Estes altimeters

I'd like to get my first altimeter for use in an upcoming LPR launch. I'd love the Jolly Logic Two, but it's pricier, and I've kind of spent a lot on rockets lately. I was looking at the Estes altimeter on Amazon - much cheaper (30 bucks as opposed to 70). But it's gotten some mixed reviews.

The thing is, the two one-star reviews were written by people who'd used then for science fair projects. I wonder if perhaps these were parents who didn't know how to use them - didn't use vent holes, or maybe just stuck the thing in the body tube with the shock cord - but I have no way of knowing what the story is there. I thought I'd better ask here.

Anybody use these? Are they as unreliable as some people report? Perhaps they're not as fancy as the Jolly Logic, but if they work OK, I might just get one - unless they're garbage.

Perfectflite makes a little altimeter for $25. I had the Estes but it quit working after 2 flights.

https://www.perfectflitedirect.com/firefly-altimeter/

The Estes Altimeter works fine IF you have adequate static ports....which need to be bigger than those required by many other devices. If you get a launch detect, you'll usually get a reasonable result.

If the models you want to fly have payload sections, I'd second the recommendation of the new PerfectFlite FireFly. Small, very light, inexpensive, easy to use (though the LED that blinks out the altitude is hard to see in bright light - which is my only quibble with how that one works).

The Jolly Logic AltimeterOne is also a great choice if you're looking for mainly just peak altitude. The AltimeterTwo has lots of other data, but for, as you noted, more $$.

For about the same money as the AltimeterOne is also the Altus Metrum MicroPeak. This is half the size and just over half the mass of the Firefly and is actually also a recording altimeter, though you need a separate device to read the full data. Standalone it gives you altitude like the FireFly, but via a much brighter blinking LED.

timbucktoo said:

Perfectflite makes a little altimeter for $25. I had the Estes but it quit working after 2 flights.

https://www.perfectflitedirect.com/firefly-altimeter/

Click to expand...

I'm sure if you contact Mike Fritz at Estes he will make it right with you, unless it was due to crash or similiar recovery failure.
If you want his email or phone# PM me.

timbucktoo said:

Perfectflite makes a little altimeter for $25. I had the Estes but it quit working after 2 flights.

https://www.perfectflitedirect.com/firefly-altimeter/

Click to expand...

Those look great. Looks like they're currently sold out, so I guess I'll have to put it on the "to buy later" list.

Wow...I must have gotten one of the last Fireflies in stock! It arrived yesterday.

I did the test suggested in the manual: putting it in a jar with a tube and sucking the air out to simulate ascent and letting the air back in to simulate descent. My test "flight" got to about 2,300 feet. The Firefly gives you both altitude and max speed in its blink-outs. The LED does blink pretty fast....I had to have it go through about three iterations of readout before I felt I had the numbers right.

I am probably going to assemble a quick "reading box" to read the LED in brighter conditions.

It's pretty cool for $25, which is just fine as I know I am going to lose some rockets, and most certainly ones with an altimeter in it as I try to go higher and higher.

Woody's Workshop said:

I'm sure if you contact Mike Fritz at Estes he will make it right with you, unless it was due to crash or similiar recovery failure.
If you want his email or phone# PM me.

Click to expand...

Thanks Woody!

Has anyone tried the Adept Rocketry altimeters? I just found them through a Google search.

Yes....I've flown ALTIM1 and A1s...they, too, work very nicely. They're a little heavier than some of the others mentioned but depending on your intended application that may or may not matter. As with the FireFly you need a dedicated payload section for these.

I used some A1s with a small group of students with good results, but 15g or so mass really affects the performance of small models in small fields.

I have my firefly taped to my shock cord wrapped in thin breathable foam. No payload needed with my application.

Sounds plausible. I know they provide some suggestions along this line in the instructions.

Doing something like that is much easier (and less likely to result in a lost altimeter) with something small and light (and therefore low inertia) like the FireFly. With the Adept devices (or the PerfectFlite APRA, which uses the same 12V lighter battery) this sort of thing is rather dicier.

Of course the Jolly Logic devices and the Estes altimeter have cases to protect them in the no-payload-section application.