Independent Altimeter Opinion - Featherweight Parrot

[Swampworks]

OK, I am in the market for an altimeter. Needs to be able to provide dual deployment capabilities. I am very interested in the "Parrot" and have read thru the thread started by the manufacturer. What I am looking for are some opinions/experiences by others who have owned and used it. Not that I don't trust the manufacturer's comments, but I would like some independent ones also.

Anybody?

 

[jadebox]

I like mine. I'd prefer having switches on board for settings rather than having to connect it to a PC for setup. But, not having switches makes it a little smaller which is helpful in some cases.

I bought it to use is some odd-shaped rockets because I was concerned that barametric altimeters might not work right. The Parrot uses acceleration which means it doesn't need a vent to sense the altitude.

So far, I've flown my Parrot about five or six times. Right now, it's in the nose cone of a mid-power rocket I've been using to loft a small video camera. I use it to deploy the 'chute because I was concerned that the rocket was a little too heavy for the standard delays in the motors I'm using. It's worked perfectly every time.

-- Roger

 

[cjl]

I had a very early production parrot (it's with Adrian right now due to some odd battery issues on the last flight), and I love the thing. It's not the perfect altimeter of course, and it can be a bit of a pain to use at times, but nothing comes close for the features and size. It's comparable to my R-DAS for data acquisition (with greater resolution on the baro sensor than the R-DAS), cheaper than the R-DAS, and significantly smaller (although I prefer the R-DAS for the interface and ease of use). I have to say, it's a great little altimeter though, and I would recommend it to anyone.

If you don't need the extra capabilities or the full data recording though, and are just in the market for a basic deployment altimeter, I'd probably lean towards a Missile Works RRC2 mini. It's a bit easier to use, and extremely reliable (but it does have a lot less in the way of features and data recording capabilities).