SOLVED: Additive Aerospace Simple Circuit -plus- Featherweight Mag Switch -and- Blue Raven -- It REALLY is This Simple !

[kjhambrick]

EDIT[1]: Question Answered by @manixFan in posts #4 and #6
EDIT[2]: Changed the Title of the Thread from 'Is it Really this Simple ?' to 'It REALLY is This Simple !

All --

Yesterday, I received an Additive Aerospace Simple Circuit which I want to mount with my Blue Raven and a new Featherweight Mag Switch in a BT-55 AV-Bay.

EDIT: see Post #4 and #6 ( @manixFan's post ) and Post #7 for a greatly SIMPLIFIED Simple Circuit schematic

Sorry about the messy sketch, but is it really as simple as my rough diagram shows or did I miss something important ?



EDIT: I missed something important: the connection from the LiPo (+) to the In on the Mag Switch. Added it.

Thank you !

-- kjh

 

[Rschub]

As a new guy, thanks for posting this, sometimes the hardest part of building these things is finding out what is available.

 

[kjhambrick]

Boy howdy, yes !

You're welcome, @Rschub.

Even some of my old build skills are obsolete.

And as for components, forget about it!

-- kjh

EDIT: I would wait until someone checks my schematic before using it. I also emailed Andrew at Additive Aerospace for verification too.

 

[manixFan]

Your wiring diagram looks correct, once I realized you weren't trying to tie the mag switch ground to the + lead! I use that AA terminal block in many of my designs where a Power Perch won't fit. But I just jumper the switch portion and connect the mag switch right to the battery. I do the same when I use a mag switch with a Perfectflight or other altimeter. I've just always switched the battery rather than the terminals on the altimeter, for no reason other than it just seemed like fewer wires when I first started out.

Of course you can easily test out your setup – for that I always use a 9-volt – they will dump a lot less current if something gets shorted out during testing.


Tony

 

[kjhambrick]

Your wiring diagram looks correct, once I realized you weren't trying to tie the mag switch ground to the + lead! I use that AA terminal block in many of my designs where a Power Perch won't fit. But I just jumper the switch portion and connect the mag switch right to the battery. I do the same when I use a mag switch with a Perfectflight or other altimeter. I've just always switched the battery rather than the terminals on the altimeter, for no reason other than it just seemed like fewer wires when I first started out.

Of course you can easily test out your setup – for that I always use a 9-volt – they will dump a lot less current if something gets shorted out during testing.


Tony

Thanks for that Tony !

It seemed like a jumper across the switch and use the Featherweight Mag Switch to 'cut' the (+) Battery line would work but I didn't want to try it without independent, uninfluenced confirmation.

Fewer connections is better connections (tm)

I'll draw a cleaner schematic and post later when I am done with family time this afternoon.

Thanks again.

-- kjh

EDIT: p.s. thanks for the 9-volt tip too !

 

[manixFan]

You are exactly right that it takes fewer wires to jumper the switch connection. I've posted a photo of one of my early sleds below. I did wire up a switch as per your schematic, and as expected, it worked just fine. But it was more connections to deal with.

And just because, I always cut the ground lead shorter than the positive of the any battery leads that are unprotected just to reduce the chance of them shorting out accidentally. (That may be from the voice of experience!)


Tony

 

[kjhambrick]

Thanks for all the input Tony.

Updated the Schematic to place the Featherweight Mag Switch in the LiPo (+) line and then Jump the SiCi Sw Terminals:



Edited Post #1 to say: "see Posts #4 and #6 ( your posts ) and Post #7 ( this post ) for a greatly SIMPLIFIED Simple Circuit schematic"

Thanks again, Tony !

-- kjh

 

[kjhambrick]

Testing the Schematic:

I slapped together the Blue Raven, Mag Switch and Simple Circuit with some components I had on hand for a 4-inch Apogee E-Bay for an Aerotech 1.9 inch coupler ( ugly but functional ).

Then I used the Featherweight Blue Raven Ground Test Application to test the wiring and to video the Apo and Main 'squibs' ( Christmas Tree Lights ) on my Android Phone.

Everything worked as expected ( Thanks @manixFan ! )

Apogee ( Red Squib Light )

View attachment SiCi-MagSw-Apo-1690708777148.mp4

Main ( Green Squib Light )

View attachment SiCi-MagSw-Main-1690708863161.mp4

I've got a 20-pack of 1.25 mm JST LiPo battery leads coming from Amazon and some #2-56 brass screws and nuts waiting for me to pick up at Grainger ( there isn't enough clearence around the pictured #4-40 brass mounting screws and nuts on the Mag Switch for my taste ).

I'll be ready to mount the components on the 1/8-in Sled in my Apogee BT-55 E-Bay this week after I decide whether or not to cut then splice the Apogee BT-55 5.75 inch sled down to 4-inches ...

Thanks again Tony !

I highly recommend the Additive Aerospace Simple Circuit !

-- kjh

 

[kjhambrick]

This is version 0.01 of my BT-55 AV-Bay that started as an Apogee BT-55 E-Bay ( p/n/ 10543 ).

This is the top ( it is in Airframe-relative order, from top to bottom: Mag Switch, Simple Circuit ( SiCi ) and Blue Raven ( BlRv ):


I made several mistakes along the way.

1. The Apogee Sled is 5.25 inches long -- too long for my BT-55 Vulcanite's Airframe so I sliced an inch out of the sled and re-bonded the two short pieces with a 0.75 oz fiberglass bandaid. The small chunk of plywood in the top view is the piece I sliced out.

However, i cut the sled in the wrong spot -- under the Blue Raven and between the nylon mounting screws.

I don't like that because if my glass bandaid fails on ejection, the two opposing pieces of the sled are liable to damage the Blue Raven.

This mistake merits a do-over.

2. I don't like the plywood loops on either end of the sled. They consume valuable space in the small volumes available for the drogue and main.

I've learned how to make reliable loops in tubular Kevlar so I'll replace the plywood loops with a double-ended Kevlar line that also locks the Bulkhead Ends on the 4.25-inch coupler tube.

3. I don't like the way my power and ground criss-cross next to the Simple Circuit. It is hard to see but the green ( switched power ) and black ( ground ) wires cross just below the Simple Circuit.

I need longer wires so I can properly twist them under the SiCi and then pull them out in proper left-right order.

I am going to make a new sled from 1/8 birch plywood and a 6-7 inch long double-ended Kevlar bridle and start over

The good news is: IT WORKS !

These are Blue Raven Android Ground Test movies.

This is the RED drogue:

View attachment BT-55-AV-Bay-drogue-1691327023092.mp4

And this is the GREEN main:

View attachment BT-55-AV-Bay-main-1691327086074.mp4

Can you tell that I love the Featherweight Android Ground Test App !

Thanks to everybody for all the help !

-- kjh

 

[DizzyUnicorn]

Great post here, pictures and video were very helpful as well. I was able to configure this way without any issues. Do you lose any safety features or functionality by jump[er]ing the switch?

 

[kjhambrick]

Great post here, pictures and video were very helpful as well. I was able to configure this way without any issues. Do you lose any safety features or functionality by jump[er]ing the switch?

Thanks, @DizzyUnicorn.

The Featherweight Mag Switch disconnects the battery from the Simple Circuit Bat(+) input when it is turned off so, I don't think the jumper across the Simple Circuit Switch pair is an issue ...

Also see @manixFan's pictures -- his posts helped me a lot !

However, I had a brown out at apogee because I was using the Mag Switch mounting screws and nuts to connect the battery to the Mag Switch and the Mag Switch to the Simple Circuit and the jerk at drogue deployment must have caused a power outage which reset the mag switch and everything downstream !

I had a streamer deploy at apogee but no main at 500 ft because the Blue Raven went down.

Normally not an issue but the rocket landed tail-first on an asphalt runway at the WTSV Launch Site in San Angelo , TX.

Ouch !

EDIT: And worst of all, there was no recoverable data on the Blue Raven -- it was wiped out when the Blue Raven lost power at Apogee deployment

I REALLY would have liked to see what landing on asphalt with only a streamer looked like

The moral is: DO solder the input wires from the Battery to the Mag Switch and DO solder the output wires from the Mag Switch to the Simple Circuit.

HTH

-- kjh

 

[Adrian A]

EDIT: And worst of all, there was no recoverable data on the Blue Raven -- it was wiped out when the Blue Raven lost power at Apogee deployment

Your Blue Raven should still have the data from the partial flight. I may need to work with my developer to get the partial flight download working through the app. It's not a case I have spent a lot of time on recently. Avoid triggering any new flights/sims/ground tests and try the USB serial download, download l1 download l2 download h1 download h2 to get all possible recorded data.

 

[kjhambrick]

Your Blue Raven should still have the data from the partial flight. I may need to work with my developer to get the partial flight download working through the app. It's not a case I have spent a lot of time on recently. Avoid triggering any new flights/sims/ground tests and try the USB serial download, download l1 download l2 download h1 download h2 to get all possible recorded data.

Thanks Adrian, that would be great !

My memory if a little foggy but this is what I recall ...

The Blue Raven was off when I found the rocket.

I turned it on when I got back to my table but the Altitude read 000 and the velocity was 'real low'.

This is my Flight Report: Quest E26 and La Pequeña Vulcanita 34 and Ouch !

I also posted a Q about recovering the lost data in the Electronics sub-forum but I can't find it right now.

I'll dig a little bit and follow up after I pick up Ellie from school but I've got to run !.

Thanks again, you're the best

-- kjh

 

[kjhambrick]

Here you go, @Adrian A.

This was the thread I started back in October: Blue Raven - How to Force Download Flight Data

-- kjh