New Product - Eggtimer Remote Switch

Eggtimer Rocketry announces the Eggtimer Remote Switch, our answer to the age-old electronic deployment problem, "How do I arm and disarm my electronics while it's on the pad?" The Remote Switch uses a cheap generic 4-button PT2262-based 315 MHz keychain remote control (available for a few bucks from a zillion places on eBay/Amazon) to arm the switch from up to 30' away (up to 100' with an additional antenna on the receiver). No more fishing for the switch behind the hole in your AV bay, and you can stand way back while you arm the sustainer's electronics in your 2-stage rocket.

To turn it on you simply enter the 8-button code that you programmed into the receiver (there's over 65,000 combinations) and a nice loud buzzer squeals three times to let you know that it's on. To turn it off , you do the same, it sounds twice instead of three times to let you know it's off. You can also have it beep out the code for you in case you forgot to write it down, and it has LED's on-board for testing so you can test it without connecting anything except the battery to it. As long as the battery is connected it will send out a short chirp every 15 seconds to let you know, so you don't forget about it and run down your battery (although it doesn't take a lot of power): 1 time for "off", 3 times for "on".

The Remote Switch runs on 6V-20V, making it compatible with most rocketry electronics that take a 2S/7.4V LiPo or a 9V battery. It's about 55mm x 23mm x 8mm, and weighs about 25 grams.

Like our other products, of course, it's a kit. You do have to put it together, and it's largely surface-mount, but we made the component pads oversized and we provide you with no-clean low-temperature .020" solder to help make it easier. If you've built just about any electronic project recently, you shouldn't have much trouble with it.

Price for the kit is $16, plus $2 for domestic ground shipping. They should be ready to ship in about a week... we're just waiting for PC boards and a part or two. We'll be taking pre-orders, so if you're interested send us an email (to [email protected] ) and we'll send you an invoice when they're ready to ship. As always, thanks for your continued support!

Cris Erving
Eggtimer Rocketry
www.eggtimerrocketry.com

Great idea! I saw this on your website this morning, but didn't recall hearing anything about it or seeing it before.

Just to make sure I understand.... We purchase the remote separately on eBay, correct ?

Yup. They're very generic, and cheap... expect to pay about $3 for it. You only need one, because the code is programmed into the receiver, not the transmitter. I have "a guy" that I buy all my China-sourced bits from (there actually aren't very many), I'm waiting to get a link from him. He ships fast and free...

Adafruit also sells one, it's a really nice looking black and silver remote, but it costs a few dollars more. The only thing I don't like about it is that the buttons are reversed... "A" is actually "D", "B" is "C", etc. If you can handle pressing eight "A"s for programming (instead of "D"s) and eight "D"s for code beep-out (instead of "A"s) then go for it.

I'm in Cris,,
Looks like a viable idea to me for sure..
I really like the idea that there aren't contacts that can be pulled apart by G's on launch.....
I'll give it a try....

Teddy

Cris, any possibility it could be incorporated into the same boards you already make?

Not likely. The RF/decoder module is kinda big. (That's what you see on the top of the board... no, it's not what you have to solder together!) The processor code isn't all that large, but even if I could fit it on an Eggtimer board there isn't enough space in the flash memory for it, and there aren't enough I/O pins for the decoder.

I'm wondering if these will be any good for replacing the button on the EF? I'm pretty sure it only needs to be activated for a few seconds, however, so an on - off sequence would probably need to be used.

ok, rolling this thing around in my brain pan... I'm assuming a separate battery to power the switch. If you use the same battery, I'd be very concerned about a possible brown out situation when the altimeter fires the charges.

Hypothetically, what would happen if battery power is lost to the switch during flight?

Cris,

Is this in series between the battery and timer? If so, how many amps can this thing handle as throughput?

Tonimus said:

Cris,

Is this in series between the battery and timer? If so, how many amps can this thing handle as throughput?

Click to expand...

I think it is in the documentation on website.

Yes, in the same way that a Featherweight Magnetic Switch is in-series... the altimeter battery powers both the switch and the altimeter, and the switch controls power to the altimeter.

hmmm this could also have the potential to be used as a wireless lpr launch controller

cerving said:

Yes, in the same way that a Featherweight Magnetic Switch is in-series... the altimeter battery powers both the switch and the altimeter, and the switch controls power to the altimeter.

Click to expand...

The idea is to seal it up the morning of the launch and of course make sure the transmitter cannot be activated. One needs to be certain they have enough battery capacity to do so........ Or seal it up onsite so one can activate when the rocket is raised up on the rail. Removes the need for a ladder to turn things on. No external switch needed, just a static port.

I have a question. I have an older 315Mhz wireless transmitter that was paired to a relay receiver that has 1-12 number keys on it. Would that work with this device? I constructed a wireless launch system with it but didn't like the fact it was not coded. I went with a pricier 433Mhz system that is coded. If the 315Mhz transmitter would be workable would be nice. Long range would not be necessarily desireable as one would still need to be within earshot to confirm the devices armed properly. Kurt

conman13 said:

hmmm this could also have the potential to be used as a wireless lpr launch controller

Click to expand...

No, because the switch action is ON-OFF, not momentary.

ksaves2 said:

The idea is to seal it up the morning of the launch and of course make sure the transmitter cannot be activated. One needs to be certain they have enough battery capacity to do so........ Or seal it up onsite so one can activate when the rocket is raised up on the rail. Removes the need for a ladder to turn things on. No external switch needed, just a static port.

I have a question. I have an older 315Mhz wireless transmitter that was paired to a relay receiver that has 1-12 number keys on it. Would that work with this device? I constructed a wireless launch system with it but didn't like the fact it was not coded. I went with a pricier 433Mhz system that is coded. If the 315Mhz transmitter would be workable would be nice. Long range would not be necessarily desireable as one would still need to be within earshot to confirm the devices armed properly. Kurt

Click to expand...

You could do that, but I would still recommend keeping the battery disconnected until you go to prep it for flight. It's kinda like not adding the BP ahead of time (yes, I know a lot of people DO...).

You'd have to try the remote, there's a LED on-board and it "chirps" to let you know that the button press "took". If it's based on the PT2262, it should work.

This could save a people from the need to bring a ladder or to climb a tower when they have a tall/large project on the pad.

chuck5395 said:

This could save a people from the need to bring a ladder or to climb a tower when they have a tall/large project on the pad.

Click to expand...

+1........
Absolutely.....
Great point.........

Teddy

Is there any way to incorporate that into the arming sequence of the TRS?

JD

JDcluster said:

Is there any way to incorporate that into the arming sequence of the TRS?

JD

Click to expand...

If you mean using the LCD unit to turn on the switch? I bet I can answer that. No. Reason is the switch is a 315Mhz receiver and takes its own coded transmitter. It would be complex because the TRS is on the 915Mhz/33cm area of the band and the device
is tunable as is the LCD unit. Would mean that the "integrated" switch would have to be tunable on the ISM band too. Kurt

JDcluster said:

Is there any way to incorporate that into the arming sequence of the TRS?

JD

Click to expand...

The TRS already has remote arming, and it's a two-way handshake to boot. If you had a very large project with a lot of BP in it and you were concerned about having the TRS in standby mode, you could put the Remote Switch on the deployment power (using a separate battery, which I highly recommend for large and/or high-altitude projects) and turn it on from a safe distance right before arming your TRS.

Ya I will take a few of those.

TA

Spent all day kitting and shipping out the paid orders, I still have plenty in stock.

Thank you very much Cris......

Teddy