Hangar talk: Connected Avionics versus Quality Time

[BlueSky247]

Some comments in the EarthX thread made me think it would be worth talking more about those issues separately.

 

Personally, I'm a techie and I figure whenever I do build a hangar, it will have a cell service repeater along with wifi. I don't know if I will ever have a plane with live monitoring onboard, but do think it would be worthwhile to have a hangar internet system in place for security and fire concerns. And the wifi would obviously be helpful for flight planning, weather monitoring and nav database updates.

 

But......  there is a lot of appeal in the idea of being able to (reasonably) go completely offline when working in the hangar and getting away from the daily grind and interrupts.

 

So how do you guys handle this and what do you prefer? I know some go with having at least wifi internet available in their hangar.

 

 

[Pinecone]

I just use my cell phone.  Works fine if I open the door.

[BlueSky247]

Good idea! Reception in my area is so spotty in places I'd probably have to put a little radio tower on top of the hangar to get a usable signal. I need to go back out to the potential build site and check that.

[EricJ]

I have a laptop that is dedicated to maintenance and lives in my hangar, and I usually keep it updated with needed docs just by USB thumb drive transfers.    Once in a while I'll need something I don't have there, and I just use a WiFi hotspot that I keep in my flight bag.   Using my phone as a hotspot tends to burn a lot of battery, but the old hotspot in my flight bag always works fine.

But that's an occassional usage model.   If you want to keep live video going or a game or F1 race on live, it's an entirely different issue.   It'd be nice to have a continuous reliable connection, but it's not something I need.   If I had continuous bandwidth available I'd probably do more with it, like maybe instrumenting things like hangar temperature, the aircraft battery, a hangar cam, etc.

[MikeOH]

Another vote for cell phone. When I go to the hangar it's to fly or to work on the plane.  If I need to do work (wait, I'm retired now!), or want to watch TV, surf the 'net...I do that at home

[Rick Junkin]

2 hours ago, EricJ said:

If I had continuous bandwidth available I'd probably do more with it, like maybe instrumenting things like hangar temperature, the aircraft battery, a hangar cam, etc.

I'm able to do all these things with an old AT&T hotspot that permanently resides in my hangar. The hotspot line costs $20/month on my shared phone data plan. I access three security cams, three wifi switches, and a wifi thermostat. That leaves three connections for my phone, iPad and MacBook if I need to use them when I'm there. The hotspot is limited to 10 connections.

I also have set up a cellular amplifier I bought a long time ago on Amazon to boost the signal strength in the hangar.

All of my immediate hangar neighbors recently put in Starlink systems and swear by them. I don't need that kind of connectivity but will go that route if I get to where I do.

[toto]

One of the really nice things about using Google Fi as a mobile provider is that they’ll give you data SIM cards for free. The data SIM just counts against your regular phone plan usage. I’ve installed Google Fi data SIMs in a few different cellular-capable devices at the hangar, and it’s basically free. 

[McMooney]

I'm in the city, 5g works really well here but i actually dont' use it, i go to the hangar to veg

[Ragsf15e]

8 hours ago, BlueSky247 said:

Some comments in the EarthX thread made me think it would be worth talking more about those issues separately.

 

Personally, I'm a techie and I figure whenever I do build a hangar, it will have a cell service repeater along with wifi. I don't know if I will ever have a plane with live monitoring onboard, but do think it would be worthwhile to have a hangar internet system in place for security and fire concerns. And the wifi would obviously be helpful for flight planning, weather monitoring and nav database updates.

 

But......  there is a lot of appeal in the idea of being able to (reasonably) go completely offline when working in the hangar and getting away from the daily grind and interrupts.

 

So how do you guys handle this and what do you prefer? I know some go with having at least wifi internet available in their hangar.

 

 

If you live somewhere even a little cold, it’s nice to have some type of cell or wifi inside the hangar (with door closed) so you can control an engine heater remotely.  Sucks to drive to the airport just to turn that on.

[BlueSky247]

I meant to say something along those lines. If you are lucky enough to have a hangar that is weather tite and ideally insulated, it sure would be nice to adjust or confirm temp and humidity levels remotely. 
 

That’s creeping into being a hangar home, though. 

[Ragsf15e]

11 hours ago, BlueSky247 said:

I meant to say something along those lines. If you are lucky enough to have a hangar that is weather tite and ideally insulated, it sure would be nice to adjust or confirm temp and humidity levels remotely. 
 

That’s creeping into being a hangar home, though. 

Even if it’s a standard metal box like mine, I preheat the engine when it’s less than about 40f at night.  That’s 7 months of the year for me.  I still fly if it’s above zero… brrr!

[Hank]

7 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

Even if it’s a standard metal box like mine, I preheat the engine when it’s less than about 40f at night.  That’s 7 months of the year for me.  I still fly if it’s above zero… brrr!

I really enjoyed having engine heat on a cellular switch when I was in WV. My coldest departure was a breakfast run, 8°F. My wife stayed in bed that morning. Wish I could remember the initial climb rate, but my God the deck angle was steep!

[Fly Boomer]

20 hours ago, Rick Junkin said:

All of my immediate hangar neighbors recently put in Starlink systems and swear by them. I don't need that kind of connectivity but will go that route if I get to where I do.

What solution do they use for lightening protection?

[Rick Junkin]

12 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

What solution do they use for lightening protection?

I don’t know. The antennas are mounted on the side walls below the roof line so they may not need any?

[Ragsf15e]

2 hours ago, Hank said:

I really enjoyed having engine heat on a cellular switch when I was in WV. My coldest departure was a breakfast run, 8°F. My wife stayed in bed that morning. Wish I could remember the initial climb rate, but my God the deck angle was steep!

Cheapest turbocharger you’ll ever get!