What exactly have Air Nav done, post ST launch, to fix known bugs?

[Sun Worshipper]

I think we've all come to realise that Brandao is full of BS and that the current Radarbox is dead in the water.  He's only interested in generating revenue so all this crap about August is, as Anmer suggests, the possible arrival of Radarbox24.com.  Brandao tells so many lies I'm surprised he knows truth from fiction these days.

If I was you Tarby I would put as much distance between youself and Brandao as possible.  It's to your credit that you've stayed loyal to Air Nav for this long but even you must realise he's making mugs of all the vols and testers.

[Anmer]

AirNav quote today:

"we understand this is frustrating for users so interested in this project like you but unfortunately this forum is followed by thousands of members daily"

AirNav Forum claims 5,475 members.  Most online today = 39

Radarspotting.com forum has just 564 members.  Most online today = 51

I'd quote the same comparison for Radarspotters but Desperate Dan removed the stats when they weren't in his favour. 

Get real Brandao or stick to the day job.

[Anmer]

From Tarbat, who claims to be closer to what goes on at AirNav than most:

"So, to summarise my understanding of where we are:

1. There is a v4.04 version released to a few users in Singapore, but the only bug this attempts to fix is the equatorial black hole.  Coverage around Singapore looks pretty solid at the moment.

2. Any other bug fixes will now have to wait for v5 of the Windows Radarbox client software, which is a separate code base.

3. Any new features, such as multilateration/beamfinder will now have to wait for v5 of the Windows Radarbox client software or v2 of the Radarbox hardware, along with the back-end server changes.

4. Timescales are unknown, so it's pointless to speculate when these will be available."

Not that it tells us very much.

http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=7103.msg82390#msg82390

[Anmer]

And to put this into context, there are still unresolved issues that have nothing to do with a new software release but which, in my opinion, fail to deliver to the current spec, namely:

1. The latest navdata.db release has serious errors (not fixed after more than three weeks).

http://radarspotting.com/forum/index.php/topic,1031.msg4833.html#msg4833

2. Picture downloads not working, still not fixed after four weeks.

http://radarspotting.com/forum/index.php/topic,998.msg4699.html#msg4699

These two issues should be simple enough to fix, especially from the company that proudly boasts "Leadership in Flight Tracking".

But I suspect AirNav can't afford the time nor effort to do so.

[Anmer]

All credit to Tarbat for this post.  But let's not forget why Hamish started the predecessor of Radarspotting back in March 2009.

To provide an independent forum where AirNav's customers could post honest criticism without fear of being banned and to expose AirNav's lies and broken promises.

"Its the complete lack of progress updates from Airnav Development that frustrate me most.  I've put so much into the development of Radarbox and ShipTrax over the years, including things like DF20/21 decoding, SQLite database design, silhouettes process, route lookups, SAR tracking, 3D ship model design, AIS sharing, OSM mapping, MLAT testing, etc.

The last I knew, Radarbox 2 was in development (that was May 2011), MLAT testing was due to start December last year, and v5 software development was well underway with a dedicated team of 5 programmers.  Yet still we have no idea if RB2 and v5 software will be delivered this year, next year, sometime, never?

I give up.  Sorry Airnav, but I feel let down.  My loyalty has run out.  The vast majority of your customers aren't interested in radarbox24, or AIS network development.  The only product that matters to them is Radarbox (hardware & software)."

Knowing Brandao as I do, none of this comes as a surprise to me.

http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=7103.msg82499#msg82499

[Anmer]

Believe what you will.

AirNav's latest:

"All,

While we have been quiet recently we have sat back and been reading and listening to customers here as well the comments sent directly to us and we have spent the week trying to rethink our priorities and devise a plan.

Firstly a background to the situation, RadarBox is advanced software and has gone through evolutions from version 1 back in 2007 through various updates and many features being added at each stage.  RadarBox has been the 1st in many features which till this day are not done by any competitors.

AirNav Systems setup this forum back in 2007 with the launch of RadarBox is expanding the product through new features from customers request and to create a community. We have been an on hand support team ever since to help new customers and old.

Through this community the Database Team and customers like Rod and Tarbat have put a special and amazing effort to expand the product and help customers. We cannot thank them enough for their efforts.

Over the last few years we have continued to support RadarBox by introducing the Real time network, Route look up advancements and creating the system for the Database Team. The efforts of the development team were however delayed by ShipTrax and once complete we have moved on to creating a new top down version of RadarBox for the future however like any projects we have faced some unforeseen delays.

The Plan Forward:

After listening to customers this week, we have decided that the development team due to the delays on the new top down version will go back to Version 4 code and rectify the major bugs and issues that customers are facing. (This will delay the RadarBox related projects we mentioned only) We are putting plans in place to get this setup and contacting customers who have had certain issues to work through them with us (we do have certain details of these provided). We hope to then achieve a beta version soon to all customers (we obviously cannot give a date but we will be working on get this out as soon as possible).

We understand the frustration from customers regarding some of the issues and we will putting our full efforts behind this to rectify Version 4 before moving back on to the new version. We do apologise profusely for the delays however we hope to be able to bring the beta and other new developments as soon as possible to the public.

The importance of this forum is key to the RadarBox project and we have thank everyone for their efforts on this forum in helping customers but also your opinions and requests which help the community and strive for us to push for a better product."

Reads to me like a ship without a rudder, let alone someone steering it.

Yet more "jam tomorrow".  But I wonder if anyone is gullible enough to be taken in (again)?

And a team of 5 developers?  Pull the other one Brandao or swap them for more competent programmers.

And let's not forget that those of us who spoke out years ago were labelled "disruptive" and wrongly accused of working for Kinetic or Martin Lynch and Son.  Then we were banned from posting on the "community" forum.

You should be ashamed of yourself Brandao.  Or better still, let us post again if you dare?

http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=7103.msg82507#msg82507

[Sun Worshipper]

Well, that was some work of fiction from Brandao. Lies, lies and more lies from Air Nav.  I don't believe a word of that post and I'm sure most of us here have heard it all before.

[Anmer]

As expected, another load of waffle from AirNav.  But 2/10 for coming up with a new excuse:

".........Things are progressing quite well and we are doing our best to release one of the project in BETA before the end of August.

.................In resume we are working hard and all of our users will be be very happy to what we are planning to release before the end of August which will bring a new dimension to the RadarBox world. We understand it is frustrating for you not to get more details about these projects but please be confident on our work and our efforts to continue to grow on the Virtual RadarBox hobby."

Please note.  There's no year mentioned after "August".

Two weeks later and it's already slipped a month!

"Again we are working hard on the background developing new projects for the AirNav RadarBox community.
We want to release the first of these projects in the begining of Sept (90% of the work is done at this time).
We are also already working on RadarBox Windows Client software, version 4.04 which should correct all the reported and pending bugs.

These project are extremelly complex and when we release a new product/solution we want it to be better than what is already available on the market."

Still no year after the month.  If it's 2012, only three weeks to wait.

I used to keep a diary of similar announcements about ShipTrax and it covered three years. 

http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=7103.msg82951#msg82951

[Anmer]

Looks like AirNav is moving the goal posts again:

http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=7176.msg83503#msg83503

My money's on the September project being the launch of RadarBox24.com which hopes to compete with Flightradar24.com and Planefinder.net.  Early rumour suggests the pricing is many times that of these more established products but I stress it's only a rumour.

If I'm right, RadarBox customers will still be waiting 3 years for a new release to fix the many bugs in the software.  And yet its these very customers whose data is being used (stolen?) to underpin Radarbox24.com and generate new revenue for AirNav.

We'll see.

[Sun Worshipper]

Does Brandao seriously think anyone is going to subscribe to this project?

I can think of a few apps that will satisfy the curious spotter for free and for the more discerning, who know what a lying bar steward he is, they will have already purchased SBS or similar.

[Anmer]

Does Brandao seriously think anyone is going to subscribe to this project?

I suspect he does.  Just as he thought ShipTrax would be an outstanding success.

But with RadarBox sales at rock bottom, a desperate man will try anything.  A glimpse of his thinking may be gleened from this "promotional" blurb? :

"Why RadarBox24 - there are already other similar sites/apps available?

AirNav Systems solutions are developed by real aviation professionals (airline pilots, engineers and air traffic controllers) - RadarBox24 was developed on a real world aviation environment. - Its the only existing ADS-B network where every part of the system has been developed by the same comapny - data integrity and quality is guaranteed.

AirNav Systems supplies airlines, airports and aerospace comapnies with the same data you see in your RadarBox24 screen."

I emboldened the data quality sentence (and left the typos). 

Dream on Brandao,dream on.

[Sun Worshipper]

Jeez Mike, get me a bucket.

Air Nav and integrity in the same sentence, I never thought that day would ever come.

[Anmer]

An update, of sorts:

"Air Nav---------it's the beginning of September may we have an update on the project that 90% of the work has been done?  Per you post on August 10."

"Its nearly ready. There should be more news soon."

"The good old Air Nav run a round----------never give the Customer a straight/informative answer."

I wonder how the RadarBox community will react when the "September project" turns out to be nothing more than a Flightradar24.com or Planefinder.net look alike and has nothing for us?

http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=7103.msg83683#msg83683

[Anmer]

Latest news from AirNav, accompanied by the usual warning about dissent:

"Can certain members please behave on this thread otherwise this will be locked and members warned. We have left this thread alone to let customers voice there thoughts but if they are just posting to start trouble they will be warned.

We expect to release the project in the next week or so, the final touches are being added to it. "

Let's see what gets released and how the customer base reacts.  I can picture it already.

http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=7103.msg83782#msg83782

[Sun Worshipper]

Let's see what gets released and how the customer base reacts.  I can picture it already.

Me too and I've just had another look at FR24 to make sure I know what to look out for.