7. Connecting to iGRID

PilotAware iGRID: enhance your situational awareness with advanced services via iGRID.

Introduction:

‍Connecting to the PilotAware iGRID via your smartphone, provides you with advanced traffic and situational awareness data using an encrypted internet link to the PilotAware servers.  

To connect to the PilotAware servers, you will use 2 WIFI links available from the FX. It’s important to distinguish between the two links.

(i) FX WiFi Hotspot. This is a WiFi access connection from FX to your smart tablet. This has a unique WiFi SSID name such as Rosetta FX-9676DEF.

(ii) Smartphone WiFi Hotspot. This is a WiFi hotspot on your Smartphone which when enabled will broadcast a preset SSID such as iPhone77 set by the manufacturer.

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This smartphone hotspot connects your FX to the internet via the mobile network. Therefore you must have a current data contract, mobile data turned on and the Smartphone Hotspot enabled and discoverable for this to work correctly.

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How to connect FX to the iGRID servers via the Internet

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1. The Smartphone WiFI hotspot to which the FX is to be connected should ideally be available and discoverable before power is applied to the FX.
2. Any WiFi hotspot connected to the internet can be used to test the iGRID connection. In the air this will however come from your smartphone.
3. If you are using your mobile phone hotspot ensure that it is available and discoverable to initiate and maintain the paring of the two devices.
4. When paired, navigate to the FX iGRID page on a separate device and select 'Scan Networks’.  Select your phone SSID and insert your password when prompted.
5. Select Submit.
6. Check that you are connected to the smartphone hotspot. This will also be shown on the phone screen.

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Here is how to do it step by step.

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Step 1: Preparing Your Mobile Device:‍

Example using an iPhone 6S or later device:

• Tip. Ensure your hotspot SSID and password are set to simple ASCII characters (0-9, A-Z, with no spaces or special characters). For example: set SSID as billsphone and password as bills1997
• Navigate to the iOS 'Personal Hotspot' settings and if your phone supports it enable 'Maximise Compatibility'. Without it, your hotspot may fail to be discoverable.

• Activate your hotspot and make it discoverable. For iPhone 14, swipe down from the top right-hand side to access the control screen.

• Expand the top left-hand block, by putting your finger in the middle the block, and select the hotspot to make it discoverable as shown below.

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• IMPORTANT The WiFi should turn off as shown in the following screenshot. If it doesn't manually turn it off.

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Step 2: Connect FX to the discoverable iPhone Hotspot ‍

Using a separate Smart Tablet

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• Power on the FX, connect the smart tablet to the FX WiFi hotspot and log onto the FX Home screen by typing in 192.168.1.1.
• This will take you to the Home Page (FX Dashboard) 
• Navigate to the 'iGRID Setup’ page by selecting the blue ICON.

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• Once on the iGRID System Page
• Select 'Scan Networks' in the top box and wait for your phones' SSID (e.g., ‘iPhone77') to appear.
• Select your SSID and enter your password when prompted.

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Monitoring Connection Status:

• Once connected to the hotspot, the right-hand LED on the FX will turn Blue 🔵, indicating a local connection from the FX to your smartphone’s hotspot.
• The Wi-Fi hotspot on the iPhone, will also indicate 'connected' when the FX is connected to the hotspot.

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• When the phone connects to the PilotAware servers via the mobile network, the 4th LED on the FX will turn Green 🟢, and your iPhone hotspot will show 1 device connected. This completes the connection between the FX and the PilotAware servers through the iPhone .

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In-Flight Network Dynamics:

• In flight the 4th LED may sometimes turn Blue🔵 , indicating the connection to the iPhone hotspot is intact but there is no network connection to the iGRID servers.
• This is normal and will be variable depending on your height, current access to the mobile network used and the network availability.
• Experiment with the placement of the phone in your aircraft to optimize the connectivity. A good starting point for your phone is your chest pocket.

Verifying that you have iGRID Connectivity:

• When connected ti iGRID, the PilotAware RADAR screen will display considerably more targets than normal. Everything available unto 60km.
• The iGRID LED on FX will be illuminated Green. 🟢
• The Weather RADAR feature, when available, will also become selectable.
• The iGRID row on the status page will show as green if a connection is valid.

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Tips.

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Enabling the hotspot on an iPhone needs to be done using the instructions above. The FX will attempt an iGRID hotspot connection on power-up, so for simplicity, enable the phone hotspot before applying power to FX. If you dont it will try to connect to the strongest nearby hotspot. In the aircraft however this will always be your smartphone.

Remember, subsequent pairings in the cockpit will be automatic after the initial setup, and FX will remember the configuration details of your primary hotspot.

Adjust the above steps for Android devices as their interface and settings may differ. Please check with your individual smartphone instructions.

This guide aims to make the process of connecting to iGRID straightforward and effective, enhancing your overall experience with the PilotAware system.

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Next Step

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Connecting to the RADAR Page