Much ado about nothing....

[manixFan]

I examined my preflight setup as a result, and changed a couple of things for the better. (I believe.)

Same with me - it did cause me to rethink how I approach e-matches and charges. For rockets where performance isn't the main criteria, a mechanical switch works well and can be made to be very reliable. I also designed a 3D printed mount for the screw switch that I showed could be armed though simple vibration to prevent that from happening. They are certainly cheaper than magnetic or wifi switches as well. Safety, done correctly, is a good thing.

With my current fleet of minimum diameter, high performance altitude seekers, the magnetic switches make the most sense. But I have definitely given more consideration to the concerns raised by this entire episode.

I am very pleased that my considerable investment in both time and money has been revived, and again want to thank the board for their decision. It was probably a difficult decision to make, but one that is greatly appreciated by many.


Tony

 

[John Kemker]

Remote arming is now considered to be "inhibited", as it was prior to the rule change. However, since the TRS does not have remote DISARMING, we recommend a switch on the deployment power so you can shut it off in case you have to take the rocket off the rack. The Quantum and Proton DO have remote disarming, plus a built-in switch for the deployment power that is not activated until launch-detect, so they do not require an external switch (which was the original TRA position).

If you read the TRA rule change, " additional physical disconnects are not required and the February 2020 rule has been canceled" pretty much says it all. Off is off... regardless of what interrupts the current flow.

Any chance the TRS will get a firmware update to enable remote disarming? Or, is that not possible, given the current setup?

 

[Adrian A]

Sooooooo, Does that mean I am perfectly legal with wiring up my charges, plugging in the battery and indeed the Featherweight switch defaults to “on” and I swipe the magnet immediately to turn it off? Or is that still a “no-no”?
Same thing with my Eggtimer TRS. I plug in the battery with charges attached and swipe to turn off at the bench before taking it out to the pad. Mind you with newly built or obtained deployment products I test them with contained ematches without powder to be certain I can plug the battery in, turn off the mag switch without any anomalies occurring. I also do the test with contained ematches before every flight to make sure the electronics perform the turn on/off process nominally before every flight.
Look, I usually do a “one shot” deal. Fly the rocket, turn off the deployment electronics after recovery and go on and fly another rocket. Too much of a pain in the a$$ to re-prep an already flown rocket for another flight. I‘d rather have several rockets pre-prepped and ready to go to fly as many as possible during a flying session. It’s easy to do the safety checks when getting ready for the next launch down the road.
With minimum diameter rockets it can be difficult to have an external switch outside of twist and tape. Easier to have the charges in place and use a Mag switch to activate at the pad. Connect the battery at the prep area, usually the back of my SUV, turn the Mag switch off and get ready to go to the pad.
If there has been a change in the rules, great. If not well, will try to get by or maybe retire a bunch of rockets.

Kurt Savegnago

That's what I'm hearing.

FWIW, for those reading this, if you're using a Featherweight magnetic switch, please install the battery, confirm the switch is off, and THEN install the charges. In that case, you still have a protective inhibit even if there is a failure.

 

[cerving]

Any chance the TRS will get a firmware update to enable remote disarming? Or, is that not possible, given the current setup?

As I mentioned when this topic came up in the "other" switch thread, I'd like to do it but I don't know if it's possible without a major software overhaul. The problem is that the TRS doesn't listen for the LCD receiver after it's armed. For now, I recommend adding a disconnect switch to the deployment power.