So $260 for the pair? Kurt
Yes.
So $260 for the pair? Kurt
So $300 for both units and the case. I need to replace an RDF tracker I lost at Airfest which will cost me $140. So for the same price as an RDF I can get a full GPS transmitter. What's not to like?$130 per tracker.
A tracker can be used at either end of the link. An optional ground station enclosure that includes a large battery, battery charger and external switch will go for $40. More photos and info soon. <snipped for brevity>
Awesome.
So $300 for both units and the case. I need to replace an RDF tracker I lost at Airfest which will cost me $140. So for the same price as an RDF I can get a full GPS transmitter. What's not to like?
Looking forward to these going live on the website...
Tony
And it sounds like a user could rig up their own 'base station box' if desired. Is that correct? Not sure it's worth the savings but I already have some interesting ideas for a case.
Tony
Of course a big question is can the base station quickly switch between two transmitters? Of course I'm thinking of tracking a 2 stage where the booster is expected to get significant altitude and a GPS is warranted. That would really be a great setup.
I probably missed it, but what is the prefer power source for this guy:
1) ?S Lipo and what is the drain roughly (mA/h)?
2) Will you be selling a recommended battery with it?
This thing is super cool, and has changed my BF plans...must maintain some reserve funds.
Some of the advanced features are very powerful, including the relay function. I'm really interested to hear how that works. Could be very useful for sites like Argonia and BALLS.
I was just saying to my dad a little while ago that I expect to see large balloons with these at launches.I love this idea. How about a loitering blimp/drone instead of waiting for another launch?
Adrian, this looks simply awesome. Exactly what I would expect from Featherweight and then some.
Couple of questions:
To use the apps (either the currently available iPhone one, or the "still-to-come" android one), I'm assuming they will work without a data plan (or cell service), yes? What about using an iPad?
I know the final production version doesn't quite exist yet, but what will be the dimensions and weight?
s6
At BALLS this year, we did test out part of it by stashing a tracker on the playa out of direct radio range from the flight line. Then when we flew Kevin's rocket, it picked up data packets from the "lost" rocket.
I love this idea. How about a loitering blimp/drone instead of waiting for another launch?
I was just saying to my dad a little while ago that I expect to see large balloons with these at launches.
Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Rocketry Forum mobile app
Yup. I'd volunteer to fly a solar powered repeater blimp tethered to my pop up stakes at Airfest next year
Adrian, this looks simply awesome. Exactly what I would expect from Featherweight and then some.
Couple of questions:
To use the apps (either the currently available iPhone one, or the "still-to-come" android one), I'm assuming they will work without a data plan (or cell service), yes? What about using an iPad?
I know the final production version doesn't quite exist yet, but what will be the dimensions and weight?
s6
Adrian - I think you should also tell them how the tracking works so well that when you went to retrieve the 'stashed tracker laying in a plastic bag on the playa at BALLS', you managed to actually drive right over it while going to get it... :smile: "priceless!" :smile:
Forgive me if I missed it reading all these posts....have you mentioned how many channels [if that's the correct term] or units can be used at a launch without interfering with one another. For reference I use the
Telemega and has 10 . The Missile works comes with an assigned freq. that only each user has [over 40,000] I think. Each is serial numbered so more can be added to each persons individual stash. i.e.. you can request several units on your freq.
From post #103
For a LoRa receiver to start reacting to a signal, it has to be on the same frequency (out of 50-100 typical channels), with the same selected bandwidth (out of 3 typical choices), and the right spreading factor (out of 7 typical choices) and the same coding rate (out of 4 choices, though most people will probably opt for 1 of the 4 options). So the chances of an unintentional connection are pretty small. Transmissions on a different frequency won't affect the receiver at all, while transmissions that are on the same frequency but don't match up the other three factors just look like noise to the receiver, reducing the receive sensitivity by a few dB during the overlap in transmission.
So on the receive end it uses B/T to communicate go the iPhone. How long before an Android app or lacking that can the
raw NMEA strings be streamed to an Android device as is? OS interoperability is something desirable if one would like to run the live data through another terminal app. Kurt
Thanks Les for finding that! I scrolled back a ways looking for it and then got side tracked by something in one of the posts... :smile:
So if I use the low end of the choices 50 * 3 * 7 * 1 = 1050. or the high end 100 * 3 * 7 * 4 = 8400 possible pairs.
I believe it is our intent to have the units auto adjust their frequency based on units at the field that day (they will communicate between each other on the 'public' channel). I think Adrian will have more thoughts and inputs on that. [Adrian is the expert on the hardware / radio side for sure.]
The short answer might be for Android only users to wait then? I suspect then that that tracker sends more than
just NMEA strings over the link to work with the planned terminal software.
The short answer might be for Android only users to wait then? I suspect then that that tracker sends more than
just NMEA strings over the link to work with the planned terminal software.
Any idea what minimum OS version might be? I could easily lay my hands on a last-gen Apple device.Yes, that's correct. In fact, we're not using NMEA strings at all.
For those who haven's seen it yet on the website, here's a diagram of the relay function:
Here's how it works:
When the tracker sends GPS data to the ground station, it does it in a cycle. First the tracker sends data to the ground station, then the Ground station sends back an acknowledgement to the tracker, and then there is some time available for listening on other radio channels dedicated for public coordination. During that time, the tracker listens for other trackers and the ground station listens for other ground stations. The trackers are listening on a "lost and found" channel that the trackers transmit on when they are out of contact with their phone and ground station. When a tracker hears from a found rocket, it sends that data back to its own ground station and then to the phone app. When a phone app sees that a new rocket has been found, it tells the ground station to transmit that information during the public coordination period, which allow all the other ground stations in range to get the same information.
This might sound complicated, but it will all be happening in the background so if your rocket lands behind a hill, you'll just see a new updated location of your rocket as soon as another rocket carrying a Featherweight tracker launches into a clear line of sight to the your rocket.
A caveat here is that the code isn't done yet, though I have been planning for this since I started about 10 months ago. At BALLS this year, we did test out part of it by stashing a tracker on the playa out of direct radio range from the flight line. Then when we flew Kevin's rocket, it picked up data packets from the "lost" rocket.
After seeing this, I’m imagining people losing a rocket in the corn, then sending more rockets up over the corn to find the first one...
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