X-Git-Url: https://git.gag.com/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fusing-am-products.inc;fp=doc%2Fusing-am-products.inc;h=8d7d005a50a71859382623e68d97a1c3bc39cea0;hb=7ef958cbb51a04079e2a4833917ccef57ae5a2ee;hp=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000;hpb=41aca78e3f7c17433e3c77cd3c596bbf8acab7cb;p=fw%2Faltos diff --git a/doc/using-am-products.inc b/doc/using-am-products.inc new file mode 100644 index 00000000..8d7d005a --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/using-am-products.inc @@ -0,0 +1,148 @@ +== Using Altus Metrum Products + + === Being Legal + + First off, in the US, you need an + link:http://www.altusmetrum.org/Radio/[amateur radio license] + or other authorization to legally operate the radio + transmitters that are part of our products. + + + === In the Rocket + + In the rocket itself, you just need a flight computer + and a single-cell, 3.7 volt nominal Li-Po rechargeable + battery. An 850mAh battery weighs less than a 9V + alkaline battery, and will run a TeleMetrum, TeleMega + or EasyMega for hours. A 110mAh battery weighs less + than a triple A battery and is a good choice for use + with TeleMini or EasyMini. + + By default, we ship TeleMini, TeleMetrum and TeleMega + flight computers with a simple wire antenna. If your + electronics bay or the air-frame it resides within is + made of carbon fiber, which is opaque to RF signals, + you may prefer to install an SMA connector so that you + can run a coaxial cable to an antenna mounted + elsewhere in the rocket. However, note that the GPS + antenna is fixed on all current products, so you + really want to install the flight computer in a bay + made of RF-transparent materials if at all possible. + + === On the Ground + + To receive the data stream from the rocket, you need + an antenna and short feed-line connected to one of our + link:http://www.altusmetrum.org/TeleDongle/[TeleDongle] + units. If possible, use an SMA to BNC adapter instead + of feedline between the antenna feedpoint and + TeleDongle, as this will give you the best + performance. The TeleDongle in turn plugs directly + into the USB port on a notebook computer. Because + TeleDongle looks like a simple serial port, your + computer does not require special device + drivers... just plug it in. + + The GUI tool, AltosUI, is written in Java and runs + across Linux, Mac OS and Windows. There's also a suite + of C tools for Linux which can perform most of the + same tasks. + + Alternatively, a TeleBT attached with an SMA to BNC + adapter at the feed point of a hand-held yagi used in + conjunction with an Android device running AltosDroid + makes an outstanding ground station. + + After the flight, you can use the radio link to + extract the more detailed data logged in either + TeleMetrum or TeleMini devices, or you can use a mini + USB cable to plug into the TeleMetrum board directly. + Pulling out the data without having to open up the + rocket is pretty cool! A USB cable is also how you + charge the Li-Po battery, so you'll want one of those + anyway... the same cable used by lots of digital + cameras and other modern electronic stuff will work + fine. + + If your rocket lands out of sight, you may enjoy + having a hand-held GPS receiver, so that you can put + in a way-point for the last reported rocket position + before touch-down. This makes looking for your rocket + a lot like Geo-Caching... just go to the way-point and + look around starting from there. AltosDroid on an + Android device with GPS receiver works great for this, + too! + + You may also enjoy having a ham radio “HT” that covers + the 70cm band... you can use that with your antenna to + direction-find the rocket on the ground 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... Keith currently uses a Yaesu + FT1D, Bdale has a Yaesu VX-7R, which is a nicer radio + in most ways but doesn't support APRS. + + So, to recap, on the ground the hardware you'll need includes: + + . an antenna and feed-line or adapter + . a TeleDongle + . a notebook computer + . optionally, a hand-held 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 + link:http://www.arrowantennas.com/[Arrow Antennas]. + + 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. TeleDongle and an SMA to BNC + adapter fit perfectly between the driven element and + reflector of Arrow antennas. + + === Data Analysis + + 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 board. Once this data + is on your computer, our post-flight tools make it + easy to quickly get to the numbers everyone wants, + like apogee altitude, max acceleration, and max + velocity. You can also generate and view a standard + set of plots showing the altitude, acceleration, and + velocity of the rocket during flight. And you can + even export a TeleMetrum data file usable with Google + Maps and Google Earth for visualizing the flight path + in two or three dimensions! + + 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. + + === Future Plans + + We have designed and prototyped several “companion + boards” that can attach to the companion connector on + TeleMetrum, TeleMega and EasyMega flight computers to + collect more data, provide more pyro channels, and so + forth. We do not yet know if or when any of these + boards will be produced in enough quantity to sell. + If you have specific interests for data collection or + control of events in your rockets beyond the + capabilities of our existing productions, please let + us know! + + 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... + + Watch our link:http://altusmetrum.org/[web site] for + more news and information as our family of products + evolves!