3 There are three things you need to configure identically in each unit
4 that is part of a TeleLaunch system for wireless communications to
5 succeed. Those are the operating frequency, the callsign, and a key
6 for the AES encryption algorithm. Additionally, each TeleFire unit
7 also needs to be configured with a unique bank number.
9 Please note that these values must match exactly, or the system will
10 not operate as expected. That means the callsign needs to have the
11 same choices of upper or lower case, no trailing spaces, etc. And
12 the operating frequency and AES key must match.
14 === Connecting to a Unit
16 Configuring each unit of a TeleLaunch system requires use of
17 a micro USB cable, and a computer with a suitable terminal
18 emulation program. Connect a suitable cable, open your
19 favoriate terminal emulation program, and power up the unit.
20 By pressing <enter> you should see a command prompt.
24 The USB connector on TeleLCO is accessible without
25 opening the lid of the Pelican box. Look for the
26 blue dust cap over the connector under the handle.
30 The USB connector on TeleFireEight is located on the
31 circuit board. To access it, open the box and flip
32 the lid up. you should be able to spot a vertical
33 micro USB connector on the board near the DIP switch.
36 Please take care when closing the TeleFireEight lid
37 not to pinch any wires.
39 === Operating Frequency
41 The TeleLaunch system supports operation over much of the
42 "70cm" Amateur Radio band, with the filters optimized for a
43 center frequency of 435 MHz. For each system, a single
44 operating frequency should be selected and programmed into
47 The default frequency for units leaving the factory is
48 435.750 MHz. Since Altus Metrum flight computers operate
49 by default on 10 100khz channels from 434.550 to 435.450 MHz,
50 we chose this frequency to be far enough away from flight
51 computers to avoid any interference, but still close enough
52 to the radio subsystem design center frequency for great
55 To configure the frequency, use your terminal emulator to
56 issue two commands. First, use 'c F xxxxxx' where the xxxxxx
57 is replaced with the desired operating frequency in kHz. Then
58 use the 'c w' command to save this value into non-volatile
59 memory. For example, the default 435.750 MHz would be
65 Note that the 'f' parameter is a frequency calibration value
66 that you really, really, really don't want to change. So,
67 please be careful to make sure you use capital 'F', not lower
68 case 'f' when changing the operating frequency!
72 In the US, you need an
73 link:http://www.altusmetrum.org/Radio/[amateur radio license]
74 or other authorization to legally operate the radio
75 transmitters that are part of TeleLaunch.
77 The default callsign shipped from the factory is "N0CALL",
78 which is not a valid callsign and meant to humorously point
79 out that the callsign hasn't been configured yet.
81 Individual owners of a TeleLaunch system should use their
84 Club owners of a TeleLaunch system should pick the callsign
85 of one club member who is willing to be designated as the
86 control operator of the system. Under FCC Part 97 rules,
87 being the control operator does not mean you have to be LCO
88 all the time, it just means taking responsibility for ensuring
89 the system is being operated in compliance with the rules.
91 To configure the callsign, use your terminal emulator to
92 issue two commands. First, use 'c c callsign' to set the
93 callsign, then use 'c w' to write to non-volatile memory.
94 For example, to set the default N0CALL, the commands would
102 For safety, TeleLaunch uses cryptographic checksums to help
103 prevent interference, intentional or un-intentional. This
104 means each system must have a shared AES encryption key
105 identically configured into each unit.
107 The key size required is 128 bits, which must be expressed
108 as a 32-digit hexadecimal number.
110 To configure the AES key, use 'c a key' followed by 'c w'
111 to write the key to non-volatile memory. For example, to
112 configure your system with a key that is the answer to life,
113 the universe, and everything, the commands would be
115 c a 00000000000000000000000000000042 +
120 Each TeleFire unit needs to be configured with a bank number,
121 and bank numbers should be unique within a given system. For
122 most systems with 8 or fewer banks, just use the DIP switch
123 on the circuit board inside the TeleFire unit to select the
124 desired bank. Only one switch should be turned on. Switch
125 one means bank one, etc.
127 To allow systems to have more than 8 banks, if all the DIP
128 switches are "off", the unit will use the bank configured in
131 To configure the bank number, use 'c B bank' followed by
132 'c w' to write to non-volatile memory. For example, to
133 set the bank to 42, the commands would be: