Thanks to Bob Finch, W9YA, NAR 12965, TRA 12350 for writing "The
Mere-Mortals Quick Start/Usage Guide to the Altus Metrum Starter
Kit" which formed the basis of the original Getting Started chapter
- in this book. Bob was one of our first customers for a production
+ in this manual. Bob was one of our first customers for a production
TeleMetrum, and his continued enthusiasm and contributions
are immensely gratifying and highly appreciated!
</para>
<para>
All Altus Metrum products are sophisticated electronic devices.
When handled gently and properly installed in an air-frame, they
- will deliver impressive results. However, like all electronic
+ will deliver impressive results. However, as with all electronic
devices, there are some precautions you must take.
</para>
<para>
either be done with TeleMetrum directly connected to the
computer via the USB cable, or through the radio
link. TeleMini doesn't provide a USB connector and so it is
- always controlled through the radio link. Select the
- appropriate TeleDongle device when the list of devices is
- presented and AltosUI will interact with an altimter over the
- radio link.
+ always communicated with over radio. Select the appropriate
+ TeleDongle device when the list of devices is presented and
+ AltosUI will interact with an altimeter over the radio link.
</para>
<para>
One oddity in the current interface is how AltosUI selects the
- frequency for packet mode communications. Instead of providing
+ frequency for radio communications. Instead of providing
an interface to specifically configure the frequency, it uses
whatever frequency was most recently selected for the target
TeleDongle device in Monitor Flight mode. If you haven't ever
used that mode with the TeleDongle in question, select the
- Monitor Flight button from the top level UI, pick the
- appropriate TeleDongle device. Once the flight monitoring
+ Monitor Flight button from the top level UI, and pick the
+ appropriate TeleDongle device. Once the flight monitoring
window is open, select the desired frequency and then close it
- down again. All Packet Command Mode operations will now use
- that frequency.
+ down again. All radio communications will now use that frequency.
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>
- Packet command mode uses the same RF frequencies as telemetry
- mode. Configure the desired TeleDongle frequency using the
- flight monitor window frequency selector and then close that
- window before performing the desired operation.
+ Operation over the radio link for configuring an altimeter, ground
+ testing igniters, and so forth uses the same RF frequencies as flight
+ telemetry. To configure the desired TeleDongle frequency, select
+ the monitor flight tab, then use the frequency selector and
+ close the window before performing other desired radio operations.
</para>
<para>
- TeleMetrum only enables packet command mode in 'idle' mode, so
+ TeleMetrum only enables radio commanding in 'idle' mode, so
make sure you have TeleMetrum lying horizontally when you turn
it on. Otherwise, TeleMetrum will start in 'pad' mode ready for
- flight and will not be listening for command packets from TeleDongle.
+ flight, and will not be listening for command packets from TeleDongle.
</para>
<para>
TeleMini listens for a command packet for five seconds after
operation can be performed.
</para>
<para>
- When packet command mode is enabled, you can monitor the link
- by watching the lights on the
- devices. The red LED will flash each time they
- transmit a packet while the green LED will light up
- on TeleDongle while it is waiting to receive a packet from
- the altimeter.
+ You can monitor the operation of the radio link by watching the
+ 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.
</para>
</section>
<section>
<section>
<title>Radio Frequencies</title>
<para>
- The Altus Metrum boards support frequencies in the 70cm
+ Altus Metrum boards support radio frequencies in the 70cm
band. By default, the configuration interface provides a
- list of 10 common frequencies in 100kHz channels starting at
+ list of 10 "standard" frequencies in 100kHz channels starting at
434.550MHz. However, the firmware supports use of
any 50kHz multiple within the 70cm band. At any given
- launch, we highly recommend coordinating who will use each
- frequency and when to avoid interference. And of course, both
+ launch, we highly recommend coordinating when and by whom each
+ 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.
</para>
projects / fw / altos / blobdiff