iFly 740 Not showing radar or AWOS updates

[Jeff Scott]

My iFly 740 stopped showing weather radar and airport weather updates when receiving updates from ADS-B receiver. Looking at connected devices, it shows that it is receiving date for both the airport weather and Weather radar, but I never showed any updates on the screen for the last several flights. Instead, I was still showing stale data from 3 weeks ago and no radar weather. When I brought it home and put it on wifi, the weather updates displayed properly. I'll install the latest updates, but will need to go fly again tomorrow to see if the weather via ADS-B will work. Really annoying to take off cross country and find that I can't display any weather data even though the unit says it is receiving it. Any thoughts? Perhaps a reset to factory new if this persists?

 

[Cobra]

Keep in mind that weather updates via the Internet and via ADSB are two very different data sources, so having one work and the other not doesn't really mean too much. (That's not to say your ADSB problem doesn't exist or isn't important--just that confirming it works via Internet doesn't really add much information to help with troubleshooting.)

Do you have another device you could test with? A phone or a tablet that could run the latest version of the iFly EFB app? If the second device also shows the same behavior, then the problem is probably not within the 740 or in the iFly software. Many, many users are currently using the app with no problems. I flew on Saturday with a newer tablet running iFly v13 and an older tablet running v12, and both were receiving and displaying weather data (both radar and METAR/TAF/Winds, etc.) just fine.

However, if it works on the phone/tablet, then that pretty well isolates the problem to just the 740 device, and attention can be focused there.

I will also mention that the iFly portable devices are notoriously finicky when moving from one wifi network to another. However, that finickyness involves getting connected to the wifi network, so if iFly is telling you it's connected to the ADSB device and receiving data, then that's apparently not your issue.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I have multiple ifly devices and tablets with multiple adsb receivers in multiple planes and have been using them for many, many years. This is the first time I've seen this type of issue. I was just checking in to see if it was a known issue as the iFly unit clearly says it is receiving both radar and METAR/TAF/Wind updates, but isn't displaying any of them. I'm seeing traffic, but based on what I saw yesterday, I may only be seeing the 1090ES traffic and not the UAT traffic. I'm guessing this isn't a known issue. It cropped up about 3 weeks ago and has failed to update through multiple flights over the past few weeks. I updated the unit this evening, so maybe the problem will disappear. If not, I'll swap devices around to see if it follows the device, then likely wipe this unit and reload from scratch.

 

[Cobra]

I was just checking in to see if it was a known issue as the iFly unit clearly says it is receiving both radar and METAR/TAF/Wind updates, but isn't displaying any of them. ... I'm guessing this isn't a known issue.

FWIW, I've never heard anyone report something like this before. I don't have a 740 or 740b, but used a 700 and 720 for years before moving to tablets. There are other 740/740b users here, though, and I don't recall hearing anyone report this kind of behavior.

You might try giving the iFly Support number a call during business hours to see if they've got any suggestions.

 

[Jaydon Beacham]

Hey y'all, this isn't an issue that we're aware of with the 740b and this is actually pretty niche. It's very interesting that it says you're receiving weather updates in connected devices, yet they're not showing up. I agree with Cobra here and think that you should try connecting to one of your other devices and see if it does the same thing.

One important thing to note here though, is that you won't receive weather updates on the ground, you need to be above 800 agl for guaranteed coverage, per the FAA.
You can check the ADS-B data you're receiving: Menu > Setup > ADSB (I believe this menu does look pretty similar to the connected devices one, but this is usually the preferred menu for making sure you're receiving ADSB information).

Other than that, feel free to give us a call during office hours (10:00-17:00 CST) that way we can hopefully help you troubleshoot this better. If we aren't able to get to you straight away we'll follow up with you shortly afterwards.
(214) 585-0444

 

[Jeff Scott]

OK Kids, Here's what my 740 shows me for status. Clearly it is talking to the Echo UAT and receiving data You'll note the second screen below has no weather information displayed at all, nor does it show any traffic. I brought iFly up on my phone and connected to the same EchoUAT at the same time and got the weather updates, METAR/TAF/Winds, and a ton of traffic immediately. That isolates the issue to the iFly740. I reset the device and synced it with another device this evening. I'll test fly it again tomorrow and will get with support if this issue persists. This issue cropped up about a month ago and has persisted with this one device ever since. The issue did not coincide with an update, but has persisted despite the new updates installed this weekend. I just didn't have the time today to give support a call, but will check in tomorrow if necessary.

 

[Cobra]

This row seems like a clue, but someone at AP would know better than me what it actually means:


I interpret that to mean that while it's internally aware of 68 traffic reports, it is intentionally showing zero of them. That feels to me like maybe a setting is out of config somewhere.

Sorry for asking the obvious question (but really, this is unusual enough that I don't really know what else to offer), but are you sure the settings for traffic and weather are enabled?

Tap Map Mode, and confirm:
- Boxes for NEXRAD and Traffic are checked (enabled)
- Tap NEXRAD gear icon and ensure "Opacity" is set to something "easily visible" (like 50-75%)
- Tap Traffic gear icon and ensure that "Distance visibility" and "Vertical clearance visibility" are set to "Unlimited"

 

[Chad]

I am going flying tonight if weather holds and will look. I normally don't watch echos on the 740 for weather as my iPad is closer to my view. Good news is it is Florida so it is always raining somewhere.

 

[Jeff Scott]

What we have found so far is that the internal GPS had failed. Not really an issue for nav as it was always connected via wifi to the GPS in the ADSB unit. But with the failed GPS, the internal clock is also skewed way off and can't be set since it apparently syncs from the GPS signal, but does not sync via the ADSB GPS. What I suspect is that the skewed internal clock is causing the unit to mark the RADAR and METAR data, as well as traffic data as either stale or invalid due to a time stamp mismatch. I shipped the unit back to iFly for them to replace the GPS module, then evaluate if the problem doesn't fix itself with the new GPS module. To be clear, this is strictly speculation on my part about the invalid time stamps based on past experience with other programs. iFly support promised to clarify once they get it in their hands.

 

[Cobra]

What we have found so far is that the internal GPS had failed.

Thanks for the follow-up! Hopefully, AP will get it sorted and back to you quickly.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Final resolution: The missing weather was indeed due to the failed GPS receiver in the ifly 740. One could workaround for a short time by loading the weather and syncing the clock via the internet, but it would fail again soon after. The ultimate solution would have been to replace the GPS receiver in the unit, but iFly no longer supports or repairs the 740, so shipped it back to me and I purchased a refurbed 740b to replace it.

 

[valsoar]

It seems strange (or deficient) that if the Echo UAT is the primary GPS source that the unit can’t derive the time from that source?

 

[Cobra]

It seems strange (or deficient) that if the Echo UAT is the primary GPS source that the unit can’t derive the time from that source?

The time on the 740 is set at the operating system level (WindowsCE), not at the application level (iFly). The OS is almost certainly not designed to use the external GPS as a time source, and that's not something that Adventure Pilot can change.

 

[Chad]

The time on the 740 is set at the operating system level (WindowsCE), not at the application level (iFly). The OS is almost certainly not designed to use the external GPS as a time source, and that's not something that Adventure Pilot can change.

It is easy to set time on WinCE from an application, it is just the SetLocalTime command. All GPS generate a GLL sentence that contains Zulu time. If the GPS is connected to the device, with the appropriate drivers or protocols it is easy for the app to communicate with it.

With that said, completely a strategic call but definitely something relatively simple that an application can do.

 

[Cobra]

Thanks for the correction.

 

[valsoar]

It is easy to set time on WinCE from an application, it is just the SetLocalTime command. All GPS generate a GLL sentence that contains Zulu time. If the GPS is connected to the device, with the appropriate drivers or protocols it is easy for the app to communicate with it.

With that said, completely a strategic call but definitely something relatively simple that an application can do.

Thanks. Yup. Several open source glider flight computers (XC-Soar, LK8000 etc.) running on WinCE that do just that.

To that point and for amusement only: