Okay, I'm thinking about buying an Eggfinder TRS since they're on sale this week. Can someone explain to me in a little more detail what the benefit of the LCD unit is?
If I understand it right, normally the GPS receiver plugs into your laptop via USB, and you can read the coordinates out that way? Then I'd plug them into my phone or whatever and walk to get the rocket?
With the LCD unit it displays the coordinates and I don't need the laptop?
I generally take the laptop with me to launches so I can run a quick openrocket sim with whatever motor I bought, so I probably don't need the LCD unit?
Three words: "Get the LCD" and an HC-06 Bluetooth module if you have an Android device to bond to. Apple stuff won't work.
With the LCD, think of it has having backup in hand. You can bond it to an Android device and use GPS Rocket Locator to get two points and a map. The map will display if you are using an Android phone/device that has an internet connection. With no map, the device will still show two spots and one can figure out easily which direction to walk towards. Also the last known position is shown on the Egg Finder LCD screen at all times.
Now, if GPS Rocket Locator locks up, acts screwy or what have you, you can still type the lat/long on the EggFinder LCD screen into a handheld mapping GPS such as a Garmin or a cellphone tracking program if you have one on your phone. You have to setup your Garmin device to use the Units you have selected on your EggFinder and it's recommended to use simply degrees. You need to be adept at inputting the waypoint position by hand into your device. Trying to learn how at the launch site is not the way to go. Practice at home. Some phones have GPS programs and you can do it there too. I wear an Etrex Vista HCX on my neck. A mapping GPS with a "Sight 'N Go" feature is nice. You can sight a descending rocket with the device, in my case the Etrex Vista HCX and lock a bearing to it for further utility.
Other things, yes if you have the B/T module installed or simply the basic EggFinder single channel receiver, you can fire up a mapping program like Mapsphere, download maps "BEFORE" you go to the launchsite and have a truly portable mapping program. Only problem here is the program doesn't navigate. It only shows the rocket position on a map plus it's a pain get the lat/long out of a textfile so you can input it into a handheld device. Mapsphere cannot do more than one data stream period. Sorta isn't helpful for recovery.
There are some Ham Radio apps like Xastir, UIView, YAAC et al that behave like Mapsphere. There's a little trick to get Xastir to display more information but it's an absolute PITA. Also, all of the above use a laptop which has a tendency to crap out when you need it the most. I've been there and done that. I use the laptop to record flights and have a handheld method that is primary. If I'm too lazy to setup the laptop, I use the handheld method completely. With the EggFinder LCD, the Bluetooth to GPS Rocket Locator program can be primary for near realtime visual, on a map tracking and the display on the LCD is the "backup" so you can input the data manually to a second device or application.
The major problem a flyer faces is once the rocket is down, if it's any distance away, reception is lost. All the systems will lock the last known position in the screen so that's not an issue. Now if you only have a base station ie. laptop/receiver and you run out to the recovery site with data input into a handheld Garmin GPS, you might end up in a situation with no rocket in sight. What is happening? Well the radio reception at altitude is a heck of a lot farther than on the ground. Depending on how windy it is and how far away the rocket has landed, the final resting place might be a short distance away from the last known position packet. If it's tall grass or corn, you could have a problem.
Here's where the portable receiver comes in a' la Egg Finder LCD. You just carry the thing with you to the last known position, many times the rocket is right there. If not, you're in a good position to pick up a "NEW POSITION PACKET" since you are closer to the rocket. The EF LCD starts beeping again when packets are coming in so you KNOW you're just about there. If you don't see the rocket, just input the new coordinates that are beeping in on the EggFinder LCD to your Garmin handheld GPS (or phone) and go get the rocket. Otherwise it's a "REAL" pain to go back, drag the laptop with the attached radio receiver to the last known packet and try to pick up a new position.
Sooooooo. Take my advice and save yourself some grief and a steep learning curve. Get the LCD unit. Realtime tracking is cool but putting the datapoints into an Etrex Vista HcX, Garmin 60Cs or cell phone tracking program can save the day if the "fancy" tracking program craps out. Some folks do this primarily. Input data manually into a phone tracking program or mapping GPS and it works fine as the only tracking means.
I do APRS tracking of rockets with a Beeline GPS tracker. I'm embarrassed to say how much I spent on that system. It is bulletproof and navigates on a map in realtime. Can lock the rocket while it's on the pad and follow it. It also was the only game in town a few years back.
Only reason why I did it was the commercial RDF equipment Walston, Rocket Hunter, etc. was almost as pricey as the Ham radio equipment.
Very close in fact, therefore I made the decision to go to APRS GPS tracking due to the added precision over the RDF stuff. I simply have a single cable connection from my radio to a Garmin 60Cs mapping unit.
Now the cost of an EggFinder system complete is just a little bit more than one would pay for an RDF tracking transmitter! That doesn't include the proprietary receiver either! As an aside, a ham radio TH-F6A can receive on the modes that the commercial RDF trackers use so that was another reason I got licensed. So I could track anything with two radios.
Now there are some vagaries between tracking frequencies. Sure, the 70cm (ham band 420-450Mhz) has some range advantages over 33cm
(900-928Mhz). See John Coker's site with the comments from Ken Biba:
https://www.jcrocket.com/gps-tracking.shtml.
But in reality, if one is launching sport rockets that will land 1 to 3 miles away the EggFinder has plenty of range for precision tracking.
Want the ultimate best in reception for the EggFinder? Invest in a patch antenna. Track with it from the base launch site to maximize the range at which you get the last known position packet. Then unscrew the cable and put on a duck antenna to go out there and get the rocket.
Once the rocket is on the ground, a handheld yagi antenna might give one a little more edge with ground recovery but is probably superfluous for most fliers.
So I say again, "Get the EggFinder LCD." You will not regret it. Kurt
