Best GPS tracking system?

[boatgeek]

I've used Eggfinder TX and Mini plus BRB900 for flights to 14,000' AGL. IMHO:
There's not much reason to buy the TX [edit] unless you want to replace the antenna with a higher performance antenna[/edit]. The Mini works just as well, has a smaller footprint, and a more robust antenna straight out of the box. Assembly is not particularly hard, just get a decent to good temperature-controlled soldering station. I spent $40 or so on one from an online speaker builder site. I'm sure it's not as good as it could be, but it works fine. One feature you might look for is some means of notification (blinky light or whatever) that your iron is up to temperature. The base Eggfinder RX has two main features--tells you where your rocket is and (if you push a few buttons at the pad) how far and what bearing from the pad. There's an upgrade to the Eggfinder RX that directs you to your rocket, but I haven't used it.

The BRB is a little more expensive, but the transmit unit is completely self-contained with a battery. It's awfully nice to be able to wrap it in bubble wrap, stuff it into a hole in the nose cone shoulder, and go fly. No sleds required unless you want to build one. The ground station is basically the same data as the base Eggfinder RX but it only gives position info. That can be typed into a phone or separate GPS unit.

 

[ksaves2]

I've used Eggfinder TX and Mini plus BRB900. IMHO:
There's not much reason to buy the TX. The Mini works just as well, has a smaller footprint, and a more robust antenna straight out of the box. Assembly is not particularly hard, just get a decent to good temperature-controlled soldering station. I spent $40 or so on one from an online speaker builder site. I'm sure it's not as good as it could be, but it works fine. One feature you might look for is some means of notification (blinky light or whatever) that your iron is up to temperature. The base Eggfinder RX has two main features--tells you where your rocket is and (if you push a few buttons at the pad) how far and what bearing from the pad. There's an upgrade to the Eggfinder RX that directs you to your rocket, but I haven't used it.

The BRB is a little more expensive, but the transmit unit is completely self-contained with a battery. It's awfully nice to be able to wrap it in bubble wrap, stuff it into a hole in the nose cone shoulder, and go fly. No sleds required unless you want to build one. The ground station is basically the same data as the base Eggfinder RX but it only gives position info. That can be typed into a phone or separate GPS unit.

Only thing with the mini is stuck with that antenna. If trying to push the range with egg products, a half wave or 5/8 wave antenna could increase the effective range of the tracker. But then one would need the room for the longer antenna. Kurt

 

[cerving]

...and a longer antenna would defeat the purpose of the Mini. If you need a bigger antenna, go with the "standard" Eggfinder TX. Honestly, you're probably going to get a bigger bang for the buck by upgrading your receiver antenna... this is true for all trackers, not just ours.

 

[ksaves2]

...and a longer antenna would defeat the purpose of the Mini. If you need a bigger antenna, go with the "standard" Eggfinder TX. Honestly, you're probably going to get a bigger bang for the buck by upgrading your receiver antenna... this is true for all trackers, not just ours.

Cris,
I did say, “But one would need the room for a longer antenna.” ;-) Improving the antenna on both ends can benefit further. Again, a sport flier whose projects don’t stay out of sight that long won’t notice. Kurt

 

[Chris_H]

The Garmin DC40 Astro 320 is a good tracking only system. The transmitter is powerful, and it just works. Once it is on, if it loses lock, say from being taken indoors, or from passing Mach, it regains lock very quickly. I flew the setup in the photo below in a 54mm minimum diameter on an L1030 to just under 24k. It lost lock for about 10 seconds, maybe a little more. We got in the car and drove right to where it landed, 1.5 miles away. In it's enclosure, it is big. It could be removed, and 'hard mounted' by someone crafty. It is also durable. I had one in a bird that CATO'd this past weekend, sitting on the forward closure, which blew out. It was charred, but was, and is still working fine. It will fly again, no problem.

I have had an AIM Xtra. It is a great little unit. Setting it up was a little bit of a hassle, as it does not like Windows 7. And, there is a little learning curve. I lost mine, evidently they are not designed for deep earth digging, but may buy another.

The Featherweight system looks really cool. I saw it in action this past weekend. There are quite a few people using it, it seems. I will be using that system soon. Not getting rid of the DC40, though. That is a reliable, super simple system. One flight, I kept my head down on the Astro screen, only, and walked right to the landing site. I do not recall the transmitter power, but it is more powerful than most of the rocketry purposed GPS. Is it 2W? Or 5W? I do not recall.

 

[Cameron Anderson]

The Garmin DC40 Astro 320 is a good tracking only system. The transmitter is powerful, and it just works. Once it is on, if it loses lock, say from being taken indoors, or from passing Mach, it regains lock very quickly. I flew the setup in the photo below in a 54mm minimum diameter on an L1030 to just under 24k. It lost lock for about 10 seconds, maybe a little more. We got in the car and drove right to where it landed, 1.5 miles away. In it's enclosure, it is big. It could be removed, and 'hard mounted' by someone crafty. It is also durable. I had one in a bird that CATO'd this past weekend, sitting on the forward closure, which blew out. It was charred, but was, and is still working fine. It will fly again, no problem.

I have had an AIM Xtra. It is a great little unit. Setting it up was a little bit of a hassle, as it does not like Windows 7. And, there is a little learning curve. I lost mine, evidently they are not designed for deep earth digging, but may buy another.

The Featherweight system looks really cool. I saw it in action this past weekend. There are quite a few people using it, it seems. I will be using that system soon. Not getting rid of the DC40, though. That is a reliable, super simple system. One flight, I kept my head down on the Astro screen, only, and walked right to the landing site. I do not recall the transmitter power, but it is more powerful than most of the rocketry purposed GPS. Is it 2W? Or 5W? I do not recall.

Another AIM XTRA owner?? I just got one and I'm testing in on the 4th. Setup was dreadful - luckily I bought a used Windows 10 machine off a friend after spending hours on 7 and 8 and I couldn't get it working. Once I got the computer interfaces working, the system powered up and tracked fine. The issue I am having now is it is defaulting to Cesium and not Google Earth and the node js program is intended for people who have more computer savvy than I do.

Overall, how did you like it?

 

[Chris_H]

I started off by setting up my macbook pro with a bootcamp partition, did not go as easily as it could have, so I arrived at the starting line 'well worked'. Windows 7 did not work with the software, and I do not like Windows 10. It took hours to figure out that it did not work with 7, and at that time the maker was unaware that it was not working with 7, or versions of 7, until after I mentioned it. (I am dreading the switch to 10 in the next few months, but it is time for a new build on the workstation anyway) After installing Windows 10, it communicated immediately and easily. Setup in the program seemed easy. Getting it to work with Google Earth, and not to switch to Cesium confused me a little. Before I could get comfortable with the unit, I buried it deep in terra firma. Tore the surface mounted components right off of it. The unit worked fine as an altimeter. I did not get good flight data, but that was probably my fault. My opinion of it, I think it is probably a great unit, and I may buy another transmitter. I am going to get a Featherweight tracker setup, but I think the AIM is worthwhile. I am moderately computer savvy. If I get another, I will get to know it well before I fly it and count on the tracking abilities. I think that whichever system is chosen, they are all going to have a learning curve, and the beginning will require some scrambling. I am okay with that, now.

I hope that Adrian has great success with the Featherweight system, and that in the coming years, that it comes out as a winner.

Bring back some good news with your Aim Xtra. I hope you love it. Report back.

My experience with GPS tracking systems is limited, so take that into account.

 

[Cameron Anderson]

I started off by setting up my macbook pro with a bootcamp partition, did not go as easily as it could have, so I arrived at the starting line 'well worked'. Windows 7 did not work with the software, and I do not like Windows 10. It took hours to figure out that it did not work with 7, and at that time the maker was unaware that it was not working with 7, or versions of 7, until after I mentioned it. (I am dreading the switch to 10 in the next few months, but it is time for a new build on the workstation anyway) After installing Windows 10, it communicated immediately and easily. Setup in the program seemed easy. Getting it to work with Google Earth, and not to switch to Cesium confused me a little. Before I could get comfortable with the unit, I buried it deep in terra firma. Tore the surface mounted components right off of it. The unit worked fine as an altimeter. I did not get good flight data, but that was probably my fault. My opinion of it, I think it is probably a great unit, and I may buy another transmitter. I am going to get a Featherweight tracker setup, but I think the AIM is worthwhile. I am moderately computer savvy. If I get another, I will get to know it well before I fly it and count on the tracking abilities. I think that whichever system is chosen, they are all going to have a learning curve, and the beginning will require some scrambling. I am okay with that, now.

I hope that Adrian has great success with the Featherweight system, and that in the coming years, that it comes out as a winner.

Bring back some good news with your Aim Xtra. I hope you love it. Report back.

My experience with GPS tracking systems is limited, so take that into account.

My only small issue with Featherweight is its Apple-only app. For me to use it, i'd have to borrow my daughter's ipad, which I'm not above doing. I got my first Raven a few weeks ago and I like how small and simple it is.

Switching from Cesium is my last hurdle. I have a tech friend who had looked at it and thinks he has a fix to keep the system looking at Google Earth. I don't want updates or fixes...i want a working, unchanging system. Current automation is going to update the XTRA right out of existence.

I am going to fly it next week in a very proven airframe as a ride-along system with no actual DD function. I am using a reliable RRC2 as my prime altimeter for DD. The XTRA is just going to have 1 e- match per channel with no charges and I'm going to going to verify its ability to detect programmed events. The whole reason I got it was for extended range tracking. Im prepping a 50k two-stage right now and my T3 is great for smaller projects and anything not going over mach 1.5. I've found that is the line for its effectiveness. Stay below 20K and below 1100 mph and it works well.

 

[John Kemker]

I started off by setting up my macbook pro with a bootcamp partition, did not go as easily as it could have, so I arrived at the starting line 'well worked'. Windows 7 did not work with the software, and I do not like Windows 10. It took hours to figure out that it did not work with 7, and at that time the maker was unaware that it was not working with 7, or versions of 7, until after I mentioned it.

Are you running a 64-bit or 32-bit version of Win7? If 32-bit, that may be your problem.

I have just the opposite problem at work. The software we use to run inventories was written with non-portable 32-bit libraries, so we have to run Win7 in 32-bit mode. Since 32-bit mode can't address as much memory as a 64-bit OS, we run slower than molasses in January in Alaska, as the OS has to continually swap to disk. (Seymour Cray, pioneer of supercomputing, once said, "Memory is like an orgasm. It's better if you don't have to fake it.")

 

[John Kemker]

So, I just came across this on eBay today:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/APRS-X1C5-...264420729301?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10

A bit pricey for most, and would require a license, but looks to be rugged enough for the job.

 

[Chris_H]

Are you running a 64-bit or 32-bit version of Win7? If 32-bit, that may be your problem.

I have just the opposite problem at work. The software we use to run inventories was written with non-portable 32-bit libraries, so we have to run Win7 in 32-bit mode. Since 32-bit mode can't address as much memory as a 64-bit OS, we run slower than molasses in January in Alaska, as the OS has to continually swap to disk. (Seymour Cray, pioneer of supercomputing, once said, "Memory is like an orgasm. It's better if you don't have to fake it.")

Windows 7 Ultimate, 64 Bit.

After I mentioned it to the manufacturer, he checked it out and confirmed what I found. Windows 10 was the answer.

 

[John Kemker]

Kewl. Glad you found the answer.

Developer probably using newer libraries not available under Win7.

 

[Cameron Anderson]

Are you running a 64-bit or 32-bit version of Win7? If 32-bit, that may be your problem.

I have just the opposite problem at work. The software we use to run inventories was written with non-portable 32-bit libraries, so we have to run Win7 in 32-bit mode. Since 32-bit mode can't address as much memory as a 64-bit OS, we run slower than molasses in January in Alaska, as the OS has to continually swap to disk. (Seymour Cray, pioneer of supercomputing, once said, "Memory is like an orgasm. It's better if you don't have to fake it.")

It was 32 bit, but I'm running Windows 10 now so it's not an issue.

Even though I couldnt use Google Earth or Cesium, the data transmission was still top notch.

 

[cwbullet]

I prefer missile works. Garmin Astro is ok. If I want altitude, I would use Comspec RF.

 

[ksaves2]

I prefer missile works. Garmin Astro is ok. If I want altitude, I would use Comspec RF.

Since I have a General Ham ticket (a Technician would do for tracking on the ham bands). I’d prefer something on the 70cm or 2 meter Ham band GPS tracker if going for very extreme altitude. On my Wildman Jr’s. I’ve done 16 flights on a 12mW Beeline GPS 400Mhz tracker above 5k and sometimes above 6k to flight unseen land and have recovered the rockets every fricking time. Never saw the descent but once. Pointing the 7 element Yagi in the general direction my live map told me to point the antenna, I could keep the once every 5 second APRS position packets coming in. Walked up to them every time with a Kenwood D72A attached with one wire to a Garmin 60 Cs or 60 CsX. Best darned out of the box portable rocket live mapping system on the Ham bands available. Only issue is have to buy the Garmin 60 brand second hand. Can get and use open source maps on it though. Easy to download ‘em.

Now, admittedly I haven’t flown my T3 on 900 MHz but with 250mW output the live position packet recovery should be better than 100mW units. That said, I have not lost an Eggfinder equipped rocket and some folks have gone above 20k with these 100mW units and still found their rockets. I b@st#rdized some ham radio software to be able to track on a live map with 900 MHz trackers be they whomever. PITA to get it going though. I have one more tweak to test. I love tracking and getting rockets back that otherwise might be lost and go on and fly the next one. That’s the deal with tracking. Launch one high flier and spend the rest of the launch time trying to find the thing or getting it back ASAP so one can go and fly their next rocket. The beauty of GPS tracking no matter what modality a flier uses.

Please note: I’m not slamming the unlicensed stuff as I’ve flown both and am very glad that folks that don’t want to sit for a Ham test can get onboard with the
900Mhz no license required GPS trackers. Helps with getting rockets out of tall grass and corn. When I started in ‘06, APRS was the only game in town without spending $1k for a 900Mhz GPS tracker that is no better now than an EggFinder but was a zillion times larger. I know, because I bought one of these trackers second hand for cheap and fired it up. It was part of the ARTS2 assembleage and was very pricey in its day from Ozark Aerospace. Quite capable for the era. An EggFinder in a big mother platform. Good gosh, we’ve gone far. Kurt Savegnago

 

[gtg738w]

Since I have a General Ham ticket (a Technician would do for tracking on the ham bands). I’d prefer something on the 70cm or 2 meter Ham band GPS tracker if going for very extreme altitude.

With new radios using LoRa modulation, it will be hard to justify needing anything in the Ham bands. Even flying past 100km can probably be tracked with 900 mHz now. It's amazing what some of the new technology is capable of.

 

[John Kemker]

With new radios using LoRa modulation, it will be hard to justify needing anything in the Ham bands. Even flying past 100km can probably be tracked with 900 mHz now. It's amazing what some of the new technology is capable of.

It's real easy to justify: We have the license, the equipment and we want to.

I also prefer open standards, not proprietary ones.

 

[gtg738w]

But is it needed? Sure, if you already have a Ham rig there is little reason to switch, but for a new user or a company developing a new tracker, saying Ham bands are required for high altitude flights is no longer true. Developing for unlicensed bands makes a lot more sense if the capability is there - and it is.

 

[John Kemker]

So, why does it make more sense? I don't follow the logic.

 

[manixFan]

I had a BRB and a Kenwood D72A with the Garmin cable and sold it all. I now have several Featherweight trackers. There is no comparison. The Featherweight system is far easier to use and offers far more features. Cost is comparable, until you try and find a replacement battery for the Kenwood. The receiver for the Featherweight is tiny compared to all the ham gear. No cables, it's all bluetooth between receiver and the phone. I've used the system at BALLS for two years and I can't imagine going any other way now. Obviously the ham stuff can work fine and lots of folks enjoy working with it. But for the rest of us it's great that we have several very good non-ham options.


Tony

 

[ksaves2]

I had a BRB and a Kenwood D72A with the Garmin cable and sold it all. I now have several Featherweight trackers. There is no comparison. The Featherweight system is far easier to use and offers far more features. Cost is comparable, until you try and find a replacement battery for the Kenwood. The receiver for the Featherweight is tiny compared to all the ham gear. No cables, it's all bluetooth between receiver and the phone. I've used the system at BALLS for two years and I can't imagine going any other way now. Obviously the ham stuff can work fine and lots of folks enjoy working with it. But for the rest of us it's great that we have several very good non-ham options.


Tony

But no live map tracking at the present time. Admittedly, that is not important if one doesn't want to live track and just find the rocket. One has two systems out there. Multitronix which has a large footprint but a project that is going to the extreme there is usually room and the Featherweight offering. Multitronix I don't know if it's Lo-Ra but it might not as the tracker can do 1 watt. Can compensate with more horsepower! If going for the high 5 figure altitudes with pricey hardware, it behooves one to have more than one GPS tracker on board. The 70cm and 2 meter stuff allows one to use a Yagi throughout the flight to maintain a decent lock on the extreme side. I'd be jittery using
a 100mW standard 900Mhz GPS tracker. Incidentally, trying to use a 900Mhz Yagi for inflight tracking might be tough as the beamwidth of a Yagi on this frequency is much narrower than 400mhz and 144Mhz frequencies. Makes it harder to
aim at a moving rocket.

Sure, have no Ham license and just fly for sport, use an Egg product. They're cheap and they'll find your rocket as long as it doesn't drift stupid far.

Tip: No matter what GPS tracker you use, there is an advantage to blowing your main chute as high as your venue and feet can tolerate. The reason being once the descent rate settles down, your chances of getting multiple positions increases.
On 900Mhz, the loss rate of positions increases with high velocity and tumbling under drogue or drogueless descent. Antenna polarity is one reason with the tumbling rocket. The Egg products get enough positions out so one can find their rockets.
Don't expect a stable 1/sec datastream as it ain't gonna happen.

One other mentionable is B/T is not what its cut out to be. The single cable from a Garmin 60Cs(X) to a D72a works every time without diddling. Only good for mobile live tracking though. The Featherweight size is very inviting and if one has the funds, it should be considered. Again, for a sport flier a 100mW unit can do the job and I'll tell ya', I had an EggFinder GPS (I paid $50.00 on special) lawndart/auger in on a rocket I undercharged and the shearpins held. Found the rocket because of the last position received was while the rocket was still 75-100 feet up. Walked up to the position and the rocket was there. EggFinder was pulverized but $50.00 is a lot easier to swallow than a $150.00 (or more depending on hardware) unit.
Kurt

 

[Voyager1]

So, why does it make more sense? I don't follow the logic.

I think the logic behind it is that ‘developers’ of a tracking system using unlicensed bands will potentially sell more units, rather than requiring users to have a ham licence to operate them.

 

[OverTheTop]

Tip: No matter what GPS tracker you use, there is an advantage to blowing your main chute as high as your venue and feet can tolerate. The reason being once the descent rate settles down, your chances of getting multiple positions increases.

Yep. I generally do main at about 1800', and that's why.

 

[manixFan]

But no live map tracking at the present time. Admittedly, that is not important if one doesn't want to live track and just find the rocket.. <snipped>...

If I copy my final GPS co-ords and paste them into my mapping app of choice I get live mapping. I don't have to have any cables or anything and I can use an app like MotionX on my iPad that has every kind of map I need - road, satellite, and terrain. At BALLS having the ability to switch between the layers allowed us to figure out how to best retrieve a rocket that landed in the foothills just off the playa. The size the iPad makes the maps very useful. So I don't understand the point about no live map tracking.


Tony

ps: after re-reading the posts, do you mean live mapping during flight?

 

[cerving]

Some people like the live track, although personally I'm usually too busy looking at (or for...) the rocket while it's in flight. A lot of my customers, particularly universities, will buy two trackers... a LCD display receiver to go out and retrieve the rocket, and a USB or Bluetooth dongle that stays at their fixed "ground station" with a live tracking app on a laptop or Android. Since a dongle receiver is only $25, it's not economically prohibitive to do that.

 

[ksaves2]

I think the logic behind it is that ‘developers’ of a tracking system using unlicensed bands will potentially sell more units, rather than requiring users to have a ham licence to operate them.

Yup. That’s why I did both. In 2005 there wasn’t much choice. Now there is. I gotta second hand 900Mhz Ozark Aerospace GPS tracker that the user had to buy the appropriate GPS receiver for and it was a big mother efffffeeerrr. Not any better than an Eggfinder Mini of this day and an heck’av a lot larger in footprint. Only ground tested but still works. Got it really cheap and didn’t have to spend $1k for it.

Am on a flying hiatus until I can get retired. Work is a PITA that I can’t get done due to government red tape. Looks like I can live long enough to get to Medicare age. . Man, I wish I could go to MWP as I was there for several and witnessed the bru ha ha of MWP 3. I asked Tim a question and he treated me like
S#it. Thought I was a freak’in gobermint agent!!! I was only a beginner with a question. He apologized to me later that made me feel real good.
There was the ATF crap going on at the time so I realized his suspicions and I didn’t take offense as I was a new “guy” at the time. Kurt Savegnago

 

[ksaves2]

Some people like the live track, although personally I'm usually too busy looking at (or for...) the rocket while it's in flight. A lot of my customers, particularly universities, will buy two trackers... a LCD display receiver to go out and retrieve the rocket, and a USB or Bluetooth dongle that stays at their fixed "ground station" with a live tracking app on a laptop or Android. Since a dongle receiver is only $25, it's not economically prohibitive to do that.

The deal with live tracking is one can see the rocket “behavior” on high. It can be quite interesting though I realize that some just want to get it back and don’t care where its been. The other thing as live tracking allows the user (as long as they have a navigator brain) to look in the “right” direction to see the “events”.

More often than naught, I’m looking the right way but since the rocket is on the smallish size, I don’t see a danged thing. Lose the signal but start walking in the right direction and I get a new signal and more often than not, the tracker still has a view of enough GPS satellites to give me a final position while its on the ground.
Bottom line is a recovered rocket and I can spend my time flying the next one rather than waving a Yagi antenna around with an attenuator trying to get a bearing fix. Screw that!! Yes I know that was the state of the art back in the day but with a good weather window, I want to fly and not fox hunt a rocket!!! Kurt Savegnago

 

[Steve Shannon]

Kurt,
You spoke the truth. Although I don’t own a Kate system, that’s what I really like about it, a person can watch the rocket while hearing audible updates that really provide a clear understanding of what is happening.
Hang in there. Retirement is great!

 

[ksaves2]

The Garmin DC40 Astro 320 is a good tracking only system. The transmitter is powerful, and it just works. Once it is on, if it loses lock, say from being taken indoors, or from passing Mach, it regains lock very quickly. I flew the setup in the photo below in a 54mm minimum diameter on an L1030 to just under 24k. It lost lock for about 10 seconds, maybe a little more. We got in the car and drove right to where it landed, 1.5 miles away. In it's enclosure, it is big. It could be removed, and 'hard mounted' by someone crafty. It is also durable. I had one in a bird that CATO'd this past weekend, sitting on the forward closure, which blew out. It was charred, but was, and is still working fine. It will fly again, no problem.

I have had an AIM Xtra. It is a great little unit. Setting it up was a little bit of a hassle, as it does not like Windows 7. And, there is a little learning curve. I lost mine, evidently they are not designed for deep earth digging, but may buy another.

The Featherweight system looks really cool. I saw it in action this past weekend. There are quite a few people using it, it seems. I will be using that system soon. Not getting rid of the DC40, though. That is a reliable, super simple system. One flight, I kept my head down on the Astro screen, only, and walked right to the landing site. I do not recall the transmitter power, but it is more powerful than most of the rocketry purposed GPS. Is it 2W? Or 5W? I do not recall.

I believe the Garmins are 2 watts in the U.S. Incidentally, I’d avoid flying a 2 watt dog tracker in close proximity to an Adept 22 deployment altimeter (OOP) and an AIM 2 and maybe the AIM 3. A P6 kit (OOP) I’ve been personally burned by. My AIM 2 has it spelled out in the manual to avoid Rf trackers due to Rf interference of the deployment electronics. Looks like a Raven you have there and most modern rocket deployment devices are resistant to Rf interference. You’ve no doubt found out the Raven works in your setup there but some electronics will fail with that close of proximity of the antenna.

To anyone going to fly a high powered tracker above 100mW. Unless you have friends that fly successfully a similar installation as yours I’d test first. It’s easy. Just put contained ematches without 4F on all the outputs you plan to use, fire up the tracker and your electronics and get the tracker transmitting. Let everything sit for 45 minutes to an hour. If the deployment channels don’t randomly fire, the deployment electronics don’t recycle from on/off/on or simply shut off, you’ll be likely good to fly.

I’ve witnessed a very large O powered rocket that lawn-darted after a dog tracker dorked both Adept 22’s.
Builder built that same project again and started to use the same hardware, meaning 2 new Adept 22’s (they were the cheapest back then) and I actually begged him to do a ground test. He was simply going to fly with a bit more separation between altimeters and dog tracker! He did the ground test and with his new configuration both Adept 22’s locked up within 2 minutes. They just plain shutdown. Shut off the tracker, recycle the power switches to the Adepts and they came back up. Turn on the Rf and they failed.

Again, most modern rocket electronics are resistant to Rf but if you don’t know for certain, a ground test could save you a fateful surprise and worth the investment of time for peace of mind. Kurt

 

[Arsenal78]

I have an Eggfinder mini and trying to read the receiver display is confusing as hell. Wish I had spent more and gone with something better and easier to read