FlightFeeder Orange running but no aircraft reported. ¿Antenna trouble?

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

Hello.

I have had a FlightFeeder (Orange) 7.9.2~bpo8+1 running for over two years now, with no problems.

But lately, I’ve seen that it is not reporting as many flights around me as it used to.
For the last couple of days it has not been reporting any flights, even though I can actually see planes flying around.

I visually checked the antenna on the roof, the cable coming down to the FlightFeeder site and it’s connection to the FlightFeeder and I don’t see anything wrong. The Internet connection for the site it is in is working OK.

About 3 or 4 times in the last month I’ve seen that the FlightFeeder Main Screen sometimes shows the Radio Status and the MLAT icons as red, so I reboot the FlightFeeder from the Menu Systems option.

This seems to fix the red icons… temporarily.

Any help would be welcomed.

Best regards.

Here are a couple of screenshots of the Aircraft Reported:

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2

Sounds to me like a power problem. (or dongle)

Anyway for problems with a FlightFeeder, please write an Email to this address: adsbsupport@flightaware.com

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3

Thanks for your reply.

The power supply is working just fine it seems. It is the dedicated AC Power Supply.
FlightFeeder boots up and runs OK. I can’t tell that the problems show up after a similar or constant amount of time…

What dongle are you refering to?

4

Now the MLAT is acting up again…

F528EB06-24DA-42F4-A3B2-A581DA155F22
F528EB06-24DA-42F4-A3B2-A581DA155F222330×881 434 KB

5

The FlightFeeder Orange is basically a Raspberry Pi with a Flightaware Pro Stick connected.
So it’s a USB DVB-T receiver stick, often referred to as dongle.
(it’s all on the inside)

MLAT failing and then the receiver stopping to work is often an indication of insufficient power.
The Raspberry Pi itself will still run fine, but the dongle stops working.

Maybe the AC power supply is slowly not supplying the required voltage anymore.
Or the Flightaware Pro Stick itself could be the problem it’s impossible to say.

I suppose you could try another USB power supply, it’s the same plug that is used for charging mobile phones.
But wait for an Email from them first, they might not want you to use another power supply.

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6

You’re right!

That makes a lot of sense.

Thanks!

I’ll try a new Power Supply.

Best regards.

7

Your symptoms match a failing PSU.
If you can’t measure to supply voltage under load, swap it out and see if there is any change.

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8

Thank you for your comment.

Yes, wiedehopf said the very same thing.

Yesterday I replaced the Power Supply and now it seems to be working.

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9

Hi guys, it’s me again…
As I mentioned before, I replaced the Power Supply and everything seems to work OK…
For about 3 or 4 days…
Then the radio signals start to drop again…
:scream:
Would it help if I removed the LCD touchscreen to lessen the Amperage demand?
I would monitor the FlightFeeder from a browser on the LAN.
Best regards.

10

Don’t know if it works without the screen.

Getting a well working power supply that supplies 5.1V isn’t easy.
Really the best choice is the RPi Official power supply, but it’s quite expensive.

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11

Please mail adsbsupport@flightaware.com for FlightFeeder support; we can sort out replacement hardware etc as needed after diagnosis.

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12

ecamouc It happend to me at some point and I have collaborated wit the support.

I have the orange FF and while back it started doing the same. After troubleshooting they send me a new “naked” stick and the short USB cable that connects it internally and I have replaced them inside the box easily. All is back running, and I think it is with even better results.

PS: For some reason the Orange FF seems to be happy with power supply that my Pi balks at. What is true is that I have the airspy on my Pi and that one is a hot mess, gobbles electrons like nobody’s business.

13

Hi SoNic67,

I guess that’s exactly what would solve my orange FlightFeeder problems.

I’ll contact them.

Thanks a million!

14

Hi obj!

SoNic67 just suggested I talked to them and check if maybe the radio USB stick is the one acting up and having it replaced.

I’ll contact them ASAP.

Thanks and best regards.

15

Hello again.

I was thinking that maybe uf I reduced the Amperage draw, it would have neccesary power to run OK.

But I believe that the radio USB card itself is the one causing trouble…

I will contact adsbsupoort@flightaware.com.

Thank you for your input.

Best regards.

16

Hi everybody.
It tourned out to be the USB DVB-T receiver card.
I got a replacement and now it is working flawlessly.
Thanks for all your comments.
Best regards.