If you are upgrading the software to V4 from a previous version please visit this page to expedite the process. Otherwise if this is a new build, continue.

Note: If you need to SSH into the pi, use these credentials;

  • username: pi
  • password: livesectional

For information on the files and directory structure visit this page.

Now that everything is wired up we are almost finished. Way to go! Here are the next steps.

  • Setup WiFi for Board
  • Select Profile to Preload
  • Configure Basic Settings
  • Configure Sectional Map Settings
  • Configure LED Colors
  • Configure Legend Settings
  • Configure OLED/LCD Settings
  • Configure Rotary Switch Settings if used
  • Configure MOS/Heat Map Settings
  • Choose Transitional Wipe(s) if desired
  • Assign airports to LED’s
  • Set Number of Landings for the Heat Map

Setup WiFi for Board

First let’s power up the system. If this is the first boot, then you will need to setup WiFi for your board. This is most easily done by using a phone app called Berrylan. Click here for specific information on downloading and using this phone app. You can also SSH into the board and use ‘sudo raspi-config’ to setup your wifi connection if necessary.

Select Profile to Preload

Once the pi has booted up enter http://piIPAddress:5000 into another computer’s web browser that is connected to the same local area network. (Fill in the piIPAddress with your own IP Address).

From this page, select a profile to load into settings. There are 7 different profiles that cover a number of different build combinations. This will preload most of the settings you will need.

This will then bring you the Settings Editor where you will need to ‘Save Config File’ from the Settings Menu. Then you can tweak the settings to match your desired build. Once you have changed the settings you must ‘Save Config File’ from the Settings Menu.

Each section in the Settings Editor includes a number of things that will allow the builder personalize the behavior of the map. Keep in mind that it is possible to have 2 settings clash causing an error to occur. For instance if you tell the software that you are using a display and there is none on the board, an error will occur. Simply turn the ‘Display Used’ setting to ‘No’ to fix it. Play around with it until you like the way your map looks.

Basic Settings

In this section we configure all of the primary settings that turn on and off functions of the script.

At this time since everything is wired up and we are doing the final settings for our system you can turn on the “Auto Run on Boot” setting. This turns on the map each time the board is booted.

Your LED count should already have been set by this point since we are done mapping out the LED’s and setting this setting was one of the first things we did when we got started. Keep in mind that this is the total number of LED’s in the string, not just the ones that will be used to designate an airport.

Are you using a map legend in your project? You want this set to ‘YES’ if you are using any number of the legend options even if its just the core flight categories.

The Wind Speed value is the speed at which the LED’s begin to flash black once the airports wind value reaches this threshold.

The update FAA weather setting is how often it goes and looks for updated weather from the FAA. We currently have it set for 15 minutes, but I’ve heard of others setting is to refresh as often as 5 minutes.

The Age of METAR setting is how old the METAR can be and still be included as a valid reading for your map. If you shorten this too much your LEDs will turn white indicating the weather hasn’t been updated within your time frame.

You can choose to enable the sleep timer here as well. Just select ‘Yes’ and fill in the ‘Time Off’ and ‘Time On’ settings.

The next few questions all revolve around one of our big new features, Displays. The builder can use either a 16×2 LCD display or a single OLED display or Multiple OLED’s (up to 8).

If you are using a display in your project turn this setting on and then turn on the appropriate setting depending on if you are using OLED’s or an LCD display. Finally input the number of OLED’s you have in your project.

Finally, you will see ‘Logging Level’. This is new for V4. It logs information for debugging and informational purposes. The default is set to ‘Info’, but can be changed. If more info is desired, then select ‘Debug’. If less is desired choose from either ‘Warn’ or ‘Error’.

Note: ‘Debug’ will slow down the behavior of the board, especially if using a Pi Zero. This is due to all the information that is getting logged in ‘Debug’ mode. Use ‘Info’ for normal use. Also, there are 3 history logs that are kept, so if the main logfile.log doesn’t have information you were hoping for, look at the other 3, logfile.log.1 for instance.

Sectional Map Settings

In this section you will be setting up the the types of information to be displayed. It can be simply the Colors representing the Flight Categories. Or you can add High Winds and Lightning along with the Flight Categories. You can also choose to display any reported weather, such as rain, freezing rain, snow, fog, Ash/Dust etc. Selecting all these makes for a visually active and informational LiveSectional Map.

You can enable a ‘Home Airport’ which will make a specific airport standout from the rest if desired. The ‘Homeport Dimming’ feature dims all other airports in relation to the homeport by a specific percentage. Play with this to get the desired effect.

RGB or GRB LED’s used allows for the use of different models of addressable LED’s. For WS2811 models, choose GRB. for WS2118 choose RGB.

This version also allows for the mixing of both GRB and RGB models of LED’s. If this is the case for your build, select which model is predominant in the above setting, then enter the pin numbers of the other model LED’s so the software knows to change the protocol. They must be listed in this format, otherwise an error will occur; [‘1’, ‘2’, ‘3’, ‘4’, ‘5’, ‘6’, ‘7’, ‘8’]

LED Color Settings

In this section, you can alter the colors being displayed on the map. However, the Flight Category colors for VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR and no weather are commonly accepted colors and probably shouldn’t be changed. The others are simply representations to provide an interesting look. Feel free to play with the colors to get the look best suited.

Legend Settings

In this section the builder will choose what types of legend items to include. Keep in mind that in Basic Settings, that the ‘Use a Map Legend’ setting must be ‘Yes’ before any of these settings will be used. It is here where the LED pin number for each Legend item is set. Keep in mind that in the Airports file, ‘LGND’ must also be in the same pin location.

LCD and OLED Display Settings

If the map will include either an LCD display or an OLED display and ‘Display Used’ in Basic Settings has been set to ‘Yes’, then this section allows for various behaviors. The purpose of the display is to show the winds at various airports along with their direction. The number of airports displaying this information is set in this section. There are other features as well. For instance a welcome message can be set that will display anytime the map updates the FAA weather. Also, the local and Zulu time can be displayed between groups of airports.

Most of the settings surround OLED displays. A few will help the builder with the way the OLED’s are physically mounted on the board. For instance they can be mounted upside down or wired backwards and as long as these setting are set properly they will display the information correctly.

Rotary Switch Settings

If the builder decides to include a Rotary Switch, then the data displayed for each position will be assigned here. There are 4 data products that can be selected, METAR’s, TAF’s, MOS (US only) and Heat Map. Also, for TAF’s and MOS data you must select how many hours in the future to display. Any rotary switch can be used up to 12 positions. Also, select a rotary switch that is a ‘Non-Shorting’ style of rotary switch.

Note: if no Rotary Switch is installed, the software will determine this and default to what is programmed under ‘Basic Settings –> Default Data to Display’.

MOS/Heat Map Settings

MOS data is available for the US and its Territories only. It works quite differently than TAF data in that it provides a ‘Probability’ of a particular type of weather to be present at a specific time in the future. So the builder must pick a probability threshold in which to display the data on the map. For instance if the builder chooses 50% then, if the MOS data reports a 60% probability, the map will display the weather. If the MOS data reports a 40% probability, the map will not display the weather.

The rest of the settings are for the Heat Map, and allows the builder to customize the look. Play with these to get the behavior desired.

Transitional Wipes Settings

The default transitional wipe has always been the rainbow effect. This is still probably the most popular transition when the board updates the FAA weather. However a number of other choices have been included. Some of the new transitions utilize the airport’s Lat/Lon to create their effect. So depending on the number of airports and their density, the effect may work, or not. Try them to find one that is appealing.

Play with the time delay as well. This will speed up or slow down the effects as desired.

Configure Airports

Make sure you can see the front of your map during this process so you can identify which airport is being represented by an LED.

The top section of this page provides a number of buttons that will control the LED’s. To start, click the ‘All On’ button to be sure that all the LED’s light up. Then click the ‘All Off’ button to turn them off.

Next, click the ‘LED On’ button. This will light the pin number listed in the box to the left. This will allow you to identify the location of this pin’s airport and enter it into the proper box below. Be sure to hit ‘Enter’ each time you change the Airport ID otherwise it won’t save. Hitting ‘Tab’ to the next box will NOT save the airport just entered. Repeat the process by clicking the ‘Next’ button. This will then light up the next LED in the string. Continue till you have entered all the airports on your map.

Enter ‘LGND’ if it is a legend position, or enter ‘NULL’ if it is one that is on the back side of your board and not intended to be used in the project.

Set Number of Landings for the Heat Map

The Heat Map allows the builder to set the relative number of landings he/she has made at each of the airports on the map. Go through all the airports and set the ones never landed at to Zero (0). Also, set all ‘NULL’ and ‘LGND’ to Zero as well.

Find your home airport and set this to one hundred (100). All the others should be set to a number between 1 and 99 depending on the relative number of landings.

The map will then create a gradient display where cool blue will be the airports with the fewest number of landings and the red hot will be the greatest number of landings.

The home airport can be setup to display green so that it stands out from the rest if desired.

Reminder:

As mentioned previously, its possible to have two settings contradict each other causing the script to stop running with an error. Using the Profiles discussed will help eliminate this possibility. If this happens, carefully look at the settings and tweak as necessary. Be sure each setting has been answered. For instance if a setting is a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ be sure one of them has been selected. Finally be sure to ‘Save Config File’ under the ‘Settings’ menu before you move on.