Raven Power Perch

This is tentatively called the Raven Extender, but I'm open to other suggestions: (Update: I'm going with the Power Perch, unless someone can change my mind tomorrow morning)


Everything you need on your av-bay sled is sitting next to the quarter. No more av-bay wiring; just mount on a sled and fly it! There's a battery and magnetic switch built-in, so when your rocket is on the pad, just wave the included magnet next to the av-bay, and the Raven will power up with its normal beeps. Each of the 4 Raven outputs has its own pair of wire terminals to make it easy to wire an ematch straight to the extender without terminal blocks.

The two mounting holes accept 4-40 screws, and they even double as another pair of terminals you can use to provide switched power to another low-powered, single-lipo device like a Beeline tracker or Telemini, via the same arm switch.

The parts that will be included that aren't shown are the mounting screws, the activation magnet, and a battery restraint that will probably be a laser-cut, L-shaped piece of lite-ply to go around the sides of the battery.

I'll need to get quotes on the boards and assembly before I can accurately predict the price, but an early guess is $39. I'm hoping to be able to sell it for somewhat less than that.

When you decide on price and get them in stock, I'll be ordering a Raven and two Raven Extenders! Just starting my first DD rocket.

Thanks!

Holy cow that is sweet!!

Want!

I'm in for two.

Raven Expansion Board?

I would like two as well please!

I like this. It is on my buy list.

Raven Docking Station?

Looks great! This will make wiring the Raven much easier.

Thanks, guys. I'll see if I can place an order for the PCBs of the first production run tonight. It will probably be about 3 weeks before they're shipping.

-Adrian

How do people like the name "Power Perch?" Steve Shannon came up with the Perch idea.

The "Raven Maven"

Maven:
those who are intense gatherers of information , and so are often the first to pick up on new or nascent trends.

also suggests that mavens may act most effectively when in collaboration with connectors

............... BINGO! seems to hit the nail on the head & it even rhymes!

blackjack2564 said:

The "Raven Maven"

Maven:
those who are intense gatherers of information , and so are often the first to pick up on new or nascent trends.

also suggests that mavens may act most effectively when in collaboration with connectors

............... BINGO! seems to hit the nail on the head & it even rhymes!

Click to expand...

Power Perch Sounds Fishy!
I still want one though!
You could call it an electron flow transference device and I still want one!

Eric

oh oh me me me i want one

This is a great product, and one that I will have to get once rocketry funds become available again.

I was just saying to another rocketeer the other day that I couldn't envision using the Raven outside of the 38mm av-bay due to the small terminals, and that I would have to find a way to work the av-bay into my existing rockets. This will allow me to utilize the av-bay on smaller rockets, and hook it up to this for larger rockets to help with wiring.

Very cool!!!

Just to continue on my thought process, this is going to be a great addition for rocketeers that purchase the Raven new along with this peripheral. Essentially, all they need to do is create a G10 sled with the same footprint and mounting hole pattern as their current altimeter. This would be a direct sub in for any other unit.

For example, I just sold my MAWD. I could mount this set up on a MAWD sized board and wouldn't even have to drill new holes on my existing altimeter bay sleds.

Have you considered having CNC machined G10 boards made so that this unit could be instantly adapted?

patelldp said:

Have you considered having CNC machined G10 boards made so that this unit could be instantly adapted?

Click to expand...

That is a great idea.

Dammit Adrian- now I gotta sell one of the kids...sheesh!

patelldp said:

Just to continue on my thought process, this is going to be a great addition for rocketeers that purchase the Raven new along with this peripheral. Essentially, all they need to do is create a G10 sled with the same footprint and mounting hole pattern as their current altimeter. This would be a direct sub in for any other unit.

Click to expand...

What!? There are other altimeters?

patelldp said:

For example, I just sold my MAWD.

Click to expand...

Now you're talking!

patelldp said:

Have you considered having CNC machined G10 boards made so that this unit could be instantly adapted?

Click to expand...

I hadn't. Interesting thought, though. I know there have been people intersted in a replacement for the AltAcc among others.

fyrwrxz said:

Dammit Adrian- now I gotta sell one of the kids...sheesh!

Click to expand...

Thanks, guys.

In order to keep the cost down, I'm stretching out the surface mount assembly delivery a bit, so now it looks like they'll be shipping mid January. The price will be $35.

Adrian A said:

I hadn't. Interesting thought, though. I know there have been people intersted in a replacement for the AltAcc among others.

Click to expand...

That would be really easy. The AltAcc mounts to the side of a tube via two screws, positioning it very close to the outside tube. This would allow the magnet switch to be effective.

Any chance it would fit a parrot as well?

H_Rocket said:

Any chance it would fit a parrot as well?

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The Parrot pin assignments are different, and the power is already built-in, so it really isn't applicable for the Parrot, sorry.

Looks good.
PLEASE make them available without the terminal blocks.
These should be cheap enough to solder into the wiring harness of the rocket.
No need to terminal blocks connecting to terminal blocks.
Hardwired is my preference.
I've even taken the terminal blocks off of one of my Ravens to hardwire it.
Please make this optional.
FredA

FredA said:

Looks good.
PLEASE make them available without the terminal blocks.
These should be cheap enough to solder into the wiring harness of the rocket.
No need to terminal blocks connecting to terminal blocks.
Hardwired is my preference.
I've even taken the terminal blocks off of one of my Ravens to hardwire it.
Please make this optional.
FredA

Click to expand...

Good idea; they are difficult to remove if you don't want them. One of the best ways for me to leave some of them un-populated is just to leave the assembly company short some parts. Ironically, Digikey was short 22 of those parts, so I had to make another order from Mouser to cover it. But all the parts are now on their way, so I'll ask if they mind leaving the terminal block off on some of them.

The next question is how many. Anyone else out there who would prefer to just have solder pads rather than a terminal block?

I'd rather have terminal blocks.

That said, I'm seriously considering just permanently putting a Perch on sleds of various sizes, and leaving them there. The Raven can then be easily moved between the sleds and I don't have to worry about remembering what wire goes where.

-Kevin

troj said:

I'd rather have terminal blocks.

That said, I'm seriously considering just permanently putting a Perch on sleds of various sizes, and leaving them there. The Raven can then be easily moved between the sleds and I don't have to worry about remembering what wire goes where.

-Kevin

Click to expand...

Kevin,


That sounds like a great idea.

I'm with the 'plug and play ' group. The least amount of time I have to screw around setting up the bird to fly leaves me more time to fly higher and thus walk longer for recovery. Look at it like an execise video. Buy this and lose wieght!

I love the KISS principle and it looks like the extender meets the requirements. Nice addition to an already great altimeter. Great job.

I am definitely in for one when they become available. My 54mm rocket has a "dense" altimeter bay that will be simplified considerably by this.

Adrian - Do you have a source for a female connector with leads to the li-po batteries you use so I could utilize the same batteries in other altimeters? Huge weight saver, and rechargeable to boot.

patelldp said:

Adrian - Do you have a source for a female connector with leads to the li-po batteries you use so I could utilize the same batteries in other altimeters? Huge weight saver, and rechargeable to boot.

Click to expand...

Dan, I picked up 8 or 10 of these male connectors with pigtails at a local computer surplus store. They were fairly cheap and readily available.

Power Perch sounds a bit odd, until you start to think about it...

Perch your Raven in your rocket

Give your Raven a new Perch and simplify connections

Considering the naming is birds, Perch or Power Perch fits.

-Kevin