Some Quick Help on the Altus Metrum easy mini

[mhanna]

A middle school rocketry team I'm working with purchased the above mention altimeter but are having trouble with the set up. (I have never used one of these)
In going through the instructions, it appears you need a computer to set/change and of the values. i.e. main deploy altitude. They did not purchase any cable or interfaces so I think we are missing something? Their only plan was to use it for Dual Deploy and thought the "easy" in the description would mean simple set up. Are there any default values for altitude deploy or does everything need to be set?

 

[SDramstad]

It can be flown straight out of the box. I forget what the defaults are but its somewhere in the documentation. One thing that gave me problems was the USB cable I was using. I didnt realize that there are a bunch of the micro usb cables that are only for a power connection, not data. When I finally got a true data cable it worked perfectly.

 

[RocketDestroyer]

You will need a micro-USB cable to connect to a computer if you want to change the settings. The software can be downloaded on the Altus Metrum web page. The battery must be connected as well for the computer to be able to program the mini. As mentioned above, make sure you have a good USB data cable. Come back if you are still having problems.

 

[mhanna]

I had a feeling that was the direction we were heading, thanks for the help and advice.

 

[cerving]

FYI, most USB-mini cables floating around are power-only cables, and will NOT work with devices requiring data. You need to get one that explicitly says "data cable"... the cables that come with things like USB fans and wireless phone chargers won't cut it.

 

[manixFan]

It can be flown straight out of the box. I forget what the defaults are but its somewhere in the documentation. One thing that gave me problems was the USB cable I was using. I didnt realize that there are a bunch of the micro usb cables that are only for a power connection, not data. When I finally got a true data cable it worked perfectly.

I now have a collection of not only micro USB cables that are power only, but also USB-C as well. The USB-C power only tend to be shorter and thinner than regular cables, but the micro USB cables are pretty much all the same regardless if they are power or data. I’ve ordered a couple of small power tools and lights that have a USB-C charging port and each one came with a power only cable. I’ve learned to label them immediately and keep them separate from my data cables.


Tony

 

[cls]

I’ve learned to label them immediately and keep them separate from my data cables

I've learned to cut power-only cables in half and put them in the trash, to keep them separate from everything. There's a place in hell for those, I'm sure.

 

[Donnager]

I've learned to cut power-only cables in half and put them in the trash, to keep them separate from everything. There's a place in hell for those, I'm sure.

Or you could do like I do, just keep swapping, and swapping, and swapping, until.....

I have a USB cable from an old Motorola Android phone that I use for this. It has been very reliable, and I baby it.