Copyright © 2011 Bdale Garbee and Keith Packard
+
Copyright © 2011 Bdale Garbee and Keith Packard
This document is released under the terms of the
Creative Commons ShareAlike 3.0
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
Updated for software version 0.9. Note that 0.9 represents a
telemetry format change, meaning both ends of a link (TeleMetrum and
TeleDongle) must be updated or communications will fail.
- Revision 0.8 24 November 2010 Updated for software version 0.8
Thanks to Bob Finch, W9YA, NAR 12965, TRA 12350 for writing "The
Mere-Mortals Quick Start/Usage Guide to the Altus Metrum Starter
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Keith
NAR #88757, TRA #12200
-
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Welcome to the Altus Metrum community! Our circuits and software reflect our passion for both hobby rocketry and Free Software. We hope their capabilities and performance will delight you in every way, but by @@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ NAR More products will be added to the Altus Metrum family over time, and we currently envision that this will be a single, comprehensive manual for the entire product family. -
The first thing to do after you check the inventory of parts in your "starter kit" is to charge the battery.
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ NAR Full source code and build instructions are also available. The latest version may always be downloaded from http://altusmetrum.org/AltOS. -
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 @@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ NAR As with all other rocketry electronics, Altus Metrum altimeters must be protected from exposure to corrosive motor exhaust and ejection charge gasses. -
TeleMetrum is a 1 inch by 2.75 inch circuit board. It was designed to fit inside coupler for 29mm air-frame tubing, but using it in a tube that small in diameter may require some creativity in mounting and wiring @@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ NAR connection, and, on TeleMetrum, you can unplug the integrated GPS antenna and select an appropriate off-board GPS antenna with cable terminating in a U.FL connector. -
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The AltOS firmware build for the altimeters has two fundamental modes, "idle" and "flight". Which of these modes the firmware operates in is determined at start up time. For @@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ NAR step of a rickety step-ladder or hanging off the side of a launch tower with a screw-driver trying to turn on your avionics before installing igniters! -
TeleMetrum includes a complete GPS receiver. A complete explanation of how GPS works is beyond the scope of this manual, but the bottom line is that the TeleMetrum GPS receiver needs to lock onto at least @@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ NAR is turned back on, the GPS system should lock very quickly, typically long before igniter installation and return to the flight line are complete. -
One of the unique features of the Altus Metrum system is the ability to create a two way command link between TeleDongle and an altimeter using the digital radio transceivers built into @@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ NAR lights on the devices. The red LED will flash each time a packet is tramsitted, while the green LED will light up on TeleDongle when it is waiting to receive a packet from the altimeter. -
An important aspect of preparing a rocket using electronic deployment for flight is ground testing the recovery system. Thanks to the bi-directional radio link central to the Altus Metrum system, @@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ NAR manual command. You can now command the altimeter to fire the apogee or main charges from a safe distance using your computer and TeleDongle and the Fire Igniter tab to complete ejection testing. -
The chip our boards are based on incorporates an RF transceiver, but it's not a full duplex system... each end can only be transmitting or receiving at any given moment. So we had to decide how to manage the @@ -395,13 +395,13 @@ NAR with a 5-element yagi on the ground. We hope to fly boards to higher altitudes over time, and would of course appreciate customer feedback on performance in higher altitude flights! -
Configuring an Altus Metrum altimeter for flight is very simple. Even on our baro-only TeleMini board, the use of a Kalman filter means there is no need to set a "mach delay". The few configurable parameters can all be set using AltosUI over USB or or radio link via TeleDongle. -
+
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 @@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ NAR frequency will be used to avoid interference. And of course, both altimeter and TeleDongle must be configured to the same frequency to successfully communicate with each other. -
Apogee delay is the number of seconds after the altimeter detects flight apogee that the drogue charge should be fired. In most cases, this should be left at the default of 0. However, if you are flying @@ -427,7 +427,7 @@ NAR or 3 seconds later to avoid any chance of both charges firing simultaneously. We've flown several air-frames this way quite happily, including Keith's successful L3 cert. -
By default, the altimeter will fire the main deployment charge at an elevation of 250 meters (about 820 feet) above ground. We think this is a good elevation for most air-frames, but feel free to change this @@ -436,8 +436,8 @@ NAR deployment elevation for the backup altimeter to be something lower than the primary so that both pyrotechnic charges don't fire simultaneously. -
+ TeleMetrum version 1.1 and 1.2 have 2MB of on-board flash storage, enough to hold over 40 minutes of data at full data rate (100 samples/second). TeleMetrum 1.0 has 1MB of on-board storage. As data are stored at a reduced rate during descent @@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ NAR flights.
All of the configuration data is also stored in the flash - memory, which consumes 64kB on TeleMetrum v1.1 and 256B on + memory, which consumes 64kB on TeleMetrum v1.1/v1.2 and 256B on TeleMetrum v1.0. This configuration space is not available for storing flight log data.
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ NAR the on-board flash.
The default size, 192kB, allows for 10 flights of storage on - TeleMetrum v1.1 and 5 flights on TeleMetrum v1.0. This + TeleMetrum v1.1/v1.2 and 5 flights on TeleMetrum v1.0. This ensures that you won't need to erase the memory before flying each time while still allowing more than sufficient storage for each flight. @@ -480,7 +480,7 @@ NAR the limited storage, TeleMini cannot hold data for more than one flight, and so must be erased after each flight or it will not capture data for subsequent flights. -
Instead of firing one charge at apogee and another charge at a fixed height above the ground, you can configure the altimeter to fire both at apogee or both during @@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ NAR main allows some level of redundancy without needing two flight computers. In Redundant Apogee or Redundant Main mode, the two charges will be fired two seconds apart. -
TeleMetrum measures acceleration along the axis of the board. Which way the board is oriented affects the sign of the acceleration value. Instead of trying to guess which way @@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ NAR TeleMetrum board connected to the 70cm antenna to be nearest the nose of the rocket, with the end containing the screw terminals nearest the tail. -
Table of Contents
The AltosUI program provides a graphical user interface for interacting with the Altus Metrum product family, including TeleMetrum, TeleMini and TeleDongle. AltosUI can monitor telemetry data, @@ -511,7 +511,7 @@ NAR buttons, one for each major activity in the system. This manual is split into chapters, each of which documents one of the tasks provided from the top-level toolbar. -
+
Selecting this item brings up a dialog box listing all of the connected TeleDongle devices. When you choose one of these, AltosUI will create a window to display telemetry data as @@ -552,7 +552,7 @@ NAR data relevant to the current state of the flight. You can select other tabs at any time. The final 'table' tab displays all of the raw telemetry values in one place in a spreadsheet-like format. -
+
The 'Launch Pad' tab shows information used to decide when the rocket is ready for flight. The first elements include red/green indicators, if any of these is red, you'll want to evaluate @@ -601,7 +601,7 @@ NAR and altitude, averaging many reported positions to improve the accuracy of the fix.
-
This tab is shown during Boost, Fast and Coast phases. The information displayed here helps monitor the rocket as it heads towards apogee. @@ -620,7 +620,7 @@ NAR Finally, the current igniter voltages are reported as in the Launch Pad tab. This can help diagnose deployment failures caused by wiring which comes loose under high acceleration. -
Once the rocket has reached apogee and (we hope) activated the apogee charge, attention switches to tracking the rocket on the way back to the ground, and for dual-deploy flights, @@ -647,7 +647,7 @@ NAR e-matches are designed to retain continuity even after being fired, and will continue to show as green or return from red to green after firing. -
Once the rocket is on the ground, attention switches to recovery. While the radio signal is often lost once the rocket is on the ground, the last reported GPS position is @@ -676,7 +676,7 @@ NAR To get more detailed information about the flight, you can click on the 'Graph Flight' button which will bring up a graph window for the current flight. -
When the TeleMetrum has a GPS fix, the Site Map tab will map the rocket's position to make it easier for you to locate the rocket, both while it is in the air, and when it has landed. The @@ -695,7 +695,7 @@ NAR
You can pre-load images for your favorite launch sites before you leave home; check out the 'Preload Maps' section below. -
The altimeter records flight data to its internal flash memory. TeleMetrum data is recorded at a much higher rate than the telemetry system can handle, and is not subject to radio drop-outs. As @@ -726,7 +726,7 @@ NAR The file name for each flight log is computed automatically from the recorded flight date, altimeter serial number and flight number information. -
Select this button and you are prompted to select a flight record file, either a .telem file recording telemetry data or a .eeprom file containing flight data saved from the altimeter @@ -735,7 +735,7 @@ NAR Once a flight record is selected, the flight monitor interface is displayed and the flight is re-enacted in real time. Check the Monitor Flight chapter above to learn how this window operates. -
Select this button and you are prompted to select a flight record file, either a .telem file recording telemetry data or a .eeprom file containing flight data saved from @@ -760,7 +760,7 @@ NAR Note that telemetry files will generally produce poor graphs due to the lower sampling rate and missed telemetry packets. Use saved flight data in .eeprom files for graphing where possible. -
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 flight @@ -769,7 +769,7 @@ NAR data). 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. -
+
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 @@ -783,11 +783,11 @@ NAR the sensor values are converted to standard units, with the barometric data reported in both pressure, altitude and height above pad units. -
Select this button and then select either a TeleMetrum or TeleDongle Device from the list provided. Selecting a TeleDongle device will use the radio link to configure a remote altimeter. @@ -815,14 +815,14 @@ NAR lost.
The rest of the dialog contains the parameters to be configured. -
+
This sets the altitude (above the recorded pad altitude) at which the 'main' igniter will fire. The drop-down menu shows some common values, but you can edit the text directly and choose whatever you like. If the apogee charge fires below this altitude, then the main charge will fire two seconds after the apogee charge fires. -
When flying redundant electronics, it's often important to ensure that multiple apogee charges don't fire at precisely the same time, as that can over pressurize the apogee deployment @@ -830,13 +830,13 @@ NAR Delay parameter tells the flight computer to fire the apogee charge a certain number of seconds after apogee has been detected. -
This configures which of the configured frequencies to use for both telemetry and packet command mode. Note that if you set this value via packet command mode, you will have to reconfigure the TeleDongle frequency before you will be able to use packet command mode again. -
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 @@ -844,15 +844,15 @@ NAR 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. -
This sets the call sign included in each telemetry packet. Set this as needed to conform to your local radio regulations. -
This sets the space (in kilobytes) allocated for each flight log. The available space will be divided into chunks of this size. A smaller value will allow more flights to be stored, a larger value will record data from longer flights. -
TeleMetrum and TeleMini provide two igniter channels as they were originally designed as dual-deploy flight computers. This configuration parameter allows the two @@ -872,7 +872,7 @@ NAR Altitude setting during descent. The 'apogee' channel is fired first, followed after a two second delay by the 'main' channel. -
Because it includes an accelerometer, TeleMetrum is sensitive to the orientation of the board. By default, it expects the antenna end to point forward. This parameter @@ -886,9 +886,9 @@ NAR Antenna Down. In this mode, the antenna end of the TeleMetrum board must point aft, in line with the expected flight path. -
This button presents a dialog so that you can configure the AltosUI global 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 @@ -897,7 +897,7 @@ NAR Test Voice—Plays a short message allowing you to verify that the audio system is working and the volume settings are reasonable -
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. @@ -905,30 +905,30 @@ NAR 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. -
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. -
Selects the set of fonts used in the flight monitor window. Choose between the small, medium and large sets. -
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. -
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. -
This reprograms any Altus Metrum device by using a TeleMetrum or TeleDongle as a programming dongle. Please read the directions for flashing devices in the Updating Device @@ -958,7 +958,7 @@ NAR will have to unplug it and then plug it back in for the USB connection to reset so that you can communicate with the device again. -
This activates the igniter circuits in TeleMetrum to help test recovery systems deployment. Because this command can operate over the Packet Command Link, you can prepare the rocket as @@ -978,14 +978,14 @@ NAR you have 10 seconds to press the 'Fire' button or the system will deactivate, at which point you start over again at selecting the desired igniter. -
This listens for telemetry packets on all of the configured frequencies, displaying information about each device it receives a packet from. You can select which of the three telemetry formats should be tried; by default, it only listens for the standard telemetry packets used in v1.0 and later firmware. -
Before heading out to a new launch site, you can use this to load satellite images in case you don't have internet connectivity at the site. This loads a fairly large area @@ -1004,16 +1004,16 @@ NAR 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. -
This brings up a dialog similar to the Monitor Flight UI, except it works with the altimeter in "idle" mode by sending query commands to discover the current state rather than listening for telemetry packets. -
First off, in the US, you need an amateur radio license or other authorization to legally operate the radio transmitters that are part of our products. -
In the rocket itself, you just need a TeleMetrum or TeleMini board and a Li-Po rechargeable battery. An 860mAh battery weighs less than a 9V @@ -1026,7 +1026,7 @@ NAR which is 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. -
To receive the data stream from the rocket, you need an antenna and short feed-line connected to one of our TeleDongle units. The TeleDongle in turn plugs directly into the USB port on a notebook @@ -1077,7 +1077,7 @@ NAR The 440-3 and 440-5 are both good choices for finding a TeleMetrum- or TeleMini- equipped rocket when used with a suitable 70cm HT. -
Our software makes it easy to log the data from each flight, both the telemetry received during the flight itself, and the more complete data log recorded in the flash memory on the altimeter @@ -1092,7 +1092,7 @@ NAR 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 a web browser. -
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. @@ -1107,14 +1107,14 @@ NAR 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... -
Table of Contents
+
Table of Contents
Building high-power rockets that fly safely is hard enough. Mix in some sophisticated electronics and a bunch of radio energy and oftentimes you find few perfect solutions. This chapter contains some suggestions about how to install Altus Metrum products into the rocket air-frame, including how to safely and reliably mix a variety of electronics into the same air-frame. -
+
The first consideration is to ensure that the altimeter is securely fastened to the air-frame. For TeleMetrum, we use nylon standoffs and nylon screws; they're good to at least 50G @@ -1131,7 +1131,7 @@ NAR Watch for any metal touching components on the board. Shorting out connections on the bottom of the board can cause the altimeter to fail during flight. -
The antenna supplied is just a piece of solid, insulated, wire. If it gets damaged or broken, it can be easily replaced. It should be kept straight and not cut; bending or @@ -1174,7 +1174,7 @@ NAR SMA connector, and then run 50Ω coax from the board to the antenna. Building a remote antenna is beyond the scope of this manual. -
The GPS antenna and receiver in TeleMetrum are highly sensitive and normally have no trouble tracking enough satellites to provide accurate position information for @@ -1193,7 +1193,7 @@ NAR antenna as that's covered with a ground plane. But, keep wires and metal out from above the patch antenna.
-
Any altimeter will generate RFI; the digital circuits use high-frequency clocks that spray radio interference across a wide band. Altus Metrum altimeters generate intentional radio @@ -1231,7 +1231,7 @@ NAR 70cm amateur band, so you should avoid lengths that are a simple ratio of that length; essentially any multiple of 1/4 of the wavelength (17.5cm). -
Altusmetrum altimeters measure altitude with a barometric sensor, essentially measuring the amount of air above the rocket to figure out how high it is. A large number of @@ -1249,7 +1249,7 @@ NAR chemical damage from the products of APCP or BP combustion, so make sure the ebay is carefully sealed from any compartment which contains ejection charges or motors. -
The most important aspect of any installation is careful ground testing. Bringing an air-frame up to the LCO table which hasn't been ground tested can lead to delays or ejection @@ -1271,7 +1271,7 @@ NAR interface through a TeleDongle to command each charge to fire. Make sure the charge is sufficient to robustly separate the air-frame and deploy the recovery system. -
Table of Contents
+
Table of Contents
The big concept to understand is that you have to use a TeleDongle as a programmer to update a TeleMetrum or TeleMini, and a TeleMetrum or other TeleDongle to program the TeleDongle @@ -1287,7 +1287,7 @@ NAR version from http://www.altusmetrum.org/AltOS/.
We recommend updating the altimeter first, before updating TeleDongle. -
Updating TeleDongle's firmware is just like updating TeleMetrum or TeleMini firmware, but you use either a TeleMetrum or another TeleDongle as the programmer.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Recording altimeter for model rocketry.
Supports dual deployment (can fire 2 ejection charges). @@ -1458,7 +1458,7 @@ NAR optional separate pyro battery if needed.
2.75 x 1 inch board designed to fit inside 29mm air-frame coupler tube. -
TeleMetrum seems to shut off when disconnected from the computer. Make sure the battery is adequately charged. Remember the unit will pull more power than the USB port can deliver before the @@ -1517,7 +1517,7 @@ NAR data after physically retrieving your altimeter. Make sure to save the on-board data after each flight; while the TeleMetrum can store multiple flights, you never know when you'll lose the altimeter... -
Before AltosUI was written, using Altus Metrum devices required some finesse with the Linux command line. There was a limited @@ -1693,7 +1693,7 @@ NAR the Log and Device menus. It has a wonderful display of the incoming flight data and I am sure you will enjoy what it has to say to you once you enable the voice output! -
Table of Contents
There are only two calibrations required for a TeleMetrum board, and only one for TeleDongle and TeleMini. All boards are shipped from the factory pre-calibrated, but the procedures are documented here @@ -1701,7 +1701,7 @@ NAR AltosUI, you must connect to the board with a serial terminal program and interact directly with the on-board command interpreter to effect calibration. -
+
The radio frequency is synthesized from a clock based on the 48 MHz crystal on the board. The actual frequency of this oscillator must be measured to generate a calibration constant. While our @@ -1736,7 +1736,7 @@ NAR radio frequency is reset to the default 434.550 Mhz. If you want to use another frequency, you will have to set that again after calibration is completed. -
The TeleMetrum accelerometer we use has its own 5 volt power supply and the output must be passed through a resistive voltage divider to match @@ -1780,7 +1780,16 @@ NAR to the index post on the 4-pin end of the programming cable, and power up the board. It should come up in 'idle mode' (two beeps), allowing a re-cal. -
+ Version 1.0.3 is a minor release adding support for TeleMetrum v1.2 boards +
+ AltOS Firmware Changes +
+
Version 1.0.2 is a bugfix release, addressing a minor issue found in version 1.0.1