New Featherweight GPS phone app available for Android and iOS

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Build 344 is out for Android now. It has support for using 2 pairs of trackers and ground stations, or using multiple trackers with one ground station. Also, the voice telemetry issues have been corrected. Several other improvements, including more reliable Bluetooth connections. I'm regression testing the iOS version of build 344 today.
I have been anxiously waiting for this release. I've used two trackers with one ground station on some of my multistage flights. But it's necessary to switch between trackers during flight, e.g. follow the booster until it hits the ground, then switch to the sustainer. Sounds easy, but not in practice; there's just too much going on. Having two ground stations, each tracking different stages solves that problem. What are the steps to set this up for a flight? I know you're busy, but the available documentation is sadly out-of-date. Any plans for updated documentation?

Also, does the Featherweight App (on Android) work in the background? Say if I start the FW app before lift-off, but switch to a different app during flight. Would the FW app know landing coordinates when I bring it to the foreground after flight?

...Fred
 
Adrian,
I finally got the time over the past few days to install the new app and move up from iFIP. As others have indicated in this thread, I am extremely impressed with the new tracker UI and features - you and your developer have done a great job on this!. I'm running the App version 1.0.10 (Build 328) on an iPhone 6s (yes I know it's old) with current iOS version for this older model of 15.8.2.

The only setup issue I encountered is that I was having problems renaming two of four my trackers (serial# 1215 and 1672) where I edited and saved new names, closed out and restarted the app and some of the names reverted back to what I changed them from.

I also did some outside testing of directional and distance indicators with a good set of GPS connections. In one case it worked extremely well, but in some others, the arrow and distance were erratic. I will be flying tomorrow, so I'm hoping it will work well in actual use situations.

I do have a question though as a follow-on to @FredT above. I have four trackers and a single ground station. I will be soon wanting to fly a booster and glider combination, each with its' own tracker, but only using a single Ground Station. What is the recommended proceedure for flipping between the two trackers? Is it as simple as just changing the selection under Devices? How long should it take for the Ground Station to reorient to the new tracker?

Please let me know.
 
I have been anxiously waiting for this release. I've used two trackers with one ground station on some of my multistage flights. But it's necessary to switch between trackers during flight, e.g. follow the booster until it hits the ground, then switch to the sustainer. Sounds easy, but not in practice; there's just too much going on. Having two ground stations, each tracking different stages solves that problem. What are the steps to set this up for a flight? I know you're busy, but the available documentation is sadly out-of-date. Any plans for updated documentation?

In the Devices screen, edit each GS and Tracker to be LoRa-paired with the other unit that you want. I feel bad there is no user's manual not there yet. But there is always something higher priority. Also, I was waiting for the UI to settle down so that a new user's manual wouldn't get out of date. It's probably time now for me to prioritize this.
Also, does the Featherweight App (on Android) work in the background? Say if I start the FW app before lift-off, but switch to a different app during flight. Would the FW app know landing coordinates when I bring it to the foreground after flight?
I actually don't know and would need to try it to see.
 
Adrian,
I finally got the time over the past few days to install the new app and move up from iFIP. As others have indicated in this thread, I am extremely impressed with the new tracker UI and features - you and your developer have done a great job on this!. I'm running the App version 1.0.10 (Build 328) on an iPhone 6s (yes I know it's old) with current iOS version for this older model of 15.8.2.

Thanks! Glad to hear it's working with an older model of iPhone.
The only setup issue I encountered is that I was having problems renaming two of four my trackers (serial# 1215 and 1672) where I edited and saved new names, closed out and restarted the app and some of the names reverted back to what I changed them from.
The current version of the app has the same response to editing a tracker whether it's BLE-connected and successful or not. It's on the bug list. Make sure they are Bluetooth-connected when you edit them.
I also did some outside testing of directional and distance indicators with a good set of GPS connections. In one case it worked extremely well, but in some others, the arrow and distance were erratic. I will be flying tomorrow, so I'm hoping it will work well in actual use situations.
The phone and the trackers have to be far enough apart so that the small random GPS location errors don't cause a big directional change. I think you'll be happy with the pointing performance in a real flight. Also be sure to keep the phone away from magnets that can throw off the compass that is needed for pointing.
I do have a question though as a follow-on to @FredT above. I have four trackers and a single ground station. I will be soon wanting to fly a booster and glider combination, each with its' own tracker, but only using a single Ground Station. What is the recommended proceedure for flipping between the two trackers? Is it as simple as just changing the selection under Devices?

Yes, in the devices screen just click on the tracker you want to follow, and the GS will be commanded to change its channel to follow it.
How long should it take for the Ground Station to reorient to the new tracker?

About 1-3 seconds. If you have a GS for each tracker, it's even faster to switch the view from one to the other because the app is already collecting the data from both in the background. Plus any data that you're not watching will still be available in the GS log for each GS, so you can look it up later if you need to.
 
I'm having a brain farther. How do I update the app on android?
 
I downloaded the new “Featherweight UI” app for iOS. I cannot get the tracker and GS to show up in the program. When in the “Devices” panel, I hit scan but nothing happens. What am I doing wrong? There is a red "X" next to the bluetooth icon in the upper right, but bluetooth has been enabled for the Featherweight UI app.

I can get the tracker to show up in the older FIP program.

Please advise.
Thanks.
 
I downloaded the new “Featherweight UI” app for iOS. I cannot get the tracker and GS to show up in the program. When in the “Devices” panel, I hit scan but nothing happens. What am I doing wrong? There is a red "X" next to the bluetooth icon in the upper right, but bluetooth has been enabled for the Featherweight UI app.

I can get the tracker to show up in the older FIP program.

Please advise.
Thanks.
The tracker and GS can connect to one phone and one app at a time. You'll want to force-quit the FIP and make sure that you don't have any other phones in the vicinity with Bluetooth enabled that have connected to them before.
 
The tracker and GS can connect to one phone and one app at a time. You'll want to force-quit the FIP and make sure that you don't have any other phones in the vicinity with Bluetooth enabled that have connected to them before.
Thanks, I just reposted the question so ignore it. Regarding force quit of FIP, I'm not sure how it's done on my iPhone. It is not running, and it's not on the running app screen. Should I delete FIP from the phone?
 
Thanks, I just reposted the question so ignore it. Regarding force quit of FIP, I'm not sure how it's done on my iPhone. It is not running, and it's not on the running app screen. Should I delete FIP from the phone?
If it's not in the running app screen it shouldn't be a problem. You could uninstall it just to be sure.
 
iOS gets a new build today that includes the improved connection status indication that has been discussed up-thread.

It also gets a new build of firmware with a new capability. With previous builds, a Blue Raven can connect to the Featherweight UI app whenever it doesn't have a connection, and accept commands from any connection, even if it's not the owner's phone. This is undesirable behavior that could allow, for example, someone to remotely tamper with your Blue Raven while it's powered on at the pad and you're out of range at the flight line. The new build eliminates this susceptibility, without requiring passwords, by authorizing commands from only the first phone to connect to it while it's powered on. Another way of looking at it is that, access to the power switch is the authorization method. If you have enough access and ability to turn the Blue Raven on and off, then you are also automatically authorized for any other operation.

I'm hoping to also test and release the Android version of this but I'm running out of time since I will be unavailable for the rest of this week.. If for some reason you want to use both types of phones, don't upgrade the Blue Raven firmware using iOS until the new Android build is available. Otherwise, you won't be able to command the updated Blue Raven with the older Android build until the next Android build comes out.
 
I'm new to the Android ap
Back in May I flew with high school STEM teams and tried to use the old fw2kml tool to get the altitude info..
I downloaded the new Android ap.
And was not able to get anything to work.
Forward to last week..getting ready for a launch..I see now that high school STEM flights are now in the ap..with maps and other cool stuff.
I flew Saturday and have no clue ..how or when will that flight ..be openable or turn into the other cool data.?
I've looked for a new manual..and only found the old one..is there a link or threads to figure this out?

Screenshot_20240804_203340.jpg
20240803_121004.jpg

Tony
 
Tony,

The data should be automatically downloading when the app re-connects to the tracker. If it's connected and hasn't downloaded that data, you can re-start it by going into the devices screen and selecting forget, and then connect when it shows up in new devices.

-Adrian
 
This is the one that was looking out a window of a CF rocket? One possibility is that the tracker never detected the liftoff to start recording a flight. To detect liftoff, the tracker looks for 3 samples in a row of good fixes, an altitude change, and an average speed that is consistent from one sample to the next.

Another possibility is that the app thinks it has already downloaded this flight data. Check the rest of your flight log to see if maybe it was recorded with the wrong time or is just out of order. Connecting to a new phone would also eliminate this possibility.
 
Copy..

I tried days ago to export them to my Google Drive..
Theve been sitting there trying to upload since then.
I checked before I posted the above..

I just tried sending to myself via Facebook msg..and that sent instantly.
Screenshot_20240807_104613_Messenger.jpg

Just checked Google Drive..and they've now finished..?

Screenshot_20240807_104820_Drive.jpg

Let's see what the ap is showing...

Screenshot_20240807_105047.jpg
Turning off my phone now...

Tony
 
Copy..

I tried days ago to export them to my Google Drive..
Theve been sitting there trying to upload since then.
I checked before I posted the above..

I just tried sending to myself via Facebook msg..and that sent instantly.
View attachment 660044

Just checked Google Drive..and they've now finished..?

View attachment 660045

Let's see what the ap is showing...

View attachment 660047
Turning off my phone now...

Tony

Just so I make sure I understand, you were able to download and export the flights through Facebook and Google drive, but now the flight isn't showing up in the flight list? The flight showed up in the flight list for you to export it originally, right?
 
@Adrian A
The flight I want is the 8-3-2024..
Screenshot_20240811_094950.jpg

Out at Black Rock..I tried opening it up or converting it to map/graph/export. And was not able to get it to do anything.
Several times I tried exporting it to my Google Drive and never saw it go through.
Once home I could see...on my laptop.. something was trying to upload to my drive..but never did.
Playing with it more a couple days later I was able to export it via FB msg..it sent me just the kml file.

20240811_100105.jpg

The flightbis still on the list ..and maybe export again.

What I'd like ... is for it to "change" into info. Map/Graph/Export. Like the other flights do/did.. on their own?

Tony
 
The log files at the top of your flight are what the ground station received and sent to your phone that day. It looks like if the tracker recorded the flight on-board, it wasn't downloaded yet. Try powering up the tracker and re-connecting if you haven't already, to give it another chance to download the data if it was recorded. Otherwise, the Ground Station log, recorded once per second, will be the best data you have from the flight.
 
Out of curiosity, in the future can there be the option on the app to have metric units for tracking?
 
The log files at the top of your flight are what the ground station received and sent to your phone that day. It looks like if the tracker recorded the flight on-board, it wasn't downloaded yet. Try powering up the tracker and re-connecting if you haven't already, to give it another chance to download the data if it was recorded. Otherwise, the Ground Station log, recorded once per second, will be the best data you have from the flight.
Copy..
Where do I go to find the Ground Station log?

Tony
 
Any tips to make tracking more reliable? My app is updated before each launch if needed. I always make sure everything is good to go and I have the LoRa OK message before launch. Several times now i have lost LoRa either a few seconds before or after liftoff. I usually end up having no tracking for these flights. Thankfully last time on a flight to 12,910' it reconnected after apogee around 10,000'. The tracker is mounted in the nose cone with a sled on a 1/4" threaded rod. Thanks for any suggestions.
 
Any tips to make tracking more reliable? My app is updated before each launch if needed. I always make sure everything is good to go and I have the LoRa OK message before launch. Several times now i have lost LoRa either a few seconds before or after liftoff. I usually end up having no tracking for these flights. Thankfully last time on a flight to 12,910' it reconnected after apogee around 10,000'. The tracker is mounted in the nose cone with a sled on a 1/4" threaded rod. Thanks for any suggestions.
Based on my personal experience, mounting the antenna along a metal threaded rod results in poor performance. I had several flights where the signal was very spotty using that mounting method. I quit doing that and now use a nylon threaded rod or a 3D printed mount that does not put any metal directly next to the antenna. On Mach+ flights I’ll generally always lose GPS lock due to the chip limitations, but otherwise I now routinely have excellent tracking to 25,000’, which is the upper limit of my 54mm flights.


Tony
 
Any tips to make tracking more reliable? My app is updated before each launch if needed. I always make sure everything is good to go and I have the LoRa OK message before launch. Several times now i have lost LoRa either a few seconds before or after liftoff. I usually end up having no tracking for these flights. Thankfully last time on a flight to 12,910' it reconnected after apogee around 10,000'. The tracker is mounted in the nose cone with a sled on a 1/4" threaded rod. Thanks for any suggestions.
When your tracker is in your av-bay in the flight configuration, check the max range readout in the lower right, below the LoRa bar graph, from several angles. Do this with the GS away from the tracker by > 100 feet for best accuracy. You should see > 400 kft for a normal installation. If the threaded rod is causing an issue, you would see a much lower number. The example 137,000 foot flight in the user's manual had the tracker duck-taped to the central threaded rod of the nosecone with maybe 1/4" clearance from it. But some configurations are more susceptible than others.

If you ever run into a loss of lock, look at the green LED on the GS to see if it's receiving the LoRa signal from the tracker (it should be pulsing regularly at 1 sample/second) and look at the status of the GS's Bluetooth connection to the phone. If the phone has lost the Bluetooth connection to the GS, you can speed up re-connection by power cycling the GS. If there is another user on the same channel, it can also look like a loss of lock because it might have a stronger signal if it's still closer to you, and currently the app doesn't display information from another tracker. Making it more clear when this happens is on the to-do list.
 
Any tips to make tracking more reliable? My app is updated before each launch if needed. I always make sure everything is good to go and I have the LoRa OK message before launch. Several times now i have lost LoRa either a few seconds before or after liftoff. I usually end up having no tracking for these flights. Thankfully last time on a flight to 12,910' it reconnected after apogee around 10,000'. The tracker is mounted in the nose cone with a sled on a 1/4" threaded rod. Thanks for any suggestions.
Also, the ground station log will record if your problem was caused by another tracker on your channel.
 
As to what Adrian said 90% of my issues have been others on the same channel and 10% has been bluetooth loss.


@Adrian A

Could you ask your developer to look at 2 additional options in the software:

1. Disable auto screen lock / screen timers when app is running. I constantly find myself flicking the screen to keep it open.

2. Run the app in the background until exited by the user. So if you get a call or text for instance or minimize the app, the app is still running and requires a user to actually shut down the app.
 

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