The Eggfinder - A Low-Cost GPS/RF Tracking System

Many people have upgraded way beyond what is necessary. The "factory" kit is well designed and works as designed.
If you need help assembling it use Connor. https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?119859-Eggfinder-Eggtimer-Assembly

I thought the resisters were missing on mine until I realized those things in the white stripes were the resisters. I though the packaging was part of it. Used to the things that are 2-3" of wire with a resister in the middle.

I'd need a microscope to tell which end it which. I sent it to Connor. Will stick to soldering igniters with the 'giant' 32-34 gauge wire being the only challenge.

Wayco said:

I have had good luck with building the regular Eggfinders, four successful builds to date. Thought I was ready for the TRS because I have done surface mounted components before. Got to the preliminary test section and failed, no GPS lock or output signal from the RF module. Worked with Cris and tried a couple of things, but no joy. Not sure what to do now, I'm not really a technician and without a schematic I can't really troubleshoot it. Not sure I could with a schematic either, my electronic background is from military training back in 1971.
These projects are not for beginners, Cris explains that on his webpage. If you don't have good soldering skills, let someone else do it. The TRS is a big step up from the Eggtimer/Eggfinder, even if you have built the earlier versions, you might not be successful with the TRS.

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I've built 23 TRS' to date I'll take a look at it Gratis if you want to send it to me.

I think it would be much easier if they just have the hardest part (GPS chip) done, and the rest you do yourself.

Good to hear that your's worked great!

Roy's also worked like a charm.
Him & Kris were able to find it pretty accurately...

Wayco said:

Just got back from the TRA/PHX launch and I had to post up and brag about my last flight. I have been gradually working my way up the motor choices for my 3" carbon fiber Mongoose. Today I flew it on a CTI L1115 to 18,773 ft. The Eggfinder worked flawlessly, despite the estimated 1.7 mach speed. Tracked throughout the flight, and we recovered it using "Rocket Locator". Took less than 15 minutes to recover. I'm using the "rubber duckie" antennas on both the TX and RX.

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taiwanluthiers said:

I think it would be much easier if they just have the hardest part (GPS chip) done, and the rest you do yourself.

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Then I'd have to invest in a commercial reflow oven, it would take more of my already overbudgeted time, and I'd have to charge more for them. I DO mount the baro sensor for you, because the pads are on the bottom which pretty much makes it impossible to hand-solder them. It's not a terribly heat-sensitive part, which makes hobby reflow soldering methods work fine with it. GPS module assemblies tend to be much more heat-sensitive, and moisture-sensitive too; they come in sealed packages with a dessicant, and if you're going to use a reflow oven you have to bake them first at low temperature for a few hours to drive out the moisture. You don't have to do that with hand-soldering.

Wayco said:

I have had good luck with building the regular Eggfinders, four successful builds to date. Thought I was ready for the TRS because I have done surface mounted components before. Got to the preliminary test section and failed, no GPS lock or output signal from the RF module. Worked with Cris and tried a couple of things, but no joy. Not sure what to do now, I'm not really a technician and without a schematic I can't really troubleshoot it. Not sure I could with a schematic either, my electronic background is from military training back in 1971.
These projects are not for beginners, Cris explains that on his webpage. If you don't have good soldering skills, let someone else do it. The TRS is a big step up from the Eggtimer/Eggfinder, even if you have built the earlier versions, you might not be successful with the TRS.

Click to expand...

Hooboy, Could be rough to trouble shoot if the SMT "grain of rice" resistor device numbers are mounted "down" instead of "up". It's not that the position matters, it's being able to confirm that the right resistor is in the "right" place on the board. Can't read if the number is against the board. Also the SMT capacitors aren't numbered and miss place one of those can be a problem. With the GPS module, there is an opening just above the soldering notches that leads to some surface mounted components inside the base of the GPS. Slop some solder in there and that can be "it" with the module. Removing a module is a bear but can be done. If it's not wrecked, it will be in the removal process. First twist the antenna off the base. It comes off with easy pressure. Then use solder wick and wick off as much solder as you can. You might be able to get it off easily at that time. You'd have to be careful because you don't want to tear off the pads. If it's still stuck, that's reason to remove the GPS antenna from the base. Now one can take a Dremel cut-off wheel and VERY carefully cut a line as superficial as possible right down the middle. Lay a soldering iron lengthwise on the pads and the "half" can fall off. I salvaged a couple of EggFinders that way. One I did tear a non-critical solder pad and can use an aftermarket Ublox GPS. Trying to salvage a TRS with a dorked GPS module would be more challenging. Another issue would be slopping solder on the Hope Rf module. Some of the resistors are "grain of dust" devices close to the solder notches and forget it if you whack one of those off. Would be best to recognize the problem ASAP, try to desolder the device and buy a new one from Cris. I've been lucky in that all my stuff worked once I was done building them. Dropping or "experimenting"
with 'em led to my troubles. Kurt

Seriously... I never knew SMT components could be hand soldered. I seen them on computer parts and always assumed that they were all done by machine. It just sounded a lot easier to have the eggtimer and eggfinder separately because even though the eggfinder has the GPS module, the rest of the components are not SMT.

As for pre mounting the GPS module that work can always be contracted out to someone else for a price instead of having to invest in things.

The GPS and the Hope transmitter are equally hard ( multi-point solder connections)
There are also transistors under the MCU. about 6-8 of them ( going from memory)

https://www.eggtimerrocketry.com/attachments/File/Eggtimer_TRS_Assembly_Manual_A5.pdf


Connor can build it for you.


JD

taiwanluthiers said:

Seriously... I never knew SMT components could be hand soldered. I seen them on computer parts and always assumed that they were all done by machine. It just sounded a lot easier to have the eggtimer and eggfinder separately because even though the eggfinder has the GPS module, the rest of the components are not SMT.

As for pre mounting the GPS module that work can always be contracted out to someone else for a price instead of having to invest in things.

Click to expand...

taiwanluthiers said:

Seriously... I never knew SMT components could be hand soldered. I seen them on computer parts and always assumed that they were all done by machine. It just sounded a lot easier to have the eggtimer and eggfinder separately because even though the eggfinder has the GPS module, the rest of the components are not SMT.

As for pre mounting the GPS module that work can always be contracted out to someone else for a price instead of having to invest in things.

Click to expand...

We have an outsource...... Connor.

If I get one of these units (I am looking at the Eggfinder/ LCD combo just for tracking) I would like to use my Com/Spec RF tracking unit in addition to the LCD with the external antenna and my smart phone for the GPS end.

It might be a dumb question as I haven't read much in this thread about the capabilities, would my Com spec pick up a signal if this was programmed for it?

I think you have RF and RDF mixed up. The eggfinder is not an RDF tracker, its a GPS tracker. If you read the first post on this thread it explains what it does. Even if it was a RDF tracker it would be in the 900mhz frequency band and not work with the com spec frequency. If you are looking forward to getting an Eggfinder I would suggest reading the user manual.

Got it, I did have it mixed up- like I said, stupid question.

Looks like a really nice and reasonable option to add GPS- I will just stick the Com-Spec Transmitter in for redundancy. Of course if I get one, Conman would be assembling it. :wink:

That is what I do, I tape the RDF Tx next to the Eggfinder on the shock cord.

I'm still waiting for approval to post as a vendor (I missed the memo, apparently) so I'm posting here for now...

Groundhog Day Sale

Since you fellow rocketeers back East are going to be holed up for another 6 weeks without flying, I figured it was a good idea to give you something to do with your extra time. So, I'm having a sale so you can pimp out your AV bays...

o Eggtimer Flight Computers - $30 (regular $35)
o Eggfinder TX GPS Tracker - $60 (regular $70)
o Eggtimer TRS Flight Computer/GPS Tracker: $74 (regular $90)

Receivers are regular price ($25 for the Eggfinder RX "dongle", $55 for the LCD receiver), but you'll get an additional $5 off if you buy one with a transmitter, so

o Eggfinder Starter Set (TX & RX): $80
o Eggfinder LCD Starter Set (TX & LCD): $110
o Eggtimer TRS Starter Set (TRS & LCD): $125

I have plenty of stock this time and lots of parts for more, so expect to get your stuff in plenty of time for the thaw. Hurry, unlike "I Got You Babe" in "Groundhog Day", this sale isn't going to keep going on forever... it ends February 5th. Thanks for your support!

Cris Erving
Eggtimer Rocketry
www.eggtimerrocketry.com

Darn it, ordered it too soon

lilminijpc said:

Good to hear that your's worked great!

Roy's also worked like a charm.
Him & Kris were able to find it pretty accurately...

Click to expand...

It was a cool flight for sure, Did SARA have a waiver that high a few weeks back?

Our Groundhog Day sale is still going on... ends Feb 5th.

o Eggtimer Flight Computers - $30 (regular $35)
o Eggfinder TX GPS Tracker - $60 (regular $70)
o Eggtimer TRS Flight Computer/GPS Tracker: $74 (regular $90)


o Eggfinder Starter Set (TX & RX): $80
o Eggfinder LCD Starter Set (TX & LCD): $110
o Eggtimer TRS Starter Set (TRS & LCD): $125


Cris Erving
Eggtimer Rocketry
www.eggtimerrocketry.com

I finished up my Enclosure for the Receiver. Here it is in all of its glory, I chose yellow to prevent me from losing it.

It's very simple and I currently have a 2C 7.4v 950mah battery in the handle and it has room for more.

Great design Kyle!

Can the eggfinder transmiter be used along side the Missleworks RRC2-RRC3 altimeter without eggfinder-altimeter interference?

Tom C.

TOM C said:

Can the eggfinder transmiter be used along side the Missleworks RRC2-RRC3 altimeter without eggfinder-altimeter interference?

Tom C.

Click to expand...

Yes it can.

Nice job Kyle. Fred, I see you like building the kits too. Two LCD's? Wow. You gonna drag race yourself with a couple of screamers?:wink: Kurt :grin:

ksaves2 said:

Nice job Kyle. Fred, I see you like building the kits too. Two LCD's? Wow. You gonna drag race yourself with a couple of screamers?:wink: Kurt :grin:

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Something like that, Sharon and I flew our 3" Darkstars on L935's to 13,000 ft. at last years ROCStock. Had a little trouble finding mine, lost signal and had to wander around for a while when we changed the one LCD over to my freq.
I have built four Eggfinders, RX and TX, but when I tried the TRS, no joy. I sent it to Conner to troubleshoot, along with another TRS for him to build. Need it for a Wildman Punisher I want to use as a sustainer on a 3" booster. Flying with TRA/PHX and their 50K waiver has turned me into an altitude junkie! I think I have the highest flight for an Eggfinder with my Mongoose 75 to 18,773 ft.
By the way, Fred is my first name, but I actually go by Wayne. Wayco = Wayne C.

Wayco said:

Something like that, Sharon and I flew our 3" Darkstars on L935's to 13,000 ft. at last years ROCStock. Had a little trouble finding mine, lost signal and had to wander around for a while when we changed the one LCD over to my freq.
I have built four Eggfinders, RX and TX, but when I tried the TRS, no joy. I sent it to Conner to troubleshoot, along with another TRS for him to build. Need it for a Wildman Punisher I want to use as a sustainer on a 3" booster. Flying with TRA/PHX and their 50K waiver has turned me into an altitude junkie! I think I have the highest flight for an Eggfinder with my Mongoose 75 to 18,773 ft.
By the way, Fred is my first name, but I actually go by Wayne. Wayco = Wayne C.

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Oakey dokey on the name. I go by my middle name as my Dad started a business in the basement. His name is "Albert" and my first name is "Allen" and they figured if a customer called and asked for "Al" they wouldn't know who to hand the phone to!
Turned out the business outgrew the basement by the time I was 4 years old so it didn't matter what they called me. I recall the Mongoose flight was with a simple duck antenna? I image a patch antenna will allow reception at a higher altitude
still. Kurt

Wayco said:

Nice work Kyle, now make me one! I have two LCD RX's that I need to build, I'm sure one would fit nicely into one of your housings....

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We may have to talk out details at February's launch if you will be there.

I cut some holes in a much smaller case I bought on Amazon and mounted the EggFinder LCD, a switch, non-RP SMA cable, and a 1600mAh 2S LiPo.

Add the backlight switch. It's seriously worth it.