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Pilot report on Ping Buddy ADS B

DennisRhodes

Well Known Member
Made about 45 min flight NW of the ATL ATC area today to try out a ADSB "In" product. The ping Buddy is about the size of HAlf Dollar and can be had for $80 on Amazon or E bay. Ifly ,Adverture Pilot also has them. All that is needed is a USB power plug. It connects up via a WIFI signal to any of the ipad or android apps. I connected up to an existing Ifly 720 on the panel and turned off the Xponder and Navworx 600EXP. It connected to the ground stations at about 200AGL and reported Wx very well. It had the expected traffic for my area on a typical Wednesday. . I didn't see any difference in the reporting that normally comes from the EXP. I couldn't tell if it was direct UAT or ES or ground station from where someone else had ping'd in. I did turn the EXP and Xponder on 1200 and immediately got a red target on my tail. Panicked, turned left and descended until I decided it was my ghost and couldn't shake him. Turned off the Xponder and EXP and finished up the flight. Doesn't seem to matter if it hangs from the wire or rest up on the instrument panel glare shield. I noticed some traffic up to 25nm in front of me. I had four targets on the screen within 10 miles at one time. Amazing technology!! Whatever happens with the Navworx AD , I'm waiting the three years and take a look at whats new out there.!!!
 
Mine actually came from Adverture Pilot. Did see on Amazon for cheaper but I'm a supporter of Adverture Pilot due to their customer service. I did just use the 12vdc "CIGAR" lighter socket with a usb power adapter plugged into it for todays flight. Should be able to use the USB on the 720 just fine.
 
Reminder

As I'm sure you know, unless you remained within class G airspace, turning off the transponder is a violation of the FARs. I wouldn't advertise it.
 
Yes, well aware of where I can and can't. All FAA legal. we have plenty of play space up the NW quadrant 60 miles out.
 
AF-5600 Ping Buddy Support

The latest AF-5000 software release has support for a WiFi dual band ADS-B receiver. We have been flying with both the Ping Buddy and Stratux units connected to the AF-5700 and iPad in the RV-10 for a few months.

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Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems Inc.
N402RH RV-10
 
In thinking about the red "ghost "traffic signal that I saw immediately on turning on my 600EXP. I think that's telling me a couple of things: 1 That my 600EXP signal out is good and just for the record it was SOLIDLY attached to my tail icon!! and /or 2 That the Ping buddy was picking up broadcast ground station traffic namely N908DR or from an "out" UAT and sending to the ifly screen. Im guessing the Navwork has filtering to eliminate ghost when received by the internal IN recvr.
 
The latest AF-5000 software release has support for a WiFi dual band ADS-B receiver. We have been flying with both the Ping Buddy and Stratux units connected to the AF-5700 and iPad in the RV-10 for a few months.

Nifty feature! Will using the wifi for this purpose prevent connecting Foreflight to the 5000 for flight plan transfer and AHRS data, or can both be connected at once? (And hopefully feed ADS-B to both the EFIS and app.)
 
I just decided to buy the PingBuddy 2 only to find that it appears to have been removed from the uAvionix website. None of the uAvionix resellers have any stock that they are offering thru their websites. Does anyone know anything about this?
 
Only issue I have with PB is that I can use the usb port on the 740 to drive my AP or use the PB, but not both at the same time. The port is either data out or data in, but not both. At least the PB model that I have works that way. If it blue toothed to the 740 it would work.
 
Only issue I have with PB is that I can use the usb port on the 740 to drive my AP or use the PB, but not both at the same time. The port is either data out or data in, but not both. At least the PB model that I have works that way. If it blue toothed to the 740 it would work.

Does that version of the PingBuddy also have wifi?
 
I don't think that current ping recvr has WiFI. It was targeted for the 520 and 700 which neither has WiFi. I had inquired iFly several months back as to when the PingBuddy 2 might be available and the only answer that came back was "shortly when all the final testing was completed" Still haven't seen any evidence of that product and guess that uAvonicx may have become busy with their Echo product and the PingBuddy and PingBuddy 2 went to back burner.
 
I have what I believe is the original Ping Buddy. I power it with an independent 5 volt power source unrelated to my iFly 740. The Ping Buddy communicates with the iFly 740 via wi-fi. The iFly740 is connected to my Dynon D-180 with a USB to Serial converter to supply GPS info to the D-180 autopilot.
 
. The iFly740 is connected to my Dynon D-180 with a USB to Serial converter to supply GPS info to the D-180 autopilot.

Just curious JOE as to what additional gps info do you get into the D180 with that serial connection to the 740. I've got all of that but never tied them together.
 
scepticism about this company

I have contacted the Canadian distributor for UAVIONIX products and now 6 days after the initial reply email saying they will advise ASAP on the PING Buddy 2 or any products or that matter, nothing at all from them.

So many times in the aviation industry we see companies with great ideas and many of them become invisible within a few years.

I realize the difficulty in bringing a product to market but with customers asking for something already advertised you'd think they would be better prepared.
 
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Just curious JOE as to what additional gps info do you get into the D180 with that serial connection to the 740. I've got all of that but never tied them together.

I'm not Joe but I do have an iFly 720 feeding NMEA data to a Dynon D10-A and Trio Pro Pilot via a USB to Serial converter cable. The data stream to the Dynon allows it to calculate wind vectors. The direction and speed of wind is calculated real time in addition to the crosswind component. This is a very cool feature and definitely worth running the additional single wire to the Dynon. I also allows you to set up a CDI on the Dynon that shows deviation from the flight plan course.
 
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I am Joe :D
The iFly 740 sends both GPS position and whatever else is required for the D-180 autopilot to follow the flight plan in the iFly. The D-180 also uses that info to calculate wind speed and direction.
 
Scout (Pingbuddy replacement)

It appears that the Pingbuddy has been rebranded as the 'Scout' via Foreflight. Not long ago while I was on a flight, I compared side by side, a Pingbuddy with a Stratus. Although the Pingbuddy ultimately captured radar images, etc., it was noticeably slower than the Stratus unit. Later, I heard that performance issues attributed to it being taken off the market. So, is the Scout the same unit, or has the electronics been 'tuned-up' for better performance.

Jim Diehl
7A
 
It appears that the Pingbuddy has been rebranded as the 'Scout' via Foreflight. Not long ago while I was on a flight, I compared side by side, a Pingbuddy with a Stratus. Although the Pingbuddy ultimately captured radar images, etc., it was noticeably slower than the Stratus unit. Later, I heard that performance issues attributed to it being taken off the market. So, is the Scout the same unit, or has the electronics been 'tuned-up' for better performance.

Jim Diehl
7A

There is a 4-STAR REVIEW on Amazon where it is sold. Sounds like some issues may have been fixed but there may still be some left.
 
I think the " Tune Up" has been to modify the Ping Buddy alias now Scout to recieve and communicate only to foreflight. Aparently FF bought up the market from uAvionics and rumors are that although it has wifi, won t communicate with generic EFB ie ifly. Same business model as Garmin now for some time.
 
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