So, what is this EasyTimer thingy?

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I am assuming that it is similar to the EasyMini that I use. Sometimes it is a little fussy about the computer seeing it.Try plugging in the USB and then powering the Timer. Then select configure. That should do it.
If not, try a different USB cable.
I think I've tried that. I'll specifically try that sequence. I know I've used three different USB cables.

This is starting to remind me of an ARTS
 
I think I've tried that. I'll specifically try that sequence. I know I've used three different USB cables.

This is starting to remind me of an ARTS


My Easy Timer is very picky about which USB cable it will work with. I have tried several cables and inexplicably, some just will not work with it. Big diameter round cables seem to work best. Hope this helps...
 
I have two of the easy timers and can't get them to work. If anybody has and is willing to share any tricks, I'd be grateful.
I've bench tested mine with grain of wheat bulbs successfully Al so I might be able to assist. What orientation are you booting the device in? Given it's got an IMU on board you'd need to power it up horizontally to have the device boot into idle mode. If you boot the unit in vertical orientation it'll enter flight mode.
So power the unit up horizontally on the bench, plug the USB cable into your computer and EasyTimer, run AltOS, and click configure altimeter. That should work and assuming it does I'd recommend updating the firmware if your running <1.9.6.
 
I've bench tested mine with grain of wheat bulbs successfully Al so I might be able to assist. What orientation are you booting the device in? Given it's got an IMU on board you'd need to power it up horizontally to have the device boot into idle mode. If you boot the unit in vertical orientation it'll enter flight mode.
So power the unit up horizontally on the bench, plug the USB cable into your computer and EasyTimer, run AltOS, and click configure altimeter. That should work and assuming it does I'd recommend updating the firmware if your running <1.9.6.
Always horizontal to apply power and configure. This thing is finicky. Keith also suggested a Beta of the next AltOS. I'll keep plugging at it.
 
My Easy Timer is very picky about which USB cable it will work with. I have tried several cables and inexplicably, some just will not work with it. Big diameter round cables seem to work best. Hope this helps...
You would not, by chance, know if the successful cables are USB3 would you?
 
My "successful" cable is labeled "Proworx". It is a regular USB micro cable. Hope this helps...
 
You would not, by chance, know if the successful cables are USB3 would you?
A USB 3.0 Micro-B plug is about twice as wide as a 2.0 plug, to accomodate for the extra high speed signals. It won't fit into the jack on the EasyTimer.

Have you tried different USB ports on your computer? Those can behave slightly different too.

Reinhard
 
Thanks Steve, I've tried contacting Altus Metrum and posted to their Facebook page. I can power it up, get some beeps, but I can't get it to appear in the AltOS application for programming.

You can PM me if you like.
PM sent
 
Well, having swapped out the cable and the PC (not a big deal as it works on the PC I use on the field), I can configure the wee beastie. Looking at the config scree below, is there a place I've missed where the fields are defined? Most I can figure out however a few are relatively mysterious.


Is this what you're looking for? Everything listed is a configurable option.

View attachment 443558
 
Well, having swapped out the cable and the PC (not a big deal as it works on the PC I use on the field), I can configure the wee beastie. Looking at the config scree below, is there a place I've missed where the fields are defined? Most I can figure out however a few are relatively mysterious.

What I am mystified about is what a few of the fields actually do.
  • After Motor Number
  • Delay After Other Conditions
  • Flight State Before/After
I'm pretty sure the fields are joined by and logic, that is all of the fields must be met.

I just want to set a time past burnout of the booster and add in the now necessary tilt inhibit.
 
After motor number is for multi stage rockets, so could theoretically go 3, 4, 5, etc stages and one of it's conditions would be to qualify 'go' after the designated motor had fired

Delay after other conditions would be if you wanted a universal delay after all other set conditions qualified as 'go'
 
If you want your separation charge to fire 0.2 seconds after booster burnout, set "After Motor Number" to 1 and "Delay ..." to 0.2.

"After Motor Number" is my favorite parameter.

I still haven't figured out "Flight State Before After". I asked Keith about it once and I don't think he knew what it's for.
 
If you want your separation charge to fire 0.2 seconds after booster burnout, set "After Motor Number" to 1 and "Delay ..." to 0.2.

"After Motor Number" is my favorite parameter.

So if I want to fire charge 1 after the first motor burns out and lock out firing if angle is greater than 15 degrees off vertical, no less than 1.3 seconds after launch detect, this is correct?

1622055493069.png
 
It seems that AltusMetrum.Org is on the fritz. Given that I'd like to know if anyone recalls seeing an advisory that the EasyTimer needs an update. If you have the update and release notes please message me. Bonus points if you can provide the instructions.

If it is safe to fly regardless of firmware version for a simple staging, please feel free to advise accordingly.

Thanks
 
It seems that AltusMetrum.Org is on the fritz. Given that I'd like to know if anyone recalls seeing an advisory that the EasyTimer needs an update. If you have the update and release notes please message me. Bonus points if you can provide the instructions.

If it is safe to fly regardless of firmware version for a simple staging, please feel free to advise accordingly.

Thanks
For what it's worth, I flew my Easytimer for the first time 2 weeks ago. I Air started a cluster and everything worked perfect.
Yes, it appears that their web is down at the moment.
I set my angle no greater than 15 deg
Ignition for 1.5 sec after launch (It was a 1 sec booster burn)

The fewer the parameters, the better. If any given parameter is X,Y,Z use the logic that:

If X and Y and Z are true or when they are all true, it will energize.
 
Does it store flight data that can be downloaded and examined post flight?
I asked Bdale about this over on Facebook. They do not log the flight. Well, the EasyTimer 1.0 doesn't.
 

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I have an EasyTimer question that I'm hoping those of you on this thread can help me with. (I've read the manual, but as this is the first time I've used the device, I fear I'll make a mistake.) I have pasted below my configuration.

I plan to use both channels for my staging:

Channel A is the separation charge and fires 2.5 seconds after launch (motor is supposed to burn for 2 seconds) with an additional check that acceleration must be negative (so no longer accelerating).

Channel B is the ignition of the second stage, and should fire 4.5 seconds after launch so long as the rocket is ascending at greater that 15 m/s and the angle from vertical is less than 20 degrees. I believe the "time since launch is 3.5 seconds" plus "delay after other conditions is 1 second" means it will have to be properly angled for 1 second, so as to catch any spinning/tumbling.

Is this correct and is it safe to use acceleration and velocity as checks given the hardware on the device? Again, I apologize if this is obvious or if there is a better way to do this. Thx!

1630356839266.png
 
Hey folks, keep one thing in mind with the Easy Timer. In my personal experience the beeper is hard to hear when buttoned up. That may just be for me, however I suggest you consider a way to augment your hearing (I bought a cheap stethoscope).
 
I think your settings are pretty good. I don't have an easytimer, but I have easymega's as a reference.

For the separation charge, you might consider a slightly longer delay than 0.5 seconds. With commercial motors, I might choose 0.7 seconds or so. Also, for the acceleration, it is still possible for the motor to be burning at 0 acceleration (since the acceleration would be negative at actual burnout). Not sure what you can do for insurance on this other than to allow a little extra time.

Ascent rate in combination with tilt should be fine. I like the 1 second lookback. One thing I do is to include something like Time since launch less than 10 seconds, so that there is something positive that will turn off the program.

Jim
 
Thank you JimJarvis50. I guess my one remaining question is whether it is safe to use a velocity lockout given that it doesn't have a Baro (unlike the EasyMega), just the IMU.
 
Thank you JimJarvis50. I guess my one remaining question is whether it is safe to use a velocity lockout given that it doesn't have a Baro (unlike the EasyMega), just the IMU.
I think it is likely that the height above pad criteria and velocity are calculated from the inertial data. By itself, that wouldn't be a useful approach since who knows what direction the rocket might actually be going. But as I said, in combination with tilt, it can be used. Personnally, I prefer to use altitude rather than velocity when setting up staging permissives - just a little more straightforward, but in this case, they would be calculated from the same data so I don't think it matters.

Jim
 
I think it is likely that the height above pad criteria and velocity are calculated from the inertial data. By itself, that wouldn't be a useful approach since who knows what direction the rocket might actually be going. But as I said, in combination with tilt, it can be used. Personnally, I prefer to use altitude rather than velocity when setting up staging permissives - just a little more straightforward, but in this case, they would be calculated from the same data so I don't think it matters.

Do you know if the EasyMega does any sensor fusion? Many of the parameters can be derived both from inertial and baro data, so combining the two would hlep.
 
I think I've tried that. I'll specifically try that sequence. I know I've used three different USB cables.

This is starting to remind me of an ARTS
I tried my easy mini with the usb cable from my Chute release. Didnt work with that but worked with a USB cable from a camera I have. I think the "usb" cables from the chute release only have power connections, not data
 
I tried my easy mini with the usb cable from my Chute release. Didnt work with that but worked with a USB cable from a camera I have. I think the "usb" cables from the chute release only have power connections, not data

I have a few cables like that, irritates me to no end.
 
Thank you again to JimJarvis50 for the suggestion to add the Time less than X to the list of options for firing. That means that if something goes wrong and it never fires in the air, bad data won't somehow trigger the second stage to fire when it is sitting on the ground.
 
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