+[[!meta title="Uses"]]
# Using Altus Metrum Products
+## Where to Buy ##
+
+All Altus Metrum products are available from the
+[Garbee and Garbee](https://shop.gag.com) web
+store. [TeleMetrum](TeleMetrum/) starter kits are also available from
+[Apogee Components](http://www.apogeerockets.com/Altus_Metrum_GPS.asp)
+and [Australian Rocketry](http://www.ausrocketry.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=111&products_id=4302).
+
## Being Legal ##
-First off, in the US, you need an [amateur radio license](../Radio) or
-other authorization to legally operate the radio transmitters that are part
-of our products.
+In the US, you need an [amateur radio license](../Radio) or other
+authorization to legally operate the radio transmitters that are part
+of our products. Rules vary in other countries.
## In the Rocket ##
In the rocket itself, you just need a [TeleMetrum](../TeleMetrum) board and
-a LiPo rechargeable battery. An 860mAh battery weighs less than a 9V
+a LiPo rechargeable battery. An 900mAh battery weighs less than a 9V
alkaline battery, and will run a [TeleMetrum](../TeleMetrum) for hours.
+[This document](InsertSheet.pdf) contains notes about how to install a
+flight computer such as TeleMetrum in a rocket.
+
By default, we ship TeleMetrum with a simple wire antenna. If your
electronics bay or the airframe it resides within is made of carbon fiber,
-which is opaque to RF signals, you may choose to have an SMA connector
+which is nearly opaque to RF signals, you may choose to have an SMA connector
installed so that you can run a coaxial cable to an antenna mounted
elsewhere in the rocket.
computer. Because TeleDongle looks like a simple serial port, your computer
does not require special device drivers... just plug it in.
-Right now, all of our application software is written for Linux. However,
-because we understand that many people run Windows or MacOS, we are working
-on a new ground station program written in Java that should work on all
-operating systems.
+All of our application software is written in Java, and supports Linux,
+Windows, and MacOS systems equivalently. See our [AltOS](/AltOS) page
+for more details and to download a copy.
After the flight, you can use the RF link to extract the more detailed data
logged in the rocket, or you can use a mini USB cable to plug into the
the same way you can use a Walston or Beeline tracker. This can be handy
if the rocket is hiding in sage brush or a tree, or if the last GPS position
doesn't get you close enough because the rocket dropped into a canyon, or
-the wind is blowing it across a dry lake bed, or something like that...
+the wind is blowing it across a dry lake bed, or something like that... Keith
+and Bdale both currently own and use the
+[Yaesu VX-6R](http://yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=111&encProdID=4C6F204F6FEBB5BAFA58BCC1C131EAC0&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0)
+at launches.
So, to recap, on the ground the hardware you'll need includes:
* optionally, a handheld GPS receiver
* optionally, an HT or receiver covering 435 Mhz
+The best hand-held commercial directional antennas we've found for radio
+direction finding rockets are from
+[Arrow Antennas](http://www.arrowantennas.com/). The 440-3 and 440-5 are
+both good choices for finding a TeleMetrum-equipped rocket when used with
+a suitable 70cm HT.
+
+Find more information about antennas, HTs, and getting a ham radio license
+on our [Radio](../Radio) page.
+
## Data Analysis ##
Our software makes it easy to log the data from each flight, both the
telemetry received over the RF link during the flight itself, and the more
complete data log recorded in the DataFlash memory on the TeleMetrum
-board. Once this data is on your computer, our postflight tools make it
-easy to view a standard set of plots showing the altitude, acceleration, and
-velocity of the rocket during flight. You can also export a data file useable
-with Google Maps and Google Earth for visualizing the flight path in two or
-three dimensions.
+board. Once this data is on your computer, you can replay the flight in
+real time, get plots and summary information from your data,
+export a CSV file for further manipulation in your favorite spreadsheet,
+or export a KML file so that you can visualize the flight path in three
+dimensions with [Google Earth](http://www.google.com/earth)!
Our ultimate goal is to emit a set of files for each flight that can be
published as a web page per flight, or just viewed on your local disk with
In the future, we intend to offer "companion boards" for the rocket that will
plug in to TeleMetrum to collect additional data, provide more pyro channels,
-and so forth. A reference design for a companion board will be documented
-soon, and will be compatible with open source Arduino programming tools.
-
-We are also working on the design of a hand-held ground terminal that will
-allow monitoring the rocket's status, collecting data during flight, and
-logging data after flight without the need for a notebook computer on the
-flight line. Particularly since it is so difficult to read most notebook
-screens in direct sunlight, we think this will be a great thing to have.
-
+and so forth. We've built and flown some prototypes including
+[TeleScience](/TeleScience), but no companion board designs have made it to
+production yet.
+
+We intended to publish a reference design
+for a companion board, but one of our customers beat us to it! You can find
+his work on how to use an Arduino as a companion board on
+[GitHub](https://github.com/robderstadt/AltOSCompanion).
+
+Because all of our work is open, both the hardware designs and the software,
+if you have some great idea for an addition to the current Altus Metrum family,
+feel free to dive in and help! Or let us know what you'd like to see that
+we aren't already working on, and maybe we'll get excited about it too...
projects / web / altusmetrum / blobdiff