How to use Stratus 3 with the Aerovie app

3 min read

Appareo released the Stratus 3 ADS-B receiver over the summer, building on the success and reliability of previous-generation Stratus receivers. One of the big changes over previous models is that it added support for apps other than ForeFlight allowing it to provide subscription-free ADS-B weather and traffic to apps like FltPlan Go, WingX Pro, FlyQ and Aerovie.

While Stratus 3 works right out of the box with ForeFlight, there are a few additional things you’ll need to do first to get it linked up with one of these apps. Here we’ll show the connection process when using Stratus 3 with Aerovie and how to view the ADS-B traffic and weather layers in the app.

Step 1: Enable Open ADS-B Mode on Stratus 3

Before connecting Stratus 3 to a compatible EFB app other than ForeFlight, you’ll first need to enable the GDL 90 mode on the device. This requires you to download Appareo’s free Stratus Horizon Pro app from the app store to configure the setting. After the app downloads, turn on Stratus 3 and connect your iPad to the Stratus WiFi. Open up the Stratus Horizon app, and tap the Settings button in the lower left corner. You’ll see Stratus Settings on the left side of the screen, with a toggle for Open ADS-B Mode – turn this on. Stratus 3 is now ready to connect to other EFB apps.

Step 2: Connect Aerovie to Stratus 3

After connecting your iPad or iPhone to the Stratus WiFi, open up Aerovie and you’ll see an antenna button appear towards the top left of the Map screen. Tap this to view connection stats, battery status and other data. You can also toggle between using the iPad’s internal GPS (if equipped) or the GPS in Stratus:

Step 3: Displaying ADS-B weather in Aerovie

To display ADS-B weather on the map, tap the Overlays button at the top left of the screen. You can choose to display ADS-B traffic, Pilot Reports, METARs, Radar, AIRMETs/SIGMETs and the location of ADS-B towers:

When the radar overlay is selected, Aerovie will display two additional buttons next to the ADS-B status indicator to provide additional control:

The radar settings button on the right allows you to toggle between local radar and national radar. Local radar, often referred to as regional radar, displays higher-resolution radar imagery within 250NM of your current position. National radar will show precipitation returns for the entire country, but at a lower resolution than what’s displayed for regional radar. The left-hand button that resembles a play symbol allows you to animate the radar imagery.

ADS-B METARs are depicted with color-coded symbols (VFR/MVFR/IFR) and show the ceiling height for each report. Tap on one to view the full report:

The traffic layer displays the location of nearby aircraft and shows the relative height above or below you based on your current altitude, along with climb or descent rate: