Crew Dog Electronics Stratux Internal GPS ADS-B Dual Band Receiver

Awesome device!

This is an absolutely incredible device. I am a software engineer, and an instrument rated private pilot. This thing is just awesome. Take it out of the box, connect the battery and power it on. Put it on your deck railing, connect to the stratux wifi that now appears on your phone or iPad or laptop, and goto 192.168.10.1 in your browser and prepare to be amazed at the info it gives you. Don’t forget to bring it in before it rains! Oh, also take it flying! Or just put it on the dashboard in your car :-)

Well done CrewDog!

Helpy Helperton

April 3, 2023

Works great right out of the box. Photo shows what comes with the kit as of this review.

The image shows everything that came in the box.

The Stratux itself.

A suction cup mount with six total cups, two extra after mounting the four to the mount.

Two antennas, one for each frequency.

A power cable with button to make turning the Stratux off easier.

A 10Ah battery. (Actual capacity measured to 9.3Ah)

A strap to strap the battery to the Stratux.

A micro SD card reader to reflash the micro SD card that is already in the Stratux.

The Stratux came with the latest firmware and worked without issue right out of the box. Make sure to put your phone or tablet in airplane mode then turn on WiFi and connect to the stratux wifi to configure the device as well as change settings.

The battery is different than the one shown in the image. The one in the listing uses a 6Ah battery with a built in cord. The one supplied is a 10Ah without a built in cord. To replace the built in cord, they have

included a cord that has a power button.

This new battery holds about 9.3Ah as seen in the image bottom left.

This new battery has USB C to charge however it does not seem to have a USB C controller as it charges at 5V 2A just like the USB B Micro does. Further, this battery cannot charge a USB C device via the USB C port. Only the two USB A ports offer charge. Considering the use case for this battery of powering the Stratux, it is good enough for the job.

While I doubt it is required, it is possible to gracefully shutdown the stratux using the UI by connecting to the webui of the device itself. It is a small computer after all and shutting it down gracefully when possible couldn't hurt.

ADS-B Receiver

I am really satisfied with my ADS-B receiver. It lasts quite a long time and tracks everything I need; traffic, my breadcrumbs on Foreflight and it's compatible with Foreflight. Thank you so much for this awesome device!

Ignacio M.

September 4, 2021

The battery doesn't last that much sadly, around 3 hours.

Suction really powerful, AHRS it's a bit twitchy (probably I'm doing something wrong). But traffic and weather works as it should.

0:57

Great product for 1/3 a Stratus brand

Works amazing, accurate, and the battery pack it comes with lasts about 4-5hrs. 1/3 the price of a Stratus brand. The AHRS does have some limitations and I have really only used it for heading validation, as the attitude doesn’t seem to stay level but I didn’t buy it for that so no big deal, I am sure there is a process to make that better that I haven’t yet tried.

GranburyAR

December 27, 2020

Fantastic unit for ads-b in. Thanks CrewDogElectronics

What a great little device. About 2/3 the cost of the Stratus and Garmin units with all the functionality! Paired with my iPad easily and provides excellent radio reception for ads-b in and is easy to use. This is a no-brainer if you have the iPad and want ads-b in.

Does the same job as the expensive ADS-B ins

Love having ADS-B in at this price point. It occasionally loses the connection with the iPad. You just have to reconnect. To be fair and I have experienced the same problem with a plane's built-in ADS-B in.

It is somewhat fragile with the long antenna. I could see how it would be a limitation for daily use. But for the amount I fly it is fine.

The only thing lacking is a good case. I got lucky and found the one pictured. Appropriately, I got this case as a freebe while flying international. The size is 8”x3.5”x2.5”

Works great in my Super Cub

Easy to setup and install; cheap ADS-B in solution.

Follow up

Follow up to my posts.

Finally got an email from a source that is not even listed on the website and which did not even address my issues.

They are selling the veteran, professional pilot story but in reality its not true. Stolen valour.

They refunded my money even though they didn't have to. They where super awesome. Customer service at its very best.

The product works great until it breaks. Flimsy. Oor materials.. Customer service is non existent. Buyer beware.

Love it! Works Great! Can also velcro CO sensor to front.

I've used it for three flights so far and it's worked amazing. I've been on flight following for all three flights and all the traffic that ATC warned me about, I saw on ADS-B first. It's far from an exhaustive test, but so far so good!

I also wanted a CO sensor like certain other fancy receivers. Super pleased with how it came out!

In the future, CrewDog might explore sourcing some cheap CO sensors and offering a version with CO too.

The Playmakers Cave

May 28, 2020

This is amazing!

Ii's amazing to get what is normally thousands of dollars of cockpit technology for this price. I had it up and running in 5 minutes. After that the ForeFlight app on my ipad was showing me all of the local weather and ADSB information. This will always be in my flight bag when I leave the house now. Way to go Crew Dog.

OK with Avare

Works great with Avare - set up was "by the book" and very quick. Looking forward to flight tests shortly using LG G7 smartphone as display.

WOW!

I haven’t flight tested it yet, so i cant speak for the weather function. The traffic function is amazing. Set the unit on my window ledge and sat inside watching airplanes as they flew over. i have spare batteries and there’s an adapter included in case you have your own battery. Assembly was super easy. Took 5 minutes tops, took about 30 seconds to connect and see airplanes. The battery that comes with the unit has a plug attached directly to the battery that unfolds and plug conveniently into the side of the Stratux. It has a “home built” look (with the strap for the battery, two antennas, and the actual unit itself, having to unplug it to turn it off) but it’s got twice as many features at less than half the price. It also had no problems picking up a signal from the middle of my living room so I have a hard time believing it’d have any trouble picking up a signal anywhere in an airplane.

The fan kicked on a couple of times and seemed to work well to keep it cool. It’s easy to connect to an iPad and to use with ForeFlight. The video provided on youtube by crewdog was excellent. He explained everything very well. I ran it for two hours with no hiccups. My house is underneath the flight path of a busy airport and it always displayed traffic. Very excited to actually use this and see the weather features, but so far i’m Very very impressed with the product. The cable that comes with it is a little too short for a battery, so i may buy a bigger one...but that’s a minor detail. It comes with a 6000 MAH battery and I bought an extra 8000 MAH. It’s only a back up battery anyway. So far, very impressed.

Excellent customer support - Impressive weather display

After about three weeks my receiver failed to boot. After following Crewdog Electronics' FAQ troubleshooting I contacted Tech Support. Sean said it sounded like the micro SD card failed. (I had some cards in inventory for other applications and spares. I highly recommend you keep an extra, flashed SD card in your flight bag.)

Sean was right-on. The new SD card got the unit up and running.

I was able to get some Foreflight screenshots of some heavy weather around Wichita, KS from the ground near KIXD's ADS-B tower. It took about 15 minutes for complete weather data to be received. The locations of lightning strikes were virtually identical between Internet, hot spot, and Stratux received. This is a great safety tool to keep away from turbulence and hail.

Thanks for the excellent customer Support and awesome weather display.

Unit works great

At first I could not get the traffic to transpose on my AVARE software. It was seeing it as I could check on the browser connected to the network but just not getting it onto my screen. But after a message to Sean at Crewdog Electronics he quickly pointed me to a setting I needed to change in the AVARE add on app and after that the unit started picking up traffic and transposing it on my screen with the Stratux sitting my house. Took it outside and it was picking up lots more. This will be a great addition to the cockpit of my airplane. I have not yet flown with it now that I have if configured properly so I haven't had a chance to see how the weather information works but will update you with that after I fly with it. Thank you Sean for this cost effective piece of electronics.

So far so good

Looks great out of the box, look forward to trying it out next week.

Works great in a Hatz Biplane

I wanted some way to give me better GPS tracking in my Hatz, this was perfect! It worked so well that I velcro-ed it to my panel and connected it directly to my master switch so it comes on automatically!

Great customer service and great product.

I purchased the Stratux and was very skeptical because the the price of the brand name is 3 times more expensive. After using the Stratux paired with Foreflight for a can tell you is a life saver. I mounted mine on the back of the airplane and powered it via USB. Gives me good weather and traffic in Foreflight.

Thanks!!

STOP LOOKING FOR ADS-B RECEIVERS AND BUY THIS WONDERFUL THING!

There is absolutely no reason for anyone to be spending literal thousands of dollars on ADS-B in equipment when this bad boy does the same exact thing. And the creator tests each kit before he sends them out. Absolutely wonderful! Had my first flight today with the receiver and no complaints whatsoever. I spent about 5 minutes to calibrate it on the ground before I plopped it on the side of the cockpit. No fancy things required to hook up to ForeFlight - simple as hooking up to the device’s WiFi signal.

Quality

Worked perfectly right out of the box. I’ve not had a single issue with my Stratux. Crew Dog now offers a larger battery and I upgraded mine, no I have zero concerns about battery life and I use the original battery as a iPad backup.

Best Bang for the Buck this is Awesome

This product works just as advertised. Super great customer service. Used in conjunction with (many apps) but with iFly it’s like having a Garmen glass panel at a fraction of the cost. 10 STARS!

Dr. Pepper

March 29, 2018

Sean does it right!

Same day shipping worked great. I am impressed by Sean and his business. 100% recommend buying from him!

I followed your FAQ instructions and that fixed the problem as recommended. To test before going flying

I had to reflash to get the Stratux SSID to broadcast. I followed your FAQ instructions and that fixed the problem as recommended.

To test before going flying, I installed it on my windshield while driving to work and connected to my FlyQ EFB. KCLT was busy this morning! Big surprise? Not! 😀

This is a big improvement for me. I own a PA-28-150 in partnership with two fellow pilots. They use Foreflight; I use FlyQ. We own a Sratus 2S. They get full ADS-B traffic; I don't due to the known firmware issue. With your Stratux product, I'm now fully supported.

Best thing I have bought on .

Had it a couple hours now, links great to Avare. The Avare I/O WiFi code is 4000, you won't get anywhere without it. You would think it would have been printed on something in the package. Works great, as more aircraft get ads-b it will only get better. I will use this on every flight.

It fell and damaged the power port, thanks to its build I just had to get a new PI 3 card and its back up and running.

Invaluable to this Student Pilot

I just started training for my pilot's license and already have a pile of expenses (outside of the niceties). One of the items on my "wish list" was a Stratus 2S, but being a student pilot, I couldn't justify $800 for it. After doing some research and digging, I found the Stratux project. While I'm fairly adept at putting together Arduino, and Raspberry projects, this was one I wasn't willing to take on, basically because I don't fully understand everything that goes into it. So, I opted for a pre-built unit from Crew Dog. For 1/4 the cost of a Stratus 2S, I got a unit that works flawlessly with Foreflight, allowing me to record my flights so I can export them to Cloud Ahoy and debrief later. It's so nice to be able to watch a lesson I did last week, just before my next lesson. It really helps keep the information fresh. I wouldn't be able to do that as effectively without the Stratux unit.

Since I'm a student, I don't have my iPad in the cockpit when I'm flying. Here is what I do: 1) as I'm doing my pre-flight of the aircraft, I turn on the Stratux and place it on the wing so it can start gathering satellites (signals? whatever the proper term is) 2) when I'm finished doing the pre-flight walkaround, I place the Stratux on the window 3) grab iPad from flight bag, and go to the Stratux page 4) level AHRS & calibrate gyros 5) Open Foreflight and click the record button 6) throw iPad back in flight bag 7) go fly. Last, when we land, I stop the track recording in Foreflight, turn everything off and pack it up. Then when I get home, I'll export the track log from Foreflight to Cloud Ahoy. Works great!

My only "complaint" was the unit doesn't come with a carrying case. If you're like me, your flight bag isn't the safest place to just drop the naked unit into. So, I purchased this case to keep it in: The antenna's need to be removed to fit, and are just a hair too long, so as you can see from the picture, you'll need to bend them at the joints to fit perfectly. Now, I can put it in my flight bag without worry about it getting damaged.

Truly amazing product from a truly amazing seller.

I am so pleased with my Stratux, it is such a well built piece offering a huge value over the Stratus. But what really puts it over the top is the seller’s willingness to be so helpful to everyone I’ve seen in other reviews and the kind words he always offers. I cannot thank you enough for both your military service and customer service.

it works great, has a long battery life and has good ...

In short, it works great, has a long battery life and has good support from the manufacture.

I use Foreflight on the iPad and had a stand alone GPS that I was using but wanted to add ADS-in. I purchased this Stratux receiver and had it working with Foreflight in about 2-3 minutes. Setup was as simple as connecting my iPad to the wireless network. It's worked great with no additional configuration needed.

I've used this in a C-172 and a C-162 (Skycatcher - see pic). The four suction cups hold it against side or back window very well.

The antennas go into the netting area inside the top and the case is rigid enough that it protects the unit well.

Highly Recommended Awesome Product and wont empty your Bank account

Awesome product and customer service. I am using this with an ipad and flyq on a Powered Parachute. Light Sport Experimental. I fly under class B and this set up will be a nice addition, also have a transponder.

Very happy with this product

We purchased this product as an inexpensive way to view aviation traffic that is broadcasting ADS-B out.

We couple it via wi-fi to an iPad mounted in the airplane. We were able to easily "hard wire" both items

through a cigarette lighter adapter with usb input.

We are very pleased with this purchase and recommend this product to aircraft owners looking for a quick and easy way to view ADS-B traffic without upgrading their existing avionics panel.

Crew Dog Electronics has been very helpful in quickly responding to all of our questions.

They have a video out on You Tube showing the operation of his product which is very helpful.

Great customer support!!

So after some initial issues thought to be Stratux related, no exaggeration, within the hour I was contacted by Sean at Crew Dog Electronics. Full disclosure, having been over 30 days (almost 2 months) since I purchased the Stratux, I did not even consider getting a resolution from Crew Dog Electronics as a viable option. So I mistakenly assumed whatever 'issues' I had with the Stratux, I was on my own. However, I was very much mistaken. Even at this point, Sean at CDE was quick to try and assess the situation. With regards to my loss of GPS signal with the Statux while flying, it actually turns out that the EFB platform I use, Foreflight, has been having some serious connection loss issues with ADS-B devices such as Stratux and the Stratus 2 ever since they released their last update. After having done some research, I apparently am far from being the only one from having loss of GPS signal issues with an ADS-B receiver thats used in conjunction Foreflight. This is clearly a Foreflight issue and NOT a Stratux issue, and as a result, it seems some of these folks with similar issues are looking for other EFB platforms, and rightly so.

All that being said, almost two months later Sean at Crew Dog Electronics offered at no cost to inspect, repair or replace my Stratux should there be an actual problem with the internal GPS, and of course is also addressing the loose antenna connection issue I mentioned in my initial review. I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised. Having had several email conversations with Sean within the past day or so regarding this issue, it is quite evident that he stands by his product, is genuinely passionate about putting forth a quality product but yet is quick to address any potential issues with the Stratux. You really cannot beat that sort of customer service, particularly when the alternative is costing you about $1000.

UPDATE 11/2/17: Received the unit back from Crew Dog Electronics a few days ago and finally had a chance to fly with the unit yesterday and worked perfectly! Incidentally, ForeFlight also released an update during the time the unit was with Crew Dogs Electronics apparently after many complaints of loss of signal, and low and behold, not a single issue post update. That said, Crew Dogs Electronics was even nice enough to include their new mount for the Stratux, which went on without a hitch on the flying lawnmower, aka the Cessna 152. Again, I have to emphasize what total professionals and on top of their game they are at Crew Dogs Electronics. Cheers.