ARTS 2 with single battery?

[ctus]

Does anyone have experience using an ARTS-2 with M-Tek matches, and in single battery mode? I've used the 2-battery setup just fine, but wondering what others have tried in single-bat mode?

 

[daveyfire]

I've had success many times with the ARTS in single battery mode with M-Teks, dF N28Bs, and dF N28BRs, even for two-output flights.

I did have one brownout failure on a two-stage flight, where the ARTS was being used to control staging and back up sustainer apogee deployment. At staging, the insulation burned off the wires of the match, allowing the leads to short and causing the battery voltage to droop with the result a reset processor (no data following the staging event). However, that was a special case where the insulation on the igniter could be easily singed off by motor exhaust. For deployments, I've been successful.

 

[xenon]

Ctus-My memory is a bit foggy, however, our first SLI test launch a few years ago used an ARTS2 with a single battery and an MAWD. The ARTS did not fire either the apogee or main charges, and I am 90% sure I was using M-Teks. I haven't used the ARTS 2 with a single battery since, so I don't have any successes to tell you about.
Daveyfire- Its interesting you note that you had an issue with an ARTS and staging. I had a similar issue with an old ARTS on backup for staging and apogee deploy. It browned out during staging and fired the backup charge when it powered up again-which was about 1/2 second in to second stage burn. The data from the flight stops just after staging and follows the data traces of the previous flight from that point on. It wasn't too pretty.

 

[WillMarchant]

Does anyone have experience using an ARTS-2 with M-Tek matches, and in single battery mode? I've used the 2-battery setup just fine, but wondering what others have tried in single-bat mode?

Which single battery mode are you thinking?

Using a single 9V battery hooked just to the main power input is only good for very low current e-matches. It puts out 0.5A, if memory serves. I saw a very nasty crash with someone doing that with J-Tek e-matches. M-Teks have a minimum all-fire current of 0.5A, so you might get lucky. Their recommended minimum is 0.75A and the recommended nominal firing current is 1.0A.

Hooking a single 9V battery into both the main and pyro power supply may work, but exposes you to the risk of a brownout. You might not see your mains deploy.

 

[falingtrea]

I saw this battery on Sparkfun. 2x power capacity over standard or NiMH versions. Max current of LiPoly is at least 2C, so this battery should be able to put out 1A short term.

 

[WillMarchant]

I saw this battery on Sparkfun. 2x power capacity over standard or NiMH versions. Max current of LiPoly is at least 2C, so this battery should be able to put out 1A short term.

I think the issue is a current limiter on the ARTS2 board that wasn't there on the original ARTS. In the single battery mode (where nothing is hooked to the pyro battery input) the ARTS2 is current limited to only allow 0.5A out on the pyro output to prevent the battery from being drawn down.

The new Quest Q2G2 igniter will fire on 0.12A so maybe it is a candidate for the ARTS2 in brownout protection single battery mode?

 

[daveyfire]

Xenon -- that's too bad on the early deployment! Was it at least low enough that you could enjoy the skywriting?

Overall, it looks like my experience with the ARTS 2 in single-battery mode is somewhat of an anomaly. If I recall correctly, the ARTS 2 has a jumper to defeat the current limiter in single-battery mode, but I don't have a board (or an ARTS 2 manual) readily available to confirm this. The M-Tek match is listed as having a minimum all-fire current of 0.5A (recommended at 0.75A minimum), so either I've gotten very lucky on my flights, or there's some way to get around the current limiting mode. I do make a note of always using a fresh load-tested battery before flight; perhaps that helps?

 

[falingtrea]

Here is a note on Rocketry Planet about the single battery mode of the ARTS2:
https://www.rocketryplanet.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=1723

And here is a manual online:

https://www.lokiresearch.com/Documents/ARTS2_Manual_V1.0.0.pdf

 

[FredT]

I've had dozens of successful dual deployment flights with ARTS-2/M-Tek/Single Battery conbination. Just follow these two rules:

- Configure the ARTS-2 in two battery mode (to defeat the current limiter), then wire the +9v from the battery to both positive terminals on the ARTS. A single ground connection to the negative battery terminal is sufficient.

- Use a fresh (and tested) battery for each flight. A fresh battery should test out to at least 9.3 volts. Remember one battery; one flight.

I also exclusively use Duracell batteries.

Good luck.

...Fred

 

[JDcluster]

I've used the ARTS 2 a couple times with just one battery & had it brown out once so far.
The flight lasted longer than the 160 sec. of recording time that it was set for.
It was just beeping continuity when I retrieved it, but the data was all there & FredT was able to download it to his laptop without any problems with the data.

I use rechargeable NIMH that are rated at 9.6 volts
( https://thomasdistributing.com/shop/-maha-powerex-96-volt-230mah-nimh-rechargeable-batterybr1-battery-pack-p-505.html?SP_id=&osCsid=vf70vgbr5jqfus27ir2vidml06 ).

I wish I would have known how to bypass the current limiter before hand...


JD

 

[tfish]

I've had dozens of successful dual deployment flights with ARTS-2/M-Tek/Single Battery conbination. Just follow these two rules:

- Configure the ARTS-2 in two battery mode (to defeat the current limiter), then wire the +9v from the battery to both positive terminals on the ARTS. A single ground connection to the negative battery terminal is sufficient.

- Use a fresh (and tested) battery for each flight. A fresh battery should test out to at least 9.3 volts. Remember one battery; one flight.

I also exclusively use Duracell batteries.

Good luck.

...Fred

Yep....a 9 year old thread....Hopefully this might help other ARTS user

I like the ARTS(2) altimeters. I use them mostly for "student" projects. At this past LDRS at TCC I had a group of students coming out to fly their STEM projects. I wanted to test fly the altimeters prior to using them in the students projects. I have a rocket that I use to test altimeters or GPS trackers in. I did two test flights and could not get either of the two ARTS2 units to fire it's charges. I was using a single battery like I always do. Yep it was a fresh battery and my normal matches. I did one more flight with two brand new ARTS2 units and neither of them fired either.
This past weekend I went out and flew them again. Two flights with 2 different units. Still nothing. Came home and played around with them. I could not get any of my ARTS to fire any charges in either the one battery or Two battery configuration via the "DataAnalyzer" program - Altimeter- Diagnostic.
I found this thread the other night and last night and gave it a try. It worked!

In the photos..
Hook up a "good" single battery to -Bat+
remove the "1Bat" jumper
add a switch (grey wires in photos)
the 'new bypass wire' is the red wire with the black stripe. It goes from the Bat+ to the Pbat+



You may notice the 300mah Lipo. I wanted to find out what was not a "good" battery. That battery was used in 2 dual deployment flights on Saturday. It's at 8.04v and seems to work just as well as the 'good" 9v battery I was doing most of the testing with.

I have not test flown this configuration yet! I'll report back once I do.

FredT - thanks for posting the above. I was pulling out the little hair I had left. I was close to get rid of all the ARTS I have. Hopefully my test flights go well too.

Tony

 

[manixFan]

Great zombie revival. I still have an ARTS 2 that I fly with a single battery. I've never had an issue but I've always use low-current e-matches. But now that I'm using different matches it's good to know how to wire it up correctly. Please do report back how the battery works in flight.

Thanks,


(a different) Tony

 

[JDcluster]

The last time that I used an ARTS unit was; about 3 years ago. It was at the annual URRF launch. The issue I had then was the battery broke loose. I'm lucky that it was only for backup and data gathering.

The problem I have with them is: they don't play nice with current computers. Configuring them becomes an issue if not on a true Win XP machine. The emulator doesn't work as well as it should. I still have a Win XP machine though.

 

[Ethan]

Yep....a 9 year old thread....Hopefully this might help other ARTS user

I like the ARTS(2) altimeters. I use them mostly for "student" projects. At this past LDRS at TCC I had a group of students coming out to fly their STEM projects. I wanted to test fly the altimeters prior to using them in the students projects. I have a rocket that I use to test altimeters or GPS trackers in. I did two test flights and could not get either of the two ARTS2 units to fire it's charges. I was using a single battery like I always do. Yep it was a fresh battery and my normal matches. I did one more flight with two brand new ARTS2 units and neither of them fired either.
This past weekend I went out and flew them again. Two flights with 2 different units. Still nothing. Came home and played around with them. I could not get any of my ARTS to fire any charges in either the one battery or Two battery configuration via the "DataAnalyzer" program - Altimeter- Diagnostic.
I found this thread the other night and last night and gave it a try. It worked!

In the photos..
Hook up a "good" single battery to -Bat+
remove the "1Bat" jumper
add a switch (grey wires in photos)
the 'new bypass wire' is the red wire with the black stripe. It goes from the Bat+ to the Pbat+

View attachment 368889 View attachment 368890

You may notice the 300mah Lipo. I wanted to find out what was not a "good" battery. That battery was used in 2 dual deployment flights on Saturday. It's at 8.04v and seems to work just as well as the 'good" 9v battery I was doing most of the testing with.

I have not test flown this configuration yet! I'll report back once I do.

FredT - thanks for posting the above. I was pulling out the little hair I had left. I was close to get rid of all the ARTS I have. Hopefully my test flights go well too.

Tony

Hey Tony

I did the same as you with the exact same battery for a while. Just be careful, as the 300mAh battery will damage the FET's if there is a short after the match has fired. I believe I've killed off one of mine this way (pyro outputs are dead). I've since gone to a 7.4V 180mAh battery if I know the on-pad and flight time is reasonably short (I think the ARTS draws around 80mA), or back to two batteries (7.4V 300mAh for CPU, and 3.7V 180mAh for Pyro).

Ethan

 

[tfish]

Ethan,

Thanks for tip!

I think I'm just going to go 'complete old school' and use a 9V

By the way...awesome flight awhile back!

Tony

 

[jondub]

Old School! Using 2 batteries with the ARTS2 was really a pain. Now that we have the single battery solution so clearly defined (I really like the LIPO) I wonder if I can get my old ARTS2s back. But I can't remember who I gave them to. Anyone know?

 

[Ethan]

Ethan,

Thanks for tip!

I think I'm just going to go 'complete old school' and use a 9V

By the way...awesome flight awhile back!

Tony

Cheers Tony! Means a lot coming from you.
Old School....feels like just the other day these things were state of the art!

Btw, JD I feel you on the computer issues. After years of battling away, plugging things in at a certain time, holding my tongue the right way....I gave up and now just have an old dinosaur PC running XP set up just for these.

 

[JDcluster]

Cheers Tony! Means a lot coming from you.
Old School....feels like just the other day these things were state of the art!

Btw, JD I feel you on the computer issues. After years of battling away, plugging things in at a certain time, holding my tongue the right way....I gave up and now just have an old dinosaur PC running XP set up just for these.

For some reason if you don't use an XP machine; you get weirdo Chinese styled characters in the Notes section where your good flight info was under XP.

 

[tfish]

Old School! Using 2 batteries with the ARTS2 was really a pain. Now that we have the single battery solution so clearly defined (I really like the LIPO) I wonder if I can get my old ARTS2s back. But I can't remember who I gave them to. Anyone know?

I'll keep an eye out for that guy. Just let me know!

Tony

 

[tfish]

I put up 12 flights on 6 different ARTS2 this past weekend with a local high school. They all were wired as above and worked perfectly!



Tony

 

[tfish]

our basic, cheap and easy to make and set-up electronics sleds..


Tony

 

[heada]

Whats the stick for?

I have an ARTS2 and the GPS module. I've been considering offering both up for sale. Since there appears to be still quite a following, is there a market for them used?

 

[tfish]

Whats the stick for?

I have an ARTS2 and the GPS module. I've been considering offering both up for sale. Since there appears to be still quite a following, is there a market for them used?

These were used for a High School STEM program. The electronics bay is the nose cones. The sticks are a cheap easy way take up the extra length in the tip of the nose cones. The rockets they build are only used for 1-3 flights depending on the actual project. This years project was a group project..6 rockets, 12 flights, 3 different sizes on parachutes (home made). 6 flights with normal chutes then 6 flights withe spill holes cut into them. The ARTS work well with graphs, motor file, baro and accelerometers etc.

Tony