Version 3.0 has been released!

www.livesectional.com

I spent a good couple of months working on streamlining this process so my fellow pilots can quickly get one of these fun live sectional maps up and running at their home, flight club, local airport, office, or all of the above. 🙂  In this post you’ll find a detailed shopping list, step by step directions as well as detailed videos walking you through each step of the process.  If you end up building one of these I’d love a picture of your finished project. Also I need to send out a huge thank you to Mark Harris who really dove into the code and helped me bring all these new features in to version 2. Its collaboration like this that really makes the projects a reality.

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Components – Link to Amazon Shopping list of basic electronic components.  Full list below

• Raspberry Pi 
• MicroSD Card
• LED’s (String of 50) You may need two depending on the number of airports in your project.
• Bread Board
• Jumper Wires
• 1N4001G Diode
• Power Adapter You’ll need one for every two strings of lights.
• Sectional Options
  • Download a Sectional to print (FAA Free) or Purchase Aviation Wall Maps $$$
  • Upload sectionals to PosterPrtintFactory (54×36 $85)
  • Another printing option ~$50 (example size 44” w x 30” H)
• ⅜ inch Grommets
• Hot Glue Gun
• Particle Board
• 3M Spray Glue
• 3/8″ Leather/hole punch (Something Like This)
• 1×2 Pine Board (to create a spacer behind the particle board)
• New small V2 Pi3b+ Compatable (8gb sd card) Fully preconfigured Image File –––
• https://etcher.io Software to copy the img file you just downloaded to your blank MicroSD card.
• User: pi (username in the software)
• Password: livesectional
• Includes support for a power off button
• Includes support for a light sensor to dim the LEDs in a dark room
• Includes support for Lightning and High Wind Blinking of LEDs.
• Includes LED’s turn off when Pi shuts down or reboots.
• Updated metar.py file
• Original Source Code For those of you who don’t need this guide or extra features.

Steps

1. Equipment Test
2. Getting the Map On the Board and Board Preparation
3. Configuring the Scripts for your Airports
4. Wiring Everything Up
5. Enjoy
6. Consider throwing a couple bucks my way 🙂 paypal.me/WilliamBrysonIII
7. Get stuck?  Email me

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Step 1: Equipment Test

During this process I had to switch out LED brands after sending one back and trying a replacement of the first brand.  The reason we start with this on the how-to is just to be sure you have all working components before you start gluing things.

So lets get your Pi set up first, without changing out the airports file as you’ll need to tweak that once you actually glue in the LED’s.  

First thing you’ll want to do is download the preconfigured img.  This is the operating system and live sectional scripts for the Pi.

Full Pre-configured V2 Live Sectional  Pi Image File (700 MB Download – Now supports 8 GB Micro SD Cards)

• User: pi
• Pass: livesectional

Next install https://etcher.io Software to copy the img file you just downloaded to your blank MicroSD card.

This image below shows the basic steps.  Select the file livesectionalsm.img.zip that you downloaded, plug your MicroSD card into your computer using a card reader or MicroSD to SD card adapter Select that as your drive, and then click the flash.  This will set the microSD card up for you. When that finishes take the MicroSD card out of your computer and plug it into the Pi

Basic Configuration

Plug your Pi into an HDMI cable plugged into you TV.  Plug in a wired keyboard into one of the Pi’s USB ports, and plug it into power using the power adapter that came with the Pi.

When the Pi boots up it will come up to the command line prompt.

pi@LiveSectional:~ $

If this doesn’t show up, try hitting the return key on your keyboard.

This is the command prompt.  It is where you can start entering commands to the Pi.  I have set up the image you are using to automatically log you into the pi.

Let’s start with getting your PI connected to your wifi and changing the login passwords for the pi (Not required). 

Type in the following command…

sudo raspi-config

Press the return key.

This will bring up a graphical configuration window.  You’ll need to use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate this window.  

To change the login password (Not necessary)  make sure “Change User Password” is highlighted as shown below, and  hit return on your keyboard.

This will return you back to the command prompt and it will tell you to type in a new password.  

Type in your new password and hit the return key on your keyboard.

It will ask you to retype the password to confirm it.

Type in your new password again and then hit the return key on your keyboard.

Now to get your Pi connected to your wifi network.

Use your arrow keys to go down to “Network Options” and hit return on your keyboard.

Use the down arrow to highlight “Wi-fi” and then hit the return key on your keyboard.

It will then ask for your wifi network name known as a SSID.  Type in your network name and hit return on your keyboard.

Next it asks for your wifi password.  Type that in and hit return on your keyboard.

If you are putting your map at work, or at your hangar, or in a pilot lounge you’ll need to repeat these steps to add in that wifi network so your Pi will be able to connect and get weather when you get it hung up in its permanent location.

Then hit the right arrow on your keyboard which should drop you down to the bottom line highlighting the word “Select” use your right arrow one more time to go over to choose “Finish” then click return on your keyboard.

Now it’s time to shutdown your Pi

Type the following to shutdown the pi….

sudo shutdown -h now

Wiring Guide

Directions of what was covered in the video

Next grab your

• • Breadboard

• • jumper wires

• • LED string

• • Diode

• • 5V power supply

• Keyboard

Wire everything up using this wiring diagram. Notice that the Data wire on your LED string is actually the middle wire.

 

Source: https://pinout.xyz/pinout/pin12_gpio18

Don’t plug the power in until we are done wiring everything up.  Start with the power plug end. Take a red male to male  jumper wire and leave the male pin end of the wire in tact.  Put that into the positive port on the power plug and screw it down tight.

Do the same thing with a dark colored jumper wire.

Plug the dark wire into the breadboard into one of the outer edge holes labeled as ground.

Plug the red wire into one of the inner lateral rows.

Take your 1N4001G Diode and plug the non white strip end into the same lateral row as your red jumper wire.  Plug the other end into a different lateral row.

The LED string has a beginning end and a ending end.  Power can be applied to either end of of the string, but the data must be plugged into the beginning end.  Some LED strings have an arrow on the microchip inside the LED housing that points towards the light. The wires that go in on that side of the microchip would be the in or beginning wires.  For the LEDs in the shopping list above you’ll want to use the end that allows a male jumper cable to be plugged into the female end of the string.

So take a red male to male jumper wire and connect the red wire from the LEDs by plugging the male end into the end of the connector, just be sure its lining up with the red wire.  Plug the other male end into the breadboard into the same lateral row as the white stripe end of the diode.

Do the same thing with a dark colored jumper wire for the ground and plug that into the same edge row as your ground power jumper.

Now take a female to male jumper wire and plug the male end into the middle (data) wire on the LED connector.  The other end plugs into pin number 12 on the pi. This is the outermost row of pins on the pi. Count from right to left and plug it on to the 6th pin on the outer row, this is pin number 12 if you are counting both the inner and outer rows.

Light Sensor wiring

Next take a red female to female jumper wire and plug it in to the VCC pin on the light sensor, and plug the other end into the 1st pin on the pi, this would be the one on the end and on the inside row.  See the pin out graphic above to verify.

Next take another female to female jumper wire and plug it into the middle pin GND pin on the light sensor, plug this into the outer row on the bread board to aline with the other ground wires.

Finally take another female to female jumper wire and plug it into the DO (data out)  pin on the light sensor, and plug the other end into pin 7 on the raspberry pi, this is on the inner row as well, the 4th pin from the end.

Shutdown and Restart Button wiring

Plug the wires from the first button into pins 5 and 6 on the pi.  This will be the third from the end.  This button will handle the power on function if the pi was shutdown with the other button or with the sudo shutdown -h now command.

Plug the wires from the second button into pins 13 and 14 on the pi.  This will handle the reboot / shutdown commands based on how long you hold the button down.  Three seconds will initiate a reboot and six seconds will shut the pi down.

If you are using a Raspberry Pi 2 take a male to female jumper wire and plug pin number 4 (second from the right outer row pin) and plug that into the same inner row on the breadboard inline with the red wire from the power cord and the non white strip end of the diode. This will power the Pi without the need for its own power supply.

If you are using a Raspbery Pi 3 or newer you’ll need to use the power supply that shipped with the pi as they are more finicky with their power intake.

Finally plug a male to female jumper wire into pin 34 on the pi, this is pin 4 from the other end of the pins on the outer row. Plug the other end into the ground row on the breadboard. This is very important as the lights won’t work properly if the pi isn’t grounded to the breadboard.

Once it is wired up, plug in the power supply to the little power plug end you used in the wiring. (If using a Pi3B+ also plug in its power supply)  It takes about 30 seconds or so for the Pi to boot up.

Once you get to the command line prompt you’ll need to start the script running.  Type the following command.

sudo bash /NeoSectional/startup.sh

You should see the first 26 (Thats how many are coded in the based image) of your LED’s all turn on for about 30-45 seconds.  Then they should all go blank and refresh with the colors of the Metars. (Green, Blue, Red, Pink, and White)

Cover your Light Sensor with your hand and you should see the LED’s dim.

You can choose to test out your buttons at this time if you’d like as well.  Remember 3 seconds on the second button will reboot the pi, 6 seconds will shut it down.  If the pi has been shutdown with the that button, you can turn it back on by a push of the first button.

Once it has booted up and your LED’s are all working use the second button and shut down the pi or use the keyboard to type the following to shut your Pi down.

sudo shutdown -h now

Hit the return key on your keyboard

Your test of the hardware is now done and you can continue with the build and programing detailed out below.

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Step 2: Getting the Map On the Board and Board Preparation

You’ll need to get a hold of a sectional of the area you want to display.  I had to splice two sectionals (which I downloaded from the FAA database linked above) together using photoshop.  It was a little tricky as I had to rotate one of them to line up correctly since I am printing on a flat map. I then printed the map out on a large format (poster type) printer that uses a roll of paper.  You can bring the file to your local kinkos or similar shop to have them print it for you.

Stop by your hardware / lumber store and get a piece of ¾” particle board big enough for your map to fit on it with some room around the edge for your frame to nail to.

Also pick up a can of 3M Spray Glue, and a pack of ⅜” grommets (optional).

I used masking or blue painters tape to hold down half of the map while I rolled back the other half to apply the glue.  You need to spay this on both the map back and on the board, then let it sit open for about a minute then lay down that half of the map onto the board.  I used a piece of PVC pipe to roll out the air bubbles from the middle to the edges. Then tape down the edges of the side you’ve just glued down and repeat the process on the other half of the map.  I let this sit overnight to get good and dry.

Next I used a leather hole punch (that had a smaller diameter than the grommets flange I was planning to use) to cut out a circle around each airport I was planning on using in the project.  This made a clean cut and allowed me to peel out the little circles of the map exposing the wood below. You can use a knife point or a finishing nail, tweezers ,etc to get the edge to start to peel. Then just just grab it with your fingers and they come up pretty easily.

Now you can take punch or nail and make a dent in the center of each one to help the drill bit stay centered.  Follow that up by drilling holes all the way through the board using a drill bit. I used one just smaller than ⅜” so that the flange of the grommet would overlap the hole, but I found one that allowed the grommet to fit snugly in the hole.

Finally install the grommets.  I spray painted the brass ones I found at the hardware store with silver spray paint.  I thought that looked better. After they dry, push them into the holes. I had to use a piece of cardboard and a wood block and a hammer to punch them into place. The piece of cardboard helped protect the painted finish.

Use the 1×2 pine boards with some wood glue to frame in the back of the board.  This creates space for the LED’s, the PI, and the Breadboard to be glued to the back of the board and the framing will rest against the wall instead of on the lights and the pi.  The picture below of the back of my board shows this.

You will need to cut a notch in one edge for the power cord to pass through to an outlet, unless you can wire an outlet in the wall behind where your map will be hung.

 

The LED’s come coated in a rubber material that makes them waterproof.  I wasn’t concerned about liquid and was more concerned about having a smaller diameter that would allow me to use a single sized hole in the wood.  I used a utility knife to slit down the edge and peel the rubber off the LED. This made them a smaller diameter which was just a bit smaller than the inset portion of the grommet.

The LED’s have three wires, a hot, a ground, and a data wire.  The LED’s I have linked above make it pretty clear with the color of the wires.

The string of LED’s also have a beginning and and end.  You want to start on the end that has the female connector on it.  The first light is light number 0. So the string of 50 is actually lights 0 – 49.  This is important when you get the programming portion of things.

Each light can be cut off the string and wired back together, so you have a couple of options.  You could cut all the lights apart, glue them in the holes and the wire them all back together. The other option (which I did) is to keep them in the string and then just skip over lights as needed to make the gap between holes.  

I ended up needing two strings of lights to get all of the holes covered since I had to skip so many making the span across the back of the board.  You can see this in the picture below. The lights that aren’t in use are not lit up and are just layed out on the back of the board. The ones in use are hot glued into the holes.

I laid the board on a table and then pushed the LED’s into the hole until they wouldn’t go any further pushing up against the table under the board.  Then I used a hot glue gun to secure them into place.

Finally I used a sharpie and labeled on the back of the board next to each light with the airport identifier and the number LED it was in the string.  This helps out in the programming in the next step.

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Step 3: Configuring the Scripts for your Airports

Here are some things we need to know to get started.

1. 1. How many lights are you using all together, count both ones that will be represented by airports as well as ones that will be behind the board and not in use because of hole spacing.  Basically how many LED’s total are there in your strings.

1. Are you going to have a map legend like I have in my live sectional?  If so we need to know what number LED’s those are in the string. Remember the first LED is number 0.
   1. You have the potential for the following Legend Itmes
      1. VFR
      2. MVFR
      3. IFR
      4. LIFR
      5. High Wind (user defined)
      6. Lightning
      7. No Weather Reported

Here is a video walking you through all the programming stuff detailed below.

SaveSaveSaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Take your Pi and plug it back into your TV or Monitor with an HDMI port. Also plug in your keyboard and then plug it into power.

Next let’s get your airports into the script.  Type the following into the command line…

sudo nano /NeoSectional/airports

Hit return on your keyboard.

A list of airports, NULL, and LGND will show up on your screen.

You need to use the arrow keys to move around in this file.  Use the down arrow to get to the bottom of the list and then delete all of the airports and Nulls.

When you get to the top of the list it’s time to start listing the airports you’ll be using.  Make sure you use the full FAA airport identifier. Ie. Duluth airport in Minnesota should be KDLH not just DLH.  If you are doing Alaska airports be sure to use the PA format like PAOR or PAFA, PAVD. I have noticed this script sometimes has troubles with airports like 4R5 and have now figured out what the issue is.  For airports like 4R5 you need to put them in as K4R5. Not sure what’s up with that. Anyway look at the back of your board with the glued in LED’s that are numbered for you and start typing them in the file like follows.  Where the legend lights are you need to type in LGND.

KORB

KCQM

NULL

NULL

KELO

NULL

NULL

KTWM

KDLH

KSUW

LGND

LGND

LGND

Important: make sure your list of airports doesn’t end in a NULL this will cause the script to fail.  This was pointed out by Mark who was kind enough to really help move this project forward.

Just for reference KINL would be light 0 or the first light on my string.  It is followed by light 2 glued into KCQM. That is followed by two lights not being used, and then light number 5 which would be glued into KELO.

Fill out the entire list with the airport codes, LGND and NULL as necessary.

If you are using a map legend type those lights in with Green, Blue, Red, Pink, White, and potentially blinking.  You need to remember what numbers each of these are for another part of the script.

When you get all the airports, LGND and NULL listed out hit the following keys on your keyboard.

control and x

(this tells the pi to close the file)

Then type y and hit the return key on your keyboard. (This tells it to save the file)

Next let’s make sure the script is set up correctly for you.

In the command line type the following…

sudo nano /NeoSectional/metar.py

Using the arrow keys again go to the area designated as the “User defined area” and change the LED count to the number of LED’s you are using in your entire project both the null LED’s and the ones representing airports and legends.

You need to change the areas that talk about map legend and wind speed threshold.  This is where you can disable the map legend, or if defined the lights numbers you are using for your legend.

To change the refresh rate find that user defined setting and change it to your liking.  One thing I need to test out is to see if the FAA has a refresh threshold.  I was working on this script at work one day a couple weeks ago and all of a sudden nothing was working. I think I may have been blocked by the FAA weather server.  I had to wait a day before it would start working again off of my work IP address. I was able to access it if I used my phones hotspot. I’ll see if I can figure out what their magic time is.

Once you have addressed all the user defined areas type the following on your keyboard.

control x

Type y then hit the return key.

Next you need to make some similar settings to allow the lights to shutoff when you turn off the pi.

sudo nano /NeoSectional/shutoff.py

Update this with your number of LEDs

control x

Type y then hit the return key.

Next we need to set up the script to launch when the pi is started up.  This way anytime it gets booted up it will run on its own.

To do this edit a page by doing the following.

sudo nano /etc/rc.local

Uncomment (remove the # from the beginning of the line) for the line that says

#sudo bash /NeoSectional/startup.sh &

Once you have done this save the file by typing the following….

control x

Type y then hit the return key.

You can now shut down your PI by typing the following…

sudo shutdown -h now

It is now safe to unplug the power cord, keyboard, and hdmi cable from the pi and bring it back over to your map board.

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Step 4: Wiring Everything Up

Follow the same wiring steps provided earlier when you attach your Raspberry Pi and your Breadboard to the back of your map.

Use your hot glue gun again to glue down the breadboard, the pi, and the little end of the power cord.

Once that sets up you are done!!!

Plug in the power and watch it boot up.

It will start out by turning all of the lights a white or rainbow color as it pulls down the weather for all of your airports.  It will then refresh them all displaying the correct colors for the current weather at each airport.

To turn off the “rainbow” colors during refresh you can do so by editing the startup.sh file.

sudo nano /NeoSectional/startup.sh

This turns off the test portion and just runs the weather script.

put a # in front of the

sudo python /NeoSectional/test.py

The script is set up to refresh every 15 minutes.  Often time the first time it boots up it refreshes a few minutes after the first display of weather colors.  Then falls into its 15 min refresh cycle.

Finally frame in the front of the board to finish the project.  

Enjoy

If you feel like throwing a couple dollars my way I wouldn’t be opposed. 🙂 paypal.me/WilliamBrysonIII