My box arrived/ What is going on with the software? Help!

[A350]

Hello,
the new box is connected now (north germany) and so i can tell you my first impressions and real facts:

Look at the delivered software CD inside cover> Quick installation guide: What do you see on  picture 2 and 3? >connect the usb cable to the pc and (pic.3) insert CD> and install the software. That is totally against what the manual tells: There appears a warning that FIRST the software is to install and then as a second step conect the usb cable into the pc. At least that installing of the usb driver!!

When I push the window scroll up/down button in the “MyFlights” list I get on top of the main software-window “AirNav RadarBox 2007 –[default.ml3] (no Backreport)” and the software hangs up for lets say 10 seconds. No action then. After this timeslot it goes on. These problem also appears sometimes when i clik into the map area.

When I start the software I will get in  around 150 flights in my area after a timespan of lets say 5 minutes (with outdoor antenna/amplifier at the roof) When I look now in the “MyFlights” list I have only 6-8 flights ( or it varies up/down from 5 to 10-20 flights) where the Status is shown as Decend, Leveled, Cruise, Departure or Climb. The other flights have all the status "Timeout". Why? What does "Timeout" mean in special for having flights shown on the map?
 (I speek just about local antenna signals/no network.)

In my view of the things there must be more globe-Status flight data available and no “timeout” status because the signals coming in with 2 - 13Msgs/Sec. Why are not more status data shown as Cruise, climbing etc.?

I have had the fact that for unknown reasons the map shows not any flight. I try around and go to “Map” menu>projection>and switch there from mercator to spherical and back. a wonder: Then the flights came on the map again….

Another example: When I open other software(mutitasking) like MS-Word where I now type these report and close these application down then the radarsoftware as a background application goes in an totally empty white screen an i have to wait again for 10-15 seconds before the radarsoft appears again. In this timespan the mouse curser appears as a cross...

So i saw these new Airnav product at the Hamradio exhibition Friedrichshafen,Lake Constance at the stand of the hardware manufacturer primetec and I bought this by the german dealer Wimo. You can go for sure that I will make my tests in the the next upcoming 4-5 days and when I come to the result that the customer is used as a kind of beta tester ( at a very, very low lewel software version) then I will make use of the famous 14 days “return back to dealer >get money back option” we have here in germany.

Please believe - i`m not against beta testing- but that should have been done by the real beta testers before.

But I will see how the next days go….but for these 4 first hours today it was a disappointment.

Please could you tell me when will you expect the next softwareupdate with (basic!)improvements?

I hope you don`t delete my message. I will tell you my next results and experiences tomorrow.

Thank you very much for your answer.

A350

[AirNav Support]

Hi A350,

Firstly not sure why we would delete this message. We are here to help you :)
Also beta testing was done and there customers who have posted screenshots and who have bought at the convention who are very happy with there system. Obviously with hundreds of different computer configurations its hard to catch all bugs at once.

I am having a bit of trouble understanding what is written but will do my best:

Timeouts:

Timeouts flights are aircraft which you have lost contact with (no more messages from them). They will turn white in the display and then disappear. You can set your timeout time in the preferences. You may need to decrease yours so the timeouts flights are removed quickly hence you are seeing aircraft that you are getting signals from.

Also you mention 2 - 13Msgs/Sec are is being picked up. This not very high may indicate why you are not receiving lots of flights. Where is your antenna placed?

Issues with the Map:

How fast is your machine? as if its taking very long to swap between applications it may indicate that your computer is having trouble keeping up or a possible problem with the application.

We are here to help so if you give us information we will get to bottom of it. We hope to have a version of RadarBox 2007 soon once we have heard any feature requests or bugs by our customers.

[A350]

Hello,
thank you for your help.

OK with the timeout flights.

I found out that when i have the internet connection in use (no data sharing/Network flights) that the incoming live message rate is higher (also now in the night):70-110Msgs/sec. and the whole software is running more stable when there is always  the internet conection running.

Without internet conection the software slows down and then also the map problems / “AirNav RadarBox 2007 –[default.ml3] (no Backreport)” appears.

Also the radarbox USB and signal-LED  are then not in action from time to time. This is also when i klick on a flight in the map area . After some time the LEDs are normal again.
It must have to do with the internet conectivity.

My pc system is a AMD 64 3700+ /1.79GHz/1GB RAM /WinXP

More test results tomorrow. Thank you for support.
A350

[AirNav Support]

Your computer seems specs should be perfect for the system and the messages you are now getting are much better. The application should run fine without the internet.

Are you connected to the internet using a usb modem?

"Also the radarbox USB and signal-LED  are then not in action from time to time. This is also when i klick on a flight in the map area . After some time the LEDs are normal again. "

In RadarBox 2007, does the Hardware connect light change from green to red?

Lastly is your RadarBox being connected directly to your computer, or is it connected to a usb hub?

[A350]

Here are the some answers:

-I`m connected to the internet with a pci-card. At the moment I have no highspeed internet. Just ISDN here in germany. I will get DSL-internet in about 2 weeks.

-No-the hardware connect light is always green.

-Radarbox is connected directly to a pc-usb port. No usb switch.


I would like to make suggestions:

About the manual:
My opinion is that the Radarbox manual has just minimum information. Look inside what is told about the “MyFlights” list and the various Status-levels. The manual told just: “Status: status of the flight (NA means not available)”
But what does btw. “Leveld” etc. mean in detail? I`m not an aviation expert so I like to have detailed describtions for all software areas.

Also the point “Preferences” in the manual: Where do you describe what`s possible in detail with the “Timeout” settings? ..you told me yesterday here in the forum but it`s up to you to tell every user always the same things over the help/support forum in the next time.

I read 4 pages about the ACARS function but I don`t have ACARS here. That is a total different story (for me confusing) inside the Radarbox-manual.
So there are many things to describe in a more detailed style and you have to improve the manual.

The live signal situation now: At the moment I have logged 113 flights in the “MyFlights” list. 4 flights have the globe-symbol but ALL flights are “Timeout”. What is going on here?
As a hamradio-operator I can guaranty that my antenna-signal level is ok and stable.

I think that the usb-drivers are installed correctly on my system because the blue/white LED are flashing quickly. This very quickly flashing is just with internet conection. When there is no internet conectivity the blue/white flashing rate goes down. Why?-i don`t know.

…and again: the Radarbox software runs only stable when I have the internet connection in use. Without Internet I get “AirNav RadarBox 2007 –[default.ml3] (no Backreport)” (Keine Rückmeldung)often when i click in the map area ,flight list or other areas of the software.

I can do any multitasking (with MS-Word etc.) when Radarbox software and internet connection is running but I can`t do that without Internet connection . (i described this yesterday) I have to restard Radarbox soft ( with internet conection) to get a little bit normal stability.

My logfile ANRB.ELF has collect many data. Do you need this?

There are other customers out there waiting for their boxes and I like to see (maybe in the evening) other user reports.

Thank you for support.
A350

[Allocator]

A350,

Is your external antenna and amplifier suitable for ADS-B transmissions?

Have you tried the antenna that comes with the RadarBox?

[A350]

Allocator,
yes my external antenna and ampl. is in special for these signals.
no at this time i havn`t tried the antenna comes with the box...i will try this in the next hour.

But that antenna signal cannot be the main problem.

A350

[AirNav Support]

Hi A350,

Contact us at [email protected] with the elf file as you will get a response much a quicker and better help than on the forum (you can send files to us so we can get to the problem quicker)

Regarding the manual. Leveled flights are ones which are not climbing or descending and hence leveled.

The manual is our opinion has to be long enough to ensure the customers understands the functions but short enough so the customer will actually feel comfortable reading it. We have range of customers from Professionals in ADS-B to first time users and its hard to create something which is suitable for all.

[AirNav Support]

Post is being locked, so support query can be handled through the proper medium. You can describe your results in a further post.

See post:
http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=66.0