Estes Altimeter

[apburner]

Got a question about estes Altimeter. Does it require a high event before it will start recording altitude. Or does it just start recording the highest altitude once the reset button has been pressed. I was thinking it might be fun to put one into an RC glider and see how high it gets. Thanks

 

[Art Upton]

It must get a Lift Off Detect like most all rocket Baro Altimeters which means a get it up 100+ feet or so.

 

[Art Upton]

It must get a Lift Off Detect like most all rocket Baro Altimeters which means a get it up 100+ feet or so.

If you search here you will find a person that could not get his large Water Rocket to trigger that Altimeter for launch detect.

 

[apburner]

Thanks obviously will not work for a glider.

 

[cerving]

It might work for your glider, I would expect that Estes' altimeter would have a fairly low launch detect altitude... maybe 100', 200' tops.

 

[BEC]

The Jolly Logic AltimeterOne (and the currently unobtanium AltimeterThree) have a mode for this, so that it need not detect a launch.

The Estes altimeter needs an altitude (value unknown) and an ascent rate (also value unknown) to detect a launch. It might work, it might not. No one at Estes knows what these values are and no one at the Chinese supplier does either, as the Chinese engineer that was in charge of its development left that company.

 

[bad_idea]

The Jolly Logic AltimeterOne (and the currently unobtanium AltimeterThree) have a mode for this, so that it need not detect a launch.

The Estes altimeter needs an altitude (value unknown) and an ascent rate (also value unknown) to detect a launch. It might work, it might not. No one at Estes knows what these values are and no one at the Chinese supplier does either, as the Chinese engineer that was in charge of its development left that company.

Perhaps due to these mystery values not being surpassed, I've had no more than 30% success in getting the Estes to record at all, even when following the instructions to a T. It makes me think considerably less of Estes than I might otherwise that they continue to sell that piece of snake oil junk.

 

[BEC]

I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it "snake oil junk" but it is, well, not up to Estes' usual standards of functionality. I really wish they'd just drop the thing and either team up with a US supplier to make a better device or just pull it and throw business toward Jolly Logic (rather than selling a poor substitute for AltimeterOne).