[roc-chat] Re: PerfectFlite Stratologger CF Altimeters

  • From: "Carlos Iitsuka" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (Redacted sender "carlos.iitsuka" for DMARC)
  • To: roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2021 15:44:03 -0700

FYI - In stock now

On 4/1/2021 7:55 PM, gerald meux JR. (Redacted sender kninja250r for DMARC) wrote:

Crap out of stock.  I’ll check next time :)

gerald meux
602-472-5869
kninja250r@xxxxxxxxx
-from mobile device-


On Apr 1, 2021, at 4:09 PM, Rob Hoegee <hoegee.rob@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

 StratoLoggers are available.  Get em while you can

http://www.perfectflitedirect.com/stratologgercf-altimeter/ <http://www.perfectflitedirect.com/stratologgercf-altimeter/>



On Mar 29, 2021, at 1:12 PM, Rob Hoegee <hoegee.rob@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:hoegee.rob@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:

Hi Everyone,

Regarding the topic of PerfectFlite Stratologgers going in and out of stock.

I managed to just snag one off the PF website thanks to this:

https://uptimerobot.com/ ;<https://uptimerobot.com/>

It’s pretty simple.  You sign up a (free) account and then create an alert for the webstore page in which you have it send you a text or email as soon as the product page no longer says “not in stock”.  Not entirely what this service was intended for, but it works!

My best,

Rob





On Mar 23, 2021, at 9:25 PM, Cris Erving <cris.erving@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:cris.erving@xxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:

Dave:

Very interesting, too bad you didn't get the RRC3+ data.

I don't know how PF/MW/Marsa/AM do their Mach auto-immunity, but what Eggtimers do is to not look for apogee until the rocket's baro velocity is less that abs(100 fps) for at least one second.   That takes care of the Mach "knee", which is generally nowhere near as gentle as a coast to apogee.   Once that threshold has been reached, we record the highest altitude, and if nothing higher comes along  one second after that then we call that reading apogee and deployments can begin.   There is a fundamental difference between the Eggtimer approach and some others... they're trying to predict apogee, we declare it after the fact.

Eggtimer Cris

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:*roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> <roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> on behalf of Dave Peterson <woshugui@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:woshugui@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
*Sent:*Tuesday, March 23, 2021 9:05 PM
*To:*roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> <roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
*Subject:*[roc-chat] Re: PerfectFlite Stratologger CF Altimeters
Cris,
A very good question because the evidence I have for baro Mach inhibit defeat is circumstantial at best. By hanging, I mean flights that sim around M1 on longish burn motors; maybe for a couple seconds or more.  Yes, asking for trouble. I have had two flights of this nature deploy apogee early. One with an RRC2+ in a Squat, which at first looked like a shred. The other with an RRC3 in a Punisher 4, which zippered after burnout. The RRC3 data log unfortunately got clobbered before it could be exported.  That would have been much more definitive.

With the Squat there was no obvious drag separation, which you would suspect with this rocket. Instead a puff of smoke, presumably from deployment, while still going up. I am not saying there could not have been drag separation, it just did not look that way in real life or in the grainy video. Collapse of the glassed airframe seemed unlikely and the AV bay was actually in the fin can below the forward centering ring. The vent holes were at the top of the fin can just below said centering ring. Fiberglass nosecone with parachute and harness pulled out eyebolt, but survived to fly again. The other half ended up embedded up to the fin can.
<image0.jpeg>

The Punisher 4 on a full L got to about 6000’ before the separation, so it was pretty much out of sight. There were two shear pins on the booster, so drag sep just did not add up unless it had something to to with being transonic. It was disappointing not to be able to get the log, but then I remembered that Chris Attebery had posted a similar experience with his L3 Punisher 4 along with a funky slow pressure signal that was attributed to a pressure wave around the camera shroud.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/chris-punisher-4-l3-build.131084/page-5 <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rocketryforum.com%2Fthreads%2Fchris-punisher-4-l3-build.131084%2Fpage-5&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cd48c5bdec96c49897c3e08d8ee7a23ae%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637521555683641292%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=c0Wk5TTvQ2d%2FAOHT%2F8afgq6maHMxa1GARc%2F%2FaypLDXU%3D&reserved=0>
These flights have been head scratchers to me for some time. There is no direct evidence of  baro Mach inhibit being defeated; like an actual pressure waveform, so my statement about slow transients is speculation. Still I am having trouble coming to another explanation. So I suppose the question is whether the belt and suspenders of an accelerometer Mach inhibit in a redundant baro + accelerometer setup would make things better, no different or worse.

Richard,
Yes, the Raven 3 was my first flight computer! Velocity < Vel1 on Main was my flat spin faux pas.  I also have a Marsa, but have only played with it on the bench.  Oh... also have a gyro module ‘cuz... yup, accelerometers are cool. Embarrassed to say I  have done nothing with the gyro though.

On Mar 23, 2021, at 3:54 PM, Cris Erving <cris.erving@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:cris.erving@xxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:


Dave:

Out of curiosity, what's the longest that you've seen a flight hang in Mach transition?  In all of the near-Mach or Mach+ flights that I've ever seen, the high pressure/low altitude dip comes on pretty quickly, and although it may take a few seconds to come back to "normal" the baro-derived velocity in no way could be interpreted as anything near a coast to apogee.

Eggtimer Cris

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:*roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> <roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> on behalf of Dave Peterson <woshugui@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:woshugui@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
*Sent:*Tuesday, March 23, 2021 3:28 PM
*To:*roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> <roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
*Subject:*[roc-chat] Re: PerfectFlite Stratologger CF Altimeters
Glad to see I am not the only one who obsesses about flight computer redundancy. Curious to hear what folks think about accelerometers in their redundant altimeter setups. I used to pair baro+accelerometer with baro backup,  mostly to save $$ and ‘cuz well... accelerometers are cool. The baro backup saved me from some bad programming decisions; like an accelerometer inhibiting main deployment in a flat spin recovery. I took some introspection to realize the problem was not with the way the  accelerometer signal was being processed, but rather with the guy who programmed accelerometer inhibit main in the first place.  After this, accelerometers were not quite  as cool and I migrated to dual baro only. Usually RRC3+ and RRC2.  One of the few frustrations I have had with the baro only systems is that their Mach inhibit can be defeated if your flight hangs in the transonic region too long. The pressure transient is just too slow not to look like apogee. Yeah, I know you are not supposed to hang at M1, but hey, it happens. So here is my esoteric question. Would a spendy (by definition) dual baro+accelerometer setup with the accelerometer only used for Mach inhibit help with the M1 problem on apogee deployment with redundancy; proving that yes, accelerometers are still cool?

On Mar 23, 2021, at 1:36 PM, Michael Kramer <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:


One advantage is the cool sounds two different altimeters beeping at the same time sounds like.If you start them at the right time, an Adept and a Perfectflite Strattologger sound like the intro to Blue Monday.....
I’m leaning to using (2) of the same altimeters.Here is my logic,
a)A) If there is a more reliable and less reliable altimeter why would you use the less reliable one even as a redundant one.So – assume all of them have the same level of reliability.
b)B) Everyone focuses on the non-event, but an ‘early event’ may be equally bad.If one altimeter has an early event is doesn’t matter what the second one does, first to fire wins (or causes failure as the case may be).Having 2 different altimeters INCREASES the chance of an early event failure.
c)C) To the point being made, having 2 identical REDUCES the chance of operator error (seems to be the recurring theme).Common operation and hookups.
d)D)   Having identical mounts makes it easy to swap out an altimeter if it is ‘acting strange’ (assuming a single mount holding both altimeters).Wires in the same place and same ‘orientation’.
e)E) I haven’t had a failure of a board itself that passed the powerup test that WASN’T something that I did.
Minor (really minor) concern is the never seen but frequently discussed ‘both altimeters going off at EXACTLY the same time’, you could argue that two different brands of altimeters would be less likely to have that happen.I’m not going to worry about that one.I’m more concerned (but have never seen it) about sympathetic detonation between two charges.
Having said that I do have different altitudes set for the main charges.Larger charge in the later one?
And yes, totally separate power switches, wires etc.
Mike Kramer
On 3/23/2021 12:07 PM, John Coker wrote:
There's also the human aspect. Is it more reliable to do the exact same thing twice or two different things once each?
If you have two different alts, with two different status checking procedures, is it easier to remember that you armed both?

I suppose if you truly use a complete checklist it doesn't matter, but I for one do not.

John

On Tue, Mar 23, 2021 at 11:55 AM James Dougherty <jafrado@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:jafrado@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:

    Most of the interesting research in this field was done in
    the 60's by NASA during the Apollo program and
    falls under the general term of statistical probability and
    (as it is applied to computer science)
    "fault tolerance" and "high availability". In this discussion
    it is important to note that it is not just the quantity and
    type of the systems being used, but their relation to each
    other as being truly independent
    with respect to their operation modes within the whole system.

    So far the only discussion point has been replication,
    redundancy and diversity of flight computers; which
    is all valid, however, to be truly fault tolerant we also
    need to discuss and consider:

    - replication of power supplies - one battery failure (e.g. a
    9V battery holder)
    disconnecting should not fail one computer (e.g.
    parallel/redundant batteries)

    - replication of wiring harnesses - an e-match being severed
    during boost
    shall also not affect the other ematch (e.g. parallel /
    redundant charges)

    - time varying deployment - 2 altimeters both serving an
    apogee charge should be time-delayed
    to avoid both going off at once and blowing a hole in your
    airframe.

    And every other aspect (switches, batteries, etc). We need to
    be truly self-sufficient and independent in our designs to
    achieve fault tolerance.

    Why is this important?

    The multiplication rule of probability is only valid if the
    two altimeters and their corresponding
    subsystems are truly independent. It makes absolutely no
    sense in all discussion unless the
    systems are independent - whether you use altimeter A or B,
    it will not matter unless this condition holds.

    Mathematically, we say the conditions are independent if one
    event DOES NOT change the probability
    of the other event. In doing this, we can multiply the two
    probabilities together to form an even more
    fault tolerant system.

    For example, consider two flight computers A & B with their
    probabilities of failure as below:

    P(A) = .1 (10 times out of 100)
    P(B) = .05 (5 times out of 100)

    If the two are independently operating systems (in all
    aspects), then we can compute:

    P(A) * P(B) = .005 = 5 times out of 1000!

    It's one of the *only* free rides you can get in nature!

    The opposite end of the spectrum is conditional probability
    where the outcome of one event will affect
    another - the classical example is the Monty Hall problem and
    even more interesting today is the
    "Guessing game" where a well versed spectator can "guess" the
    numbers/cards of a player
    like they are reading minds - it's not a Jedi mind trick,
    it's math :)


    On Mon, Mar 22, 2021 at 7:25 AM Michael Kramer
    <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:

        not to get all Kevlar vs nylon but...
        Just checking peoples philosophy, if you have a redundant
        altimeter, better to have;
        a) 2 identical ones (Stratologger CF - Stratologger CF )
        b) 2 different ones, each from different manufactures
        (I.E. Stratologger CF - RRC3)
        c) 2 different ones, same manufactures (I.E. RRC2 and RRC3)
        d) doesn't matter any combination works
        Mike Kramer


        On 3/20/2021 11:00 AM, Chris J Kobel wrote:
        Richard,

        Darn it, left work at 3:30 and missed it!  I had the
        website up and refreshing and everything.

        Thanks for the heads up, I’ll just have to keep trying.

        Chris

        *From:*roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
        <mailto:roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx><roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
        <mailto:roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>*On Behalf
        Of*richard dierking
        *Sent:*Friday, March 19, 2021 8:06 PM
        *To:*roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
        *Subject:*[roc-chat] Re: PerfectFlite Stratologger CF
        Altimeters

        Well, hopefully Chris got my email and placed his order.
         Perfectflite Direct had CF's in stock for a couple
        hours.  Now showing out of stock again.  :-(


            On Mar 19, 2021, at 2:01 PM, Chris J Kobel
            <chris.j.kobel@xxxxxxxx
            <mailto:chris.j.kobel@xxxxxxxx>> wrote:

            Thanks Mike and all,

            I just might have to try that!

            Chris

            *From:*roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
            <mailto:roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx><roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
            <mailto:roc-chat-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>*On Behalf
            Of*Mike Riss
            *Sent:*Friday, March 19, 2021 1:46 PM
            *To:*roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
            <mailto:roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
            *Subject:*[roc-chat] Re: PerfectFlite Stratologger
            CF Altimeters

            Chris,

            Seems like waiting for SLCF's to become available is
            like hunting for snipe  ;-)

            In the meantime, I'd recommend trying Eggtimer's
            Quantum.  Pick up an Apogee and a Quark while you're
            at it.

            Mike

            On Friday, March 19, 2021, 12:47:18 PM PDT, Chris J
            Kobel <chris.j.kobel@xxxxxxxx
            <mailto:chris.j.kobel@xxxxxxxx>> wrote:

            Just wondering, anybody know why PerfectFlite
            Stratologger CF Altimeters have been unavailable for
            so long?

            Thanks

            Chris Kobel

            (looking forward to see you all April 10!)



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