X-Git-Url: https://git.gag.com/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Ftelegps.xsl;h=bf7eec5ae7d74c64e997e2c1fef7c6e2b7392814;hb=debian;hp=836c3d9a899f2e0b6a48be00f1d46395d5878d88;hpb=c5cfc0d6e507d093987741b6ffaf69ebb24caa4b;p=fw%2Faltos diff --git a/doc/telegps.xsl b/doc/telegps.xsl deleted file mode 100644 index 836c3d9a..00000000 --- a/doc/telegps.xsl +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1300 +0,0 @@ - - - - TeleGPS Owner's Manual - A recording GPS tracker - - - Keith - Packard - - - 2014 - Bdale Garbee and Keith Packard - - - - - - - - - This document is released under the terms of the - - Creative Commons ShareAlike 3.0 - - license. - - - - - 1.4 - 13 June 2014 - - Initial release - - - - - - Acknowledgements - - Have fun using these products, and we hope to meet all of you - out on the rocket flight line somewhere. - -Bdale Garbee, KB0G -NAR #87103, TRA #12201 - -Keith Packard, KD7SQG -NAR #88757, TRA #12200 - - - - - Quick Start Guide - - TeleGPS is designed to be easy to use. Requiring no external - components, flying takes just a few steps. - - - First, download and install the software from . This will make sure that - you have the right device drivers installed. - - - Next, plug in the battery and USB cable and connect TeleGPS to - your computer. This will charge the battery and allow you to - configure the device. - - - Start the TeleGPS application and set the callsign and frequency - on your TeleGPS device; refer to the Configure TeleGPS section - in the TeleGPS Application chapter for instructions. - - - Unplug TeleGPS when the battery charger light goes green. This - will enable the radio and logging portions of the TeleGPS - firmware. - - - Connect TeleDongle to your computer and start TeleGPS or start - AltosDroid on your android device and connect to TeleBT. Set the - frequency to match the TeleGPS and you should be receiving telemetry. - - - - Handling Precautions - - All Altus Metrum products are sophisticated electronic devices. - When handled gently and properly installed in an air-frame, they - will deliver impressive results. However, as with all electronic - devices, there are some precautions you must take. - - - The Lithium polymer batteries have an - extraordinary power density. This is great because we can fly with - much less battery mass... but if they are punctured - or their contacts are allowed to short, they can and will release their - energy very rapidly! - Thus we recommend that you take some care when handling TeleGPS - to keep conductive material from coming in contact with the exposed metal elements. - - - As with all other rocketry electronics, Altus Metrum devices must - be protected from exposure to corrosive motor exhaust and ejection - charge gasses. - - - - TeleGPS Hardware -
- Hooking Up Lithium Polymer Batteries - - TeleGPS has a two pin JST PH series connector to connect up - a single-cell Lithium Polymer cell (3.7V nominal). You can - purchase matching batteries from the Altus Metrum store, or - other vendors, or you can make your own. Pin 1 of the - connector is positive, pin 2 is negative. Spark Fun sells a - cable with the connector attached, which they call a JST Jumper 2 - Wire Assembly. - - - Many RC vendors also sell lithium polymer batteries with - this same connector. All that we have found use the opposite - polarity, and if you use them that way, you will damage or - destroy TeleGPS. - -
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- On-board Data Recording - - TeleGPS logs GPS data at a user-configurable rate. Data are - logged to a 2MB on-board flash memory part, which can be - partitioned into several equal-sized blocks, one for each - flight. 64kB of this storage are reserved to hold - configuration data, leaving 1984kB for flight data. - - - The on-board flash is partitioned into separate flight logs, - each of a fixed maximum size. Increase the maximum size of - each log and you reduce the number of flights that can be - stored. Decrease the size and you can store more flights. - - - To compute the amount of space needed for a single log, you - can divide the expected time (in seconds) by the sample period - (by default, 1 second per sample) and then multiply the result - by 32 bytes per sample. For instance, a sample period of 1 - second and a flight lasting one hour will take 32 * 3600 = - 115200 bytes. TeleGPS does try to reduce log space used by not - recording position information when it isn't moving, so actual - space consumed may be less than this. - - - The default size allows for four flights of 496kB each, which - provides over four hours of logging at 1 sample per second. - - - TeleGPS will not overwrite existing flight data, so be sure to - download flight data and erase it from the onboard flash - before it fills up. TeleGPS will still report telemetry even - if memory is full, so the only thing you will lose is the - on-board data log. - -
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- Installation - - The battery connectors are a standard 2-pin JST connector and - match batteries sold by Spark Fun. These batteries are - single-cell Lithium Polymer batteries that nominally provide 3.7 - volts. Other vendors sell similar batteries for RC aircraft - using mating connectors, however the polarity for those is - generally reversed from the batteries used by Altus Metrum - products. In particular, the Tenergy batteries supplied for use - in Featherweight flight computers are not compatible with Altus - Metrum flight computers or battery chargers. Check - polarity and voltage before connecting any battery not purchased - from Altus Metrum or Spark Fun. - - - TeleGPS uses an integrate GPS patch antenna and won't - receive GPS signals if installed inside a metal or carbon - fiber compartment. Test GPS reception and telemetry - transmission with the system installed and all other - electronics powered up to verify signal reception and make - sure there isn't any interference from other systems. - -
- - - System Operation -
- GFSK Telemetry - - TeleGPS's native telemetry system doesn't use a 'normal packet - radio' mode like APRS because it's not very efficient. The - GFSK modulation we use is FSK with the base-band pulses passed - through a Gaussian filter before they go into the modulator to - limit the transmitted bandwidth. When combined with forward - error correction and interleaving, this allows us to have a - very robust 19.2 kilobit data link with only 10-40 milliwatts - of transmit power, a whip antenna in the rocket, and a - hand-held Yagi on the ground. We've had flights to above 21k - feet AGL with great reception, and calculations suggest we - should be good to well over 40k feet AGL with a 5-element yagi - on the ground with our 10mW units and over 100k feet AGL with - the 40mW devices. - -
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- APRS - - TeleGPS can send APRS if desired, and the - interval between APRS packets can be configured. As each APRS - packet takes a full second to transmit, we recommend an - interval of at least 5 seconds to avoid consuming too much - battery power or radio channel bandwidth. You can configure - the APRS interval using AltosUI; that process is described in - the Configure Altimeter section of the AltosUI chapter. - - - AltOS uses the APRS compressed position report data format, - which provides for higher position precision and shorter - packets than the original APRS format. It also includes - altitude data, which is invaluable when tracking rockets. We - haven't found a receiver which doesn't handle compressed - positions, but it's just possible that you have one, so if you - have an older device that can receive the raw packets but - isn't displaying position information, it's possible that this - is the cause. - - - The APRS packet format includes a comment field that can have - arbitrary text in it. AltOS uses this to send status - information about the flight computer. It sends four fields as - shown in the following table. - - - Altus Metrum APRS Comments - - - - - - - - Field - Example - Description - - - - - 1 - L - GPS Status U for unlocked, L for locked - - - 2 - 6 - Number of Satellites in View - - - 3 - B4.0 - Battery Voltage - - - -
- - Here's an example of an APRS comment showing GPS lock with 6 - satellites in view and a battery at 4.0V. - - L6 B4.0 - - - - Make sure your primary battery is above 3.8V and GPS is locked - with at least 5 or 6 satellites in view before starting. If GPS - is switching between L and U regularly, then it doesn't have a - good lock and you should wait until it becomes stable. - - - If the GPS receiver loses lock, the APRS data transmitted will - contain the last position for which GPS lock was - available. You can tell that this has happened by noticing - that the GPS status character switches from 'L' to 'U'. Before - GPS has locked, APRS will transmit zero for latitude, - longitude and altitude. - -
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- Configurable Parameters - - Configuring TeleGPS is very - simple; the few configurable parameters can all be set - using the TeleGPS application over USB. Read - the Configure TeleGPS section in the TeleGPS Software chapter below - for more information. - -
- Radio Frequency - - Altus Metrum boards support radio frequencies in the 70cm - band. By default, the configuration interface provides a - list of 10 “standard” frequencies in 100kHz channels starting at - 434.550MHz. However, the firmware supports use of - any 50kHz multiple within the 70cm band. At any given - launch, we highly recommend coordinating when and by whom each - frequency will be used to avoid interference. And of course, both - TeleGPS and the receiver must be configured to the same - frequency to successfully communicate with each other. - -
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- Callsign - - This sets the callsign used for telemetry and APRS to - identify the device. - -
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- Telemetry/RDF/APRS Enable - - You can completely disable the radio, if necessary, leaving - TeleGPS only logging data to internal memory. - -
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- APRS Interval - - This selects how often APRS packets are transmitted. Set - this to zero to disable APRS without also disabling the - regular telemetry and RDF transmissions. As APRS takes a - full second to transmit a single position report, we - recommend sending packets no more than once every 5 seconds. - -
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- Maximum Flight Log - - Changing this value will set the maximum amount of flight - log storage that an individual flight will use. The - available storage is divided into as many flights of the - specified size as can fit in the available space. You can - download and erase individual flight logs. If you fill up - the available storage, future flights will not get logged - until you erase some of the stored ones. - -
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- Logging Trigger Motion - - If TeleGPS moves less than this distance over a long period - of time, it will not log that location, saving storage space. - -
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- Position Reporting Interval - - This sets how often TeleGPS reports position information via - telemetry and to the on-board log. Reducing this value will - save power and logging memory consumption. - -
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- - - TeleGPS Application - - The TeleGPS application provides a graphical user interface for - interacting with the Altus Metrum product family. TeleGPS can - monitor telemetry data, configure devices and many other - tasks. The primary interface window is for displaying data - received over the telemetry link. There are additional - tasks available from the main window menu bar. This chapter - is split into sections, each of which documents one of the tasks - provided from the top-level toolbar. - -
- Telemetry Monitoring - - This is the window brought up when you start the - application. If you have a TeleDongle device connected to the - computer, it will automatically be selected for telemetry monitoring - - - All telemetry data received are automatically recorded in - suitable log files. The name of the files includes the current - date and TeleGPS serial and flight numbers. - - - The radio frequency being monitored by the TeleDongle device - is displayed at the top of the window. You can configure the - frequency by clicking on the frequency box and selecting the - desired frequency. The TeleGPS application remembers the last - frequency selected for each TeleDongle and selects that - automatically the next time you use that device. - - - Below the TeleDongle frequency selector, the window contains a few - significant pieces of information about the altimeter providing - the telemetry data stream: - - - - The configured call-sign - - - The device serial number - - - The flight number. TeleGPS remembers how many - times it has flown. - - - - - The Received Signal Strength Indicator value. This lets - you know how strong a signal TeleDongle is receiving. The - radio inside TeleDongle operates down to about -100dBm; - weaker signals may not be receivable. The packet link uses - error detection and correction techniques which prevent - incorrect data from being reported. - - - - - The age of the displayed data, in seconds since the last - successfully received telemetry packet. In normal operation - this will stay in the low single digits. If the number starts - counting up, then you are no longer receiving data over the radio - link from the flight computer. - - - - - Finally, the largest portion of the window contains a set of - tabs, each of which contain some information about the TeleGPS - board. The final 'table' tab displays many of the raw telemetry - values in one place in a spreadsheet-like format. - -
- Map - - The Map tab shows the TeleGPS track over time on top of map - data making it easy to locate the device. - - - - - - - - - - The map's default scale is approximately 3m (10ft) per pixel. The map - can be dragged using the left mouse button. The map will attempt - to keep the rocket roughly centered while data is being received. - - - You can adjust the style of map and the zoom level with - buttons on the right side of the map window. You can draw a - line on the map by moving the mouse over the map with a - button other than the left one pressed, or by pressing the - left button while also holding down the shift key. The - length of the line in real-world units will be shown at the - start of the line. - - - Images are fetched automatically via the Google Maps Static API, - and cached on disk for reuse. If map images cannot be downloaded, - the rocket's path will be traced on a dark gray background - instead. - - - You can pre-load images for your favorite launch sites - before you leave home; check out the 'Preload Maps' section below. - -
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- Location - - The Location tab shows the raw GPS data received from TeleGPS. - - - - - - - - -
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- Status - - The Status tab shows data relative to the location of - TeleGPS when the application first received telemetry from - it. - - - - - - - - -
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- Table - - The Table tab shows detailed information about the GPS - receiver - - - - - - - - -
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- -
- TeleGPS Menus - - TeleGPS has three or four menus at the top of the window: - - - File - - - New Window, Graph Data, Export Data, Load Maps, Preferences, Close and Exit - - - - - Monitor - - - Connect Device, Disconnect and Scan Channels - - - - - Device - - - Download Data, Configure Device and Flash Device - - - - - Frequency - - - This shows the current monitoring frequency with a - drop-down menu listing other configured - frequencies. You can change the set of frequencies - shown here from the Preferences dialog. This menu is - only shown when the TeleGPS application is connected - to a TeleDongle or TeleBT device. - - - - - -
- New Window - - This creates another telemetry monitoring window, in case - you have multiple TeleDongle devices connected to the - computer. - -
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- Graph Data - - This brings up a file dialog to load a saved log, either - a .telem file of recorded telemetry or .eeprom of saved - data from on-board memory. It looks a bit like the flight - monitoring window, using a selection of tabs to show - different views of the saved data. - -
- Graph - - The Graph tab shows a plot of the the GPS data - collected. The X axis is time in seconds; there are a - variety of Y axes available for different kinds of data. - - - - - - - - -
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- Configure Graph - - - - - - - - - This selects which graph elements to show, and, at the - bottom, lets you switch between metric and imperial units - -
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- Statistics - - - - - - - - - Shows overall data computed from the flight. - -
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- Map - - - - - - - - - Shows a map of the area overlaid with the GPS track. As with - the telemetry monitoring window, you can select the style - of map and zoom level using buttons along the side; - you can scroll the map by dragging within the map pressing - the left button and you can draw a line to measure - distances using either the left button with the shift key, - or any other button. - -
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- Export Data - - This tool takes the raw data files and makes them available for - external analysis. When you select this button, you are prompted to - select a data file, which can be either a .eeprom or .telem. - The .eeprom files contain higher resolution and more continuous data, - while .telem files contain receiver signal strength information. - Next, a second dialog appears which is used to select - where to write the resulting file. It has a selector to choose - between CSV and KML file formats. - -
- Comma Separated Value Format - - This is a text file containing the data in a form suitable for - import into a spreadsheet or other external data analysis - tool. The first few lines of the file contain the version and - configuration information from TeleGPS, then - there is a single header line which labels all of the - fields. All of these lines start with a '#' character which - many tools can be configured to skip over. - - - The remaining lines of the file contain the data, with each - field separated by a comma and at least one space. All of - the sensor values are converted to standard units, with the - barometric data reported in both pressure, altitude and - height above pad units. - -
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- Keyhole Markup Language (for Google Earth) - - This is the format used by Google Earth to provide an overlay - within that application. With this, you can use Google Earth to - see the whole flight path in 3D. - -
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- Load Maps - - - - - - - - - Before using TeleGPS, you can use Load Maps to load map data - in case you don't have access to the internet while - receiving telemetry. - - - There's a drop-down menu of rocket launch sites we know - about; if your favorites aren't there, please let us know - the lat/lon and name of the site. The contents of this list - are actually downloaded from our server at run-time, so as - new sites are sent in, they'll get automatically added to - this list. If the launch site isn't in the list, you can - manually enter the lat/lon values - - - There are four different kinds of maps you can view; you can - select which to download by selecting as many as you like from - the available types: - - - Hybrid - - - A combination of satellite imagery and road data. This - is the default view. - - - - - Satellite - - - Just the satellite imagery without any annotation. - - - - - Roadmap - - - Roads, political boundaries and a few geographic features. - - - - - Terrain - - - Contour intervals and shading that show hills and - valleys. - - - - - - - You can specify the range of zoom levels to download; smaller - numbers show more area with less resolution. The default - level, 0, shows about 3m/pixel. One zoom level change - doubles or halves that number. - - - The Tile Radius value sets how large an area around the center - point to download. Each tile is 512x512 pixels, and the - 'radius' value specifies how many tiles away from the center - will be downloaded. Specify a radius of 0 and you get only the - center tile. A radius of 1 loads a 3x3 grid, centered on the - specified location. - - - Clicking the 'Load Map' button will fetch images from Google - Maps; note that Google limits how many images you can fetch at - once, so if you load more than one launch site, you may get - some gray areas in the map which indicate that Google is tired - of sending data to you. Try again later. - -
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- Preferences - - - - - - - -
- Voice Settings - - AltosUI provides voice announcements during flight so that you - can keep your eyes on the sky and still get information about - the current flight status. However, sometimes you don't want - to hear them. - - - - Enable - - Turns all voice announcements on and off - - - - Test Voice - - - Plays a short message allowing you to verify - that the audio system is working and the volume settings - are reasonable - - - - -
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- Log Directory - - AltosUI logs all telemetry data and saves all TeleMetrum flash - data to this directory. This directory is also used as the - staring point when selecting data files for display or export. - - - Click on the directory name to bring up a directory choosing - dialog, select a new directory and click 'Select Directory' to - change where AltosUI reads and writes data files. - -
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- Callsign - - This value is transmitted in each command packet sent from - TeleDongle and received from an altimeter. It is not used in - telemetry mode, as the callsign configured in the altimeter board - is included in all telemetry packets. Configure this - with the AltosUI operators call sign as needed to comply with - your local radio regulations. - - - Note that to successfully command a flight computer over the radio - (to configure the altimeter, monitor idle, or fire pyro charges), - the callsign configured here must exactly match the callsign - configured in the flight computer. This matching is case - sensitive. - -
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- Imperial Units - - This switches between metric units (meters) and imperial - units (feet and miles). This affects the display of values - use during flight monitoring, configuration, data graphing - and all of the voice announcements. It does not change the - units used when exporting to CSV files, those are always - produced in metric units. - -
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- Serial Debug - - This causes all communication with a connected device to be - dumped to the console from which AltosUI was started. If - you've started it from an icon or menu entry, the output - will simply be discarded. This mode can be useful to debug - various serial communication issues. - -
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- Font Size - - Selects the set of fonts used in the flight monitor - window. Choose between the small, medium and large sets. - -
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- Look & Feel - - Adjust the style of the windows. By default, the TeleGPS - application attempts to blend in with the native style. - -
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- Manage Frequencies - - This brings up a dialog where you can configure the set of - frequencies shown in the various frequency menus. You can - add as many as you like, or even reconfigure the default - set. Changing this list does not affect the frequency - settings of any devices, it only changes the set of - frequencies shown in the menus. - -
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- Close - - This closes the current window, leaving any other windows - open and the application running. - -
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- Exit - - This closes all TeleGPS windows and terminates the application. - -
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- Connect Device - - Selecting this item brings up a dialog box listing all of - the connected TeleDongle devices. When you choose one of - these, AltosUI will display telemetry data as received by - the selected TeleDongle device. - - - - - - - - -
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- Disconnect - - Disconnects the currently connected TeleDongle or TeleBT - -
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- Scan Channels - - Scans the configured set of frequencies looking for - telemetry signals. A list of all of the discovered signals - is show; selecting one of those and clicking on 'Monitor' - will select that frequency in the associated TeleGPS - application window. - - - - - - - - -
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- Download Data - - TeleGPS records data to its internal flash memory. - On-board data is recorded at the same rate as telemetry - but is not subject to radio drop-outs. As - such, it generally provides a more complete and precise record. - The 'Download Data' menu entry allows you to read the - flash memory and write it to disk. - - - Select the 'Download Data' menu entry to bring up a list of - connected TeleGPS devices. After the device has been - selected, a dialog showing the data stored in the - device will be shown allowing you to select which entries to - download and which to delete. You must erase flights in order for the space they - consume to be reused by another track. This prevents - accidentally losing data if you neglect to download - data before starting TeleGPS again. Note that if there is no more - space available in the device, then no data will be recorded. - - - The file name for each data log is computed automatically - from the recorded date, altimeter serial number and flight - number information. - -
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- Configure Device - - - - - - - - - Select this button and then select any connected TeleGPS - device from the list provided. - - - The first few lines of the dialog provide information about the - connected device, including the product name, - software version and hardware serial number. Below that are the - individual configuration entries. - - - At the bottom of the dialog, there are four buttons: - - - - Save - - - This writes any changes to the - configuration parameter block in flash memory. If you don't - press this button, any changes you make will be lost. - - - - - Reset - - - This resets the dialog to the most recently saved values, - erasing any changes you have made. - - - - - Reboot - - - This reboots the device. This will restart logging for - a new flight number, if any log information has been - saved for the current flight. - - - - - Close - - - This closes the dialog. Any unsaved changes will be - lost. - - - - - - The rest of the dialog contains the parameters to be configured. - -
- Frequency - - This configures which of the frequencies to use for both - telemetry and packet command mode. Note that if you set this - value via packet command mode, the TeleDongle frequency will - also be automatically reconfigured to match so that - communication will continue afterwards. - -
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- RF Calibration - - The radios in every Altus Metrum device are calibrated at the - factory to ensure that they transmit and receive on the - specified frequency. If you need to you can adjust the calibration - by changing this value. Do not do this without understanding what - the value means, read the appendix on calibration and/or the source - code for more information. To change a TeleDongle's calibration, - you must reprogram the unit completely. - -
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- Telemetry/RDF/APRS Enable - - Enables the radio for transmission during flight. When - disabled, the radio will not transmit anything during flight - at all. - -
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- APRS Interval - - How often to transmit GPS information via APRS (in - seconds). When set to zero, APRS transmission is - disabled. This option is available on TeleMetrum v2 and - TeleMega boards. TeleMetrum v1 boards cannot transmit APRS - packets. Note that a single APRS packet takes nearly a full - second to transmit, so enabling this option will prevent - sending any other telemetry during that time. - -
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- Callsign - - This sets the call sign included in each telemetry packet. Set this - as needed to conform to your local radio regulations. - -
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- Maximum Log Size - - This sets the space (in kilobytes) allocated for each data - log. The available space will be divided into chunks of this - size. A smaller value will allow more logs to be stored, - a larger value will record data for longer times. - -
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- Logging Trigger Motion - - If TeleGPS moves less than this distance over a long period - of time, it will not log that location, saving storage space. - -
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- Position Reporting Interval - - This sets how often TeleGPS reports position information via - telemetry and to the on-board log. Reducing this value will - save power and logging memory consumption. - -
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- Flash Device - - This reprograms TeleGPS devices with new firmware. Please - read the directions for flashing devices in the Updating - Device Firmware chapter below. - -
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- - - Updating Device Firmware - - TeleGPS is programmed directly over its USB connectors. - - - You may wish to begin by ensuring you have current firmware images. - These are distributed as part of the TeleGPS software bundle that - also includes the TeleGPS ground station program. Newer ground - station versions typically work fine with older firmware versions, - so you don't need to update your devices just to try out new - software features. You can always download the most recent - version from . - -
- - Updating TeleGPS Firmware - - - - - Attach a battery and power switch to the target - device. Power up the device. - - - - - Using a Micro USB cable, connect the target device to your - computer's USB socket. - - - - - Run TeleGPS, and select 'Flash Device' from the Device menu. - - - - - Select the target device in the Device Selection dialog. - - - - - Select the image you want to flash to the device, which - should have a name in the form - <product>-v<product-version>-<software-version>.ihx, such - as TeleGPS-v1.0-1.4.0.ihx. - - - - - Make sure the configuration parameters are reasonable - looking. If the serial number and/or RF configuration - values aren't right, you'll need to change them. - - - - - Hit the 'OK' button and the software should proceed to flash - the device with new firmware, showing a progress bar. - - - - - Verify that the device is working by using the 'Configure - Altimeter' item to check over the configuration. - - - - -
- - - Technical Information -
- GPS Receiver - - TeleGPS uses the u-Blox Max-7Q GPS receiver. - -
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- Micro-controller - - TeleGPS uses an NXP LPC11U14 micro-controller. This tiny - CPU contains 32kB of flash for the application and 4kB of RAM for - temporary data storage. - -
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- Lithium Polymer Battery - - Shipping restrictions may prevent us from including a battery - battery with TeleGPS. - -
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- Mechanical Considerations - - TeleGPS is designed to be rugged enough for typical rocketry - applications. The 4 mounting holes on the board are sized for - use with 4-40 or M3 screws. - -
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- On-board data storage - - TeleGPS has 2MB of non-volatile storage, separate from the - code storage memory. The TeleGPS firmware uses this to log - information during flight. - -
- - -