Featherweight software
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Crazyrocket
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I have an iphone 6S (in excellent condition) that I would sell you for cheap. Just sitting in my dresser drawer. No scratches or cracked screens. 32gb. It will work fine for you needs. PM me if interested.
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Luckily, I kept my wife's old iPhone 6s. I had to replace the battery, though, which was shot. I do find it annoying to have to carry two phones around - Rocket Locator only runs on Android and I need that for my Eggfinder Mini. And I have to remember to carry another charge cord. And to charge it. PITA.
gary7
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Trying to get my stuff ready and together for MWP. I have used the Featherweight system for a couple of years now and really like it but I get absolutely frustrated with updating it. Any suggestions or advice for doing this without a headache will be appreciated. Also, what is the latest update I should be looking for?
Thanks
Thanks
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It's still considered beta software. It's never been formally updated to be added to the Apple store. It expires regularly. You have to re-aquire it the same as you did the first time you installed it. There is no specific version to update to, it's whatever is on the development platform. If the vendor ever forgets to update the date on the software we are all toast. I have complained in the past....crickets...
The website is still showing an android icon for that product and that android is planned. Last I heard there was no plan for android to be developed, but it is annoyingly still on the website being spruiked.
I purchased one years ago in anticipation of android. Still waiting...
I purchased one years ago in anticipation of android. Still waiting...
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The ongoing software issues, and the unholy dedication to the Apple platform are 100% the reason that I made a different retail choice for a tracker.
The iPhone app tracks fine for my rockets. I have a 54mm nosecone payload bay design and a Featherweight payload is like a 54mm motor that can be quickly swapped into any of my three rockets.
My only complaint about the app is that the voice mode doesn’t work reliably.
Does anyone have an way of converting the downloaded GPS data stream into voice for coordinating with launch video the way many people do for Multitronix Kate?
If support for Featherweight doesn’t improve a great opportunity for a great product will be lost and people will have to buy Multitronix Kate even though its much more costly.
My only complaint about the app is that the voice mode doesn’t work reliably.
Does anyone have an way of converting the downloaded GPS data stream into voice for coordinating with launch video the way many people do for Multitronix Kate?
If support for Featherweight doesn’t improve a great opportunity for a great product will be lost and people will have to buy Multitronix Kate even though its much more costly.
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Most of us are doing just fine without our tracker talking to us, at much less hassle than FW and much less cost than Kate.
Well, I feel the same way about nearly every competitive product that has an ‘unholy’ dedication to Android. I’ve used the Featherweight trackers since they were introduced with 100% success. Many in my club have since converted to them as well based on their experience with other products. The lack of on screen map is a minor inconvenience requiring that I enter the coordinates into the mapping program of my choice, but the on-screen guide is excellent. I probably dislike AndroidGoogle as much as some folks do iOS/Apple but I still have an Android tablet because it works with an app that doesn’t run on iOS. I’m not above putting aside my feelings if a product is superior enough to warrant it.
And I’d like to know what ongoing software issues you are talking about? Once every three months you need to update the iOS software, but that’s not an issue, unless you are a poor planner. Same with firmware updates. I suppose if you’re the type of flyer who doesn’t check their electronics until you are out at the field then maybe it’s not a good fit, especially if you don’t fly often.
At BALLS this year I would have to say the Featherweight system was the most popular used, at least based on the launch announcements. The fact that so many high performance flyers use the system is telling.
I don’t understand how a person can complain about the hassle of using a product when they don’t actually use one. I have been for many years and it seems a lot less hassle than the competing systems other fliers use.
The parable of the fox and grapes comes to mind.
Tony
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Wrong. Used one for a year. Sold it for a different system that has Z.E.R.O. dependence on anything related to a cell phone!
So then your comment about being dedicated to iOS really could have read ‘dedicated to a cell phone’, if you wanted a system that did not require any kind of phone to use.
And apparently making sure your app and firmware was up to date before a launch was a thing. I can see how any phone based system might not have been a good fit then.
Tony
The only time voice mode has not worked for me was when I had my phone on mute, or the volume turned all the way down. I also turn set my display auto-lock to never.
Here’s a simple checklist I use:
* hardware mute button off
* play a song and adjust volume accordingly
* settings> display and brightness > auto lock > never
Using that I’ve never not had audio from the software during a launch. I also have the screen recording button enabled in control center so I can easily record the screen.
Tony
Yeah! Get mad at them cell phones!!
I wish I had not purchased the product, regardless of how well it might work. There are other products that work equally as well.
You should not have to update a product software every three months to keep it working. I plan ahead and update as necessary but there are too many variable out of my control and in the hands of others (Apple, Featherweight) that concern me.
Why not just sell it and be done with it? Rocketry electronics sell pretty fast no matter where you’re located?
And don’t forget it was years before Altus Metrum came out with an app for the iPhone. Their products were Android only.
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I have been considering doing just that.
You say that like it is not a good thing.
Don't forget that the Altus Metrum products work with a PC, and don't require the involvement of either species of phone.
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No, the poor planning is on Featherweight, not the customer. They sell a pricey tracker system that requires a unique app, and that unique app has been in beta test limbo forever (what, 5-7 years, now?) Why is this thing not approved by Apple for proper distribution in the App Store? The programmer, and there seems to be only one, has to renew every 90 days, and then the users are forced to keep track of that, too. If the programmer forgets, walks away, or gets hit by a bus, then the entire customer base is left in the lurch with a $400 paperweight.
gary7
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I like the audio GPS reports because I don’t have to take my eyes off of trying to track the rocket. And it would be nicer still if the audio from the app would work all of the time instead of going away when the app’s page isn’t being displayed.
Besides, audio GPS reports were one of the advertised features of the Featherweight and one of the reasons why I, and presumably others purchased it.
After seeing Kate several times, the Featherweight sounded like it had all of the essentials of Kate, and possibly a better GPS and transmitter but all for less than $600. So saying that its okay that its not working as advertised is a poor excuse when the product you buy simply doesn’t fully deliver.
But I do sympathize with the cost of a highly technical development for a very small niche market and having to have a real job and career. I’ve been there.
Not all products have the same market potential and funding source, and same size of development team as an iPhone. But customers still expect comparable performance and customer service.
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Yet another reason why I sold the product that I owned.....I didn't feel like I got what I paid for based on what was advertised. Sounds like you're similarly frustrated. I went with another product that, while it doesn't have voice (never advertised as having it) also needs zero further support other than charging the batteries and turning it on.....which is NOT something the FW product can boast.
At the end of the day, the ONLY relative data point that a GPS tracker really needs to deliver is the coordinates where the rocket hits dirt. Everything else is simply entertainment.
Never forgot. Phones are just more convenient and I used to carry both kinds.
I never used the hardware mute button when using my Featherweight.
I’ve never used screen recording on an IPhone and don’t know what it is.
I had used my Featherweight in one launch with my Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids in, and I heard my Featherweight audio GPS tracker report just fine but nobody else could. On the very next launch I turned off my hearing aids and turned up the volume so everybody around me could hear my Featherweight, just like they do with Kate, and nothing came out. A really big disappointment.
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