New Eggtimer Rocketry Tracking Hardware/Software

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Yes... you'll want to add an external push button. When the LCD receiver first came out there wasn't a whole lot of need for one, but now that other functions are being added it's becoming a necessity. Most people add one anyway... if I can find one I like I may include that and ditch the little tactile switch.

The Black Aero case included one and if one flies a TRS they likely already put the momentary switch in their LCD. Kurt
 
Yes... you'll want to add an external push button. When the LCD receiver first came out there wasn't a whole lot of need for one, but now that other functions are being added it's becoming a necessity. Most people add one anyway... if I can find one I like I may include that and ditch the little tactile switch.
Ok. If it wasn't so much extra work I'd remove the PCB PB switch, but it's easier to add another in parallel.

One last question is that PB switch "push to open" or "push to close"?
 
I used a big arcade type pushbutton, just because I had it sitting there. It works well, if a bit goofy. :)
 
Is it possible to do the update with a linux machine?


Edit: nevermind, read the manual. If anyone manages to figure out how to do it on Linux tips would be greatly appreciated.
 
Is it possible to do the update with a linux machine?


Edit: nevermind, read the manual. If anyone manages to figure out how to do it on Linux tips would be greatly appreciated.



I've done it. You need to install avrdude, then just use the command line from the batch file, after adjusting paths to match Linux. Serial ports are /dev/usb<something>, file names are likely ~/stuff.hex and such.

IIRC, "apt-get install avrdude" on debian/ubuntu.
 
Sorry if I missed this above.
I see the LCD GPS module on the products page. Is that for pre-orders?
Are there pictures and/or instructions posted yet?
Thanks,
Matt
 
I completed the upgrade on mine today with now issues. I Installed a switch/button on the Reset pins when I built my case, so that came in handy today! I did some playing around with an EF Mini and figured out that "PAD" waypoint appears to be the location first send to the LCD receiver. AKA: If I left the EF Mini running, then reset the LCD receiver, the waypoint would be the location where I did that activity. Kind of cool to do some rough measurements of the driveway!

Great feature Chris.... can't wait for the GPS add-on for the Receiver.
 
That figures... I have the other type on hand...

I had a similar issue - I had a whole bag of stateful on/off but no momentary ones! So I visited Jaycar and got a nice one - $4.95 (I like it more than the cheaper ones) and they had a $5 minimum to pay by card... so now I have one in my LCD and have a spare momentary for the next project... ;)
 
Yes, they're not on the same connector so they work simultaneously. That's exactly what we did in testing... we used Rocket Locator and the heading/arrow. Rocket Locator is North-up, so it's a lot easier to use the arrow on the LCD... you don't need to know which way North is.

Eeeewww. K. I'll be a ordering two then when they come out. I just cannot wait to be able to fly again next spring. I want to try out single instance
tracking with APRSIS32 for launch and monitoring and then calling up the second instance for local position when going out to recover. I am "suspecting"
running both apps leads to a local processing latency (colliding positions maybe?) and positions from the rocket aren't decoded and displayed expediently.
Committing all the processing to launch and in-flight positions might yield better results. The local position isn't important until going out to get the rocket.

The live map is nice to have, especially a photomap so you can plan a recovery as opposed to "straight lining" it. Out West not important but for flatlanders,
it's nicer to see if you can drive on road to a place where you have a short walk to pickup a rocket as opposed to fording 4 drainage ditches (some of them pretty deep) with a straight line approach. Kurt
 
I just updated mine to 1.10R. Looks good so far. Everything still works fine on Rocket Locator. I'm looking forward to hooking up the GPS to my LCD.

Thanks for the update, Cris.
 
Are there any pictures of this? I can't help but be curious lol. Looking forward to adding this to my eggfinder lcd rx
 
Not yet, I'm waiting for the production boards to take pictures. My case is so hacked up that I really don't want to use it for assembly pictures, so I'm going to have to build a new one.
 
The boards for the LCD-GPS module came in yesterday, kitting them up today. Invoices for early requests went out today, you get the Holiday Sale price early ($30 instead of $40), and you get free shipping too.
 
The boards for the LCD-GPS module came in yesterday, kitting them up today. Invoices for early requests went out today, you get the Holiday Sale price early ($30 instead of $40), and you get free shipping too.

Can more such orders be placed?
 
Can more such orders be placed?

Sure, but you won't get the free shipping... that was a bonus for the people who ordered early. Since our Holiday Sale starts on the 11th (see the Vendors section), you might as well add one to the other goodies. We have plenty of them to go around...
 
Have you put the assembly instructions on your website yet? I could not find it. Thanks!
 
They'll be posted after I finish taking pictures of the case mod. Probably in a day or two...
 
Somebody on the Forum did it, there's a Linux version of AVRDude. If you can't find the thread by searching, here's a link to installing it in Linux.

https://www.ladyada.net/learn/avr/setup-unix.html

Am I the only one that thinks this whole thread is scary? Why do we have 84 posts on what is described as "released' functionality? The bantering back and forth is evidence of a hodgepodge "design" approach and only makes me run away from this platform design.
 
Am I the only one that thinks this whole thread is scary? Why do we have 84 posts on what is described as "released' functionality? The bantering back and forth is evidence of a hodgepodge "design" approach and only makes me run away from this platform design.

The hardware and the software are both currently shipping, and the software has been posted on our web site for nearly a week. Officially we do not support Linux for updating the firmware, because we're Windows guys and we don't have enough familiarity with Linux to properly support it. Some of those who are familiar with Linux HAVE posted the script for updating with Linux. That's no different than other vendors whose software is written to run on Windows, and Linux/Apple users have made it work by running it under a hypervisor. That doesn't make their stuff "hodgepodge", either.
 
Am I the only one that thinks this whole thread is scary? Why do we have 84 posts on what is described as "released' functionality? The bantering back and forth is evidence of a hodgepodge "design" approach and only makes me run away from this platform design.

The eggtimer product range involves a certain level of DIY which is evident from the very beginning due to the 'build it yourself' nature of the supplied kits. Many equipment manufacturers would consider a feature like this a significant upgrade (extra hardware and different software, ask Apple to do that for your current iPhone, iPod, iPoop etc...) and require the end user to purchase a complete new unit, Cris gives the user the opportunity to add the new features for just the extra price of parts and a little effort upgrading the software. For the user base who purchase this in the first place I think these tasks are very reasonable.

If that's considered hodgepodge then count me as one of the crowd running towards that approach!
 
Am I the only one that thinks this whole thread is scary? Why do we have 84 posts on what is described as "released' functionality? The bantering back and forth is evidence of a hodgepodge "design" approach and only makes me run away from this platform design.

Where else do you get such easy access to the system developers and access to the hardware at such low prices? Very reasonable product at reasonable prices. Run away if you wish, but you will be paying more for the same functionality I think, or missing out on using such a product. As an electronic engineer for 25 years (and senior technical officer before that) I see this Egg stuff as a very solid product.

Most rocketry vendors develop this sort of product because of their passion, not because they want profit. To have to learn a whole development environment and support the many versions of Windows (if using any PC UI) is a pain in itself. Linux runs a poor second as far as number of users so why would they go through the exercise twice. Software development is painful. Software testing is worse. Would you do it for almost no return?

Putting a bit of perspective on it. If the company I work for develops a new product (spectrometer or associated widget) we might spend $10Million on the project, with about half going towards firmware and software. And before you ask, no, we don't support Linux. Not worth the effort.
 
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Where else do you get such easy access to the system developers and access to the hardware at such low prices? Very reasonable product at reasonable prices. Run away if you wish, but you will be paying more for the same functionality I think, or missing out on using such a product. As an electronic engineer for 25 years (and senior technical officer before that) I see this Egg stuff as a very solid product...
I could not agree more! As an electronics enthusiast and retired engineer, I find that Eggtimer products are miles above hodgepodge...
 
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