The LCD unit for both the TRS and the Eggfinder iirc can both have the HC-06 Bluetooth module attached, and it is easy to do so. I did it on my Eggfinder LCD which I use with the Eggfinder TRS.
It's in an appendix in the manual as to how to wire the B/T module. Easy to do. I've added B/T to a first generation battery operated EggFinder receiver on 915Mhz. I like it for testing as I don't have to put up with the "beep.....beep....beep". But for actual rocket tracking I love the beeping that indicates packets coming in on my EF LCD receiver. Under boost/G forces the signal can disappear but it's very sweet to hear those packets start streaming in when the rocket is in "outta sight land".
A live mapping app cues a person where to look for the expectant main chute event. Just add the main deployment altitude to field elevation (ie. the altitude you see just before launch) if you're looking in the direction where the map tells you
and you don't see the main, one either has a main event failure or the rocket is too far away to be seen or you're disoriented and not looking in the right direction even with the map in hand. It happens. I've had the experience of not seeing anything of a small rocket DD flight. Walk up to it and the main is out on the ground and the rocket is fine and dandy. No muss, no fuss and get on with flying the next project instead of running around all over the place. If one can't see the main event and you look at the altitude coming in, you can tell the main is out by the slowing of the altitude descent rate.
Of course the EggTimer TRS sets the altitude to zero and then streams in the baro altitude that is more accurate than the GPS altitude of a Sirf IV chipset. If your main is set for 800' that's where you'd see it on the LCD receiver plus
the Main and Apogee continuity indicators go out generally when the charges fire. The Sirf IV is not so good with GPS altitude but it's dern great for position. On a MapQuest photomap with a clear view of the satellites it's more often than not "dead" on accurate. Cripes in testing with driving an EggFinder around with APRSISCE/32 (
https://www.rocketryforum.com/showt...-Mapping-Program-Update&p=1543086#post1543086) the SirfIV will put me in the
middle of the lane that I'm driving in!
I suspect an easy to setup graphical mapping tracker "with" cacheable maps will make it out there someday. The Ham Radio tracking programs "stuff" is doable but quite frankly is hard for a non-Ham, non-APRS tracking person to setup. Plus having to type in a fake callsign to get the programs to work is stupid. No one is going to run afoul of the law using their legal no-license-required ISM trackers with the software as no Rf is going out on the amateur frequencies.
YAAC,
https://www.ka2ddo.org/ka2ddo/YAAC.html was a candidate but unfortunately Bluetooth connectivity on a Windows tablet eludes us at present.
YAAC is a Java app and with YAAC/Java/Linux it's a real sweet and easy setup.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/showt...apping-Tracking-program&p=1534933#post1534933
Running around with a laptop in the field is a PITA so a tablet is desireable. Unfortunately, getting Bluetooth working in a Java/Windows environment
is equally a PITA (pain-in-the "you know what"!) Nice thing about all these apps are they are free and the maps are free. I'd like to see a graphical tracker that all fliers could use and that ability would really cut down on lost rockets
so all's we'd have to worry about is cato's and deployment failures. Although with a deployment failure, a mapping GPS tracker makes is easy to find the remains as depicted here:
https://www.rocketryforum.com/showt...-Mapping-Program-Update&p=1573624#post1573624
The Altus Metrum software and AltosDroid for their GPS trackable products are pretty close to perfect. Several types of maps are cacheable and a very usable watermarked version of a photomap is available for off grid use. It even has a voice narration, though I haven't had a chance to fly mine with the Tele-GPS yet. The Tele-GPS is the smallest APRS tracker out there. There are smaller NMEA trackers (like the EggFinder format) than the Tele-GPS that folks can cobble together.
I'm not dissing the APRS tracking on the Ham bands (I do that too) as there are some propagation advantages to the Ham frequencies. Thing is a sport flier is likely not going to need to take advantage of them and won't miss them. Kurt