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== Operation
Operating a TeleLaunch system is pretty easy, and we hope fairly
intuitive for anyone who has ever launched rockets before. Basic
instructions are printed on a decal inside the lid of each TeleLCO
unit, which early customers (before this manual was even written)
reported were sufficient to successfully use the system.
The remainder of this section assumes the system has already been
properly configured with callsign, AES key, and bank numbers for each
TeleFire box.
=== Charging Batteries
TeleLCO has an internal Lithium Polymer battery that is
charged over USB. A weather-tight micro USB connector is
installed with a blue cap under the handle. This position
was chosen so that TeleLCO can be charged while the lid is
closed and standing handle-up. Attach a micro USB cable
to a computer or other source of USB power. There are two
charge indicators on the panel that will illuminate during
charging, red for charge in progress and green for charge
complete.
TeleFire has an internal sealed lead acid 12V battery, and
is provided with an external AC charger. Connect this charger
to the PowerPole connector on the back face of the box to
charge the battery. Other sources of charging current for
a nominal 12V sealed battery may be used. The charge
connector can also be used to attach an external battery if
needed.
=== Setting Up
Each unit in the TeleLaunch system needs a suitable antenna
attached. A typical configuration would involve the provided
omni-directional antenna or optional directional antenna aimed
at the field mounted on a pole attached to TeleLCO at the
launch control station, and the provided rubber whip antennas
on each TeleFire box.
If deploying the system in rough terrain, on a field with
dense vegetation, or at great distances (some away cells), you
may need a better antenna or at least to mount the antenna
higher off the ground. All units in the TeleLaunch system
have tri-color RF signal strength indicators. A system should
show green on all units during normal operation. An occasional
dip to amber is ok, but frequent amber or any red indicates a
need to improve the antenna situation.
Antenna made for use near 435 Mhz in the ham radio "70cm band"
should work, and there are many online sources of information
on making inexpensive, highly effective antennas at home.
The TeleLCO unit should be placed on a table at the Launch
Control position. It can be helpful for the LCO (the human(s)
too, not just the electronics!) to be provided with some
shade, but the use of reflective LCDs for the digit
displays and ultri-bright LEDs make TeleLCO operation
reasonable even in direct sunlight.
Each TeleFire box should be placed in proximity to the launch
rails it will service. Whip clips made from AC power cords
(not provided) should be attached to TeleFire and routed to
each launch rail. The pyro output on each channel is
connected to the "line" and "neutral" pins on the outlet,
while the ground pin is attached to chassis ground.
=== Turning System On
Turn on all TeleFire pad boxes in the system. At power-on,
all LEDs will turn on briefly so you can verify they're all
working. The radio signal strength indicators will show red
until TeleLCO is turned on.
Turn on TeleLCO. All LCD segments and LEDs will turn on
briefly so you can verify they're all working. An exception
are the two battery charger LEDs, which only illuminate when
the battery is charging. The LCD displays will then briefly
display the internal battery voltage, which should be at least
3.9V for normal operation. TeleLCO then scans to locate all
TeleFire boxes that are in range and configured for the same
frequency, callsign, and AES key. During this process, the
Bank LCD diplays will appear to be counting up from 1 to 99.
When the search is complete, the Pad display will show the
number of TeleFire devices found. TeleLCO beeps when ready.
=== Launch One Rocket
Switch the TeleFire to 'Safe' and confirm it is silent.
Put a rocket on a launch rail / rod, and connect whip clips
from a pad output on a TeleFire unit to the motor igniter.
Verify igniter continuity using the LED associated with that
output. Green is good, red is bad.
Switch the TeleFire unit from 'Safe' to 'Arm', at which point
it will start "chirping" to indicate that it is "armed and
dangerous". Move to the TeleLCO at a safe distance away.
Ensure the TeleLCO blue Drag Race switch is on Normal and
the blue Drag Race LED is extinguished.
Select the desired TeleFire unit by pushing the TeleLCO
selector knob until the "Bank" LED is lit, then rotating the
knob until the
desired box is selected. Then push the knob until the Pad
LED is lit and rotate the knob until the desired pad is
selected. Verify the Remote Armed LED is lit, and that the
selected pad's Igniter Continuity LED is lit.
Perform range safety checks.
Move the TeleLCO SAFE/ARM switch to ARM. This will cause
the selected TeleFire unit's strobe to start flashing and
siren to become more insistent.
Perform count-down.
Depress the LAUNCH button and hold until the rocket launches.
Move the TeleLCO SAFE/ARM switch back to SAFE.
=== Launch A Multi-Rocket "Drag Race"
To enable drag race mode, move the TeleLCO blue switch to
Drag Race. The blue Drag Race LED should illuminate.
Select pads to include in the drag race by using the same
process as for a single rocket to select each Bank and Pad,
then press Add/Remove to toggle the currently selected pad
in the race. The continuity LEDs blink ON/off for selected,
and on/OFF for deselected (long ON means in the race).
A drag race can be configured to include pads on multiple
TeleFire boxes, but the blinking continuity indicators to
show which pads are included can only indicate the currently
selected bank.
Verify remotes are ready and armed by using the Remote Armed
and Igniter Continuity LEDs.
Perform range safety checks.
Move the TeleLCO SAFE/ARM switch to ARM. This will cause
the selected TeleFire units strobes to start flashing and
sirens to become more insistent.
Perform count-down.
Depress the LAUNCH button and hold until rockets launch.
Move the TeleLCO SAFE/ARM switch back to SAFE.
Move Drag Race switch back to Normal.
Note that if there is a mis-fire in a drag race and you want
to fix igniters and try again, the current drag configuration
is preserved as long as you stay in Drag Race mode. So you
can SAFE the system, fix igniters, and try again before leaving
Drag Race mode if desired.
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