Being new to this hobby, I have found this site extremely frustrating in trying to define a definitive way of setting up your flight tracking. And to make things more confusing, there are different setups you can use. There are some very clever programmers out there and equally many people who are totally lost with Linux and how to manoeuvre around the script to do things. Unfortunately this site is a mess really, things are all over the place and the same thought may be if a number of different threads.
Now I am hoping all the boffins will find some time to add to this thread with an idiot proof way of setting up a flight tracking system. To keep it simple, I think laying things out in an idiot way is going to save a lot of typing by having to do an expert way and then a point by point method. I see a lot of threads where someone fixes something and just bashes out some script with the instruction look at this file and change this. Well being Linux illiterate, how do you find the file to start with. Get my drift?? Please make sure your setup method works and is in a point by point method. Also, another trap I have found, please highlight the actual script that needs to be cut and pasted, with a different colour background or different coloured font. You don’t really want to know how frustrated I got, trying to follow a set up post that involved different directories and actually coping and pasting the directory names along with the script.
All I ask is that if you can contribute a post on setting up a flight tracking system using the different methods that are available, is that is something changes, that you come back and edit your set up post with the necessary changes.
I hope this gets a good response and that new members to our hobby don’t get frustrated in trying to find a method easily, without spending hours going through the different posts to find what you are after in regards to set up.
Hi Jeff!
What you are looking for is a “tutorial” or “guide” or “how to”, but you have unfortunately landed in a wrong place. This place is none of the above. It is a “Discussion Forum”.
Well that shows exactly what a mess this forum lay out is and how much of a mess contributors have made it by putting things all over the place. Are you watching moderators??? . For instance, a new person wants to read up on ADS-B tracking, goes to the forum index page and there are only 2 topics, mobile apps or ADS-B tracking. Where else would such a tutorial go???
I am sorry and I will be blunt. What planet are you on?? Your posts on how to fix things up are brilliant but your method of passing on this information is terrible. What main heading that has Tutorial or Guide, are you looking at??? Oh hang on, you to think such a thing should exist??? Well why hasn’t any of you got out of your scripts and tried to make this Flightaware discussion site more useable. How many posts have I seen where people complain that the site is becoming unusable because boffins just chuck their comments anywhere or assume that the people reading it are as cluey as they are.
If you people don’t want to help in trying to get other people enthused in this hobby and just want to talk gobbly de dook, you get the moderators to put a section under the main heading for advanced users only, the rest of the world will enjoy picking up tweaks that are easily laid out, to improve their ADS-B pleasure.
Hi Jeff!
I understand your problem and frustration. Most new commers face the same situation.
This is because of nature of discussion forums. Some one starts a thread with a topic. Many respond to it. The responses may be questions, responce to questions, or suggestions/additional info pertaining to the topic of the thread. If the topic is very useful or generates lot of interest, members continue posting questions, solutions & suggestions. After a period of time the thread grows so big that for a newcommer it is very difficult to find items of his interest.
The different bits and pieces of information are posted by different members, at different times over entire lifespan of the thread, as and when the need arises. A discussion forum thread is therefore very different from an organized guide or tutorial. It is generally disorganized and difficult to brows when it grows too big.
I hope realizing the nature of a discussion forum will reduce your anger and frustration.
The forums are mostly for help, sharing cool things you’ve done, and banter. They’re not intended to be a step by step like the PiAware instructions are.
I must be in the wrong place too. I’ve learned more from the help, sharing and banter in these forums over the years than any tutorial I’ve suffered through…
Scott
