Agreed! Russ has gone quiet on me again, too.
FlightSketch Products for 2020
- Thread starter gtg738w
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I got notified this evening that the flightsketch mini is now back in stock. Picked up two of them just now. Site says they have 267 left in stock.
Zeke Johnson
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I just bought 2 FS Mini units to help support the development of the FS Sport.
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Zeke
I just bought 2 FS Mini units to help support the development of the FS Sport.
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Zeke
Here's some encouragement for @gtg738w . I sure hope you can get whatever you need and can start producing again. I'd give my eyeteeth for a mini or two. I like your approach, I like the reviews, and I like everything about the description of the hardware and software. I know it's been rough, and I sure hope you and all yours are well, etc. As a BAR, i'd have never even dreamed of having these measurement capabilities in the 60's. Now I could not only have them, but know what to do with them!
Best to you!
Best to you!
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Well, that's just it... I went back to the beginning of the thread, and looked over his descriptions, and thought, "Why stop with a mini? This stuff is great!" I'd sign up to be a beta tester but I just don't get to fly enough. Well, maybe I wouldn't have to, the old syringe-sucker trick would work... Anyway, the SST would be a good one to have in hilly, tree-laden Western PA, and he's kept them all able to go in an 18mm tube, which is just perfect for us LPR guys. I really hope he's able to get going soon.
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gtg738w
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Unfortunately not much has changed recently. Still massive supply issues but the products are in good shape from a technical standpoint. Trying to get a small number of Minis in stock by the end of June. We've been stockpiling parts for the Sport & trackers but progress is slow. Trackers might start moving this fall. The sport is showing a couple of parts in spring '22 so that might get a redesign to switch to alternate components. Not a great option for size & cost though. Hopefully things improve soon.
Russ (if I man be so familiar, having never met you), I feel for you. Like I said, it looks to me like you have some really great stuff there, great for high power but especially fine for us low-power guys - so I will be watching. As a matter of fact, I'm going to go join the notification list for the Sport & SST as well - I'm already on the Mini List.
shockie
High Plains Rocketeer
as long as they fit in 18mm....I have infinite patience.....
I am patient also. That being said, thank you for you work on these.
I'm not Russ, but this is what I'm using to replace the cells in Minis: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00478PKZ6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
FYI... Some FLIGHTSKETCH Mini's and Comp,'s in stock..."for the moment"...
Thanks! It's ordered! Glad to see that Russ is "in the chips" again!
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Ordered my mini - thank you! Quantity went from 69 to 62 while I ordered briskly! 
The picture of the Comp on the FlightSketch web site doesn’t do justice to just how tiny it is. Here are two shots. One shows the Comp (a pre-production unit I’ve been flying for awhile) and its 9mAh LiPoly cell shown with a Mini and a quarter. The other is a closer look at the Comp. The squares on the cutting mat are 1/2 inch.
A Comp and the cell together weigh less than a gram. NAR contest approval for the Mini (with firmware 29) and the Comp will be announced very soon.
The Comp is functionally identical to the Mini—it does all the same things in all the same ways—just in a much tinier package (with slightly less Bluetooth range). The FlightSketch app does not distinguish between them.
Those of you who have read my electronic speed control reviews on RCGroups (back in the Ezonemag.com days) have seen that particular quarter before.
A Comp and the cell together weigh less than a gram. NAR contest approval for the Mini (with firmware 29) and the Comp will be announced very soon.
The Comp is functionally identical to the Mini—it does all the same things in all the same ways—just in a much tinier package (with slightly less Bluetooth range). The FlightSketch app does not distinguish between them.
Those of you who have read my electronic speed control reviews on RCGroups (back in the Ezonemag.com days) have seen that particular quarter before.
Bruce
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It doesn't look that convenient to have a separate battery...
Do you have to disconnect the battery each time you charge it?
Wouldn't a similar sized coin cell directly mounted on the board be easier and lighter?
I do like that it will fit in tiny rockets though!
Do you have to disconnect the battery each time you charge it?
Wouldn't a similar sized coin cell directly mounted on the board be easier and lighter?
I do like that it will fit in tiny rockets though!
This is a similar approach to the Adrel MaxAlt (aka ALT-BMP) which was, until now, the smallest altimeter for competition use. Here convenience is secondary to low mass/small size. For convenience the Mini is the way to go.
The connector is also the switch. It needs to be disconnected when not in use (and not just for charging). You can turn the Mini/Comp off with the app, but I don’t think it can be remotely turned back on.
Can you find a cell, a holder and a switch that is both less than 8mm wide and weighs less than half a gram, altogether? If so, what’s the capacity of that cell?
And, because the total package is less than a gram it will have less effect on the model’s performance. Which is exactly what one wants for competiton.
rharshberger
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Bruce
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That rechargeable cell looks pretty chubby in comparison to the board itself. But I guess you need a lot of power for the Bluetooth radio. You're right, a couple of hearing aid sized batteries probably wouldn't be adequate.
Bluetooth is fun, but on a contest altimeter maybe a flashing light to transfer the data could result in less weight? Perhaps an app could be developed to read the flashing light thru the phone's camera to input the altimeter data?
Bluetooth is fun, but on a contest altimeter maybe a flashing light to transfer the data could result in less weight? Perhaps an app could be developed to read the flashing light thru the phone's camera to input the altimeter data?
Well I ordered this AM and just got my shipping notification! 
A “chubby” cell is actually a thing with the Adrel as the 23mAh cell that NCR sells for use with it is both thicker than and wider than the Adrel ALT-BMP itself and therefore sizes the smallest tube you can put one in.
The hearing aid cells I’ve seen are large by comparison to this 9 mAh cell, especially thickness-wise. Add a holder (that can handle flight loads) and a switch….no way that could be lighter.
Here’s an edge-on view. The cell looks thicker than it is because the edge of the cell pouch is curled over. This 9mAh cell will power the Comp for several hours.
Also, much smaller than this would make it really hard to handle especially at the field. This thing is right on the edge of disappearing if you drop it as it is….
The Altus Metrum MicroPeak transfers data optically via modulating the onboard LED. This is not without its issues. This is NOT the thread in which to discuss those. It is cool when it works (which is most of the time, now that I know what to do).
The simplest way to get the altitude is just to flash an LED with the digits and count them. This is how the FireFly and the MicroPeak work for reading without an external device. Of course the LED has to be big enough and bright enough that you can see it well enough to do that….which is also takes power.
That Russ has been able create this tiny thing that works the way the already-among-the-smallest-altimeters Mini is frankly quite amazing.
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Thanks, I think they are down to 46 after I got mine.
Well, perhaps as an academic exercise, sure. As a practical at-the-flying-field matter, however, the Comp is pushing the limits of something that I can handle and package in a model without fear of simply fumbling it onto the ground and loosing it because it’s so small already. With the Bluetooth one won’t have to get it out of the model and handle it at the Returns table in a contest, which is a big plus in my mind.
It’s also less expensive than the Adrel and the ready to fly weight (altimeter plus power) is about half that of the Adrel (within the limits of my scale, which can read to the tenth of a gram). So yeah, it would be cool to have something that was ready to fly at say 500 mg….but could I afford to buy it and would I be able to not loose it trying to use it? I don’t know. If you could build something that works as well that’s half the size of the Comp and sell it for, say, less than $100 complete….I’d be interested In having one. But whether I’d use it, rather than just add it to the collection for its own sake (kind of like a Cox TeeDee .010 glow engine), I have no idea.
I have been flying the Comp in the pictures and I just ordered another.
So far the Comps (I have a year-old+ prototype also) have been riding in dedicated compartments. I just wrap the whole thing in a bit of wadding (with a piece of it between the cell and the back of the board) and then stuff it in the compartment. It’s gotten the most flights in the little Checkmate two-stager which has a 1.5 inch-long section of BT-20 cut from the top of the main body tube as the payload compartment.
I haven’t flown anything without a compartment that’s small enough that a Mini won’t do the job, so it gets the fleece-pouch treatment.
That said, the production Comp has that hole in the board for tether attachment, and I think if I were to fly it without a compartment I’d thread the kevlar thread between the two leads of the cell, then through the hole in the Comp’s board, then tie it off in a loop that’s ~2 inches in diameter. I’d tie that tether to the attach point in the model as I do with the Mini (and FireFly and MicroPeak). Then, to fly it I’d wrap it in wadding (maybe some of the old dark blue Quest tissue wadding) and maybe put a little Scotch tape to hold it in a “cocoon” of sorts and hope that it stayed on through ejection so that the sunlight stayed off the pressure sensor. This one is not as touchy as the one in the MicroPeak, but sunlight does affect it. But I haven’t tried this yet.
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