Eggtimer Apogee issue

[dasein668]

I put together my first Eggtimer kit this week--an Apogee. This is my first rocketry related build though I have successfully built several guitar effects from schematic in the past so I do have a bit of experience with electronics.

This seemed to go together with minimal difficulty. The instructions were very clear and other than the one surface mount part very easy to solder up. When I power up the unit, it appears that nothing is happening--and at first I assumed that was the case and immediately looked for solder bridges or incorrectly installed parts but to my (admittedly old-man) eyes, everything looked ok. Then while I was perusing the instructions I got a 2-second beep. Then nothing further.

After some futzing around (which included breaking the power connector on the board and some sloppy work getting the pins out of the board) I was able to ID that the board is providing a single 2-second beep followed by nothing, almost exactly, and reproducibly, 45 seconds after power up.

Does that ring a bell for anyone in terms of where I should be looking to troubleshoot?

Images are attached. Sorry, they aren't fantastic shots.

 

[MarsLander]

@cerving

 

[mbeels]

I don't recall exactly what the Apogee does when it turns on, but is it failing the continuity check of the ematch?

 

[dasein668]

I don't recall exactly what the Apogee does when it turns on, but is it failing the continuity check of the ematch?

According to the manual, it should almost immediately give a 2 second beep then a series of beeps during initialization followed by a repeating beep if it fails continuity. I suppose it could be related to no load on the output though? I'm away from the house until Sunday so I'll check that then.

 

[Azamiryou]

I don't recall exactly what the Apogee does when it turns on, but is it failing the continuity check of the ematch?

Nope. No continuity gives a warning beep different from the "ready" chirp, but it still comes after the various startup beeps. Mine gives the first long beep just a second or two after closing the screw switch.

 

[kramer714]

Egg finder apogee (well used one) turned on without a charge
View attachment Record-002.mp4 connected

 

[b.wieting]

Email Cris at Eggtimer. He is very helpful.

 

[dasein668]

Email Cris at Eggtimer. He is very helpful.

I sent a support email a few days ago, but figured he's a busy guy so also though I'd post here. Hopefully he'll have an answer at some point.

 

[dasein668]

Additional data point--connected the Apogee to my computer with the USB-TTL Serial adaptor to see if I could get any comms running and as soon as power is supplied to the USB adaptor, before attaching the battery or closing the switch, I'm getting a continuous solid beep from the Apogee.

 

[Raythain]

Additional data point--connected the Apogee to my computer with the USB-TTL Serial adaptor to see if I could get any comms running and as soon as power is supplied to the USB adaptor, before attaching the battery or closing the switch, I'm getting a continuous solid beep from the Apogee.

Do you have the TX from the USB connected to the TX on the board?

You need to have the Apogee TX pin connected to the USB RX pin.

 

[dasein668]

Do you have the TX from the USB connected to the TX on the board?

You need to have the Apogee TX pin connected to the USB RX pin.

Ha someone needs better eyes. Thanks for that catch!

 

[Raythain]

Ha someone needs better eyes. Thanks for that catch!

And don’t have any idea why I knew that exact cause for that exact failure mode…

*walks off whistling*

 

[Rocketholic]

I put together my first Eggtimer kit this week--an Apogee. This is my first rocketry related build though I have successfully built several guitar effects from schematic in the past so I do have a bit of experience with electronics.

If you look closely at the three resistors soldered side by side at the top of the "front" photo, it doesn't look like solder has flowed up at least one of the wires from the rear and connected it to the silver colored pad on the front. In my honest opinion, solder should be present through the hole connecting the pad on the front to the wire. You may have an open circuit if these components have to be secured with solder at the pads on the front. I'm thinking your iron wasn't quite hot enough.
It can't hurt to visit these once again just to be sure you have a good connection. I just checked a photo of mine and there is at least some solder connection on the front side between the wire and the pad.
It could be that its there and I can't see it.

I bought a new soldering station to properly do my Apogee and the tricky part was getting the tip of the iron hot enough to provide a good solder joint. Once I had the temperature set to a decent level, things went smoothly. I also used a good, liquid, no clean, solder flux. Learned to use that stuff back in my intern days soldering frequency oscillators for military applications. Also, an acid brush dipped in a cap of rubbing alcohol does a great job of cleaning any residue left behind from the whole process.

I hope you figure it out because they are great little tools to use!

 

[dasein668]

If you look closely at the three resistors soldered side by side at the top of the "front" photo, it doesn't look like solder has flowed up at least one of the wires from the rear and connected it to the silver colored pad on the front. In my honest opinion, solder should be present through the hole connecting the pad on the front to the wire. You may have an open circuit if these components have to be secured with solder at the pads on the front. I'm thinking your iron wasn't quite hot enough.
It can't hurt to visit these once again just to be sure you have a good connection. I just checked a photo of mine and there is at least some solder connection on the front side between the wire and the pad.
It could be that its there and I can't see it.

I bought a new soldering station to properly do my Apogee and the tricky part was getting the tip of the iron hot enough to provide a good solder joint. Once I had the temperature set to a decent level, things went smoothly. I also used a good, liquid, no clean, solder flux. Learned to use that stuff back in my intern days soldering frequency oscillators for military applications. Also, an acid brush dipped in a cap of rubbing alcohol does a great job of cleaning any residue left behind from the whole process.

I hope you figure it out because they are great little tools to use!

That's super helpful, thanks. I'll dig into it more. I felt like I was getting good flow, but it's also the first time I've used such a fine tip. Also, admittedly, my eyes aren't great for close work and I could use a better magnifier.

 

[cerving]

I recommend a "ring" magnifier, those head-mounted magnifiers are too hard to work with. I know some people like them, but I personally find that it's too hard to go back and forth with one, and the screws tend to come loose too. Forget about using one of those cheap "third hands" units with the little magnifying glass... they're worthless.