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diff --git a/doc/telemetrum.xsl b/doc/telemetrum.xsl index 97d8fb23..fb65ce01 100644 --- a/doc/telemetrum.xsl +++ b/doc/telemetrum.xsl @@ -65,16 +65,140 @@ </para> </chapter> <chapter> - <title>System Overview</title> - <para> - Placeholder. - </para> - </chapter> - <chapter> - <title>System Overview</title> - <para> - Placeholder. - </para> + <title>Using Altus Metrum Products</title> + <section> + <title>Being Legal</title> + <para> + First off, in the US, you need an [amateur radio license](../Radio) or + other authorization to legally operate the radio transmitters that are part + of our products. + </para> + <section> + <title>In the Rocket</title> + <para> + In the rocket itself, you just need a [TeleMetrum](../TeleMetrum) board and + a LiPo rechargeable battery. An 860mAh battery weighs less than a 9V + alkaline battery, and will run a [TeleMetrum](../TeleMetrum) for hours. + </para> + <para> + By default, we ship TeleMetrum with a simple wire antenna. If your + electronics bay or the airframe it resides within is made of carbon fiber, + which is opaque to RF signals, you may choose to have an SMA connector + installed so that you can run a coaxial cable to an antenna mounted + elsewhere in the rocket. + </para> + </section> + <section> + <title>On the Ground</title> + <para> + To receive the data stream from the rocket, you need an antenna and short + feedline connected to one of our [TeleDongle](../TeleDongle) units. 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. + </para> + <para> + Right now, all of our application software is written for Linux. However, + because we understand that many people run Windows or MacOS, we are working + on a new ground station program written in Java that should work on all + operating systems. + </para> + <para> + After the flight, you can use the RF link to extract the more detailed data + logged in the rocket, 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 LiPo + 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. + </para> + <para> + If your rocket lands out of sight, you may enjoy having a hand-held GPS + receiver, so that you can put in a waypoint for the last reported rocket + position before touch-down. This makes looking for your rocket a lot like + Geo-Cacheing... just go to the waypoint and look around starting from there. + </para> + <para> + 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 + and Bdale both currently own and use the + [Yaesu VX-6R](http://yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=111&encProdID=4C6F204F6FEBB5BAFA58BCC1C131EAC0&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0) + at launches. + </para> + <para> + So, to recap, on the ground the hardware you'll need includes: + <orderedlist inheritnum='inherit' numeration='arabic'> + <listitem> + an antenna and feedline + </listitem> + <listitem> + a TeleDongle + </listitem> + <listitem> + a notebook computer + </listitem> + <listitem> + optionally, a handheld GPS receiver + </listitem> + <listitem> + optionally, an HT or receiver covering 435 Mhz + </listitem> + </orderedlist> + </para> + <para> + The best hand-held commercial directional antennas we've found for radio + direction finding rockets are from + [Arrow Antennas](http://www.arrowantennas.com/). The 440-3 and 440-5 are + both good choices for finding a TeleMetrum-equipped rocket when used with + a suitable 70cm HT. + </para> + </section> + <section> + <title>Data Analysis</title> + <para> + Our software makes it easy to log the data from each flight, both the + telemetry received over the RF link during the flight itself, and the more + complete data log recorded in the DataFlash memory on the TeleMetrum + board. Once this data is on your computer, our postflight 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 data file + useable with Google Maps and Google Earth for visualizing the flight path + in two or three dimensions! + </para> + <para> + 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. + </para> + </section> + <section> + <title>Future Plans</title> + <para> + In the future, we intend to offer "companion boards" for the rocket that will + plug in to TeleMetrum to collect additional data, provide more pyro channels, + and so forth. A reference design for a companion board will be documented + soon, and will be compatible with open source Arduino programming tools. + </para> + <para> + We are also working on the design of a hand-held ground terminal that will + allow monitoring the rocket's status, collecting data during flight, and + logging data after flight without the need for a notebook computer on the + flight line. Particularly since it is so difficult to read most notebook + screens in direct sunlight, we think this will be a great thing to have. + </para> + <para> + 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... + </para> + </section> + </section> </chapter> </book> |