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I remember hearing "Kate" at LDRS, I didn't realize it was this. I am looking forward to this package being released!
-Rich
-Rich
Missile Works RTx?
- Thread starter Coop
- Start date
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Ah, thanks for the info, that'll teach me to ready a thread too fast. 
Ah, thanks for the info, that'll teach me to ready a thread too fast.
It is a fine system but for those on a more limited budget there are other choices out there that can at least help one recover their rocket. Kurt
Anyone heard anything more on this? When available? Cost?
jrkennedy2
Well-Known Member
Sign me up for any beta program!
Seriously.
Seriously.
Me too. I need a tracking system anyway and love my RRC3
I've been making slow, but steady progress... each time I've conducted test flights I'll find an improvement or change to make to the system. If you're coming to Airfest be sure and stop by the Wildman camp as I'll be "hubbed" out of there. We plan to make several additional test flights with the hardware and continue evaluation of several antenna tandems. The firmware in the RTx controller board is complete barring a few additional interface and settings enhancements. There's also a new collection of new 3D parts arriving tomorrow (thanks Landru) which we'll debut at the launch too.. The rest of this week I'm cramming to prep and get all the support enhancements into the mDACS application. Once I've returned from Argonia I'll post up additional photos and reports.
On a more right brain note, here's the current product logo in process:
On a more right brain note, here's the current product logo in process:
jrkennedy2
Well-Known Member
On the logo, cool looking but I was expecting some sort of critter?!? Like maybe a bloodhound to help me find my rocket...
:wink:
:wink:
Randy, very observant... I made the break from critters, but a bloodhound would in fact be perfect.
Since I'm under the mDACS hood tonight, here's the latest screen shot:
jrkennedy2
Well-Known Member
Oooooo, nice! Let me know when I can purchase...
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
.I am just back in Colorado this morning. Despite a couple rough starts at the beginning of the launch, we were still able to conduct two highly successful flights using a simple quarter-wave wire antenna in the rocket and a little 3 decibel duck antenna on the ground. We had excellent radio packet reception to well over 12,000 feet up and over 9000 feet downrange. Inflight GPS performance was outstanding and based on my observations on the ground I don't think we ever lost GPS lock despite kissing mach on both flights. More debrief tonight when home.
Sounds like it is going to be a highly successful device.
I like the simplicy of the logo.
I like the simplicy of the logo.
FLIGHT 1
I arrived in Argonia late Friday afternoon, and after a bit of acclimation, we got down to final project integration later on that evening. First flight on Saturday was in CJ's punisher (the first official "stock class" Punisher contest flight). We slid the rocket into the tower, booted up altimeters and GPS and had everything running and ready to go. After driving back to the remote LCO table, I stepped out of the car and at that point I had a few RF packets drop (as indicated by an audio feature of the RTx system). I was a bit puzzled as we were only a few hundred yards away... The bird was launched and I again experienced some RF packet loss, and then after burnout the rocket was nowhere to be seen. I tried shifting the base radio/antenna orientation and then effectively lost all contact for awhile. Oddly after another minute or so, I picked up RF packets again and received updated bearing and distance data. We headed off in that general heading and found the bird smack dab in the middle of a fallow field. It wasn't until we picked up the rocket and drove back to the trailer that I discovered the base radio RPSMA connector had broken off. Moral of the story is that XBee RPSMA connectors are fairly "fryable" when torqued a bit. I was using the extremely long and heavy L-Com 5db duck. Definitely looking at chassis mounted reinforcement in a final design (the 3D printed case I used is a prototype). All in all a very awesome flight to 16661' AGL.
FLIGHT 2
The Base radio system was replaced and we moved to a smaller/lighter 3db duck antennal to avoid over torque of the XBee RPSMA connector. We opted to run the RTx system stand-alone as a GPS locator/transponder in CJ's Space Cowboy. The RTx was mounted in the traditional "center av-bay" with both altimeters. All checked out perfectly at base camp, so after lunch we headed out for our afternoon flight. We went back to the same tower we had flown from earlier that morning (Pad 65), but the plastic guides lining the rails had been deformed and torched off?? Anyhow, after some quick electrical tape repairs we loaded the cowboy and booted everything up. After a couple minutes it was apparent that the side mounted GPS patch antenna was butted up perfectly against one of the launch tower rails. We had booming, reliable data packets, but it was apparent the GPS couldn't acquire any nav sats... We opted to launch anyway and never lost a single RF packet during flight (albeit with no meaningful GPS location data) until the cowboy touched down. We had a Marshall tracker aboard which indicated the rocket was effectively due east (and the main was also visible buffeting in the wind). While driving in that general direction, the base radio re-aquired the rocket and we had successful locational data at that point. Saturday was effectively a "zero for two" effort, but we knew that everything was operational and had experienced a wee bit of trouble. As they say, "rockets are just another word for trouble... you've had trouble, you're having trouble, or you're "going to have trouble". Forgot to snap a pad pic here, but here's the recovery. We pushed well over 12K with this flight.
FLIGHT3
Sunday we had only a single flight in the afternoon. This time we opted for a nose mounted RTx system running again as a stand-alone GPS locator/transponder in the 98 Interceptor. We decided to fly in closer on the 50 pad's this go-round. The motor in this flight was an L995 red. Pad prep was nominal and all systems were booted and were a GO. Finally had a perfect flight with 100% RF and GPS lock entirely up and down. The Interceptor almost kissed 13K AGL, and last packet before touchdown showed it over 9000' ft out at almost a perfect NE heading. Along the way stopped and were able to re-aquire the rocket using a 900MHz yagi. We found a small "tractor track" and were able to drive out in the center of a large field for a perfect "drive to" recovery.
FLIGHT 4
Monday is departure day for most everyone, thus we had a morning only flight. We opted to re-fly the Punisher again on a special "Propellant X" motor. All prep and power-up at the pad was nominal, and the Punisher again blasted off laser straight despite the "southwind". We were once again had a "telematics treat" with data all the way up and down. What amazed me most is the fact the uBlox7 never had any perceivable drop-out or lack of GPS lock while observing the flight real-time. I know the unit cuts out at over 1000 fps, but it recovered so quickly that it was unnoticed with 1Hz update intervals on the base station LCD. Again we were able to drive out to the exact landing coordinates and pick up the bird. Another picture perfect flight to over 10500' AGL.
Despite a couple of hard-knock first flights, I'm extremely happy with the overall performance of the system. I've got a few more "tweaks" to make based on these flights and we'll finally be ready for first time "beta tests". While that's happening I can finish desktop code and work on a final beta version of the RTx board. I'll also be able to start the the Bluetooth/Modem module which will really make this system boom for high altitude flights and open up even more configuration and expansion choices for the system.
I arrived in Argonia late Friday afternoon, and after a bit of acclimation, we got down to final project integration later on that evening. First flight on Saturday was in CJ's punisher (the first official "stock class" Punisher contest flight). We slid the rocket into the tower, booted up altimeters and GPS and had everything running and ready to go. After driving back to the remote LCO table, I stepped out of the car and at that point I had a few RF packets drop (as indicated by an audio feature of the RTx system). I was a bit puzzled as we were only a few hundred yards away... The bird was launched and I again experienced some RF packet loss, and then after burnout the rocket was nowhere to be seen. I tried shifting the base radio/antenna orientation and then effectively lost all contact for awhile. Oddly after another minute or so, I picked up RF packets again and received updated bearing and distance data. We headed off in that general heading and found the bird smack dab in the middle of a fallow field. It wasn't until we picked up the rocket and drove back to the trailer that I discovered the base radio RPSMA connector had broken off. Moral of the story is that XBee RPSMA connectors are fairly "fryable" when torqued a bit. I was using the extremely long and heavy L-Com 5db duck. Definitely looking at chassis mounted reinforcement in a final design (the 3D printed case I used is a prototype). All in all a very awesome flight to 16661' AGL.
FLIGHT 2
The Base radio system was replaced and we moved to a smaller/lighter 3db duck antennal to avoid over torque of the XBee RPSMA connector. We opted to run the RTx system stand-alone as a GPS locator/transponder in CJ's Space Cowboy. The RTx was mounted in the traditional "center av-bay" with both altimeters. All checked out perfectly at base camp, so after lunch we headed out for our afternoon flight. We went back to the same tower we had flown from earlier that morning (Pad 65), but the plastic guides lining the rails had been deformed and torched off?? Anyhow, after some quick electrical tape repairs we loaded the cowboy and booted everything up. After a couple minutes it was apparent that the side mounted GPS patch antenna was butted up perfectly against one of the launch tower rails. We had booming, reliable data packets, but it was apparent the GPS couldn't acquire any nav sats... We opted to launch anyway and never lost a single RF packet during flight (albeit with no meaningful GPS location data) until the cowboy touched down. We had a Marshall tracker aboard which indicated the rocket was effectively due east (and the main was also visible buffeting in the wind). While driving in that general direction, the base radio re-aquired the rocket and we had successful locational data at that point. Saturday was effectively a "zero for two" effort, but we knew that everything was operational and had experienced a wee bit of trouble. As they say, "rockets are just another word for trouble... you've had trouble, you're having trouble, or you're "going to have trouble". Forgot to snap a pad pic here, but here's the recovery. We pushed well over 12K with this flight.
FLIGHT3
Sunday we had only a single flight in the afternoon. This time we opted for a nose mounted RTx system running again as a stand-alone GPS locator/transponder in the 98 Interceptor. We decided to fly in closer on the 50 pad's this go-round. The motor in this flight was an L995 red. Pad prep was nominal and all systems were booted and were a GO. Finally had a perfect flight with 100% RF and GPS lock entirely up and down. The Interceptor almost kissed 13K AGL, and last packet before touchdown showed it over 9000' ft out at almost a perfect NE heading. Along the way stopped and were able to re-aquire the rocket using a 900MHz yagi. We found a small "tractor track" and were able to drive out in the center of a large field for a perfect "drive to" recovery.
FLIGHT 4
Monday is departure day for most everyone, thus we had a morning only flight. We opted to re-fly the Punisher again on a special "Propellant X" motor. All prep and power-up at the pad was nominal, and the Punisher again blasted off laser straight despite the "southwind". We were once again had a "telematics treat" with data all the way up and down. What amazed me most is the fact the uBlox7 never had any perceivable drop-out or lack of GPS lock while observing the flight real-time. I know the unit cuts out at over 1000 fps, but it recovered so quickly that it was unnoticed with 1Hz update intervals on the base station LCD. Again we were able to drive out to the exact landing coordinates and pick up the bird. Another picture perfect flight to over 10500' AGL.
Despite a couple of hard-knock first flights, I'm extremely happy with the overall performance of the system. I've got a few more "tweaks" to make based on these flights and we'll finally be ready for first time "beta tests". While that's happening I can finish desktop code and work on a final beta version of the RTx board. I'll also be able to start the the Bluetooth/Modem module which will really make this system boom for high altitude flights and open up even more configuration and expansion choices for the system.
ozwald
Well-Known Member
Sounds awesome Jim. Can't wait for it to come out.
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
Sounds like a great series to test flights, looking forward to getting my hands on one.
Cory
Well-Known Member
It was nice meeting you Jim and I appreciate you taking the time to give me an overview of the system. Definitely want to get my hands on one of these.
blackbrandt
That Darn College Student
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Has a price estimate come out yet?
bill2654
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Matt, if it's close to what Jim told me, you are going to love the price! Jim, it was great meeting you and Im looking forward to getting one of these for xmas.
it looks like an awesome system. Thanks for taking the time with me and hope you'll make Airfest an annual adventure!
it looks like an awesome system. Thanks for taking the time with me and hope you'll make Airfest an annual adventure!
Cory/Bill - It was great to meet both you guys out in Argonia... I hadn't been on the field there since 2003, and as they have always done, the operations of these launches are simply joyous... driving to the away cells or flying up close, the Kloudbusters are a well oiled machine.
Matt - Nothing carved in stone regarding costs... one of the biggest complications in trying to put a number together is all of the variant forms this system can take... I'll say that for a complete off-the-shelf 900MHz ISM GPS/Telematics system you will receive great value for your investment.
Matt - Nothing carved in stone regarding costs... one of the biggest complications in trying to put a number together is all of the variant forms this system can take... I'll say that for a complete off-the-shelf 900MHz ISM GPS/Telematics system you will receive great value for your investment.
Nick@JET
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Hi Jim
A few questions since I had almost pulled the trigger on another system. I'm very much a noobie when it comes to trackers.
- Will this be a turn key system or just transmitter?
- if not will you also offer the other items or suggestions ?
- will this be linked to a receiver so no need for service?
- will it require a laptop?
- can you explain "packets"
- require HAM?
Thank you
A few questions since I had almost pulled the trigger on another system. I'm very much a noobie when it comes to trackers.
- Will this be a turn key system or just transmitter?
- if not will you also offer the other items or suggestions ?
- will this be linked to a receiver so no need for service?
- will it require a laptop?
- can you explain "packets"
- require HAM?
Thank you
Nick - Here's the readers digest answers to your Q's.
- Will this be a turn key system or just transmitter?
Turn-Key. You can create a system specifically for your desired application or mission profile.
- if not will you also offer the other items or suggestions ?
All RTX components will be available directly from Missile Works... I am also exploring the option of LiPO sourcing as well.
- will this be linked to a receiver so no need for service?
Yes, the RTx system will be "buy-and-fly" out of the box, meaning other than user preference configuration it's ready to go.
- will it require a laptop?
No, a laptop is not required but can be used. HMI capability includes the LCDT module, any Android device with Bluetooth or USB and/or any Windows PC.
- can you explain "packets"
A packet represents an encapsulated transmission of data from the rocket. The RTx system sends separate packets from the GPS system and the RRC3 when they are tethered together.
- require HAM?
Nope... The RTx system utilizes 900 MHz ISM radios, specifically the 250mW XBee Pro modem or the 1 Watt AC4790 Laird modem.
RocketGeekInFL
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Hi Jim, Eagerly awaiting the launch of this product. Have several use cases already formulated in this pile of crap on top of my shoulders they tell me is a brain. Do you have an estimated public release date?
Thanks!!
Thanks!!
Jim,
So as I understand this: Either a Windows based machine, LCDT module, or an Android device is required?
What is a LCDT module? Is that a liquid crystal display module?
So as I understand this: Either a Windows based machine, LCDT module, or an Android device is required?
What is a LCDT module? Is that a liquid crystal display module?
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
LCD Terminal in upper left of this link https://www.missileworks.com/store/#!/m3-Component-Family/c/5895759/offset=0&sort=normal
I like having mine for when I am at launches, its more portable than a laptop and gives a UI for interacting with the RRC3 (simple UI but it works). I love the RRC3 as well, it easy to use and so far mine has been reliable as can be.
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