Air command computer/timer deploy

Who invented it, who was first etc. This forum will be for members to hash out disagreements. Please keep all disagreements within this forum and keep the discussions civil (no profanity please).
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Team Seneca
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Post by Team Seneca »

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.
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.
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Post by Tim Chen »

Team Seneca wrote:
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.
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.
How do we know you actually flew this thing? Maybe it's just something you built and never flew?
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Post by xenon »

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.
The video in question is "Air command's" most recent one on you tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j05QGHxyyos

I think that Someone from Air command must be pullin your leg.
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Post by xenon »

Team Seneca wrote:
Tim Chen wrote:I was expecting something a little more advanced. :P
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.

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.
Thank you for the honesty Bill,

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!
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Post by Team Seneca »

Tim Chen wrote:
Team Seneca wrote:
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.
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.
How do we know you actually flew this thing? Maybe it's just something you built and never flew?
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?
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Post by Tim Chen »

xenon wrote:
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.
The video in question is "Air command's" most recent one on you tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j05QGHxyyos

I think that Someone from Air command must be pullin your leg.
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.
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Post by Tim Chen »

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?
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.

How do you like them apples?
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Post by da-water »

hi guys i came back! :D
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..
Team Seneca wrote:
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.
If all it takes is a photo then I am happy to provide for you.
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!!
D.D. ROCKETS

if you don't uderstand what I wrote, tell me it and i'll write better the same thing !!! :D
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Post by Drag_Racer408a »

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.
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Post by da-water »

thanks for explaing me how the total system works...
but my real interst was about the servo, only that :D ..
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.
were you speaking to me??or to Bill ?
D.D. ROCKETS

if you don't uderstand what I wrote, tell me it and i'll write better the same thing !!! :D
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Post by Team Seneca »

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!!
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.

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?
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Post by Team Seneca »

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.
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.

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.
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Post by Mark Chen »

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.
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Post by Tim Chen »

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!
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Post by Team Seneca »

Okay. I can accept that as proof, but I still think anyone can put stuff on the internet and put any date they want to on it. Any one of you guys can edit your own website to say anything.
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