Featherweight GPS tracker

[Adrian A]

Today I launched a IQSY 2.36" Tomahawk, on an H242 out in the Eastern Oregon high desert (All Sagebrush)

It landed ~7,000'+ feet away over undualting hills, and on the low side of a rise, quite literally buried in sagebrush. (Tip: Don't use Grey/Bue chutes like I did! )

Didn't matter how the tracker unit was held either. In the car, held high, in my pocket... It never hiccuped. And it was definatly NOT LOS to the rocket from the launch point

I can not say enough about how well this thing worked.

And I can say with confidence that I will NEVER fly a rocket again without one of these aboard!

I love hearing success stories like this. Thanks!

 

[Dan Griffing]

Does anyone have any photos of how they have mounted/secured the Featherweight tracker to their rocket? Do you have to have an ebay or payload section?

Here's how I mounted my Featherweight tracker into the nosecone payload bay of my 4" diameter rockets. the mount design is modeled after and nearly compatible with the Multitronix "Kate" unit. It fits into a 2.11 x 8.25 Blue Tube section with the form factor of a 54mm motor. This payload is interchangeable in each of my 4" rockets so that I can switch the Featherweight between them for each flight.

I've also connected the Featherweight GPS to a magnetic switch so that I can turn the power on and off without having to disassemble the nosecone.

I've also installed a USB Lipo battery charger so that I don't have to disconnect the delicate battery connections each time I need to charge the battery.

 

[ghostfather]

Anyone having any problems with FIP after an IOS update?
My version was working fine a few days ago, but after an IOS update of my iPad to 15.4.1, it says it's crashed

 

[DaHabes]

Anyone having any problems with FIP after an IOS update?
My version was working fine a few days ago, but after an IOS update of my iPad to 15.4.1, it says it's crashed

I would uninstall and re-install. If that doesn't work then Apple screwed the pooch and the vendor will need to do an update, which is a challenge in that the FIP is still, technically, Beta software and the promised Android version is still MIA after all these years.

 

[Adrian A]

Anyone having any problems with FIP after an IOS update?
My version was working fine a few days ago, but after an IOS update of my iPad to 15.4.1, it says it's crashed

It seems ok on my phone that was recently updated to 15.4.1.

 

[ghostfather]

I have deleted and reinstalled FIP, but it comes back with the same crash. Any other suggestions?

 

[kjs]

I have deleted and reinstalled FIP, but it comes back with the same crash. Any other suggestions?

Steve - So far we have only heard of this from you with an iPad in the Netherlands so I'm hoping this is a special case for the update. I also upgraded my iPhone to 15.4.1 and it is still working there.

I have to pack this morning to get to a launch for this weekend but will take an iPad I have available with me and see if I can replicate it there and/or work with you to see if we can figure it out.

 

[Reinhard]

Steve - So far we have only heard of this from you with an iPad in the Netherlands so I'm hoping this is a special case for the update. I also upgraded my iPhone to 15.4.1 and it is still working there.

I have to pack this morning to get to a launch for this weekend but will take an iPad I have available with me and see if I can replicate it there and/or work with you to see if we can figure it out.

I know a guy in Austria, who had the same problems (crashes). On an iPhone, if I'm not mistaken. I don't have any further details, but I could probably find out more if you need to know anything particular.

Reinhard

 

[ghostfather]

Any suggestions or fixes are welcome, though Kevin is looking in to it for me. I'd really like to have it working before I go to a launch in England in about a week.

Is there a more thorough way of uninstalling FIP from an iPad, so that all traces are removed? Something like that might help.

 

[kjs]

I know a guy in Austria, who had the same problems (crashes). On an iPhone, if I'm not mistaken. I don't have any further details, but I could probably find out more if you need to know anything particular.

Reinhard - thank you for this information! Two people in other countries (non-US) with no reports so far in the US sounded like a "locale" issue. Between that info and some crash stack trace that I can get from Apple, I updated some code having to do with date/time format conversions. I sent Steve an update with what I hope is the fix, but if you get me your friends info, I can let him test the build also.

Thanks!

 

[ghostfather]

Thanks Kevin.
Build 197 seems to have fixed the localization problem. Started right up, was able to register and use all my trackers,
I'm good for my launch in about a week.

 

[kjs]

Thanks Kevin.
Build 197 seems to have fixed the localization problem. Started right up, was able to register and use all my trackers,
I'm good for my launch in about a week.

Steve - I'm glad the issue was easy to find and get a fix to you! I went ahead and made it available for everyone just in case someone else was going to launch this weekend and hadn't tested their updated system yet.

 

[DaveRKP]

I'm experiencing a number of issues with my Featherweight GPS Ground Station (v2) and multiple trackers and hoping for some assistance. Did not experience any of these issues during Spring/Summer/Fall 2021 flying season and did not see any of these addressed in Troubleshooting section of latest on-line User documentation

Ground Station is on Build 197, Ground Station and each of three trackers are showing date/times of September 13 2020 11:02:53 and November 8 2020 10:49:16. iPhone 6S is running iOS 15.5. All units are set to same Channel (17A - 915.800)

Issues Include:
1. When accessing the Ground Station on the My Devices GS and all three trackers are highlighted in cyan indicating Bluetooth connections. Selecting the Ground Station and clicking on 'Save' on the Connect screen, phone app sometimes hangs with a blue bar showing a 'busy' icon and either 'Set Mode to GNDSTN' or 'Set Frequency / Even Sli...'. Sometimes have to 'Cancel' to exit and retry. When attempting same operation with a tracker, sometimes appears to struggle hanging on 'Confirm State' or other steps in the process.
2. Scan function hangs with the 'busy' icon and fails to display any of the active devices.
3. Tracking function is imprecise with 'OK' GPS locks and Ground Station / Trackers separated by 50 feet or more. iPhone Compass app appears to be accurately calibrated
4. Sometimes will temporarily lose the Bluetooth connection on at least one of the trackers even when only separated by hundreds of feet.

Any insights on how to address?

 

[cwbullet]

Report from Spaceport: They performed perfectly. I am very happy with the results I have had and seen.

 

[OverTheTop]

^^^ What he said. Worked well at SAC.

 

[DaHabes]

4. Sometimes will temporarily lose the Bluetooth connection on at least one of the trackers even when only separated by hundreds of feet.

The answer depends on your bluetooth specs, both for the phone and the device. Both are likely Class 2 devices. If either device is Bluetooth 4, your reliable range maxes out at 10 meters (33'), max range MAYBE to 100'. Bluetooth 5 is supposed to be able to reach 800 feet. I doubt your iPhone is running BT 5, it's too old for that.

 

[Adrian A]

I'm experiencing a number of issues with my Featherweight GPS Ground Station (v2) and multiple trackers and hoping for some assistance. Did not experience any of these issues during Spring/Summer/Fall 2021 flying season and did not see any of these addressed in Troubleshooting section of latest on-line User documentation

Ground Station is on Build 197, Ground Station and each of three trackers are showing date/times of September 13 2020 11:02:53 and November 8 2020 10:49:16. iPhone 6S is running iOS 15.5. All units are set to same Channel (17A - 915.800)

Issues Include:
1. When accessing the Ground Station on the My Devices GS and all three trackers are highlighted in cyan indicating Bluetooth connections. Selecting the Ground Station and clicking on 'Save' on the Connect screen, phone app sometimes hangs with a blue bar showing a 'busy' icon and either 'Set Mode to GNDSTN' or 'Set Frequency / Even Sli...'. Sometimes have to 'Cancel' to exit and retry. When attempting same operation with a tracker, sometimes appears to struggle hanging on 'Confirm State' or other steps in the process.

This is unfortunately an issue we have been unable to address so far, likely something subtle in the Bluetooth implementation where one end is waiting for a resposne and not getting it. If it seems to hang, hit cancel and try again.

2. Scan function hangs with the 'busy' icon and fails to display any of the active devices.

Try power cycling the device you're looking for while in scan mode to avoid long wait times

3. Tracking function is imprecise with 'OK' GPS locks and Ground Station / Trackers separated by 50 feet or more. iPhone Compass app appears to be accurately calibrated

50 feet is a relatively close distance, and can be affected by the GPS inaccuracy that is ~30 feet. At longer range you should see the pointer be quite accurate while the iPhone compass is well-calibrated.

4. Sometimes will temporarily lose the Bluetooth connection on at least one of the trackers even when only separated by hundreds of feet.

Any insights on how to address?

Bluetooth range is quite short; that's why we use LoRa to get the long range needed for tracking. You can avoid being affected by the Bluetooth short range by keeping the ground station with you.

 

[Sailfish1957]

Here's how I mounted my Featherweight tracker into the nosecone payload bay of my 4" diameter rockets. the mount design is modeled after and nearly compatible with the Multitronix "Kate" unit. It fits into a 2.11 x 8.25 Blue Tube section with the form factor of a 54mm motor. This payload is interchangeable in each of my 4" rockets so that I can switch the Featherweight between them for each flight.

I've also connected the Featherweight GPS to a magnetic switch so that I can turn the power on and off without having to disassemble the nosecone.

I've also installed a USB Lipo battery charger so that I don't have to disconnect the delicate battery connections each time I need to charge the battery.

View attachment 513865

Congrats on this very cool setup. I have an LOC IRIS 3" that I want to put the Featherweight GPS tracker in - With a Featherweight magnetic switch. I am looking at your photo and being not too electronically inclined ;-), I could use a quick diagram for the wiring (with the charger too.). Can you help with that ?

 

[Sailfish1957]

Here's how I mounted my Featherweight tracker into the nosecone payload bay of my 4" diameter rockets. the mount design is modeled after and nearly compatible with the Multitronix "Kate" unit. It fits into a 2.11 x 8.25 Blue Tube section with the form factor of a 54mm motor. This payload is interchangeable in each of my 4" rockets so that I can switch the Featherweight between them for each flight.

I've also connected the Featherweight GPS to a magnetic switch so that I can turn the power on and off without having to disassemble the nosecone.

I've also installed a USB Lipo battery charger so that I don't have to disconnect the delicate battery connections each time I need to charge the battery.

View attachment 513865

Dan - I just want to be sure of the connections on the LIPO charger on the down stream side to the switch & tracker: did you use the Batt and Grnd ?
Thanks

 

[OverTheTop]

I have a Featherweight Tracker system. I prepared for a launch that was postponed for two weeks, and in that period the revision of FiP has changed and needs to be updated in TestFlight (user build refresh only). Once I have updated the FiP on the phone, can I still keep the ground station and tracker on the previous version firmware, or do I need to update both of those too? I would like to avoid the inconvenience of another round of disassemble the avionics and charge the batteries if I can.

Also, Is there any indication when the app will get out of this TestFlight development system and into mainstream?

 

[DaHabes]

I have a Featherweight Tracker system. I prepared for a launch that was postponed for two weeks, and in that period the revision of FiP has changed and needs to be updated in TestFlight (user build refresh only). Once I have updated the FiP on the phone, can I still keep the ground station and tracker on the previous version firmware, or do I need to update both of those too? I would like to avoid the inconvenience of another round of disassemble the avionics and charge the batteries if I can.

Also, Is there any indication when the app will get out of this TestFlight development system and into mainstream?

The FiP is the app on the iPhone. It has nothing to do with the firmware on the trackers and base station (other than communicating with the iPhone app). That is an entirely different piece of code.

 

[OverTheTop]

The FiP is the app on the iPhone. It has nothing to do with the firmware on the trackers and base station (other than communicating with the iPhone app). That is an entirely different piece of code.

OK. So you are saying if I have updated the FiP app I am good to go?

 

[DaHabes]

OK. So you are saying if I have updated the FiP app I am good to go?

yes

 

[kjs]

Yes the firmware didn't change - just an app update / refresh.

 

[Dan Griffing]

Dan - I just want to be sure of the connections on the LIPO charger on the down stream side to the switch & tracker: did you use the Batt and Grnd ?
Thanks

I connected the magnetic switch to the Featherweight’s Batt and Gnd terminals so that I could use the powerful magnet to turn off the Featherweight without opening up the nosecone payload bay.

I connected the battery to the input to the magnetic switch.

And I connected the charger to the same places on the magnetic switch that I connected the battery so it would be a direct connection to the battery.

I’m not providing an electrical connection diagram and assuming the responsibility for your wiring connections. Everyone who wires up this should know enough about the circuitry and components to figure it out for themselves.

Each of the components comes with its own documentation so its not difficult to figure out.

I’m not being a hard ass. I’m just too busy to provide what would be the necessary documentation for someone who needs a clearer explanation.

 

[Sailfish1957]

I connected the magnetic switch to the Featherweight’s Batt and Gnd terminals so that I could use the powerful magnet to turn off the Featherweight without opening up the nosecone payload bay.

I connected the battery to the input to the magnetic switch.

And I connected the charger to the same places on the magnetic switch that I connected the battery so it would be a direct connection to the battery.

I’m not providing an electrical connection diagram and assuming the responsibility for your wiring connections. Everyone who wires up this should know enough about the circuitry and components to figure it out for themselves.

Each of the components comes with its own documentation so its not difficult to figure out.

I’m not being a hard ass. I’m just too busy to provide what would be the necessary documentation for someone who needs a clearer explanation.

Dan - I appreciate your explanation. In a previous reply, you already affirmed my assumption on the circuitry of placing the mag switch and the small LIPO charger "in-line". Here is another solution:

"I understand wanting to protect the connectors. I would leave the connectors connected, but wire in a charging port in parallel to the battery connector to allow a charger to be plugged into the switch-band while the electronics are turned off. That way you don’t carry the charger on every flight."

I know enough about circuitry, trust me. The components don't arrive with much documentation, and the photos are worse yet. Not asking for anyone to assume any responsibility either. This is a FORUM for thought exchange. Thanks.

 

[jbr]

any update on the new system and software?

 

[Dan Griffing]

Dan - I appreciate your explanation. In a previous reply, you already affirmed my assumption on the circuitry of placing the mag switch and the small LIPO charger "in-line". Here is another solution:

"I understand wanting to protect the connectors. I would leave the connectors connected, but wire in a charging port in parallel to the battery connector to allow a charger to be plugged into the switch-band while the electronics are turned off. That way you don’t carry the charger on every flight."

I know enough about circuitry, trust me. The components don't arrive with much documentation, and the photos are worse yet. Not asking for anyone to assume any responsibility either. This is a FORUM for thought exchange. Thanks.

I too found the documentation sparse. But combined with my general understanding of electronics it was barely sufficient.

Specifically, the magnetic switch has a common ground and only switches the positive side. I think that the LiPo charger also has a common ground.

On the Featherweight I only connect to the wired block screw terminal.

 

[Sailfish1957]

Agreed-Thanks!

 

[jjwb22101]

Since this seems to have become the general thread for Featherweight GPS questions - is there currently any way to get data from a Featherweight GPS on a non-iOS device? Even just raw NEMA sentences over Bluetooth or USB would be plenty for me. I love the trackers and have used them for projects through school in the past, but I don't have an iOS device and have no interest in getting one. Really want to get a Featherweight for a few personal projects, but every other altimeter and tracker I have works with my (windows) PC, Raspberry Pi, and/or Android phone (I'm actually working on getting the Raspberry Pi set up as a universal ground station for my Eggtimer altimeters and trackers, Missileworks trackers, and some custom hardware I'm developing), and I'd be very disappointed if I couldn't get at least basic functionality out of a several hundred dollar tracker without also buying into the Apple ecosystem.