A recording altimeter for hobby rocketry
+MicroPeak Ownerâs Manual A recording altimeter for hobby rocketry
-
Copyright © 2014 Keith Packard
Copyright © 2014 Keith Packard
This document is released under the terms of the
Creative Commons ShareAlike 3.0
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
like this.
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
Table of Contents
List of Figures
- 1.1. MicroPeak and Battery
- 2.1. MicroPeak USB Adapter
- 2.2. MicroPeak Application
- 2.3. MicroPeak Device Dialog
- 2.4. MicroPeak Download Dialog
- 2.5. MicroPeak Downloading
- 2.6. MicroPeak Save Dialog
- 2.7. MicroPeak Graph
- 2.8. MicroPeak Flight Statistics
- 2.9. MicroPeak Raw Flight Data
- 2.10. MicroPeak Graph Configuration
- 2.11. MicroPeak Preferences
List of Tables
Table of Contents
List of Figures
- 1.1. MicroPeak and Battery
- 2.1. MicroPeak USB Adapter
- 2.2. MicroPeak Application
- 2.3. MicroPeak Device Dialog
- 2.4. MicroPeak Download Dialog
- 2.5. MicroPeak Downloading
- 2.6. MicroPeak Save Dialog
- 2.7. MicroPeak Graph
- 2.8. MicroPeak Flight Statistics
- 2.9. MicroPeak Raw Flight Data
- 2.10. MicroPeak Graph Configuration
- 2.11. MicroPeak Preferences
List of Tables
MicroPeak is designed to be easy to use. Requiring no external
components, flying takes just a few steps
-
Install the battery
-
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ Fit a CR1025 battery into the plastic carrier. The positive
(+) terminal should be towards the more open side of the
carrier. Slip the carrier into the battery holder with the
positive (+) terminal facing away from the circuit board.
-
-
+
-
Install MicroPeak in your rocket
-
This can be as simple as preparing a soft cushion of wadding
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ Recover the data
Turn MicroPeak off and then back on. MicroPeak will blink
out the maximum height for the last flight. Turn MicroPeak
back off to conserve battery power.
-
MicroPeak stores barometric pressure information for the first
48 seconds of the flight in on-board non-volatile memory. The
contents of this memory can be downloaded to a computer using
the MicroPeak USB adapter.
The MicroPeak application runs on Linux, Mac OS X and
@@ -85,13 +85,13 @@ Start the MicroPeak application.
-
Click on the Download button at the top of the
window.
-
-
+
-
Select from the listed devices. There will probably
be only one.
-
-
+
-
The application will now wait until it receives
valid data from the MicroPeak USB adapter.
-
-
+
-
The MicroPeak USB adapter has a small
phototransistor under the hole in the center of the
box. Locate this, turn on the MicroPeak and place
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ hole, resting the MicroPeak itself on the box. You
should see the blue LED on the MicroPeak USB adapter
blinking in time with the orange LED on the
MicroPeak board itself.
-
-
+
-
After the maximum flight height is reported,
MicroPeak will pause for a few seconds, blink the
LED four times rapidly and then send the data in one
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ should receive the data. When it does, it will
present the data in a graph and offer to save the
data to a file. If not, you can power cycle the
MicroPeak board and try again.
-
-
+
-
Once the data are saved, a graph will be displayed
with height, speed and acceleration values computed
from the recorded barometric pressure data. See
@@ -134,11 +134,11 @@ logs, Download new data from MicroPeak, Save a copy of
the flight log to a new file, Export the tabular data
(as seen in the Raw Data tab) to a file, change the
application Preferences, Close the current window or
-close all windows and Exit the application.
Under the Graph tab, the height, speed and acceleration values
+close all windows and Exit the application.
Under the Graph tab, the height, speed and acceleration values
are displayed together. You can zoom in on the graph by
clicking and dragging to sweep out an area of
interest. Right-click on the plot to bring up a menu that will
-let you save, copy or print the graph.
The Statistics tab presents overall data from
+let you save, copy or print the graph.
The Statistics tab presents overall data from
the flight. Note that the Maximum height value
is taken from the minumum pressure captured in
flight, and may be different from the apparant
@@ -146,9 +146,9 @@ apogee value as the on-board data are sampled
twice as fast as the recorded values, or
because the true apogee occurred after the
on-board memory was full. Each value is
-presented in several units as appropriate.
A table consisting of the both the raw barometric pressure
-data and values computed from that for each recorded time.
The MicroPeak application has a few user settings which are
+presented in several units as appropriate.
A table consisting of the both the raw barometric pressure
+data and values computed from that for each recorded time.
The MicroPeak application has a few user settings which are
configured through the Preferences dialog, which can be
accessed from the File menu.
-
Log Directory
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ height of the last flight.
In addition to the data used to present the hei
flight, MicroPeak also stores barometric information sampled
at regular intervals during the flight. This is the
information captured with the MicroPeak USB adapter. It can
-also be read from MicroPeak through any AVR programming tool.
Table C.1. MicroPeak EEPROM Data Storage
Address
Size (bytes)
Description
0x000
4
Average ground pressure (Pa)
0x004
4
Minimum flight pressure (Pa)
0x008
2
Number of in-flight samples
0x00a ⦠0x1fe
2
Instantaneous flight pressure (Pa) low 16 bits
All EEPROM data are stored least-significant byte first. The
+also be read from MicroPeak through any AVR programming tool.
Table C.1. MicroPeak EEPROM Data Storage
Address
Size (bytes)
Description
0x000
4
Average ground pressure (Pa)
0x004
4
Minimum flight pressure (Pa)
0x008
2
Number of in-flight samples
0x00a ⦠0x1fe
2
Instantaneous flight pressure (Pa) low 16 bits
All EEPROM data are stored least-significant byte first. The
instantaneous flight pressure data are stored without the
upper 16 bits of data. The upper bits can be reconstructed
from the previous sample, assuming that pressure doesnât
A recording altimeter for hobby rocketry
-
Copyright © 2014 Keith Packard
Copyright © 2014 Keith Packard
This document is released under the terms of the Creative Commons ShareAlike 3.0 @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ like this.
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
Table of Contents
List of Figures
- 1.1. MicroPeak and Battery
- 2.1. MicroPeak USB Adapter
- 2.2. MicroPeak Application
- 2.3. MicroPeak Device Dialog
- 2.4. MicroPeak Download Dialog
- 2.5. MicroPeak Downloading
- 2.6. MicroPeak Save Dialog
- 2.7. MicroPeak Graph
- 2.8. MicroPeak Flight Statistics
- 2.9. MicroPeak Raw Flight Data
- 2.10. MicroPeak Graph Configuration
- 2.11. MicroPeak Preferences
List of Tables
Table of Contents
List of Figures
- 1.1. MicroPeak and Battery
- 2.1. MicroPeak USB Adapter
- 2.2. MicroPeak Application
- 2.3. MicroPeak Device Dialog
- 2.4. MicroPeak Download Dialog
- 2.5. MicroPeak Downloading
- 2.6. MicroPeak Save Dialog
- 2.7. MicroPeak Graph
- 2.8. MicroPeak Flight Statistics
- 2.9. MicroPeak Raw Flight Data
- 2.10. MicroPeak Graph Configuration
- 2.11. MicroPeak Preferences
List of Tables
MicroPeak is designed to be easy to use. Requiring no external components, flying takes just a few steps
- Install the battery
- @@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ Fit a CR1025 battery into the plastic carrier. The positive (+) terminal should be towards the more open side of the carrier. Slip the carrier into the battery holder with the positive (+) terminal facing away from the circuit board. -
- +
- Install MicroPeak in your rocket
- This can be as simple as preparing a soft cushion of wadding @@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ Recover the data Turn MicroPeak off and then back on. MicroPeak will blink out the maximum height for the last flight. Turn MicroPeak back off to conserve battery power. -
MicroPeak stores barometric pressure information for the first 48 seconds of the flight in on-board non-volatile memory. The contents of this memory can be downloaded to a computer using the MicroPeak USB adapter.
The MicroPeak application runs on Linux, Mac OS X and @@ -85,13 +85,13 @@ Start the MicroPeak application.
- Click on the Download button at the top of the window. -
- +
- Select from the listed devices. There will probably be only one. -
- +
- The application will now wait until it receives valid data from the MicroPeak USB adapter. -
- +
- The MicroPeak USB adapter has a small phototransistor under the hole in the center of the box. Locate this, turn on the MicroPeak and place @@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ hole, resting the MicroPeak itself on the box. You should see the blue LED on the MicroPeak USB adapter blinking in time with the orange LED on the MicroPeak board itself. -
- +
- After the maximum flight height is reported, MicroPeak will pause for a few seconds, blink the LED four times rapidly and then send the data in one @@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ should receive the data. When it does, it will present the data in a graph and offer to save the data to a file. If not, you can power cycle the MicroPeak board and try again. -
- +
-
Once the data are saved, a graph will be displayed
with height, speed and acceleration values computed
from the recorded barometric pressure data. See
@@ -134,11 +134,11 @@ logs, Download new data from MicroPeak, Save a copy of
the flight log to a new file, Export the tabular data
(as seen in the Raw Data tab) to a file, change the
application Preferences, Close the current window or
-close all windows and Exit the application.
Under the Graph tab, the height, speed and acceleration values +close all windows and Exit the application.
Under the Graph tab, the height, speed and acceleration values are displayed together. You can zoom in on the graph by clicking and dragging to sweep out an area of interest. Right-click on the plot to bring up a menu that will -let you save, copy or print the graph.
The Statistics tab presents overall data from +let you save, copy or print the graph.
The Statistics tab presents overall data from the flight. Note that the Maximum height value is taken from the minumum pressure captured in flight, and may be different from the apparant @@ -146,9 +146,9 @@ apogee value as the on-board data are sampled twice as fast as the recorded values, or because the true apogee occurred after the on-board memory was full. Each value is -presented in several units as appropriate.
A table consisting of the both the raw barometric pressure -data and values computed from that for each recorded time.
The MicroPeak application has a few user settings which are +presented in several units as appropriate.
A table consisting of the both the raw barometric pressure +data and values computed from that for each recorded time.
The MicroPeak application has a few user settings which are configured through the Preferences dialog, which can be accessed from the File menu.
-
Log Directory
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ height of the last flight.
In addition to the data used to present the hei flight, MicroPeak also stores barometric information sampled at regular intervals during the flight. This is the information captured with the MicroPeak USB adapter. It can -also be read from MicroPeak through any AVR programming tool.
Table C.1. MicroPeak EEPROM Data Storage
Address
Size (bytes)
Description
0x000
4
Average ground pressure (Pa)
0x004
4
Minimum flight pressure (Pa)
0x008
2
Number of in-flight samples
0x00a ⦠0x1fe
2
Instantaneous flight pressure (Pa) low 16 bits
All EEPROM data are stored least-significant byte first. The +also be read from MicroPeak through any AVR programming tool.
Table C.1. MicroPeak EEPROM Data Storage
Address
Size (bytes)
Description
0x000
4
Average ground pressure (Pa)
0x004
4
Minimum flight pressure (Pa)
0x008
2
Number of in-flight samples
0x00a ⦠0x1fe
2
Instantaneous flight pressure (Pa) low 16 bits
All EEPROM data are stored least-significant byte first. The instantaneous flight pressure data are stored without the upper 16 bits of data. The upper bits can be reconstructed from the previous sample, assuming that pressure doesnât