It is more than a timer. Its is a micro controler which lets me write my own programs for it. Its simple and reliable. But I has also rigged my newer versions up so that that are compatiable with my altimeter and onboard video camera.Drag_Racer408a wrote:Yeah me too Tim. From the sounds of how you put it bill, your system is more than a timer but from the photo it looks like it is only a timer.
Air command computer/timer deploy
-
- WRA2 Member
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2006 1:40 am
Bill W.
Team Seneca
Team Seneca
-
- WRA2 Member
- Posts: 871
- Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:44 am
How do we know you actually flew this thing? Maybe it's just something you built and never flew?Team Seneca wrote:It is more than a timer. Its is a micro controler which lets me write my own programs for it. Its simple and reliable. But I has also rigged my newer versions up so that that are compatiable with my altimeter and onboard video camera.Drag_Racer408a wrote:Yeah me too Tim. From the sounds of how you put it bill, your system is more than a timer but from the photo it looks like it is only a timer.
Tim Chen
Captain, Team Enterprise
Captain, Team Enterprise
-
- Advanced Member
- Posts: 48
- Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:20 pm
The video in question is "Air command's" most recent one on you tube.Drag_Racer408a wrote:What video did you watch? On there older computers they were just timers and they did have to start the video manuallly, but on the newer design the computer turns everything on by itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j05QGHxyyos
I think that Someone from Air command must be pullin your leg.
-
- Advanced Member
- Posts: 48
- Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:20 pm
Thank you for the honesty Bill,Team Seneca wrote:Ha ha very funny. This is not my latest design. It's just a prototype to prove I have my own computer. Dragracer408a said that he didn't believe anybody that didn't show a picture of their computer so I just did.Tim Chen wrote:I was expecting something a little more advanced. :P
I don't want to show my newest designs because I perfected a new form factor that everybody will copy because it saves a huge amount of weight and space. I will gladly discuss my older versions with you guys and keep my best stuff secret, just like everyone else does.
I'm just one of the only guys who is honest enough not to be pretending to be sharing all my innovations with the world while husbanding away all the truly useful info I have gathered. I'm going to be up front about it, not be all shifty and deceptive like some others are.
Now that we have heard from one of the computer people what about the others. We still haven't heard from USWaterrockets or Air command.
Anybody out there!
-
- WRA2 Member
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2006 1:40 am
Okie dokie wiseguy. If you want to split heirs then how do we know anybody flew any computers at all? For all we know your pals at USWR and Air Command fly alka-seltzer chem timers and tomy timers and just claim they use fancy electronics to impress you boys and girls?Tim Chen wrote:How do we know you actually flew this thing? Maybe it's just something you built and never flew?Team Seneca wrote:It is more than a timer. Its is a micro controler which lets me write my own programs for it. Its simple and reliable. But I has also rigged my newer versions up so that that are compatiable with my altimeter and onboard video camera.Drag_Racer408a wrote:Yeah me too Tim. From the sounds of how you put it bill, your system is more than a timer but from the photo it looks like it is only a timer.
Bill W.
Team Seneca
Team Seneca
-
- WRA2 Member
- Posts: 871
- Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:44 am
We don't know that the computer isn't in control of the camera and altimeter. It might just be that he has to throw a switch or something to arm the computer, and that does all the work. The video just says he's starting the camera and altimeter but doesn't say how.xenon wrote:The video in question is "Air command's" most recent one on you tube.Drag_Racer408a wrote:What video did you watch? On there older computers they were just timers and they did have to start the video manuallly, but on the newer design the computer turns everything on by itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j05QGHxyyos
I think that Someone from Air command must be pullin your leg.
Tim Chen
Captain, Team Enterprise
Captain, Team Enterprise
-
- WRA2 Member
- Posts: 871
- Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:44 am
I can't "prove" to you what anyone else has done, but I know what I believe and that is I don't think they could fly their rockets as reliably using anything but electronic timers. I also believe you may have come up with the idea on your own but I think you're just going to have to accept the fact that you're the second guy to do it and USWR did it long before you did it. From now on you're going to have to credit them with the idea. If you use a computer you'll have to say that you use a USWR onboard computer. If you don't then we'll remind everyone about it and you'll look like an IP crook.Team Seneca wrote:
Okie dokie wiseguy. If you want to split heirs then how do we know anybody flew any computers at all? For all we know your pals at USWR and Air Command fly alka-seltzer chem timers and tomy timers and just claim they use fancy electronics to impress you boys and girls?
How do you like them apples?
Tim Chen
Captain, Team Enterprise
Captain, Team Enterprise
-
- Senior Member
- Posts: 100
- Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:12 am
hi guys i came back!
i've been looking for a tomy timer since my last visit, but i didn't find it!!!
i'm thinking i should use a REAL SERVO MOTOR with a battery and a little of electronical parts..
i'd like to find one like that and use it...
please could you tell me more about that?weight?cost? size?
thanks a lot!!
i've been looking for a tomy timer since my last visit, but i didn't find it!!!
i'm thinking i should use a REAL SERVO MOTOR with a battery and a little of electronical parts..
in this post you show a picture where i saw a servo..Team Seneca wrote:If all it takes is a photo then I am happy to provide for you.Drag_Racer408a wrote: The only on that i can "truly" say has a flight computer is the air command team because they have pictures and all on there site. U.S. water rockets says they have one which i ams sure they do with how sophisticated (sp?) there water rocket program seams to be.
i'd like to find one like that and use it...
please could you tell me more about that?weight?cost? size?
thanks a lot!!
D.D. ROCKETS
if you don't uderstand what I wrote, tell me it and i'll write better the same thing !!!
if you don't uderstand what I wrote, tell me it and i'll write better the same thing !!!
-
- WRA2 Member
- Posts: 189
- Joined: Sun Feb 04, 2007 1:28 pm
Air command rockets
I read all of his bulliten and flight reports. He publishes all of his information on the computers. And he posts all of the programing for his models. So i can't decod them but if someone could i am sure they would find out how it turns it on.
I am pretty sure he has it wired up so that when the computer goes on that the program runs and turns everything on like the camera and such. He manualy sets the time delay with a push button. Then arms the system and the computer waits for his G force triggered micro switch.
2 stage programing:
Once the rocket launches the computer reads the pressure inside one of his bottles with a micro switch and when the switch trips when there is no air pressure(also known as a TDD), the computer reads that and then has a time delay for X amount of time after the switch is tripped. Then the computer sends a code to the servo to activate the staging mechanism. His systems are all time encoded and don't read variables like velocity and such.
The first timers he used were just simple 555 timers. But know they were more sophisticated.
Bill i am not sure who "invented" the computers first but i really don't care. It isn't that big of a acomplishment, they must have been using them in pyros way before. And just making a small mirco controller is just a little sodering and encoding. So i am not sure that you or anyone "invented" the flight computer but they took a simple micro controller and applied its use in water rocketery.
You can email george and talk to him about his flight computer. He custom made me one a while back but i have never flown it yet. He is very open to questions and doesn't hide anything.
And on, nobody is pulling my leg, arm, or whatever. If you read Georges flight reports and such from the past couple months it explains everything about his computers and what they do.
I read all of his bulliten and flight reports. He publishes all of his information on the computers. And he posts all of the programing for his models. So i can't decod them but if someone could i am sure they would find out how it turns it on.
I am pretty sure he has it wired up so that when the computer goes on that the program runs and turns everything on like the camera and such. He manualy sets the time delay with a push button. Then arms the system and the computer waits for his G force triggered micro switch.
2 stage programing:
Once the rocket launches the computer reads the pressure inside one of his bottles with a micro switch and when the switch trips when there is no air pressure(also known as a TDD), the computer reads that and then has a time delay for X amount of time after the switch is tripped. Then the computer sends a code to the servo to activate the staging mechanism. His systems are all time encoded and don't read variables like velocity and such.
The first timers he used were just simple 555 timers. But know they were more sophisticated.
Bill i am not sure who "invented" the computers first but i really don't care. It isn't that big of a acomplishment, they must have been using them in pyros way before. And just making a small mirco controller is just a little sodering and encoding. So i am not sure that you or anyone "invented" the flight computer but they took a simple micro controller and applied its use in water rocketery.
You can email george and talk to him about his flight computer. He custom made me one a while back but i have never flown it yet. He is very open to questions and doesn't hide anything.
And on, nobody is pulling my leg, arm, or whatever. If you read Georges flight reports and such from the past couple months it explains everything about his computers and what they do.
-
- Senior Member
- Posts: 100
- Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:12 am
thanks for explaing me how the total system works...
but my real interst was about the servo, only that ..
but my real interst was about the servo, only that ..
were you speaking to me??or to Bill ?Drag_Racer408a wrote: You can email george and talk to him about his flight computer. He is very open to questions and doesn't hide anything.
D.D. ROCKETS
if you don't uderstand what I wrote, tell me it and i'll write better the same thing !!!
if you don't uderstand what I wrote, tell me it and i'll write better the same thing !!!
-
- WRA2 Member
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2006 1:40 am
I recommend using a sub-micro servo like the Hitec HS-55. It's 0.9"x0.5"x1.0" in size and weighs 8 grams. They cost about $16 each, so they're not cheap. You can get similar models from generic brands for less but they are cheaply made. I usually shop at hobby-lobby.com and have had good experiences with them.da-water wrote: in this post you show a picture where i saw a servo..
i'd like to find one like that and use it...
please could you tell me more about that?weight?cost? size?
thanks a lot!!
You may need to get a controller for the servo because they use 3 wires for control. Black=ground, red=power, yellow=control. The control wire inputs a frequency that the servo converts into a position. If that's too complicated you can find instructions online how to modify a servo to act as a simple motor with no position control. Turn it on and it just moves all the way to one side.
Does this help you do what you want to do?
Bill W.
Team Seneca
Team Seneca
-
- WRA2 Member
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2006 1:40 am
I've been reading air commands website for a while, which is why I feel the way I do. Last month I read every single one of his "flight computer" updates and gone over the source code files for them all. He talks a lot about all the same powerful camera and altimeter features you described but the source code he supplies does nothing but display numbers on the LED, read some switches, and activate servos after a time delay. That's it.Drag_Racer408a wrote:Air command rockets
I read all of his bulliten and flight reports. He publishes all of his information on the computers. And he posts all of the programing for his models. So i can't decod them but if someone could i am sure they would find out how it turns it on.
I am pretty sure he has it wired up so that when the computer goes on that the program runs and turns everything on like the camera and such. He manualy sets the time delay with a push button. Then arms the system and the computer waits for his G force triggered micro switch.
2 stage programing:
Once the rocket launches the computer reads the pressure inside one of his bottles with a micro switch and when the switch trips when there is no air pressure(also known as a TDD), the computer reads that and then has a time delay for X amount of time after the switch is tripped. Then the computer sends a code to the servo to activate the staging mechanism. His systems are all time encoded and don't read variables like velocity and such.
The first timers he used were just simple 555 timers. But know they were more sophisticated.
Bill i am not sure who "invented" the computers first but i really don't care. It isn't that big of a acomplishment, they must have been using them in pyros way before. And just making a small mirco controller is just a little sodering and encoding. So i am not sure that you or anyone "invented" the flight computer but they took a simple micro controller and applied its use in water rocketery.
You can email george and talk to him about his flight computer. He custom made me one a while back but i have never flown it yet. He is very open to questions and doesn't hide anything.
And on, nobody is pulling my leg, arm, or whatever. If you read Georges flight reports and such from the past couple months it explains everything about his computers and what they do.
Either he's exaggerating what he's done to impress guys like you and Tim, or he's sharing only stuff he wants you to use and keeping the good stuff secret. Or a little of both? Either way you're just getting manipulated by political games.
I'm going to make a video showing you guys a computer with all the bells and whistles in action on a real launch. There will be no doubt it is real.
Bill W.
Team Seneca
Team Seneca
-
- WRA2 Member
- Posts: 179
- Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:13 pm
Yeah, okay, Bill. I think we all know that everyone everywhere is going to protect their own little "trade secrets", so we're not just mindless sheep. We just accept it goes on and don't dwell on it. It's not the end of the world and doesn't make someone into a devil worshipper. Everyone is a hypocrite in one way or another. This isn't worth dissing people over. Just let it go.
Mark Chen
Team Enterprise
Team Enterprise
-
- WRA2 Member
- Posts: 871
- Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:44 am
Hi USWR! Slick editing on the video, looks like a pro job. Thanks for the answer about the radio receiver too. I've seen that light in some of the articles on http://www.uswaterrockets.com and always wondered if it was just a power indicator. Now I know what it really does!
Tim Chen
Captain, Team Enterprise
Captain, Team Enterprise