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No traffic on Foreflight while connected to IFD540

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HenryM View Drop Down
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    Posted: 20 Nov 2017 at 7:07am
Yesterday I flew for the first time with my iPad connected to my new-to-me IFD540. I’m a new Yorker so I may well be doing something wrong.

I have a. IFD-540, and AXP-340 and an MLB-100/SkyTrax 100. The IFD-540 has just been updated to Version 10.2.0.0. The IFD displays traffic on the moving map as expected.

I had Foreflight running and then connected my iPad to the IFD network with the default credentials. I never saw the display on Foreflight that specifies the number of ADS-B towers seen. No traffic was displayed, even while the IFD was showing traffic nearby. One plane flew directly over me, 1200 ft above my altitude.

Are traffic and weather supposed to display on FF with this installation?

Edited by HenryM - 20 Nov 2017 at 8:19am
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oskrypuch View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote oskrypuch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov 2017 at 9:52am
No, ADS-B data is not currently being picked up by FF from an IFD source. Hopefully FF adds that function.

If you really want TIS/FIS on your tablet, then you need to grab a Stratus (or Stratux) to feed it. Runing a Stratus/x together with the IFD (in client vice hotspot mode) does work.

* Orest

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AviSimpson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov 2017 at 10:43am
Originally posted by HenryM HenryM wrote:

Yesterday I flew for the first time with my iPad connected to my new-to-me IFD540. I’m a new Yorker so I may well be doing something wrong.

I have a. IFD-540, and AXP-340 and an MLB-100/SkyTrax 100. The IFD-540 has just been updated to Version 10.2.0.0. The IFD displays traffic on the moving map as expected.

I had Foreflight running and then connected my iPad to the IFD network with the default credentials. I never saw the display on Foreflight that specifies the number of ADS-B towers seen. No traffic was displayed, even while the IFD was showing traffic nearby. One plane flew directly over me, 1200 ft above my altitude.

Are traffic and weather supposed to display on FF with this installation?

While ADS-B weather and traffic are available (when connected to an ADS-B receiver) in the WiFi data stream, I don't believe Foreflight has implemented it in their latest release.
Simpson Bennett
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HenryM View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HenryM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov 2017 at 12:02pm
Thank you for the information. I should have checked with WingX too, since I also have that on my tablet. I did start it up, but didn't check the ADS-B function. Are there any EFB's that properly display traffic and weather coming over the IFD network from the MLB-100? 

Since FF picks up the Stratux output, and the code to do that is open source, couldn't the IFD also output traffic and weather in that format, so FF would display it too? It seems like the information is all there but needs to be packaged appropriately. 

Wasn't FF able to display traffic from the Navworx devices, which is what the MLB100 is? 

I have written to FF to ask them to support they IFD devices. They say it is on their list, but no estimated time when it will become available.


Edited by HenryM - 20 Nov 2017 at 1:06pm
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HenryM View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HenryM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov 2017 at 12:08pm
By the way, I have a Stratux, but I don't consider it a very relabel device. It works fine, but is prone to component failures and uses a lot of power for what it does. I may consider a Stratus unit. If I am understanding things properly, I can set up the IFD to be a remote device and connect to the Stratus network then connect my iPad to the same network. I will then be able to transfer flight plans between FF and the IFD. Correct? 

Is there any other reason, besides transferring flight plans, why I would want to jump through the hoop of attaching the IFD to a network? If I didn't need the flight plan transfer, I could just as well just connect the iPad to the Stratus and leave the IFD out of the picture. I'd have the magenta line on the panel, and traffic and weather, as well as geo-referenced charts on the iPad.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote oskrypuch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov 2017 at 1:30pm
Originally posted by HenryM HenryM wrote:

...I can set up the IFD to be a remote device and connect to the Stratus network then connect my iPad to the same network. I will then be able to transfer flight plans between FF and the IFD. Correct? 

....Is there any other reason, besides transferring flight plans, 

Correct, and ...   

Don't forget the IFD100 !!

* Orest

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HenryM View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HenryM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov 2017 at 5:03pm
Where will the weather and traffic information displayed on FF be coming from with a setup like this - the MLB100 or the Stratus? I like that the Stratus is dual band for traffic information, but I would want to mount the Stratus somewhere out of the way and it might not have the best reception location. I would not want window antennas and wires strung inside the cabin, so perhaps I'd live with the single band UAT of the MLB-100. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote oskrypuch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov 2017 at 6:52pm
Originally posted by HenryM HenryM wrote:

Where will the weather and traffic information displayed on FF be coming from with a setup like this - the MLB100 or the Stratus? I like that the Stratus is dual band for traffic information, but I would want to mount the Stratus somewhere out of the way and it might not have the best reception location. I would not want window antennas and wires strung inside the cabin, so perhaps I'd live with the single band UAT of the MLB-100. 

Currently, the TIS & FIS can only come from a Stratus (or other portable receiver), as FF does not support pulling it from the IFD/MLB. The data is there and available, FF just has to make use of it. They probably will eventually.

I mounted my Stratus (and Stratux before it) on the base of my C pillar at the back using some "No More Nails" 3M tape. To power it ran a 10' USB cable to it from a USB/cig lighter adapter at the front, buried it behind the side panel. And, that way I can kill the power to it in an abnormal setting.

You don't really need an external GPS or ADS-B antenna, reception is solid in the US. I had an unused DME antenna on the belly, so connected that to the Stratus, got the cabling from Digi-Key. Definitely improves reception, but I think that would be useful only in poorly served US areas, or border areas in Canada (that are unserved), the latter an application for me.

* Orest





Edited by oskrypuch - 20 Nov 2017 at 6:55pm
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HenryM View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HenryM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Nov 2017 at 9:05pm
Thank you, Orest. I think I have the big picture now. Not too hopeful about FF doing anything, but we’ll just have to see. I would rather not have to buy another portable device.

Does WingX Pro work with the IFD data?

Edited by HenryM - 23 Nov 2017 at 11:42pm
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LANCE View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LANCE Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Nov 2017 at 11:39am
Originally posted by HenryM HenryM wrote:

Thank you, Orest. I think I have the big picture now. Not too hopeful about FF doing anything, but we’ll just have to see. I would rather not have to buy another portable device.

Does WongX Pro work with the IFD data?

It doesn't look like it.
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