Anyone make a sled for the Eggtimer Quasar?

[Dave S.]

Does anyone make a sled for the eggtimer Quasar altimeter?

It’s about 5 1/2 inches long, but I don’t know if that includes the antenna.

Wouldn’t you want to zip tie the antenna to the sled also so it doesn’t rattle or get damaged from the flight or the when the ejection charge goes off?

 

[Worsaer]

Does this help answer your question?

 

[Dave S.]

Thanks Worsaer!

I do like the sleds made by Additive Aerospace, but the Quasar is a newer model. I wasn’t aware of one specifically made for it.

 

[pwrwgnwalt]

Did my Level 2 cert last month (May), using a Quasar on an Additive Aerospace 98mm sled. Worked perfectly! I did not zip tie the antenna, and I don’t think it needed it (but I certainly did make sure everything was secure!).

The AA sled has an abundance of holes for mounting, but is also easily drilled/self-tapped as needed. I’ll try to get a pic of my av-bay tonight for you.

 

[Dave S.]

Did my Level 2 cert last month (May), using a Quasar on an Additive Aerospace 98mm sled. Worked perfectly! I did not zip tie the antenna, and I don’t think it needed it (but I certainly did make sure everything was secure!).

The AA sled has an abundance of holes for mounting, but is also easily drilled/self-tapped as needed. I’ll try to get a pic of my av-bay tonight for you.

Fantastic! Seeing how you mounted it, your switches, and how the whole thing fit into your coupler would be perfect.

 

[pwrwgnwalt]

Here are the pictures of my Av-bay.
Quasar mounted on an 98mm (3.9”) Additive Aerospace sled.
Only the Main charge wires are connected to the Quasar (red & black); the drogue wires are under tape (blue & yellow) at top of pic. Power wires are zip-tied along the left edge and connect at the top.
Battery mounted on opposite side, wrapped in thin foam.

No switches, as the Quasar is connected to battery at closure, but is only armed once upon the launch rail via the WiFi connection.

 

[Dave S.]

No switches, as the Quasar is connected to battery at closure, but is only armed once upon the launch rail via the WiFi connection.

Thanks much for posting these pictures! Cool to see how it fits onto the sled.

When you say the "Quasar is connected to the battery at closure", you mean that you physically connect the wires [because you don't have a screw switch or something similar] and then close up the bay and get it installed on the rocket - right?

 

[pwrwgnwalt]

Yes, the battery is connected via the red JST plugs (at top of pics) just before sealing up the Av-bay and final assembly of the rocket, prior to walking out to the launch pad.
Gives me time to ensure connectivity to the LCD/GPS handheld unit.

Once the rocket is on the rail and ready, I step back and arm the system with the WiFi interface, essentially “switching on” power to the deployment system of the Quasar. Your RSO may, or may not, allow that method depending on their understanding of how the arming system works. Doing it this way eliminates a failure point, IMHO (not having a physical ‘switch’). The battery I’m using has a nice long discharge cycle and is easily able to power up everything for an extended time, so no rush once connected.

In all things, test-test-test at home beforehand.

 

[pwrwgnwalt]

If you haven’t seen it, Cris posted the following on the Quasar thread back on Nov 7, 2022:

“ The Quasar is designed for a single 2S Lipo battery, it does not have a separate battery input for deployments. Due to the dual-switched architecture (like the Quantum and Proton) it really doesn't need it. BOTH sides of your outputs are isolated from the battery, there is no direct "common" connection between your ematches and the battery like there are with "other" altimeters. Essentially, there is a WiFi Switch on the deployment power, and it's not turned on until you arm the Quasar AND a launch has been detected AND the first output event occurs. If you really want to add a mechanical switch, you can put it on the battery, once you turn on power the Quasar starts transmitting GPS coordinates almost immediately (unlike the TRS, which required that you were armed for flight before it sent out GPS data). This has in-flight recovery implications too... if your battery connection comes loose and the Quasar resets, it will still send out your GPS location data.”

 

[Dave S.]

If you haven’t seen it, Cris posted the following on the Quasar thread...

Thanks for your photos and the additional info - just what I wanted.

This altimeter is designed for one 2S Lipo battery, and it looks like you have one with foam padding around it to take up the extra space in the battery holder.

Dual deploy flights should not land too far away, but I have seen a lot of them land a loooong ways away. The GPS system in this and the ability to ground test w/ WIFI as the way to activate it sound perfect!

 

[pwrwgnwalt]

The GPS works fantastically well, but I haven’t really put it through a tough test yet … for my Lvl 2 on a typical windy MT day, I used Quasar main deploy at apogee (with motor eject as a backup), but with a Jolly Logic Chute release to keep the chute wrapped up until 400’ AGL. Drifted about 1/2 mile from launch site, in an open field, but the GPS took me right to it (I could see it, too).