SkyEcho 2 - ADSB light doesn't come on...

[phonetic]

Sky Echo2 nice bit of kit, except its poor GPS engine takes for ages to sync up, I infact gave up using it.

instead I got a Stratux  homebrew ADSB receiver with GNSS USB receiver  does GPS GLONASS Galileo BeiDou QZSS, get 12-16 satelites under a tile and sarking roof and 24 plus while in the air  

[Garfly]

1 hour ago, phonetic said:

Sky Echo2 nice bit of kit ...

True ... and right up there among its talents is the ability to handle OUT as well as IN.

Plus its tight integration with popular local EFBs for IN display.

[phonetic]

7 minutes ago, Garfly said:

True ... and right up there among its talents is the ability to handle OUT as well as IN.

Plus its tight integration with popular local EFBs for IN display.

except takes a while to lock on from cold start

[kgwilson]

If your SE2 has been unused for some time it does take a little while to get a 3D GPS fix. If used regularly it takes very little time. Even if you haven't used it for months it will have easily got a 3D fix by the time you have got the engine started, warmed  up & taxiied out to your run-up spot. In 2024 I coulnt get my aircraft out of the hangar for 6 months as the aerodrome was a quagmire plus I had been ill. It only took 6 or 7 minutes to get a fix when i finally got it out again.

[phonetic]

8 minutes ago, kgwilson said:

If your SE2 has been unused for some time it does take a little while to get a 3D GPS fix. If used regularly it takes very little time. Even if you haven't used it for months it will have easily got a 3D fix by the time you have got the engine started, warmed  up & taxiied out to your run-up spot. In 2024 I coulnt get my aircraft out of the hangar for 6 months as the aerodrome was a quagmire plus I had been ill. It only took 6 or 7 minutes to get a fix when i finally got it out again.

Yes takes a long long long time, its GPS engine only 8 channel GPS constilation only, why I use the Stratux as primary ADSB-IN and secondary navigation source for OzRunways 

[Garfly]

And getting oil up to temp can take an eternity.   ;- )

[Bosi72]

I didn't notice delay, but generally AvPlan knows and shows my location instanteniously (dependent on phone, ipad, device..) , and as soon as SkyEcho is turned on I start receiving other traffic.

GPS is a separate receiver and is not required for receiving other aircraft's GPS positions via ADSB radio.

 

Having both ADSB-OUT and IN functionalities is much better value for money.

 

[Bosi72]

2 hours ago, Bosi72 said:

I didn't notice delay, but generally AvPlan knows and shows my location instanteniously (dependent on phone, ipad, device..) , and as soon as SkyEcho is turned on I start receiving other traffic.

GPS is a separate receiver and is not required for receiving other aircraft's GPS positions via ADSB radio.

 

Having both ADSB-OUT and IN functionalities is much better value for money.

 

Actually I was wrong. Just did some tests, unfortunately the SE2 turns off the ADSB radio (or blocks the data) if there is no GPS fix, which is possibly a software bug, or "design feature".

 

 

 

[coljones]

18 minutes ago, Bosi72 said:

Actually I was wrong. Just did some tests, unfortunately the SE2 turns off the ADSB radio (or blocks the data) if there is no GPS fix, which is possibly a software bug, or "design feature".

 

 

 

Interesting! I thought that the EFB got its own location info from the Tablet rather than from the SE2 and that the SE2 only used its internal GPS and barro to transmit the SE2 location info. The tablet is much faster syncing, usually because it is always on but the SE2 needs to sync when turned on.

[skippydiesel]

Follow Up on my SE2 installation;

 

Quick Recap - Fed-up with the SE2 dropping into the footwell at the worst possible moment, I ditched the suction pad, fabricated a dedicated stand/bracket, which sits a bit off centre on my glairshole. This worked very well and had the added bonus of no more "clicks" in my headset.

In defiance of uAvionics advice, I connected my SE2, via a quick charge cable, to my Guardian Avionics USB A 2.7 amp charging port.

It all seemed to work. It continued to work for weeks like this - don't know how many engine hrs. I must be a geniuses (NOT!)

 

That is until my return trip from Benalla, Vic - No SE2!

 

You guessed it - " it is NOT sufficient to use ANY in aircraft charger as the sole means of charging. To do so will see the batteries deteriorate in 1-2 years to the point where they will need replacing. This is because it is time on charge that is important, as by design the SkyEcho is slow to charge taking 12 hours for a full charge.  You don’t fly long enough to charge it and you are using it at the same time, hence it is never fully charged. By all means charge in the aircraft but ensure that at least once a month you put it on a mains 3A 18W charger for at least 12 hours (overnight). "

 

Put the poor thing on charge - took the best part of 36 hrs to get back to full charge.

 

This still leaves  problem - How to keep the SE2 charged, when on a multi day flight, without access to the mains?

 

I am staggered that uVionics haven't got a solution for this.

 

I may have to squeeze the rock & spring for a motel room, just to use the mains power to charge the SE2 (expensive solution)

 

My old (15 years?) handheld GPS has both dry cell batteries and connection to 12V cigaret lighter capacity - never a problem.

 

Someone, earlier in this thread, suggested using a battery pack. I actually used my freshly charged one, when overnighting in Benalla. Not for the SE2 but my iPad (flight plan) & phone - just charging these devises took the pack down to 65% - doesn't bode well for charging my SE2.

 

Its been a hard lesson. I hope I have not done too much damage to the batteries - I will now not charge my SE2 in the aircraft.

 

😈

[sfGnome]

40 minutes ago, skippydiesel said:

I will now not charge my SE2 in the aircraft.

No, it’s ok to charge it in the aircraft (see the last sentence of their message to you), but make sure that when you’re home, you put it on a mains charger for as long as it takes. 

[skippydiesel]

10 hours ago, sfGnome said:

No, it’s ok to charge it in the aircraft (see the last sentence of their message to you), but make sure that when you’re home, you put it on a mains charger for as long as it takes. 

You are correct.

 

However if I charge in the aircraft, I will probably not bring the SE2 home.  Its about forming good/bad habits.

 

😈

Edited 6 hours ago by skippydiesel

[Thruster88]

40 minutes ago, skippydiesel said:

You are correct.

 

However if I charge in the aircraft, I will probably not bring the SE2 home.  Its about forming good/bad habits.

 

😈

Use a pre departing the aircraft check list, master off, SkyEcho2 in bag etc.

[Garfly]

2 hours ago, skippydiesel said:

You are correct.

 

However if I charge in the aircraft, I will probably not bring the SE2 home.  Its about forming good/bad habits.

 

😈

But I don't see the virtue of leaving it in the aircraft.  It might lose its charge by the time you fly again, no?

Anyone who already has a transponder for ADSB-OUT might be better off with uAvionix's Ping to get ADSB-IN. It doesn't have an internal battery nor a power hungry transmitter and is designed to be USB powered in flight.

Edited 4 hours ago by Garfly