DoubleSugarShot

Avionics Design Study 25 March 2011
Control RF Up/Downlink 900 MHZ 1 watt
GPS IN TM RF Xtend Modem 128MB NAND Low Res Video Aft Acc x,y,g D-Spin SP3 RS232, 5V 900 MHz 1500 mW ATV Option SP2
GPS B RS232, 5V J10 J9 J3
10 mW xmit 500mW with RFAmp 434.550 MHz TM RF

Notional Design D

CS1 Cont Sens Beeline GPS A Booster Beacon 70cm 3.VDC SQ3 Apogee Main RF AMP Phase 2 Pressure 1 MS5100 Pressure 2 MS5100

J4 SQ1 SQ2 Apogee Main

J5 DIO 8 CH D0-D8

SQ4 SQ5 PH1 PH2

HD Video Side

AIO 8 CH

A0-A8 J6
Beeline Beacon 430 MHz 100 mW 3.VDC

J8 Batt. Pwr

Voltage A Current A Pyro Ch 1 Power UFC-4/CCA1
Digital I/O Ext. Pwr J7 Phase 2 Squib J1 SP1 Safe/Arm CCA-1 J2 On/Off sw

HD Video Aft

Squibs & MC JJ3
RF 2 RF c AMP 12 VDC-A JJJ7 2
Battery A Battery B Ex Pwr In On/Off SW SW 25 UFC-4 Power sw

Telemetrum Power sw

Raven Power sw

ATV Power sw

D-Spin Power/SW
Digital In or HD Camera sw

12 VDC Un-Reg

Squib s D0
Squib s 5 VDC-A 5 VDC-B D1 D2

12 VDC-A

5 VDC-A
GPS Sensor & Sw D7 D5 J10 6
A0 A1 UFC-I/O VDAC 5 VDC-A D4 Pressure Sensor Power

Rate X, Y

Rate Z A2

3.6 VDC 1.5 V Vref A3

RS 232
A5 Baro Alt & Amplifier 5 VDC-A A6 SEP SNC 25 D6 Vibe
A4 D1 Rate 5 VDC Bus A 5 VDC Bus B

GPS Power 12 VDC Bus A

UFC GPS

Squib s

Pressure 1/2

5 VDC-A Regulator

5 VDC-B Regulator

12 VDC Regulator

J8 Aft Interface

UFC-4 Interfaces

http://ukhas.org.uk/guides:gps_modules
Recommended GPS Modules At present there are 2 GPS Modules that are regularly used by UKHAS balloon flights. These modules use an AND statement rather than OR for their COCOM limits. This allows them to be used in high altitude balloon flights as they continue to function above 18km (60,000ft) as long as it doesn't exceed 515 m/s (which our balloon/payloads hopefully don't!). Lassen IQ - The Timble Lassen IQ is a cheap 12 channel 1Hz GPS module which is available from DPIE and Sparkfun. It requires a breakout board of some form as the connector on the bottom is quite small. The module has been used in many flights and has become the workhorse of UKHAS being integrated into Badger board and Icarus. The Lassen IQ has 2 serial ports, the 1st by default sends data in a proprietary binary form TSIP while the 2nd transmits NMEA. Ublox 4/5 - The ublox modules are more advanced then the Lassen IQ and have 20 or more channels and often are 4Hz, they also have additional technology so that they acquire locks much faster. Ublox GPS modules are surface mounted and so are often harder to work with but can be found on Gumstix GPSstix boards, GS406 from Sparkfun, the Falcom FSA03 from Earthshine and occasionally the development boards come up on ebay. Similarly to the Lassen, Ublox have their own binary protocol known as UBX but their modules also use NMEA. Other GPS Modules: Garmin GPS35 Motorola OnCore VP. Holux GM-82 Trimble Copernicus - MUST be configured to work in AIR mode (thus will work up to 50000m), can be easily activated using Trimble Studio, or just sending one command, look at the datasheet. Available at Sparkfun. Inventek ISMF2-C5.1-V004 GPS module - SIRF III with custom firmware Known Problem GPSes SIRF III chipset - with original firmware, any GPS modules that have this chipset will freeze at 24km altitude, while they use AND instead of OR they don't appear to work above 24km. GM862-GPS GS405 Module Venus634FLPx - running old firmware, new firmware should allow > 18km though not yet tested Garmin GPS20
Here's a list of other people's experience with various GPS modules at altitudes above 18.000m: http://www.arhab.org/science/science/gpspass.html http://showcase.netins.net/web/wallio/GPSrcvrsvs60kft.htm
Item 15 Manufacturer DeLorme FASTRAX See Notes [3] [7] GARMIN GARMIN GARMIN GARMIN [Note 9] GARMIN [Note 9] GARMIN GARMIN GARMIN GARMIN INVENTEK [Note 11] MOTOROLA MOTOROLA MOTOROLA Model TripMate (Rockwell ZODIAC chip set and commands) iTrax02 ETrex GEKO 201 GPS -16-HVS GPS -18- LVC GPS -18X GPS -18Xvc GPS -25 LP-LVS RINO GPS -35HVS GPS -15H ISMF2-C5.1-V004 GT+ ONCORE [5] M12 P183T12N12 M12+ P283T12N15 Software TBD V 1.11 2.11 V 2.0 2.3.0 & 2.9.0 2.30 & 2.40 3.00 GPS 25-LVS V2.5 TBD GPS 25-HVS V2.5 2.70 C5.1-V004 NA 61-G10002A Ver.1 Rev. 3 61-G10002A Ver.1 Rev. 8 GSW3.2.4-SDKNM_3.1.00.12SDK001P1.00a Jupiter32 v2.1 build 1 (S3) ZODIAC V1.83 Tested By ARSAT (N5SNN ) AMSAT-France (F6FAO) KMC (Pioneer Astro) TVNSP (KD7OST) TVNSP (N7 MTZ & W7MJR) TVNSP (KC7DBA) SARA (KBR) NTI (N5 NTI ) F1SRX HABITAT SKYLAB (KAJLF) WZC KB8PVR WB8 ELK KI5CZ ANSR (KD7LMO) ANSR (KD7LMO) 07Dec02 Test Date 10Sep05 15May04 17Apr02 TV03G 12Jul03 04Jul04 06Nov04 04Apr09 22May09 12Jun2003 01Aug04 22Apr01 09Apr05 17JanDate Posted 18Mar06 18May04 13Jun02 13Jul03 05Jul04 14Nov04 21Apr09 07Jun09 30Jan04 03Aug04 05May01 19Apr05 20Jan09 07Dec04 12Jan03 12Dec02

NAVMAN

JUPITER 32 (SiRF III chipset)

ANSR (KD7LMO)

15Dec07

31Dec07

RAND McNALLY
Streetfinder GPS for the Palm III (ROCKWELL ZODIAC)

ORB (KC5 TRB )

ORB -5 14Sep03

18Sep03

ROCKWELL (CONEXANT) TRIMBLE TRIMBLE
JUPITER TU30-D140-221/231 [Note 6] JUP V1.80 CRC : CFB 5 COPERNICUS (AIR mode) LASSEN LP GPS P/N 39263-00 2.01.1 7.82
EOSS (W5VSI) Meteotek08 BEAR (VE6SBS)
EOSS-39 12Mar00 thru -49 21Apr01 28Feb09 BEAR -1 27May00 BEAR -2 05Aug00

08May01 21Apr09 23Jun01

TRIMBLE
LASSEN iQ GPS P/N 45240-25
Application Layer Firmware Version LSU Dept of Physics and Astronomy 1.16, Build No. 0, 2/2/2006 LaACES Navigation firmware Version 2.25 Build PACER ballooning projects No. 4 12/2/2005

May 26, 2010

22Nov10
Note [1] We now have solid evidence that GPS receivers based on SiRF-I and SiRF-II chip sets all fail at ~60kft. Some SiRF-III chips sets, receivers that use them and firmware work at high altitude but- others do not. Note [2] We have a report that a Radio Shack DigiTraveler GPS receiver max'ed-out at 9,999m but continued with reliable 2D navigation. Note [3] Warning de F6FAO: To have the GPS working above 18 km, you need to send a command to the GPS. This command is 'Set Upper Limit'. Note [4] The DeLuo Serial GPS receiver is a discontinued product but DeLuo continues to sell a few EverMore GPS receivers. It appears all EverMore receivers are limited to 18km altitude. Some other DeLuo GPS receivers are based on either the SiRF Star-I or SiRF Star-II chip sets which are limited to 18km per above. Note [5] Motorola GT OnCore receivers in both 6-channel (earlier) and 8-channel (later) versions were successfully flown above 18km by FreeSpace, and HABET (ISGC/ISU). Model numbers and software versions are no longer available. Note [6] From Steve KCYA of EOSS: Early Rockwell Jupiter boards, serial numbers <300,000 with V1.03 software, have failed above 30km. Later boards, serial numbers >386,000 with V1.80 software, have repeatedly worked ok. Contact Steve for more details. Note [7] Gerard Auvray, F6FAO, forwards the following information from FASTRAX support:
The BRB900 TX/RX builds on the success of the 70cm Beeline GPS, and eliminates the need for an expensive receiver and an amateur radio license. The base models consists of a GPS receiver and a 900 Mhz spread spectrum transmitter for the device being tracked (see picture on the left), and a matching receiver with a USB interface (middle picture). Just plug unto your computer, and monitor the GPS data stream in real-time! The transmit/receive pair acts as a "virtual wire" link between the GPS and your computer, so it appears as if the GPS in the device being tracked is directly connected to the receive computer! Software from the GPS module manufacturer is available to select which NMEA sentences are produced, and the rate at which they are transmitted. Similar software is available on the receive side to monitor the data from the GPS module. An optional upgrade to the transmitter adds a microcontroller, non-volatile memory and G-switch to record in-flight data for later viewing in Google Earth (kml file). Up to 20 minutes of data is saved with positions stored every second. The upgraded transmitter can also be programmed to "summarize" the data from several NMEA sentences into a smaller data packet, saving bandwidth on the RF network and adding a unique identifier to allow for multiple units to be used easily at the same time. An optional upgrade to the receiver adds an LCD screen (pictured on right) and eliminates the need for a computer on the receive side. The 3x16 line sunlight viewable display shows latitude, longitude, altitude and many other important parameters. An internal battery recharges via the USB interface, which echoes the same data as the base model described above. Range is approx 6 miles using the included antennas, up to 15 miles using higher gain (Yagi) antennas for the receiver, but you'll have to supply that.

http://www.altusmetrum.org/TeleMetrum/
User View Recording altimeter for model rocketry Supports dual deployment (can fire 2 ejection charges) 70cm ham-band transceiver for telemetry downlink Barometric pressure sensor good to 45k feet MSL 1-axis high-g accelerometer for motor characterization On-board, integrated GPS receiver On-board non-volatile memory for flight data storage USB for power, configuration, and data recovery Integrated support for LiPo rechargeable batteries Uses LiPo to fire e-matches, can be factory modified to support separate pyro battery 2.75 x 1 inch board designed to fit inside 29mm airframe coupler tube Developer View Hardware Features TI CC1111F32 Low Power RF System-on-Chip Sub-1Ghz transceiver 8051 MCU 32k Flash 4k RAM USB 2.12-bit analog inputs (11 bits with single-ended sensors) 2 channels of serial I/O digital I/O Winbond W25Q16 serial flash memory 2M x 8 SPI interface SkyTraq Venus634FLPx GPS receiver on-board Taoglas AP.17A.01 single-stage active patch antenna U.FL connector with 3.3V DC can be re-purposed for optional external amplified antennas async serial interface Freescale MP3H6115A pressure sensor Freescale MMA2202EG 50g accelerometer. Can use 40-200g variants! Software Features Written mostly in C with some 8051 assembler Runs from on-chip flash, uses on-chip RAM, stores flight data to serial DataFlash chip USB serial emulation for "console" interface Tools Used gEDA for schematic capture and PCB layout SDCC compiler and source debugger Licenses The hardware is licensed under the TAPR Open Hardware License The software is licensed GPL version 2