Stratux History: Prototypes, Cases & Radios Since 2015

Stratux was built in the open by its community, and a lot of that history lives in the memories (and photo libraries) of the people who built it. This page collects their photos and recollections, shared in the Stratux Discord. For the short version, read The story of Stratux.

Photos are credited to the community members who shared them for this history. Recollections are theirs too; where memories and records differ, the GitHub history wins. Have a photo or a correction? Share it on Discord.

2015: a Raspberry Pi and a radio

In August 2015, Christopher Young (cyoung) posted the first Stratux build on Reddit: a Raspberry Pi and a cheap software-defined radio (SDR) receiving free FIS-B weather on 978 MHz, with a single radio. Within weeks it was dual-band. These are photos cyoung sent Helno that August so he could design a case: a dual-band receiver in a basic Raspberry Pi case with an RY835AI GPS module and wires everywhere.

Early 2015 dual-band Stratux prototype on a Raspberry Pi with loose wiring — A dual-band prototype, August 2015. Photo by cyoung, shared by Helno.

Another view of the 2015 Stratux prototype in a basic Raspberry Pi case — The same prototype in a stock Pi case. Photo by cyoung, shared by Helno.

Canada had no UAT ground stations then, so Helno built one of the first 1090-only receivers and demonstrated it at the Ultralight Pilots Association AGM that August. By October, builders were flying units like this one: no case yet, and a single NooElec SDR.

A 2015 Stratux build with no case and a single NooElec SDR — An uncased Stratux with one NooElec SDR, October 2015. Shared by JohnOCFII.

2015–2016: printing a home for it

The early SDRs were the larger "micro" format, so cases had to be big. Helno started from an existing Raspberry Pi case on Thingiverse and added room for a single SDR, then worked through generation after generation. His first dual-SDR design that used proper antennas was made for Dan (dmurray14), who printed it on a larger printer, and it carried the first appearance of the Stratux logo: an airplane over a stylized antenna.

Helno's first 3D-printed Stratux case, in blue — Helno's first case, adapted from a Thingiverse Pi case for one SDR. Shared by Helno.

Black 3D-printed Stratux case designed for dmurray14 with internal antenna mounts — The design made for dmurray14: first with proper antennas, first with the Stratux logo. Shared by Helno.

When the smaller nano SDRs arrived, cases shrank dramatically. The "notch case" still housed a Raspberry Pi 2 with a USB Wi-Fi adapter, and it was the first to mount on a suction cup.

The black and white notch case for nano SDRs — The notch case, one of the first designs for nano SDRs. Shared by Helno.

Notch case suction-cupped to an airplane window in flight over snowy farmland — The notch case on a window, in flight. Shared by Helno.

By February 2016 Stratux had its first major magazine review, in Aviation Consumer, and its photos showed one of Helno's cases. Builders printed their own, too.

2016: group builds and Oshkosh

Pilot groups started building Stratux together. One July 2016 session was held at a pizza parlor, so the receivers went into pizza boxes. By September, groups were building from pre-ordered kits with cyoung's laser-cut acrylic cases, which were labor-intensive to produce. Helno printed suction mounts for them.

A Stratux build session using a cardboard pizza box as the case — A group build, July 2016. The case was a pizza box. Shared by JohnOCFII.

Clear acrylic Stratux case on a 3D-printed suction cup mount — cyoung's acrylic case on one of Helno's printed suction mounts. Shared by Helno.

Helno's printed "no nub" case, named because its screws used the Pi's own mounting holes, reached its final form with a fan and good ventilation. He sold them as fast as his printer could make them, in several colors, though white and black were the favorites. He kept a bin of the iterations "for the history of Stratux."

Row of white 3D-printed no-nub Stratux cases with fan openings — The final no-nub case, with a fan. Shared by Helno.

Stratux cases in green, blue, red, white and black — Color options for customers. Shared by Helno.

A bin full of discarded 3D-printed case prototypes in many colors — Just some of the iterations. Shared by Helno.

Yellow 3D-printed Stratux case on the glareshield of a Cessna Skyhawk — A printed case on a Skyhawk glareshield, February 2017. Shared by JohnOCFII.

At EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2016, the core contributors met in person for the first time. Someone had bright green T-shirts made; Helno mailed the extras to people for the cost of shipping.

Green T-shirt reading Ask me about Stratux, the easy to build $150 ADS-B receiver — "Ask me about Stratux: the easy to build $150 ADS-B receiver." Oshkosh 2016. Shared by Helno.

The parts that became standard

Some of today's standard parts started as cyoung's hand-made prototypes: a modified GPS module that led to the GPYes (u-blox 7, then the u-blox 8 GPYes 2.0), and a fan speed control board that became the AHRS board.

Prototype GPS module measured with calipers — cyoung's modified GPS module, the prototype for the GPYes. Shared by Helno.

Small purple fan control board held between fingers — cyoung's fan control board, which became the AHRS board. Shared by Helno.

2017: the injection-molded case

Injection molding was first discussed in July 2016, but the tooling was expensive. cyoung went ahead in 2017 with a manufacturer in Shenzhen, using an optimized version of Helno's printable design with proper draft angles and metal inserts for machine screws. Helno told the full story in Getting cases injection molded.

First injection-molded Stratux case beside the 3D-printed case it was based on — Left: the first injection-molded case. Right: the printed design it came from. Shared by Helno.

First production batch of injection-molded Stratux cases in white and green — The first production cases arrive. Shared by Helno.

Kits shipped by the box, including to Canada. When other companies wanted to sell rebranded Stratux units, the mold was changed from a recessed logo to a screen-printed one so it could vary. Seattle Avionics' Merlin, sold for FlyQ, was one of them.

Stack of boxed Stratux kits on a staircase with a cat for scale — Kits ready to ship to Canadian buyers, with a cat for scale. Shared by Helno.

The screen-printed logo that allowed rebranding. Shared by Helno.

A Merlin receiver, a rebranded Stratux, on display at a trade show booth — A Merlin, a rebranded Stratux sold for FlyQ. Shared by Helno.

White injection-molded Stratux with high-gain antennas suction-mounted in a window — The setup most Stratux units still look like. Shared by Helno.

From a teardown to the UATradio

uAvionix's PingUSB was an external receiver that replaced a Stratux's two SDRs. It wasn't a hit (it cost more and had weaker antennas), but it led somewhere important. cyoung sent a uAvionix PF007 chip out to be decapped and imaged under a microscope, found a Texas Instruments logo on the die, narrowed it down with a parametric search, and had a TI CC1310 decapped to confirm it was the same chip. That became the basis of the UATradio, a dedicated 978 MHz UAT receiver that replaced the second SDR. As Helno put it, the project wouldn't have made that leap without the PingUSB.

Production batch of red UATradio boards — A production batch of UATradios. Shared by Helno.

A UATradio compared with an RTL-SDR and antennas — An RTL-SDR beside the new UATradio. Shared by Helno.

The CC1310 crosses the border: CIFIB

The CC1310 led somewhere nobody planned. Members of the Canadian community used it to build UAT ground stations, which grew into CIFIB, the volunteer network that now broadcasts FIS-B weather in parts of Canada. The first real station went on the air at the Stratford airport. Current CIFIB hardware uses the newer CC1312R.

First prototype circuit board for a UAT ground station — The first UAT ground station prototype, which became CIFIB. Shared by Helno.

The first CIFIB ground station electronics in a weatherproof enclosure — The first real CIFIB station, Stratford. Shared by Helno.

Still going

cyoung stepped back around 2020, and the community carried on: the Europe Edition with FLARM and OGN, the unified Stratux v2.0 in 2025, new radios, and the people answering questions on Discord. The full timeline is in The story of Stratux.

With thanks to Helno, JohnOCFII and cyoung for the photos and memories, and to everyone who has built, printed, coded, tested and flown Stratux.

The history of Stratux, in pictures