Taming the ADS-Beast

Oh yes, I came up with that title while cleaning some goo out of my smoker…just made some tasty ribs.

Anyhow, in general aviation, ADS-B is a thing…a looming thing.
My current setup is this – GNS430 (not WAAS), old King transponder, Aspen 1000 unit that receives XM WX.

I’ve been looking at what to do to meet the 2020 deadline and nothing really jumps out at me. Currently the best thing (I think) would be to update my transponder to a Garmin model that will only give me ADS-B out. To get the in, I have to do something about my non-WAAS gps. While that transponder is about $3000, and will make me legal for 2020, I want ADS-B in both directions.

Things start to move to 5-figures when we talk about a WAAS gps.

PLUS – we have 4 years. I’m guessing ADS-B devices will improve greatly over the next few years…and possible become a bit more affordable, so I’m dragging my feet.

Then I read a small blurb in AOPA magazine about a guy who isn’t a pilot, but cobbled together some pieces and built his own ADS-B device.

Seems pretty wild.

But, this device got good words from the writer, plus I like to tinker. Let’s not forget, the parts add up to about $75.

I looked a little deeper and found this “guy” had taken things a step further. He will sell you all the parts, plus a 3-D printed enclosure. This costs about $250.

Still cheap. Still comes in pieces and you have to put it together, but it isn’t that tough.

So I bought one.

What is this thing I bought? It is called FlightBox by Open Flight Solutions.

I must say it is pretty slick.

I got it about a month ago.

I had my 15-year-old put it together (I watched) and it was easy.
Very good instructions.
Simple.
Basically you have a Raspberry Pi computer board. Into that plugs a WAAS GPS, two different radio modules and a wifi adapter.
It is all very straight forward.

Then you just crank it up.

It’s that simple.

Wait, why did it turn off?
Hmm.
Reboot.
Started, then froze.
Reboot.
Started then worked.
Fiddled.
Reboot.
Started then froze.

Damn.
I sent an email to support and was told that it was probably that I was using an inferior USB power plug.
My initial reaction was BS.
But, I switch to a better USB plug (the kind that plugs into a power outlet) and the thing booted right up.
I re-powered it multiple times to be sure.
Yep.
The thing is this: a Raspberry Pi has 4 USB ports. Those 4 ports are now being used. Each of those items draws quite a bit of power.
So, you want to ensure quality equipment.
Note: I did purchase the cigarette lighter USB power plug they recommended for this reason.

Once cranked up, you can connect to the device from any browser. I used my phone.

There are a few pages you can go to and see exactly what is what.

There is a page for ADS-B and all the aircraft the unit sees.
You can go to the GPS page and see raw info.

One of my first usage questions was, “where to I input my transponder code?”

You don’t, part of your setup config, really the only software setup config needed is to do is get the hex version of the ICAO code from the FAA’s data page for your airplane.

Go here.

Enter your tail number (leave out the leading “N”) and hit submit. You’ll find the item you need in the “Aircraft Description” block listed as “Mode S Code (base 16 / hex)”.

That’s all I did.