Acquired an Olsen "EZ Timer"

Over the weekend I attended the Tampa Tripoli "Buc Blast III" event, my first launch in 5 years, where they held a raffle. The prizes were generously donated by club members simply looking to raise funds for their GSE maintenance and upgrade. I contributed graciously to the raffle as I am thankful that this area has an HPR launch site at all. Lucky me, I won an Olsen Advanced Electronics EZ Timer 2-Channel Rocketry Event Timer. Now, a few things stick out right away that I am concerned with. The unit appears to be OOP, but did come with the original instruction manual which at least gives me some direction on its usage seeing how there is no information online about it. On boot or power "on", the LCD readout shows LDRS 17 which a search on the web reveals that this event took place in 1998. The timer itself looks clean and by all appearances in great shape. My main concern is A) I've never used electronics in a rocket before, B) how do I test this thing before sending a new kit into the sky with it onboard, and C) what would you recommend as a starting point for electronics if this isn't the device for me?

To answer some questions about my interest in electronics I'd like the versatility to build and fly rockets with electronics that can do the following (not all necessarily in one flight - LOL) from greatest interest to least interest: Staging, Dual-deploy, Airstarts, altitude measurement, performance metrics.

Anyhow, I'm rusty on HPR. The last time I did anything of HPR significance was a Level 1 sometime in 2004 (I think). I think it's great to pop a big motor in a big rocket and let it rip with motor deployment, but I think I will be flying a lot less this time around ($$$), wanting to walk less to retrieve my rockets, and certainly desiring more out of each flight in terms of prep time and complexity.

So, this is a 2-part question: 1) Can anyone tell me about this new piece of electronics hardware I just acquired and 2) given my "wants" list out of electronics what would you recommend? (I'm not against using this timer in some "backup" capacity either.)

My first project will be a composite-to-composite 2-stage rocket with the upper stage having dual deploy capabilities.

Thanks all. It's nice to be around rocketeers again!

eugenefl said:

B) how do I test this thing before sending a new kit into the sky with it onboard

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Anytime I get something new I fly it once in a rocket where it's just going along for the ride. Typically I'll put it in the smallest rocket and use the smallest motor I can and hang a flashbulb outside the rocket in place of the charge or igniter that the device is controller. Even on a sunny day you can see the flash from a couple hundred feet. If it goes off when I expect it to I'm confident that the device works and I know how to operate it.