Egg Coolness

I grabbed a couple Eggtimer WiFi Switch kits a few weeks back. Today I finally had some time to put one together.

This is my first "Egg" kit. Indeed it's the first time I've ever built/assembled anything like this, so it's new territory for me. My soldering skills and experience are not all that great, but I wanted to up my game a bit and learn something new. The WiFi switch is so unique and cool - I just "had" to have one, and figured now's as good a time as any to jump into the world of SMD/SMT soldering and electronics assembly.

I started by studying some online tutorials and videos. Learned a bunch just by reading/watching - also learned a few things NOT to do. Of course I spent a bunch of time reading various TRF threads on the subject to gain further info and tips. Then I ordered one of those "practice kits" - got the Gikfun EK7028 kit and started messing around. I had never soldered anything so tiny before. At first it was pretty intimidating, but once I got going it made sense and worked just fine. I finished it and it worked - cool little blinky blue and green lights!

So, onward to the real thing - today I went for it and put the WiFi switch together. It all went pretty smooth - only one weld that I thought might be a problem. Tried to fix it but just made more of a mess. Everything else went just fine - even the TINY and close-together pins on the opto-isolators and the WiFi module which seemed pretty scary to a noob like me. I couldn't make that one questionable weld any better so I figured I'd just power up and hope for the best. IT WORKED! Very sweet. Then I dinked around a bunch, hooking it up to various altimeters, connecting the WiFi, etc. This thing is just so danged cool - and I assembled it myself! I'm just so tickled.

I just wanted to post letting folks know how great the whole experience is. If you are on the fence about purchasing/assembling your own Egg stuff - go for it! It's extremely satisfying learning something new and going the DIY route. Of course, if you've spent any time whatsoever reading the various TRF "Egg" threads, you already know that the products work fantastic, and that Chris' support is excellent. Add to that the great value and cost savings, along with the thrill and satisfaction of "doing it yourself", and you can't go wrong. Egg___ for the win!

Thanks Chris for developing and offering such cool products. You've gained another fan.
s6

While I'm on the subject - a couple of VERY minor suggestions for correction to the user guides on this:

1) In the "Assembly Guide and User's Manual", page 15, second paragraph: There is a line that reads, "The red LED marked PWR should blink three times,". In fact it should read, "The clear/amber LED marked PWR should blink three times,". In practice, it's pretty clear what should actually happen and therefore this is not too confusing, but it's a minor correction that could be made.

2) In the "Switch Connection Guide", page 3: It states that the connections for an RRC2+ and the RRC3 are the same, and therefore the wiring connections would be identical. This is not entirely true. In fact the RRC2+ has just a battery +/- connector (no separate switch), and the RRC3 has both a battery +/- connector and a switch +/- connector. Again, this is pretty easy to figure out in practice, and the connections are MOSTLY the same, but it's a minor point that could maybe be clarified.

Beyond that, all the guides, manuals, photos, instructions, are VERY clear with excellent information. Stellar support and guidance from Egg/Chris.

Folks, go get yourself some Egg stuff!

s6

Way to go !

Kenny


Kenny

As an aside, I took an Eggtimer deployment computer and EggFinder TRS, wired 'em up to fly with contained ematches on the the channels. Got them going in ready to fly mode and then unscientifically used 5 watt Ham radio handy talkies on the 2 meter 1.25 meter and 70cm bands and started blasting FM Rf at them going up and down the respective bands at 5 watts.

Only one thing happened. It occurred when I touched the antenna tip of the radio to the opto-isolator chips on the respective devices and transmitted. The pitch of the "ready to fly sound" changed while the Rf was "beamed" right on the chips.
Stopped transmitting and the devices resumed the normal sounding pitch of "ready to fly". No reset or lockup of the devices nor were any ematches lost (fired) during the test.

Though it's unscientific, I didn't blast digital signals at the EggTimer or EggFinder TRS, I find it reassuring. Will still do a static ready to fly test in prospective first time flying rockets with all the electronics on, with ematches on the channels to make sure
nothing adverse occurs. Make me feel more confident though with these devices.

Kurt Savegnago

way to go stealth6! way to go stealth6! Hope you picked up a cheap magnifying station as small parts can be tough to see.
I think this product idea is one of the best to come out of rocketry!