Arecorder- new flight computer

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Andrej

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2015
Messages
56
Reaction score
119
If anyone is interested there is a new flight computer available called Arecorder. It's a great unit with a precision baro sensor and two accelerometers- 3 axis 24G and a single axis 80G accelerometer and a bunch of other features. I made several flights with Arecorder in the last two years and it really is a great product. I'm not associated with a manufacturer in any way but I used it a lot and I really like it, especially the new version 2.2 that was released recently has some exiting new features (like an option to configure it by computer).
Arecorder flight computer.jpg

Here are the features:
-pressure measuring in range 0 – 110 kPa (in range 50 – 110 kPa with 100 Pa accuracy),
-acceleration measurement – three axis +- 24 g, one axis (along rocket axis) +- 80 g,
-temperature measurement inside rocket in range -50 to +130 °C (-58 to 266 °F),
-data recording into microSD card,
-frequency of data sampling 100 Sa/s,
-Kalman filter implemented to reduce noise in pressure data,
-detection and signalling of connected fuses,
-firing up to three fuses – two parachutes and one for second stage engine ignition,
-firing main parachute when altitude parachute failure is detected,
-detecting and recording inclination of rocket at launchpad,
-measuring of Arecorder’s power supply,
-programmable delay between burnout of first stage engine and firing second stage engine,
-selection of one of four sets of Arecorder configuration parameters,
-Arecorder’s configuration parameters and owners first name, last name and phone number programming by software installed on a PC computer,
-writing summary of several most important flight parameters into separate file.

Arecorder was developed in Poland (Europe) by Arek Palinski with help from members of Polish rocket society. His customer support is top notch as he is very quick to answer emails about anything you might want to know about Arecorder. You can contact him by email: [email protected]
What is the price of Arecorder? I paid 60Euros (about $67) with shipping included. For US customers the shipping is probably a little more.


English manual and configuration software can be downloaded here:
User manual- https://palinski.org/?page_id=981
Configuration software- https://palinski.org/?page_id=1504

In 2014 I did a test flight where early version of Arecorder was flown together with Perfectflite SL-100 for comparison. Bellow is the data from this flight. As you can see the data from both altimeters almost perfectly match.

Arecorder SL-100 comparison.jpg

And here is the video from this flight:

[video=youtube;Hp658ygW8uM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp658ygW8uM[/video]

Overall I think this is an awesome flight computer for a very good price. Here in Europe it was flown numerous times on all kinds of rockets, subsonic and supersonic and it proved itself as a very reliable, workhorse altimeter.
 

Attachments

  • Arecorder flight computer.jpg
    Arecorder flight computer.jpg
    54.9 KB · Views: 72
Why do you launch your rockets in the forest?

Because that is the only chance. My country is mainly mountains and forests. Flat open land is usually populated. The only places that are far from cities and towns and thus suitable for launching rockets are forests. But it's not all bad. If the rocket lands high in the tree that means that the tracker has much better range than it would have if the rocket was on the ground.
Here is how the terrain around my launch site looks like:

Snežniški gozdovi.jpg
 
Because that is the only chance. My country is mainly mountains and forests. Flat open land is usually populated. The only places that are far from cities and towns and thus suitable for launching rockets are forests. But it's not all bad. If the rocket lands high in the tree that means that the tracker has much better range than it would have if the rocket was on the ground.
Here is how the terrain around my launch site looks like:

View attachment 296088

That's a far cry from what we see out West in the deserts, yet somehow we still lose rockets. That's gotta be tough recovery conditions. :)
 
That's a far cry from what we see out West in the deserts, yet somehow we still lose rockets. That's gotta be tough recovery conditions. :)

Shows that the desire to make things go fast and high is universal, and will overcome any environmental challenge...nice to hear from another country, welcome!
 
If we could do that here, it would open up a lot more launch site opportunities. :wink:
 
If we could do that here, it would open up a lot more launch site opportunities. :wink:

Maybe I'm dense, or being subversive, but is there more than this stopping us (besides the fact that recovery is a bear!):
From NAR High Power code, #10: Launch Site. I will launch my rocket outdoors, in an open area where trees, power lines, occupied buildings, and persons not involved in the launch do not present a hazard, and that is at least as large on its smallest dimension as one-half of the maximum altitude to which rockets are allowed to be flown at that site or 1500 feet, whichever is greater, or 1000 feet for rockets with a combined total impulse of less than 160 N-sec, a total liftoff weight of less than 1500 grams, and a maximum expected altitude of less than 610 meters (2000 feet).

Trees in a forest present no hazard to the rocket, unless they affect the upward trajectory, right? Need to be able to recover your rocket for certification purposes, but getting one hung up in a tree doesn't present a distinct hazard to anyone.
 
As long as there is no climbing involved...and not always then.
 
I think we'd have to have every farmer in America turn his back on us before we'd go that route.
 
Post-Flight Inspection – The rocket must be presented to the certifying member for inspection. If the rocket cannot be recovered, but can be inspected in place (power lines, tree, etc...) this is acceptable.
 
Post-Flight Inspection – The rocket must be presented to the certifying member for inspection. If the rocket cannot be recovered, but can be inspected in place (power lines, tree, etc...) this is acceptable.

If I'm not mistaken TRA that's O.K. but NAR the rocket has to be recovered. Please correct if wrong. Kurt
 
In NAR certifications, rocket must be recovered and returned for inspection.
 
Back
Top