How to connect the PingRx receiver to a new Pixhawk 2.1

Hello All,

What is the proper method of connecting the Uavionix PingRx receiver to a 2nd Generation Pixhawk(2.1) flight controller?

The Pixhawk 2.1 does not use the same Telemetry connector as the prior generation Pixhawk flight controller.

Also, I plan to purchase a Ping 2020 after successfully installing and using the PingRx. How is the Ping 2020 connected to the Pixhawk 2.1?

The Pixhawk 2.1 :
http://www.proficnc.com/

The Uavionix PingRx:

The Uavionix Ping2020:

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you,

Adrian

Attached pictures:

We have ours connected straight into Telem2, and it just works.

Any of the telem ports (except 5) should work equally as well.

Thank you Mike,

I just got a reply back from the seller and I’m going to get that cable in the mail. Some of the early devices may not have shipped with the cable for the Pixhawk 2.1

uAvionix also offered to ship me a cable to help me out with this problem. I really appreciate them helping out and I’m motivated now to purchase the Ping2020 as soon as I get the PingRx working.

I’ll try and remember to post here with pictures when I get the cable and show it off. :slight_smile:

How do you check if you are receiving any ADS-B information from aircraft? I have the Ping2020 connected to the pixhawk 2.1 from proficnc running ArduPilot 3.5 beta, and I am unable to see any aircraft on the map. I also have a PingUSB connected to my computer, so I know there are aircraft transmitting in the area.

I thought there was a way to look at MAVLINK messages and see if ADS-B tracks were being sent to the flight controller.

I can’t get tracks to show up on my Mac or my PC running on a VMware fusion virtual machine either. I’m going to try and debug later after I confirm ADS-B data on a software level.

For example:

http://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-ads-b-receiver.html#developer-information-including-simulation

Hi IFlyAnything,

I found that you can use QGroundControl to see the MAVLINK messages.

Look under Widgets -> MAVLINK Inspector

There you can see the vehicle and expand to see ADS-B messages when they are received.

When the PingRx receives a message (on the 1090MHz and 978MHz bands) you will see a small light flash in the device…kinda like this:

I hope this helps,

Adrian

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Hi everyone,

I’m having trouble seeing ADS-B data with my Pixhawk 2 flight controller.

Has anyone been able to use the PingRx with the new Pixhawk flight controller?

I followed these steps:

http://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-ads-b-receiver.html

This was what happened:

Not working (with PIxhawk 2)
https://youtu.be/Y2T2vRL9n4U

Working (with Pixhawk 1st Gen)
https://youtu.be/zQwHbQE-Zvk

I verified that:

  1. my baud rate is set to 57600
  2. The protocol for the port is set to MAVLINK 1
  3. ADS-B is enabled on the flight controller
  4. ADS-B traffic is nearby (parked next to an airport and using FlightRadar24)
  5. The flight controller is using copter firmware version 3.5.0
  6. The PingRx is plugged into the Telem2 port without the Intel Edison installed

Here is a video of my PingRx working properly with my 1st Gen Pixhawk:
https://youtu.be/dJBYTcnJGJY

Blog post:
https://adriandrummond.wordpress.com/2017/07/19/i-see-ads-b-data/

Thanks,

Adrian

This is a brief reply to help anyone who is having the same problem.

I have found a fix for the problem I was having with Pixhawk 2 and my Ping Rx ADS-B receiver from uAvionix.

See the fix here:

Thank you. Switching RX and TX fixed it instantly.
Not an issue I would come to expect.

1 Like

Too bad you never got the ping2020 to display air traffic or work properly

Hi FlyingMachine,

I was able to successfully Send and Receive data from my Ping2020 transceiver.

Video of the device working:

ADSBTEST was the callsign I programmed into the Ping2020 device. As long as you have adequate GPS signal strength and the transceiver powered on correctly, it will start broadcasting data. It should not be broadcasting contingent on MAVLINK messages. It is probably part of the Uavionix design to make sure you are broadcasting ADS-B data despite having separate MAVLINK problems. The transceiver can do everything it needs to using its dedicated high precision GPS and Barometer. Contacting uAvianix can help with the understanding of this. They are a smart and professional company building many electronics for drones and private aircraft.

For example:

Adrian

great video showing the information in QGroundcontrol, Im able to do the same and in mission planner too, But approaching air traffic is not displaying in mission planner or QGC as advertised that it can , and that’s the basic function of this device. by following these directions…( http://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-ads-b-receiver.html ) that do not work.

displaying your TX is not our issue here, its displaying air traffic in mission planner. I sat at the air port for 30 mins with my laptop, hotspot, quad, controller and never did I see any of the air traffic in mission planner.