Highway Radar v2.5.1: just some minor improvements

[Baldy]

@ferius

PM sent

Just to touch on #4, in Gmaps for example, Settings > navigation settings > sound&voice there is a setting for guidance volume (softer, normal, louder), play voice over bluetooth, play audio cues, play voice during phone calls, etc. With all those enabled (just as an example), when a voice alert plays I can quickly change the volume of the alerts just for Gmaps while the alert is being spoken, using the phone volume keys (a separate slider appears for the Gmaps media volume)...whereas on HwR the slider doesn't behave in the same manner and instead just alters the whole bluetooth audio phone output.

 

[ferius]

@ferius

Here's a screenshot of the heli I mentioned

It shows up as "CF-DJB" which is THIS...
However it really should be "C-FDJB" which is THIS

I'm wondering if this discrepancy is what throws it off for alerting. Would there be a way to make the " - " irrelevant as long as the letter sequence is correct against known threats?

View attachment 173987

Ok, one mystery solved. The aircraft isn't displayed on the top because it is muted (there is a dotted trace instead of dashed). There is a bug, that the map label border should be red in this case, I'll fix it in the next version.

Any chance you remember, what operator was displayed next to the arrow before you muted the alert? (tapped on the arrow or the map label)

 

[Baldy]

I don't remember as I must have deleted that screenshot. I only have couple of after.

edit: I'll try to find another screenshot of another encounter, as I have a couple for sure.

 

[ferius]

Thanks for the new screenshots, they really helped a lot. So, here is what my investigation found.

• Currently HwR aircraft server doesn't log its state, so I'm only giving the most likely scenario; I can't know what has happened for sure.
• Most probably , one of underlying data sources (likely ADSBx) returns incorrect ICAO type code for the aircraft.
• I assume, it returns the one for CF-DJB, which corresponds to a seaplane.
• Highway Radar filters out all seaplanes (as I can't imagine speed enforcement done from a seaplane).
• The helicopter was correctly found in the Canada aircraft registration database (correct owner shows this);
  • however, this database doesn't contain the type code, so the type code was either taken from ADSBx, or from another source.

Here is what I'm going to do today/tomorrow:

• Start logging all incoming data, so such investigations become easier
• Acknowledge that ICAO type code data may be incorrect; always prioritize data from official databases
  • In case of C-FDJB, the aircraft type derived from ICAO typecode had higher priority than the one stored directly in the Canadian database
• Modify filtering rules to consider all data sources instead of picking just one (e.g. if one data source says it is seaplane, and another that it is helicopter, consider the most dangerous instead of most probable).
• Add a server-side whitelist/blacklist
• Prioritize adding user-created whitelist/blacklist to the app
  • Also implement anonymous user's whitelists/blacklists push to the server, so it can be manually reviewed and added to the global server-side lists

Most of this can be done without updating the application. User-side whitelists/blacklists will be introduced in the next release.

@Baldy, thanks for reporting this and providing the screenshots!

 

[Redrum]

Is there a way to lock the compass? Meaning, to press the compass in the upper left corner (which orients the map north), and have it stay in that orientation, instead of reverting 15 seconds later?

 

[ferius]

Is there a way to lock the compass? Meaning, to press the compass in the upper left corner (which orients the map north), and have it stay in that orientation, instead of reverting 15 seconds later?

Currently there is no fixed north-up orientation. All you can do lock both map movement and orientation.

 

[Redrum]

When I lock, the map doesn't move with me. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong.

 

[ferius]

When I lock, the map doesn't move with me. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong.

That is expected. The locking works both for movement and for orientation. Currently the is no way to keep the map always north-up while keeping it moving.

 

[Smason]

@ferius

Here's a screenshot of the heli I mentioned

It shows up as "CF-DJB" which is THIS...
However it really should be "C-FDJB" which is THIS

I'm wondering if this discrepancy is what throws it off for alerting. Would there be a way to make the " - " irrelevant as long as the letter sequence is correct against known threats?

View attachment 173987

That helicopter and I have some... History.

 

[ferius]

That helicopter and I have some... History.

That was a very tricky one. Currently it should be reliably recognized as a police one.

 

[Smason]

There is a Heli here that doesn't show up on any of my devices. I think it's RCMP but it could be the News chopper.

 

[ferius]

There is a Heli here that doesn't show up on any of my devices. I think it's RCMP but it could be the News chopper.

Possibly it might not have Mode-S transponder installed, or have it disabled. If this is the case, there is no way it can be tracked unless you have an ATC radar.

 

[Smason]

Correct, although it looks like Canada will be requiring both ADSB and PCAS in the next 10 years.

 

[ferius]

Correct, although it looks like Canada will be requiring both ADSB and PCAS in the next 10 years.

That would make things easier. In US, you may go away without an ADSB-out below 10000ft, and >20-30nm away from big airports. However, to my best knowledge, pretty much all gov-owned aircraft have ADSB-out here.

 

[Omitdoc]

Is there a way to keep north up consistently?

 

[ferius]

Is there a way to keep north up consistently?

At this moment - no