First time with FlightSketch Mini - help

eggtimer rocketry
madcow rocketry
shop deals on amazon
The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
M

Macrophage42

Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2021
Messages
24
Reaction score
2
I tried to use the FlightSketch Mini for the first time at yesterday's club launch without success. I prepped the rocket. Turned on the FS Mini and attached it to the inside of the rocket. I then established the BluTooth connection with my iPad running the app. It was a very busy launch day. I had to wait a while in line to get a pad. Once on the pad, it sat there for a long time. When it was my turn to launch, I tried to Arm the mini from the iPad. That's where my problem was. It wouldn't arm.

What am I doing wrong? Did it shut itself off during the long wait?
 
My FS Mini is a little picky about batteries - if the battery isn’t fairly “fresh” it can be a little erratic about staying connected. But when the battery is fresh it seems to be more consistent. Bluetooth stuff tends to be a bit hit or miss for me 😏

There’s no reason not to arm it as soon as you rack it on the pad (a strong wind gust - or pulling the nose cone/payload bay out and reinserting it - could fool it into thinking it’s been launched but it isn’t likely). I think the user guide says to do it that way - as soon as the rocket is placed on the pad arm the Mini.
 
Macrophage42 said:
I tried to use the FlightSketch Mini for the first time at yesterday's club launch without success. I prepped the rocket. Turned on the FS Mini and attached it to the inside of the rocket. I then established the BluTooth connection with my iPad running the app. It was a very busy launch day. I had to wait a while in line to get a pad. Once on the pad, it sat there for a long time. When it was my turn to launch, I tried to Arm the mini from the iPad. That's where my problem was. It wouldn't arm.

What am I doing wrong? Did it shut itself off during the long wait?
Click to expand...
How far away were you when you tried to arm it?
 
Also, sometimes it just won't arm.

When this happens to me the first thing I try is to kill and restart the app on the phone/tablet. If that doesn't work, then power cycling the Mini (hold the button until you get a quick group of flashes, wait a moment, then a short press to turn it back on, which is indicated by a longer single flash from the LED). Generally between these two that gets it going.

And yes, if the cell is getting tired, it seems to be a bit more finicky about this, but even though I've literally hundreds of flights on FlightSketch Minis I've not figured out a threshold for when changing the cell is needed. That said, a fresh cell should run it for a couple of days....

But first off all, @bobbyg23's question about how far away you were is key. You can see what appears to be live data on the app screen and not be connected if you're far enough away. At one time there was an annoying warning about loosing connection that popped up on the app screen every time it did (which of course it does when it actually flies) and that was later removed. So now you have to look a little more closely at it to see the status.
 
BEC said:
And yes, if the cell is getting tired, it seems to be a bit more finicky about this, but even though I've literally hundreds of flights on FlightSketch Minis I've not figured out a threshold for when changing the cell is needed. That said, a fresh cell should run it for a couple of days....
Click to expand...
The first time I had a battery die was a bit stressful - my brand new replacement battery was also dead! It, by pure chance, coincided with a flight onboard a crashed rocket so I thought I’d killed my Mini - a newer new battery fixed everything 😆
 
Thanks guys, as other have said, make sure you are actually connected. The text "Connected" will display in the top right if it is receiving data from the altimeter. You can and should arm it right after you place the model on the pad. I can usually monitor from behind the flight line without issue but depending on the rocket and your range setup it might be too far. The "Arm for Launch" button will continue to be on the screen after it arms. Look for the "Ready to Launch" message under the buttons to confirm. If it is still giving you trouble on the bench, pulling the battery out will do a full reset. Since it's been a while since we've shipped any, you may also try a fresh battery. If you're flying in cold weather this time of year the little coin cells will fade quickly. If all else fails, shoot me an email and I can take a look.

Thanks!
 
Can anyone suggest good replacement batteries? I agree that mine seems finicky about batteries.
 
I can't seem to get a blue tooth connection. I even switched out the battery and put in a brand new one. After putting in the new battery, I turned the unit on. The LED came on for a bit and then turned off. Tried to make a blue tooth connection from and iPad and an LG phone, but I didn't see the FlightSketch on either device? Anything else I should try before I declare my flightsketch mini dead?
 
When powered up the LED will be on for a moment. Then just open the FlightSketch app and it will search for your device. You need not and should not do anything with Bluetooth settings from your device except be sure they are on.
 
Last edited:
Macrophage42 said:
I can't seem to get a blue tooth connection. I even switched out the battery and put in a brand new one. After putting in the new battery, I turned the unit on. The LED came on for a bit and then turned off. Tried to make a blue tooth connection from and iPad and an LG phone, but I didn't see the FlightSketch on either device? Anything else I should try before I declare my flightsketch mini dead?
Click to expand...
Bernard hits the nail on the head - the Flightsketch App is the key, there’s no need (or way that I’ve been able to see) that you can directly connect the Mini to any device outside of the FS App. As soon as the app opens it starts scanning for Flightsketch products. The Mini has a pretty good range for a Bluetooth device but I make sure I’m within a few feet when I initiate the connection process. You’ll know when the Mini connects - you’ll see the device’s status and the “baseline” data when it does (this is from memory - my Mini is in the rocket shop, I’m upstairs in the family room hoping A&M can figure out a way to beat ‘Bama 😆) - battery level, altitude, temperature and acceleration. If you can’t get the Mini to connect to the app try a fresh battery - as already discussed, the Mini likes a strong, fresh battery - and if that doesn’t get things going contact Russ. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
I tried this unit at today’s launch. After recovery, I tried to download the data to my iPad. It said Downloading 0% and stayed that way for an hour. What am I doing wrong?
 
The app sometimes hangs up like that. I’ve never found a pattern for when or why it happens before it does. But between power cycling the Mini and restarting the app you should be able to get the data out of the Mini. It will still be there.
 
This is quite frustrating. I’ve been restarting the app and recycling the power on the unit, but still no download. I have not successfully recorded a single flight.
 
Hmmmmmmm.....this leads back to the health of the "battery" (really only one cell) that powers it. I once had a Mini that refused to download at the field on a cold day despite restarts of app and Mini and it downloaded several hours later in the house just fine. Of course the power cell works better when warm.

When it's connected, what voltage does it report?
 
That battery voltage is fine. But no, if you put a new one in, you won’t lose the data currently aboard the Mini.

I’m stumped.

I just tried all the Minis and Comps I have on hand. One of them will only download to this iPad (first generation 12.9 inch Pro, iPadOS 16.1) about every third try of power cycling the device and reconnecting it. That one downloads to my iPhone with no problem. That one has also been damaged in use and the RF shield is off the bluetooth module. I wrapped it in some thin heat-shrink tubing so that handling wouldn’t short out stuff where the shield was, and it seems to otherwise be functional and I have been flying it lately.

All the others I tried downloaded to this iPad with no trouble except my oldest Mini, where it hung at 0% download, but tapping the download button again while it was in this state got it to succeed. This same old one (pre-production version with the thicker circuit board) wasn’t seen by my (new) iPhone for two or three tries, but then once I got it to connect to the phone all was well.

So yes, sometimes they are flaky, but it seems you’re having way more trouble than most. Do you have another device you can put the FS app on to try to download with?

The only other thing I can think of to try is to reflash the firmware using the update procedure on the FlightSketch web site. You need another app, called nRF Toolbox. The process is described on the Mini product page here https://flightsketch.com/store/catalog/flightsketch-mini_1/. I don’t remember whether doing that wipes out the flight data aboard or not.

@gtg738w Russ, any other ideas??!?
 
I think it’s more likely you haven’t recorded any data. The way the download process works, the App sends a packet to request the data and then displays the “Downloading… 0%” message. The altimeter should reply with a file size and then start sending numbered packets that the app uses to fill in the bar. If the altimeter has no data, it just ignores the request and the app sits there with the message still displayed.

Have you verified the altimeter is sending valid data after it is armed? It should have a clear ready to fly message after the flight loop is started, along with a sensor temp and altitude readings. Does it have a reasonable apogee displayed before you try the download? If the barometer is bad or the sensor power isn’t being turned on, it will never trigger the launch event and obviously would have invalid data even if did. If you are seeing good data and no problems with the Bluetooth link, then I’m also stumped why the downloads would still fail regularly…

If you think it’s a hardware problem, send me a message at [email protected] and I’ll get a return label to you.
 
I had a weird flight recently where the Mini didn't clear the previous data but showed a reasonable altitude on screen before downloading. Fortunately, I took a screenshot before downloading. I can tell when the previous flight doesn't clear because the download is very slow.
 
My flight was almost 2 days ago, now. I don't know if I can answer all of your questions.

>> Have you verified the altimeter is sending valid data after it is armed? It should have a clear ready to fly message after the flight loop is started, along with a sensor temp and altitude readings.

As I said this was 2 days ago. When I armed it, the Current Altitude said 0 and the Sensor Temp was around 65-deg F which was a reasonable temp.

>> Does it have a reasonable apogee displayed before you try the download? If the barometer is bad or the sensor power isn’t being turned on, it will never trigger the launch event and obviously would have invalid data even if did. If you are seeing good data and no problems with the Bluetooth link, then I’m also stumped why the downloads would still fail regularly…

I don't know the answer to this question. What I see now is...
FlightSketch--1851390442
Status
Blutooth RSSI -46 dB
Power 2.68V
Current Altitude 0 ft.
Max Altitude 0 ft.
Sensor Temp 71.2 °F

I don't know if it recorded anything. If I tap on Arm for Launch, it asks if I want to erase all flight data. I then tap Cancel.

I guess I'll try it again on Dec. 3 which is our next scheduled launch.

--Greg
 
I finally got it to work, I think.
how do I change the Description and Title fields in the flight log?

Greg
 
When it's connected to the app, it shows "Connected" on the upper right, IIRC?

It also helps when trying to locate the rocket in tall grass within about 20ft.
 

Similar threads

Ronz Rocketz
FlightSketch question
Replies
2
Views
603
Ronz Rocketz
Ronz Rocketz
NateB
Struggling With Eggtimer Builds
Replies
7
Views
1K
cerving
cerving
Dane Ronnow
Erratic FlightSketch Mini data
Replies
21
Views
1K
Dane Ronnow
Dane Ronnow
amiliv
Eggfinder receiver reporting it is receiving data and that it lost data at the same time
Replies
3
Views
568
cerving
cerving
Fireflash
Blue Raven blew BP charges instantly when switched on
2
Replies
38
Views
2K
Adrian A
Adrian A

Latest posts

Back
Top