Open glider network transmitters

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Ryan Dewsbury
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Apr 11, 2023 6:22 am

Open glider network transmitters

Post by Ryan Dewsbury »

I have been doing some experimentation with cheap OGN transceivers. Not sure if the club is interested in investing in a technology like this but they would be under $100 per aircraft and can be used on aircraft with no electrical system.

https://www.lilygo.cc/products/t-echo-meshtastic-ca

https://github.com/lyusupov/SoftRF/wiki/Badge-Edition

These are the units I have been trying. They were designed for an off grid messaging network but with alternate firmware they can be used to provide a similar function to the FLARM in our DG500 and LS4.

They are self contained and talk to each other and the OGN receiver that is mounted on the club house to provide position data. OGN position reports can be seen here https://live.glidernet.org/#c=43.76196, ... 13&z=9&s=1

Must have forgotten them next to the ice cream truck yesterday. If anyone would like to try them out feel free, the batteries should last a long time. Just press the button on the lower left side to turn them on. After it powers on you can click the power button to cycle through the display modes.
James Lemke
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2020 9:59 am
Location: Orillia ON

Re: Open glider network transmitters

Post by James Lemke »

Very cool Ryan.
Ryan Dewsbury
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Apr 11, 2023 6:22 am

Re: Open glider network transmitters

Post by Ryan Dewsbury »

These transmitters are sitting on the battery shelf if anyone wants to try them out.

I have been talking with some of the other clubs to see what they are doing and it appears FLARM is commons with a bit of OGN.

The current receiver at the club is not currently picking up FLARM or OGN due to a software issue.

The LS4 and DG500 can be picked up by other stations in the area. The LS4 appears to be working correctly but the DG500 is broadcasting its Flarm address rather than its ICAO identification so it does not appear correctly on the various tracking sites.

Who normally takes care of updating the FLARM units? Just would be nice to get things working as designed as the logs can be used for OLC and tracking for emergency purposes.
Robert Mccallum
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:18 pm

Re: Open glider network transmitters

Post by Robert Mccallum »

Stan was the one who last updated the DG I think
Stan Martin
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:12 pm

Re: Open glider network transmitters

Post by Stan Martin »

I can look into doing this when I’m back next year. And I could school somebody in how to set them up properly at the beginning of each season if need be. It’s not terribly difficult

Toronto Soaring and SOSA have installed receiver equipment and they are in use. All of their aircraft have installed flarm or better.
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