traced on a dark gray background instead.
You can pre-load images for your favorite launch sites
- before you leave home; check out the 'Preload Maps'
- section below.
+ before you leave home; check out <<_load_maps>>.
==== Igniter
The rest of the dialog contains the parameters to be configured.
- ==== Main Deploy Altitude
-
- 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.
-
- ==== Apogee Delay
-
- 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 bay and cause a
- structural failure of the air-frame. The Apogee Delay
- parameter tells the flight computer to fire the apogee
- charge a certain number of seconds after apogee has
- been detected.
-
- ==== Apogee Lockout
-
- Apogee lockout is the number of seconds after boost
- where the flight computer will not fire the apogee
- charge, even if the rocket appears to be at
- apogee. This is often called 'Mach Delay', as it is
- intended to prevent a flight computer from
- unintentionally firing apogee charges due to the
- pressure spike that occurrs across a mach
- transition. Altus Metrum flight computers include a
- Kalman filter which is not fooled by this sharp
- pressure increase, and so this setting should be left
- at the default value of zero to disable it.
+ include::config-device.raw[]
- ==== Frequency
-
- This configures which of the frequencies to use for
- both telemetry and packet command mode. Note that if
- you set this value via packet command mode, the
- TeleDongle frequency will also be automatically
- reconfigured to match so that communication will
- continue afterwards.
-
- ==== RF Calibration
-
- 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 by changing this value.
- Do not do this without understanding what 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.
-
- ==== Telemetry/RDF/APRS Enable
-
- Enables the radio for transmission during
- flight. When disabled, the radio will not
- transmit anything during flight at all.
-
- ==== Telemetry baud rate
-
- This sets the modulation bit rate for data
- transmission for both telemetry and packet
- link mode. Lower bit rates will increase range
- while reducing the amount of data that can be
- sent and increasing battery consumption. All
- telemetry is done using a rate 1/2 constraint
- 4 convolution code, so the actual data
- transmission rate is 1/2 of the modulation bit
- rate specified here.
-
- ==== APRS Interval
-
- How often to transmit GPS information via APRS
- (in seconds). When set to zero, APRS
- transmission is disabled. This option is
- available on TeleMetrum v2 and TeleMega
- boards. TeleMetrum v1 boards cannot transmit
- APRS packets. Note that a single APRS packet
- takes nearly a full second to transmit, so
- enabling this option will prevent sending any
- other telemetry during that time.
-
- ==== APRS SSID
-
- Which SSID to report in APRS packets. By
- default, this is set to the last digit of the
- serial number, but can be configured to any
- value from 0 to 9.
-
- ==== Callsign
-
- This sets the call sign included in each
- telemetry packet. Set this as needed to
- conform to your local radio regulations.
-
- ==== Maximum Flight Log Size
-
- 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.
-
- ==== Ignitor Firing Mode
-
- This configuration parameter allows the two standard ignitor
- channels (Apogee and Main) to be used in different
- configurations.
-
- Dual Deploy::
- This is the usual mode of operation; the
- 'apogee' channel is fired at apogee and the
- 'main' channel at the height above ground
- specified by the 'Main Deploy Altitude' during
- descent.
-
- Redundant Apogee::
- This fires both channels at apogee, the
- 'apogee' channel first followed after a two
- second delay by the 'main' channel.
-
- Redundant Main::
- This fires both channels at the height above
- ground specified by the Main Deploy Altitude
- setting during descent. The 'apogee' channel
- is fired first, followed after a two second
- delay by the 'main' channel.
-
- ==== Pad Orientation
-
- Because they include accelerometers,
- TeleMetrum, TeleMega and EasyMega are
- sensitive to the orientation of the board. By
- default, they expect the antenna end to point
- forward. This parameter allows that default to
- be changed, permitting the board to be mounted
- with the antenna pointing aft instead.
-
- Antenna Up::
- In this mode, the antenna end of the flight
- computer must point forward, in line with the
- expected flight path.
-
- Antenna Down::
- In this mode, the antenna end of the flight
- computer must point aft, in line with the
- expected flight path.
-
- ==== Beeper Frequency
-
- The beeper on all Altus Metrum flight
- computers works best at 4000Hz, however if you
- have more than one flight computer in a single
- airframe, having all of them sound at the same
- frequency can be confusing. This parameter
- lets you adjust the base beeper frequency
- value.
-
- ==== Configure Pyro Channels
-
- .Additional Pyro Channel Configuration
- image::configure-pyro.png[width="5.5in"]
-
- This opens a separate window to configure the
- additional pyro channels available on TeleMega
- and EasyMega. One column is presented for
- each channel. Each row represents a single
- parameter, if enabled the parameter must meet
- the specified test for the pyro channel to be
- fired.
-
- Select conditions and set the related value;
- the pyro channel will be activated when *all*
- of the conditions are met. Each pyro channel
- has a separate set of configuration values, so
- you can use different values for the same
- condition with different channels.
-
- At the bottom of the window, the 'Pyro Firing
- Time' configuration sets the length of time
- (in seconds) which each of these pyro channels
- will fire for.
-
- Once you have selected the appropriate
- configuration for all of the necessary pyro
- channels, you can save the pyro configuration
- along with the rest of the flight computer
- configuration by pressing the 'Save' button in
- the main Configure Flight Computer window.
-
- include::pyro-channels.raw[]
=== Configure AltosUI
This button presents a dialog so that you can
configure the AltosUI global settings.
- ==== Voice 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 to hear them.
-
- Enable::
- Turns all voice announcements on and off
-
- Test Voice::
- Plays a short message allowing you to verify
- that the audio system is working and the volume settings
- are reasonable
-
- ==== Log Directory
-
- 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.
-
- 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.
-
- ==== Callsign
-
- 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.
-
- Note that to successfully command a flight
- computer over the radio (to configure the
- altimeter, monitor idle, or fire pyro
- charges), the callsign configured here must
- exactly match the callsign configured in the
- flight computer. This matching is case
- sensitive.
-
- ==== Imperial Units
-
- This switches between metric units (meters)
- and imperial units (feet and miles). This
- affects the display of values use during
- flight monitoring, configuration, data
- graphing and all of the voice
- announcements. It does not change the units
- used when exporting to CSV files, those are
- always produced in metric units.
-
- ==== Font Size
-
- Selects the set of fonts used in the flight
- monitor window. Choose between the small,
- medium and large sets.
-
- ==== Serial Debug
-
- 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.
-
- ==== Manage Frequencies
-
- 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.
+ include::config-ui.raw[]
=== Configure Groundstation
with the standard telemetry format used in v1.0 and
later firmware.
- === Load Maps
-
- .Load Maps Window
- image::load-maps.png[width="5.2in"]
-
- 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.
-
- There's a drop-down menu of launch sites we know
- about; if your favorites aren't there, please let us
- know the lat/lon and name of the site. The contents of
- this list are actually downloaded from our server at
- run-time, so as new sites are sent in, they'll get
- automatically added to this list. If the launch site
- isn't in the list, you can manually enter the lat/lon
- values
-
- There are four different kinds of maps you can view;
- you can select which to download by selecting as many
- as you like from the available types:
-
- Hybrid::
- A combination of satellite imagery and road data. This
- is the default view.
-
- Satellite::
- Just the satellite imagery without any annotation.
-
- Roadmap::
- Roads, political boundaries and a few geographic
- features.
-
- Terrain::
- Contour intervals and shading that show hills and
- valleys.
-
- You can specify the range of zoom levels to download;
- smaller numbers show more area with less
- resolution. The default level, 0, shows about
- 3m/pixel. One zoom level change doubles or halves that
- number. Larger zoom levels show more detail, smaller
- zoom levels less.
-
- The Map Radius value sets how large an area around the
- center point to download. Select a value large enough
- to cover any plausible flight from that site. Be aware
- that loading a large area with a high maximum zoom
- level can attempt to download a lot of data. Loading
- hybrid maps with a 10km radius at a minimum zoom of -2
- and a maximum zoom of 2 consumes about 120MB of
- space. Terrain and road maps consume about 1/10 as
- much space as satellite or hybrid maps.
-
- Clicking the 'Load Map' button will fetch images from
- Google Maps; note that Google limits how many images
- you can fetch at 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.
+ include::load-maps.raw[]
=== Monitor Idle