Status of Eggtimer Rocketry GPS Products

[cerving]

Our ability to ship GPS tracking transmitters has been impacted over the past several months due to the unavailability of the Lantronix GPS modules that we have been using since 2014. Supply through the latter half of 2021 was spotty, and our scheduled orders from 4Q 2021 have been pushed out from December 2021, to January 2022, to July 2022, now they’re quoting November 2022. We have been actively exploring alternative GPS modules for the past several months, and after a number of prototypes and three months of flight testing we have found a suitable replacement that won’t affect the cost or performance of our GPS products. New versions of the Eggfinder TX and Mini transmitters will be using the Quectel L8x series of GPS modules.

We will be back in business shipping new versions of our Eggfinder TX and Mini transmitters in mid-April. The new TX version D3 and Mini version C3 will come with the GPS module PRE-MOUNTED… yes, that means that you won’t have to solder it onto the board anymore! That will significantly decrease your build time, and increase your chance of ending up with a working transmitter. The TX D3 board will be exactly the same as the current C2 board except for the Quectel GPS module. The Mini C3 board will have a few improvements. First, it will operate with either a 1S or a 2S Lipo, so you can use an even smaller battery, which should help with some of the smaller projects, ie. 24mm through 38mm. There will now be headers and a jumper for the RUN/PGM pads, so you don’t need to do any soldering to change the frequency/ID anymore… you can do it out in the field just like the TX. The holes have also been enlarged from #2 to #4. For those of you who have 3D-printed sleds for the TX/Mini, the outline and hole patterns are identical, so you do not have to make any changes.

Finally, we realize that some of you with unbuilt kits may want to take advantage of the easier assembly of the new kits. So, we’re offering a 1:1 swap… you send us the UNOPENED AND UNBUILT TX/Mini kit, and we’ll send you a new one. This helps both of us… you get an easier kit to build, and we get one of the unobtainable Lantronix GPS modules for use in a kit that’s not being updated. You pay shipping to us, we pay shipping back to you. Please note that we reserve the right to limit the number of returns… if we get more coming back than we can handle, we’ll have to put the brakes on it.

And as usual, thanks for your continued support!

Cris Erving, Eggtimer Rocketry

 

[Tractionengines]

THANK YOU CRIS. Are you accepting orders? or would you prefer to catch up first?

As someone how designs and builds PCB's I know how much of an issue this is. I really hope the supply chain issues get worked out sooner than later, but it seems to just keep getting worse. I have some parts I bought in bulk 2 months ago, and were in all the big distribution houses.... now there gone with quotes at 101 weeks, delivery time... As far as I can tell, that just means we don't know when we can make more, but we are not discontinuing it. ...

 

[cerving]

I'll take your order, but you won't see an invoice for a few weeks. Having them ahead of time helps me plan my resources...

 

[SmurfTacoSupreme]

Wow you rock Cris...

 

[KenRico]

in for 1:1

 

[bad_idea]

Fantastic news. Will shoot you a mail later on.

Edit: any word on GPS units for the Eggfinder LCD receiver?

 

[KevinT]

That's awesome Cris!!a

 

[cerving]

Fantastic news. Will shoot you a mail later on.

Edit: any word on GPS units for the Eggfinder LCD receiver?

They're also in the process of being retooled, however we are still waiting for proto PC boards and we still have some testing to do. Since the LCD-GPS board doesn't fly, testing will be much easier and quicker (and less expensive...)

 

[Kelly]

Any plans/changes for the TRS?

 

[cerving]

Not at this time. We're hoping to snag enough of the Lantronix modules through the trade-in program to keep it going for awhile. It's an old design (cir. 2014) and really needs a refresh, but that's not in the cards for 2022.

 

[cerving]

Just to make this clear, the LCD RECEIVER is available, it's the GPS add-on for it that we don't have. Those should be available around May 1st.

 

[profmason]

I have had good luck with the Quectel L8 series modules. They seem to be more resistant to lockout then the ublox modules. In the simulator the modules continued to report above 59k as long as speed was below mach 1.2. I also found the Quectel sales engineers to be eager to work with a small integrator. I haven't had a successful flight above 15k in a while (bipropellants are hard) so I don't have any real world experience.

 

[GrouchoDuke]

Thanks for the update, Cris. Getting electronics made these days is a nightmare. I probably have one or 2 I could trade in...I'll take a look and let you know.

 

[fyrwrxz]

in for 1:1

KENNY!!!! Hit me up "[email protected]"

 

[MikeT]

Thanks for the update. I sent in my "pre-order" .

 

[KenRico]

KENNY!!!! Hit me up "[email protected]"

POW ! Write in da kisser...

 

[Evolvant]

My vote would be for ublox m9 or m10. They have a 80KM max altitude. We need more high alt options.

 

[cerving]

It's important to draw a distinction between rocket TRACKING and FINDING. "Tracking" is locating where your rocket is in flight... you can do that with any of our GPS transmitters and the LCD receiver, it will give you the compass point/distance to your rocket from either a set "home point" (no GPS module) or your LCD receiver (with the GPS module) so you know where to look for it. That's handy if you lose sight of it and want to track its movement. "Finding" is what you ultimately want to do... you want the last GPS location so you know where to go to retrieve your rocket. You generally lose the radio feed near the ground, but the last received packet will generally take you very close to your rocket; and you'll usually get the "final resting place" coordinates as you approach your rocket, too.

I bring this up because the higher-end GPS chips really don't do a better job of helping your FIND your rocket... every chip that I tested performed essentially the same in that regard. The uBlox SAM-M8Q module didn't do any better than the other GPS/GLONASS modules that I tested (Lantronix A5135H and Quectel L86), and in flight testing they didn't do any better than the GPS-only modules (Lantronix A2235H, Quectel L80). We've been shipping the A2235H since 2014, the Quectel L80 is a good alternative and in fact seems to do a better job of keeping lock during the "up" part of the flight. That's a "tracking" function... you really don't need that until your drogue comes out. You're going to be looking at your rocket, not some display. The ultimate function of an Eggfinder is to help you get your rocket back... and I'd like to think that we've helped recover a lot of rockets in the past 8 years that we've been selling them.

 

[Evolvant]

It's important to draw a distinction between rocket TRACKING and FINDING. "Tracking" is locating where your rocket is in flight... you can do that with any of our GPS transmitters and the LCD receiver, it will give you the compass point/distance to your rocket from either a set "home point" (no GPS module) or your LCD receiver (with the GPS module) so you know where to look for it. That's handy if you lose sight of it and want to track its movement. "Finding" is what you ultimately want to do... you want the last GPS location so you know where to go to retrieve your rocket. You generally lose the radio feed near the ground, but the last received packet will generally take you very close to your rocket; and you'll usually get the "final resting place" coordinates as you approach your rocket, too.

I bring this up because the higher-end GPS chips really don't do a better job of helping your FIND your rocket... every chip that I tested performed essentially the same in that regard. The uBlox SAM-M8Q module didn't do any better than the other GPS/GLONASS modules that I tested (Lantronix A5135H and Quectel L86), and in flight testing they didn't do any better than the GPS-only modules (Lantronix A2235H, Quectel L80). We've been shipping the A2235H since 2014, the Quectel L80 is a good alternative and in fact seems to do a better job of keeping lock during the "up" part of the flight. That's a "tracking" function... you really don't need that until your drogue comes out. You're going to be looking at your rocket, not some display. The ultimate function of an Eggfinder is to help you get your rocket back... and I'd like to think that we've helped recover a lot of rockets in the past 8 years that we've been selling them.

The L86 has a max altitude of 18KM unless put in "balloon mode" then it's 80KM. I'm not sure Balloon Mode works for rocketry applications. For those that want to "fly high" Tracking and Finding are important. I think Eggtimer products are awesome and appreciate everything your doing, Chris. Was just throwing out my vote for personal wishes.

 

[cerving]

They all have a velocity lockout around 500 m/s, and an acceleration lockout of about 4G, too. You're going to lose your data when you hit the button... that's a given. The trick is how fast you get it back... the Quectel seems to do a better job of that then either the Lantronix or the uBlock chips. YMMV, of course...

 

[cerving]

Got the new PC boards today, working on a photo build for the assembly guides. All parts are on hand, so barring any unforeseen issues we should be shipping TX's and Mini's sometime next week.

 

[cerving]

New build docs are on the web site, I think those of you who have built the older versions of the TX and Mini will REALLY like how much easier the new ones are to build.

 

[Tractionengines]

Cris, sent you an order e-mail the other day. I don't think any of the items are on the "long lead time" list.

My e-mail glitched and I think it sat in my outbox for some reason...for a few days... Looks like it went thru Tuesday morning. Can you confirm you got it? If you didn't I will resend. (I don't want to double order, if you do have it in the queue.)

Thanks,
Mike Schevey
(tractionengines)

 

[cerving]

We're currently out out Quantums and Apogees, we'll have both back in stock next week. Those are "normal" outages... we sell out of what we have, we make more.

 

[Zbench]

New build docs are on the web site, I think those of you who have built the older versions of the TX and Mini will REALLY like how much easier the new ones are to build.

I’ve just built one of each and the changes are a great improvement. Cris’ dedication to continuous improvement is fantastic. The new all surface mount lcd receiver is also much easier to put together.

 

[cerving]

BTW, we just started shipping a new version of the Quantum, too. It replaces the optoisolators/BJT transistors with the same driver chips as the Proton and Quark. It reduces the parts count by a bit, and the parts are current; those KSH122 Darlington transistors went EOL a few years ago, I bought up all I could get but the bottom of the well is in sight.

 

[Jmhepworth]

I look forward to building some of the new ones.

 

[Texasagg0408]

Just got a new one from Stacey W. Top notch work as always!

 

[cerving]

Just to let everybody know, we're still doing the trade-in program... if you have an older version unbuilt Eggfinder TX, Mini, or LCD-GPS kit and you want the latest version with the pre-mounted GPS module (MUCH easier to build) then we'll be happy to swap them for you. Actually, we have an ulterior motive... the Lantronix A2235H GPS modules are backordered until 2023, and we want to get ahold of some. PM or email us ([email protected]) if you have kits you'd like to swap.

Also, we're expecting to have RF modules back in stock "sometime" this month... we'll let you all know. We have a lot of pending orders in the queue... and we'd really like to get some of them out.

 

[Rocket501]

Just to let everybody know, we're still doing the trade-in program... if you have an older version unbuilt Eggfinder TX, Mini, or LCD-GPS kit and you want the latest version with the pre-mounted GPS module (MUCH easier to build) then we'll be happy to swap them for you. Actually, we have an ulterior motive... the Lantronix A2235H GPS modules are backordered until 2023, and we want to get ahold of some. PM or email us ([email protected]) if you have kits you'd like to swap.

Also, we're expecting to have RF modules back in stock "sometime" this month... we'll let you all know. We have a lot of pending orders in the queue... and we'd really like to get some of them out.

Sounds great, I'll have to see if I have any unbuilt Mini's around.