Stratux vs stratus vs SiriusXM

[scottnelson903]

Going to be getting a dashtop unit to get manly the weather. So what are yall's opinion (based on experiences, not guesses') on which one to get.

[steingar]

Whatever you do don't get a Stratus I.  Total junk, you'll be sorry.  I just got a 2s at the Show, I'll post up when I've a bit more time with it.

[gsengle]

Stratux.


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[Hector]

My Stratus 2 works great. I use it with the suction mount on the back window and it gets great reception and never overheats. The AHRS works very well and very usable in case of emergency.


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[carusoam]

Some receivers have...

• ADSB in
• adsb out (before it became illegal?)
• waas GPS for great position accuracy (measuring T/O and landing lengths)
• Ahrs for attitude display
• two receiver frequencies
• power cords
• antenna extension (great for mounting the box away from the window)
• add ons...
• Build it your self to save big bucks... Stratux
• Sky radar, Stratus, and others...
• Make sure your receiver works with your iPad app.  WingX likes to be friendly to all receivers... 

Things that come to mind easily...

Best regards,

-a-

[Skates97]

I've been very happy with my homebuilt Stratux. Only had one hiccup in the almost 80 hours I've used it. It quit broadcasting the Wifi. The problem was that somehow the image/software on the SD card got corrupted. It was an easy fix to reformat the card and install the latest version of the software and it worked perfectly again. Now I keep a copy of the latest version and other files needed on my Microsoft Surface so I can fix it on the go. What I really need to do is just get a second SD card and have it ready to swap out if needed.

If I had paid attention to the software updates I probably could have avoided the downtime on that flight.

[SkepticalJohn]

I have 2 Status 2S's. One permanently mounted in my Cessna for ADS-B in/out (via Status transponder) and one suctioned to a window in my Mooney for ADS-B in, WX, and AHRS data on the iPad. No overheating, long battery life (or plug into power source for infinite life), AHRS works flawlessly with foreflight, no subscription fees, ADS-B in is great, (delayed) weather radar, and getting in-flight AWOS data hundreds of miles away via Stratus2S and foreflight is nifty.

One caution with the systems you mentioned is WX lag. Use them for advisories only: don't try to pick your way through storms - they aren't real-time like on-board radar. Here's a synopsis of a crash related to trusting a similar wx source.

I use SiriusXM via Garmin 600 and GDL-69A in the aircraft I fly at work. It has a little better WX resolution on far away storms, but within 100 NM they are basically the same. The Sirius also suffers the WX delay I mentioned before. Even with the company footing the subscription for SiriusXM, I prefer the Stratus 2S.

Just my $0.02

John
- Most of the money I've made in my life, I spent on flying. I wasted the rest.

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[scottnelson903]

I'm using ForeFlight

[gsengle]

I'm using ForeFlight

They all work with it


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[Oldguy]

• Lots of money to spend and want music while you fly? Sirius
• One time cost for someone else to manufacture a product to use? Stratus 2S (not 1 and not 2 with old charging connection)
• Somewhat of a geek and like building your own things? Stratux

All of the above will provide the same weather. I believe there is another solution (ForeFlight Pilot and its OEM product) for $149 - $199 available as well.

IMHO the Stratux sent a cold chill down the back of several companies who were selling their products at what appeared to be exorbitantly high prices. I firmly believe you will see more price-competitive products come on the market for ADS-B In shortly, but then I expect a drop off as more ADS-B Out products become In and Out capable. Just an opinion.

[Yetti]

Stratux.   You can get them already built for a bit more.   It has AHRS now.   Have not been able to download the recent release.

[triple8s]

I currently have ADSB out with the GTX330ES and later got a "Dual" gps/adsb in box which worked fine till the antenna got broken or something, anyhow it doesnt work anymore so instead of throwing another 800$+ at the problem I bought a "Stratux" Raspberry Pi kit. This has both TIS-B & FIS-B cost me 130$ can be temp mounted somewhere out of the way with velcro or other easily removable method. Works from a 12 cig lighter plug and gives me subscription free ADS-B Traffic and Weather, get inflight metars all along your route plus the nexrad. I use FltplnGo and file from my cell phone. lots of good tools with FltPlnGo however stratux is compatible with most software and the Rpi3 transmits the data via WIFI and I can simultaneously display the data on my Ipad and Cellphone. I got the remote GPS antenna and have the "box" vecroed in an out of the way place. Works like a champ

[Piloto]

I have been using my cell phone with Garmin Pilot for WX with good results. Update rate above 10,000ft is about every 10 minutes but below is every 5 minutes or better. Like on the above video I found Stormscope to be more accurate than linked wx when in close proximity to thunderstorms.

José

[Tx_Aggie]

Does the Stratux setup work with foreflight?


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[DonMuncy]

8 hours ago, Tx_Aggie said:

Does the Stratux setup work with foreflight?


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Yes

[SkepticalJohn]

Yes

No personal experience Stratux (only Stratus 2s), but I understand the Statux only has limited compatibility with foreflight. IE: no AHRS for the synthetic vision.

Here's a video, claiming to be a stratux, using AHRS on foreflight. (Notice: 1. the discrepancy between of bank indication of the aircraft's AI and the synth vision on the iPad and 2. The jerkyness of the heading)

Seems like something that would be nice if you like to tinker with a box that might works, sort of, sometimes.

If foreflight is what you're planning on using and you want a reliable setup, I struggle to see why anyone would use anything other than a Straus 2S, Dynon, or Garmin input. I got my Stratus 2S out of the box about 2 years ago, fly almost daily, and have had 0 problems with it - no silly software or firmware updates, no spoofing foreflight into thinking you're using something you're not, no temp issues, no battery issues. It's performance is smooth, reliable and accurate. It simply works.


John

[carusoam]

Or go WingX who is open to various vendors of the box... 

One listed for sale earlier showed the set-up page for the stratux including the status of the dual frequencies and ahars device...

Pretty fancy, it sold for a messily .2 AMU...

Best regards,

-a-

 

[midlifeflyer]

The current status of Stratux AHRS remains a bit problematic, regardless of EFB. It's still listed as "in development."

Also, many don't realize you do not need AHRS to operate ForeFlight synthetic vision. AHRS gives you attitude information - pitch and bank on the attitude indicator, and heading as opposed to ground track on the HSI. If you are happy with a flat attitude display, synthetic vision works just fine with a simple GPS feed, and you still get heading, groundspeed, and track info.

[midlifeflyer]

On 8/3/2017 at 8:23 AM, gsengle said:

 

They all work with it


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Except Garmin Pilot, AFAIK.

[gsengle]

 

 

 

 

No personal experience Stratux (only Stratus 2s), but I understand the Statux only has limited compatibility with foreflight. IE: no AHRS for the synthetic vision.

 

Here's a video, claiming to be a stratux, using AHRS on foreflight. (Notice: 1. the discrepancy between of bank indication of the aircraft's AI and the synth vision on the iPad and 2. The jerkyness of the heading)

Seems like something that would be nice if you like to tinker with a box that might works, sort of, sometimes.

 

If foreflight is what you're planning on using and you want a reliable setup, I struggle to see why anyone would use anything other than a Straus 2S, Dynon, or Garmin input. I got my Stratus 2S out of the box about 2 years ago, fly almost daily, and have had 0 problems with it - no silly software or firmware updates, no spoofing foreflight into thinking you're using something you're not, no temp issues, no battery issues. It's performance is smooth, reliable and accurate. It simply works.

 

 

John

 

Stratux is open source. The releases are coming frequently. It will continue to improve and surpass commercial alternatives. Upgrades are easy. When is the last time anyone upgraded an older Stratus to add ahrs? When is the last time anyone upgraded their Stratus?

 

The point is of course the ahrs portion isn't done yet, and yet the device is way cheaper than units that don't even try to provide ahrs or even gps!

 

The features claimed as stable work very well.

 

 

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[takair]

Had bad luck with early Stratus units...reliability and customer support.....so turned to Stratux....FlightBox to be specific.  Have had really good success with that and Foreflight for weather and traffic.  I don't have the AHRS yet because Foreflight will not support it for synthetic vision.  The Stratuxguys have been negotiating with them, but it is not looking good in the near term.  There are some folks trying to find a workaround, but there are still issues with making this work reliably...as indicated in a post above.  If you don't use the synthetic vision, Stratux has worked extremely well for me.  Easy build and easy set-up.  From a weather standpoint, XM was hard to beat, except for the monthly bill.  XM has the advantage of picking up weather on the ground.  I offset that by using cell phone data before launch. That way there is minimal, if any gap in weather.

[SkepticalJohn]

 
Stratux is open source. The releases are coming frequently. It will continue to improve and surpass commercial alternatives. Upgrades are easy. When is the last time anyone upgraded an older Stratus to add ahrs? When is the last time anyone upgraded their Stratus?
 
The point is of course the ahrs portion isn't done yet, and yet the device is way cheaper than units that don't even try to provide ahrs or even gps!
 
The features claimed as stable work very well.
 
 
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Exactly, 2 years and the Status 2S just works - I haven't had to perform any upgrades or load any updated software. It came with AHRS and has required no maintenance or upgrades. It's been the best option for me.

"Frequent" updates might be nice for folks who like to tinker. I'd rather just leave my little box in the plane and know it's going to work every time I turn the key. The only time the Status saw my house was when the UPS driver delivered it.

Maybe someday the other manufactures will catch up. I just don't believe that day has arrived.

John

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[gsengle]

Exactly, 2 years and the Status 2S just works - I haven't had to perform any upgrades or load any updated software. It came with AHRS and has required no maintenance or upgrades. It's been the best option for me. 

"Frequent" updates might be nice for folks who like to tinker. I'd rather just leave my little box in the plane and know it's going to work every time I turn the key. The only time the Status saw my house was when the UPS driver delivered it.

 

Maybe someday the other manufactures will catch up. I just don't believe that day has arrived.

 

John

 

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My stratux also just works. And it will just work even better as for instance the faa adds to the weather data feed and I can choose to upgrade it. It's NOT HARD. I can do it in about 5 mins. If you need ahrs today and have literally $800 extra to burn, go for it. But for most people, charging $800 (800% btw) extra just so you can get the ai in ForeFlight to work (it works in other apps) seems a bit egregious.

 

They are mostly milking that money from folks who don't (yet) know better. They will have to lower their price. $400 might be reasonable these days, $899 isn't...

 

 

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[M016576]

1 hour ago, gsengle said:

 

My stratux also just works. And it will just work even better as for instance the faa adds to the weather data feed and I can choose to upgrade it. It's NOT HARD. I can do it in about 5 mins. If you need ahrs today and have literally $800 extra to burn, go for it. But for most people, charging $800 (800% btw) extra just so you can get the ai in ForeFlight to work (it works in other apps) seems a bit egregious.

 

They are mostly milking that money from folks who don't (yet) know better. They will have to lower their price. $400 might be reasonable these days, $899 isn't...

 

 

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Exactly.  When they had a cornered market, it was a different story, but now, there are tons of options out there: all just as capable.

[EricJ]

FWIW, I recently added the AHRS board to my Stratux.   The board was $16 from Amazon and it took maybe a half hour to install it AND download and install the latest rev of the software.