We saw the Reddit thread. We’re answering it directly.
A few weeks ago, someone posted to r/flying asking whether Stratux was “still a thing.” The responses were a mix of genuine curiosity and outdated misinformation: “I think the project is dead,” “the company shut down,” “nobody updates it anymore.”
We understand the confusion. But it’s wrong. Let me explain how Stratux actually works — and why the model that confuses people is the exact reason you can trust it.
First: What Is “Stratux,” Exactly?
Stratux isn’t a company. It’s an open-source software project — like Linux, like VLC, like the firmware running on millions of routers worldwide.
The Stratux software was created in 2015 by Christopher Young, a general aviation pilot who looked at $899 ADS-B receivers and decided to build something better for $113. He published the code to GitHub under an open-source license and let the aviation community run with it.
That community has been running with it ever since.
The GitHub repository is here: github.com/b3nn0/stratux. Check the commit history. Check the release dates. It’s maintained, active, and improving.
The Discord has thousands of members. Pilots, engineers, flight instructors, paraglider pilots, wildfire mappers. Real people flying with Stratux hardware right now.
Why Does It Look Like It “Went Quiet”?
Fair question. Here’s the nuance that trips people up:
Open-source projects don’t have quarterly press releases. They don’t issue “we’re still here!” blog posts. They just… keep building. When the firmware is stable, there’s less noise, not more. Quieter isn’t dying — it’s done shipping the noisy beta phase.
Compare that to commercial receivers, which issue press releases every time they push an app update. The noise-to-value ratio is inverted. More announcements. Same hardware you can’t open.
When a commercial company goes quiet, it often means the product is being sunset. When an open-source project goes quiet, it usually means the software is solid and the contributors are busy flying.
What’s Actually Been Updated Recently?
- Stratux software updates: Active maintenance, bug fixes, compatibility improvements with current EFBs
- ForeFlight integration: Still supported, still works, still the setup we recommend for most GA pilots
- Community builds: Pilots are still building and sharing setups on Discord
- New hardware compatibility: The ecosystem keeps expanding — new GPS modules, new cases, new AHRS options
The hardware we sell at Crew Dog Electronics runs current Stratux firmware. When there’s an update worth pushing, we push it. That’s not a quarterly press release — it’s just how it works.
Open Source Is a Feature, Not a Liability
Here’s the part that should actually make you feel better about Stratux, not worse:
With a proprietary receiver, you are entirely dependent on one company. If they raise prices, you pay. If they discontinue the product, you’re stuck. If they decide to add a subscription fee, you’re held hostage. If they go out of business — which several ADS-B companies have — your receiver is a paperweight.
With Stratux, you’re not dependent on anyone. The software is public. The hardware is commodity. If Crew Dog Electronics disappeared tomorrow (we won’t, but hypothetically), you could keep your receiver running indefinitely. Someone in the community would keep the firmware alive. Someone would sell compatible parts.
That’s not a theoretical advantage. It’s the reason we built this business around Stratux in the first place.
“But What About Customer Support?”
This is a legitimate question, and we’ll answer it honestly.
Open-source means the software has community support — forums, Discord, GitHub issues. It does not mean you’re guaranteed a 1-800 number with a 2-minute hold time.
What it does mean:
- Thousands of people have solved your problem before. The Discord search function is better than most corporate knowledge bases.
- Bugs get fixed publicly. You can see the fix happening in real time, not wait for a vague “software update” from a black box.
- We’re here. Crew Dog Electronics provides hardware support for our units. You’re not on your own.
What you should know going in: if your Sentry stops working, you call Sentry. If your Stratux stops working, you have a community, a Discord, GitHub issues, and us. Different model. For a lot of pilots, it’s better.
The Bottom Line
Stratux is not dead. It is not dying. It is not a “legacy project.”
It is a mature, stable, community-supported open-source project that has been improving aviation safety for ten years. The pilots who built it in 2015 are still flying with it. So are pilots who built one last month.
If you saw that Reddit thread and had doubts — we get it. We’d rather you ask the question than make a purchase decision based on misinformation.
Stratux is still here. So are we.