Eggtimer Quark Question

[Dad of Sapling]

I am working on my first attempt at dual deploy. The rocket is built, the eggtimer quark is assembled and working. The question is what do you use to attach the remote wire and switch for ground testing to the pins on the board? The closest thing I have found is a JST connector, but it is too long to fit inside my BT60 tube. Thanks

 

[Handeman]

When ground testing, you can do two types of tests. Vacuum testing to confirm the operation of the altimeter, and charge testing to verify the size of ejection charges needed for apogee and main deployments.
These two can be done together which tends to be complicated and can depend on how well your av-bay is sealed by applying a vacuum to the altimeter to simulate a flight. With some altimeters, you can use a remote "test" function to fire the charges to do "charge" testing.

Since the dependability of the altimeters are seldom in question, most ground testing is actually "charge" testing to verify the charge sizes needed for the apogee and main deployments. For this, you can wire the matches directly to a "launch controller" by twisting the longer wire to the ones that normally go to the altimeter. To fire them, just run a pair of wires out of a vent hole that you touch across a battery that can fire the matches.

In my case, my L1 rocket was dual deploy and I did charge testing to verify the size of the charges needed for both deployments. I also did vacuum testing to verify the operation of the altimeter. I did several tests that included both. The bottom line was that I learned so much about the operation of the altimeter with all that testing that when it came time to do my actual cert flight, the dual deployment wasn't close to the top of my list of things to worry about.

Just decide what you are actually testing and do the tests accordingly.

Good Luck... DD isn't really that hard!

 

[tsmith1315]

The closest thing I have found is a JST connector, but it is too long to fit inside my BT60 tube. Thanks

You can remove the pin jacks from the JST plug. Tiny lock mechanism on the backside off the crimp. Push a straightened paper clip or such in there, while holding the plastic shell, and pull firmly on the wire.

You can bend the lock back and re-insert when done.

Insulate the wire with tape when testing.

 

[SolarYellow]

Header pin jumper wires are meant to slide onto the pins on the Quark. Still probably too long to fit in your tube, though.

https://www.amazon.com/Antrader-Breadboard-Dupont-Arduino-Raspberry/dp/B07S2RH6Q4?th=1
You can also get them with a variety of number of pin slots integrated at the spacing of the header pins.

You might also try just wire wrapping the pins to connect a switch to them for expedient connect/disconnect per the Quark ground testing instructions. There is another thread around here somewhere with a discussion of wire wrapping tools and techniques.

 

[David Schwantz]

Just order the cord from Cris at Eggtimer.

 

[waltr]

I just temporally tack solder the test leads onto the bottom of the board to get the Ejection Charge sizing tests done..

 

[Dad of Sapling]

Thanks for all of the tips and ideas. I'm going to go with the wire wrap which will give the the lowest profile. I also built a testing switch with leads that is self contained in a pill bottle.