer.jpg
  4. Disable “Hide Distant Traffic”: http://sportysnetwork.com/ipad/files/2015/10/2015-10-22-14.11.57.png
10
  1. Upgraded several weeks ago before noticing this behavior.
  2. I’m seeing both now (at home, seeing traffic at LAX). I didn’t check this while in flight and the odd behavior was in progress. Sorry, man. But I was seeing traffic on the iPhone at that point.
  3. Enabled (I’m fairly sure it’s never been turned off)
  4. Disabled (most likely never turned on)
11

@timc - so it is working as expected now (on the ground) for you on your iPad, but ForeFlight on the iPad behaves intermittently with respect to traffic display. Is that right? When the iPad is not displaying traffic, you’re able to see it on your iPhone?

12

@cyoung - that’s exactly correct.

13

@cyoung - one other detail that may be worthwhile: when this behavior was going on, my own position was also missing from the map.

14

@timc - thanks for the follow-up. It sounds like ForeFlight wasn’t picking up anything that was being sent from your FlightBox at that point in time. We did have some issues in the past with this behavior, and didn’t quite get what verison you were running:

“Latest update of FlightBox software, but the “original” version of Stratux”

What does the web interface tell you for version number (http://192.168.10.1/) - paste the full line, there is a hex code which is even more descriptive than the version label (v1.0r1, etc).

15

@cyoung - The full line is Version: v1.0r1 (945c8bf6bc)

16

@cyoung - I have 2 tidbits for you:

  1. I bought a 2nd data card from Steve, hoping to eliminate me and my download process as a potential failure point. Installed the new card, software had the same build number. No change.

  2. I just returned from a trip to Prescott AZ from Southern CA for the AOPA event. Based on other threads in the forum, I turned off Bluetooth on the iPad. The failure did NOT occur. That is, I was able to see the same traffic and ADS-B weather on both the iPhone and iPad for the entire trip.

Note I only used it on the outbound trip. We were using another person’s Stratus on the return leg.