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HCX User Manual

1. Page 38 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Calibrating Your HCX flight computer is factory calibrated at a Hold G Wiz I h ition temperature of approximately 20 C 68 F Unless you SSR cei chop expect to fly at a location where the temperature 1s radically The buttons will be disabled while different you do not need to recalibrate your flight POE i cue computer Press Here when G iz is Level If you do want to calibrate your flight computer for Press Here when GlNizis Nose Up example if you are flying at the Black Rock Desert in July i Press Here when G Wiz is Nose Down connect your flight computer to your personal computer and select G Wiz gt Calibrate Accelerometer from the main menu 2 Accelerometer Calibration e The Calibrate Accelerometer dialog box will appear e Follow the instructions in the dialog box Updating your Firmware From time to time we want to add features to our flight computers Or we may discover a bug in the HCX firmware Therefore we designed the HCX flight computer firmware to be customer upgradeable When we have an upgrade we will make a free download available on our Web site at http www gwiz partners com To Update your Firmware 1 Download the ZIP file and un archive it on to your personal computer If necessary change firmware s filename extension to update Attach the flight computer to your personal computer and star
2. o See Setting the Jumpers later in this chapter for more information To Attach Devices to the Terminal Blocks TB1 Pyro Port Pin Assignments TB2 Power Especial Tat PyroPort Pin Assignments O Pint Pin 2 Pin3 Pina Pins Pino Pin7 Pind Pin9 Pin 10 Pin 1 Fin2 Pin3 Pind Pins Pine Pyro Battery Cluster Stage Low Altitude Programmable PyroShunt BWire Analog CPU Battery Battery Power e For more information on battery usage see The HCX Power System in the next section e For instructions to wire up your batteries see Attaching Battery later in this chapter External Shunt e Depending on your rocket you may want to use the external shunt instead of the on board shunt See the Using an External Safety Shunt section later in this chapter for more information Pyro Devices e Ifyou are using motor deployment skip this section e If you are using Cluster or Staging attach its ejection charge to the Pyro terminals TB 1 pins 3 4 Page 7 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 e If you are deploying a chute at apogee attach its ejection charge wiring to the Pyro 2 terminals TB1 pins 5 6 e If you are deploying an additional chute attach its ejection charge wiring to the Pyro 3 terminals TB1 pins 7 8 BreakWire Analog Port e For more information on using this port see Break Wire Analog Terminals later in this chapter To Test the Setup 1 Install the shunt plug or close
3. A major feature of the HCX flight computer is its removable Mini SD memory card This card allows you to download your flight files without connecting the HCX to your computer Page 22 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 FlightView can read two data formats o The GWZ extension files are data set files created by the flight computer o The gwiz extension files are data files saved by FlightView To Read Your Flight Data from the Mini SD Card l 2 l 2 3 4 5 Power the flight computer off Remove the Mini SD card from your flight computer and insert it into its adapter o The Mini SD card now fits into any of the standard SD drives available for personal computers Plug your SD card into your personal computer Start FlightView and select File gt Open from the main menu to access the Open dialog box In the Open dialog box navigate to the directory of your Mini SD card Select the file name of your flight o By default the firmware names the data set files sequentially in the form FLT GWZ If you want to change the flight ID naming convention you can change it in the Configuration window when your flight computer is attached o You may have one more file on your Mini SD card than you had flights This is because every time you power the flight computer on the firmware creates a header file in anticipation of a flight If you have a header file it will be the highest numbered file
4. Press the Open button to open the file in the Flight Data Window o If you see this message when opening a GWZ file from HCX it is usually a header file and you can delete it after you open your flight data files Ox Unknown Error Opening Document To Read a Previously Saved Flight Data File Start FlightView Select File gt Open from the main menu In the Open dialog box navigate to the directory where you have saved your data file Select your flight file Press the Open button to open the file in the Flight Data Window Tip In Windows you can open either type of file without starting FlightView Navigate to the file s directory and double click on the flight file name Page 23 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 The Flight Data Window The flight data window opens up at the Flight Information tab In the top left corner is the Flight ID number FlightView creates a sequential ID every time a new GWZ data set is read into FlightView either from a flight computer s memory read or a saved file from a memory card These IDs are not the same as the file names because they will stay with the data even if you save it to a new filename You can change the ID pattern in the Preferences dialog box On the Flight Information tab you can fill in the fields with other information about your flight including e Date e Location e Rocket used e Motor types used You have ample room for additional notes a
5. Version 1 1 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Limited Warranty and Disclaimer G Wiz Partners warrants the G Wiz HCX flight computers to be free from defects in materials and workmanship and remain in working order for a period of 180 days If the unit fails to operate as specified the unit will be repaired or replaced at the discretion of G Wiz Partners providing the unit has not been damaged modified or serviced by anyone except for the manufacturer G Wiz HCX flight computers are sold as an experimental accessory only Due to the nature of experimental electronic devices especially when used in experimental carriers such as rockets the possibility of failure can never totally be removed The owners employees vendors and contractors of G Wiz Partners shall not be liable for any special incidental or consequential damage or expense directly or indirectly arising from the customer or anyone s use misuse or inability to use this device either separately or in combination with other equipment or for personal injury or loss or destruction of other property for experiment failure or for any other cause It is up to the user the experimenter to use good judgment and safe design practices and to properly pre test the device for its intended performance in the intended vehicle It is the user or experimenter s responsibility to assure the vehicle will perform in a safe manner and that all reasonable precautions are exercised to prevent injur
6. Cancel Page 55 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 6 Click Browse my computer for driver software advanced o Windows opens a Browse for dialog box 7 Navigate to the directory where you installed FlightView 8 Select the usbDrivers directory 9 Click Next o Windows Vista will start to install the drivers o Windows will display a Windows Security dialog box 10 Click Install this driver software anyway o When Windows tells you it has finished installing the drivers for the G Wiz USB Interface Card it will tell you it has found a second device that needs a driver 11 Repeat steps 3 to 10 for the second driver 12 Start FlughtView and look for the most recently installed COM port 13 Select it Date Printed 5 30 2008 m Found Nev Hardwi Windows couldn t find driver software for your device Check for a solution Windows will check to see if there are steps you can take to get your device working Browse my computer for driver software advanced Locate and install driver software manually Cancel i Browse for driver software on your computer Search for driver software in this location C Program Files GWizViewer usbDrivers v Browse V Include subfolders canes iG Windows Security K Windows can t verify the publisher of this driver software Don t install this driver software You should check you
7. If either circuit is closed the pyro ports will not fire You can use this shunt connection if your application does not allow you to easily install and remove the plug from the built in shunt See the Using an External Safety Shunt section later in this chapter for more information Formatting Mini SD Cards Put the Mini SD memory card into its adapter and connect it to your personal computer Your operating system can format it like any other removable storage device If your personal computer gives you a choice of formats use FAT or FAT32 formatting Because the flight computer records at a very high data rate it pre allocates a file on the Mini SD card This file must be continuous on the card it cannot have any fragments The flight computer will sound an error code during the power on test if it cannot allocate a file of the correct size You will have to reformat or replace the Mini SD card before you can fly We recommend that you use a freshly formatted card for each series of flights and do not use your flight computer s Mini SD for any other uses If you use your flight computer s Mini SD card for other uses it will quickly become fragmented and unable to allocate the required space Setting the Jumpers The hardwired jumpers have the following functions Jumper Position Number With Jumper IN With Jumper OUT JP 2 Pyro current selection System allows high current System limited to low current you must use two batt
8. The Extensions button connects to options such as telemetry links which are used exclusively in more advanced flight computer models including the G Wiz DCS Advanced Features We are constantly adding new abilities to FlightView The Advanced Features button links to an additional dialog box with experimental features such as database searching As we release new versions of FlightView we will provide information about the new features on our web site at http www gwiz partners com html tech html The Help Menu On the Help menu you can access FlightView s G AMiz Pg ne iini help system File Edit G Wiz Help e The Help Contents item opens our help E herp contents g he system ii e Select About for more information about FlightView including your software revision level The File Menu G Wiz Flightview SEES On the File menu you can open save and print your data File Edit Giz Help e The Open command opens both memory image Open cto files from you Mini SD card GWZ and saved flight files from your personal computer gwiz All of save As your flight data is accessible here You do not need Gave to connect your HCX to your personal computer to eleration Grap view and save your data E prin cme o e The Save and Save as commands will save your data to your personal computer e The Print command will print your flight data Reading your Flight Data with FlightView
9. 30 2008 Mounting the Flight Computer in your Rocket Some considerations you should keep in mind when you build your rocket s payload bay Make sure the flight computer is secured in the payload bay Not only could a loose unit cause itself damage but its motion will make your flight data inconsistent Make sure your batteries are secured as well During a fifty g launch a one ounce battery weighs nearly four pounds Note the proper orientation of the flight computer The nose end of the flight computer is indicated by the word Nose and an arrow printed on the front of the board between the Cluster Stage Jumper and the Communications Interface Socket JP6 Shunt Plug Orientation Indicator a i gt ikii pe panam 5 E mia Cunn F i HE Terminal Block 1 Nose End If you are using pyrotechnic events make sure you either have access to your safety shunt or else design your payload bay to include a switched wire you can attach to the pyro shunt terminals TB2 pins 1 2 The flight computer s barometer needs a ventilation hole into the payload bay of the rocket For rockets measuring up to two inches in diameter a single hole of 1 8 inch diameter at least six inches below the nosecone transition is sufficient For this size rocket the shunt plug access hole provides sufficient ventilation Design your wiring to allow easy access to power switches You do not want to have to comp
10. Fatal Error Status Codes Break Wire Error The unit is configured for a breakwire launch but the break wire is not attached l Short warble 2 The sequence repeats after a I second pause Caution If you hear this sequence you will not be able fly your rocket until the error is corrected Power the unit off before correcting See the Testing the Setup section of the Using your Flight Computer chapter for correction instructions Power On Self Test Failure POST Failure 1l The beeper gives a long warble 2 After 1 2 second delay the beeper gives a series of beeps up to 7 beeps identifying the failure o For 1 to 4 beeps see the Hardware Error chart o For 5 beeps there will be an additional set of low pitch beeps See the Initialization Error chart o For 6 beeps there will be an additional set of low pitch beeps See the File Creation Error chart Page 46 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 o For 7 beeps the Mini SD card is full 3 The sequence repeats after a 1 second pause POST Failure Code Lookup Charts Hardware Error Chart First Set of Beeps High Pitch 1 beep Failure reading configuration from Do not fly Contact G Wiz EEPROM Sensors reading out of range Do not fly Contact G Wiz Accelerometer status failure Do not fly Contact G Wiz 5 beeps SD Card initialization error Secondary Count the low pitched beeps and refer to the code will beep Initialization Error chart 6 b
11. GWizViewer usbD rivers Don t search will choose the driver to install Choose this option to select the device driver from a list Windows does not guarantee that the driver you choose will be the best match for your hardware Hardware Installation The software you are installing for this hardware G Wiz USB Adapter has not passed Windows Logo testing to verify its compatibility with Windows xP Tell me why this testing is important Continuing your installation of this software may impair or destabilize the correct operation of your system either immediately or in the future Microsoft strongly recommends that you stop this installation now and contact the hardware vendor for software that has passed Windows Logo testing STOP Installation Your computer is now ready to connect to your G Wiz HCX flight computer through the G Wiz USB Interface Card Page 54 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Appendix G Installing USB Drivers on Vista When you install our drivers Windows Vista has an even more complex process than XP Mainly this is because Microsoft is trying to make the process totally invisible to the user Therefore if you have anything unusual about an installation Windows gets confused This is a step by step feu Nev eevee tour of the process ppr to install driver software for your G Wiz 1 Log into your PC as an Ad
12. Number of batteries required 12 VDC Recommended computer battery 65mA typical at idle Maximum voltage applied to computer 15 VDC battery input terminals TB 2 pins 5 6 Computer current consumption Programmable Maximum voltage applied to pyro 1 Stage cluster battery input terminals TB 1 pins 1 2 2 Apogee parachute deployment typical Pyro channel test current 9VDC battery Pyro channel firing time Pyro channel functions 3 Low altitude parachute deployment typical 4 User selectable programmable FlexPort Low altitude pyro channel activation ADC resolution Analog input channel range resolution Breakwire input switch requirements Sensor sample rate Altitude readout Programmable Default is 800 feet 12 bits or 1 22 mV bit Input range 0 to 5 0 VDC Resolution 12 bits or 1 22 mV bit Closed to open signals launch Selectable 66 67 to 500 samples per second Status LED and acoustic beeper Reads out barometric altitude 1 status LED 1 beeper Limited only by the size in MB or GB of the Mini SD card used 2Gigabyte Maximum card size User field interface Data recording depth Host computer interface TTL CMOS serial Use the G Wiz USB or RS 232 adapter to interface to a host computer Main battery life 6 hours typical With separate pyro battery Weight typical sig Operating temperature range 0 85 C 51g Flights over 25 000 feet MSL require HCX to be
13. coated with a special epoxy layer The coating protects the circuit board and components from condensation moisture damage This also insures proper electrical operation of HCX Please contact G Wiz Partners for special order options Page 45 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Appendix B Flight Computer Status Codes Normal Status Code The LED turns on then off The LED turns on and the beeper gives one JP7 OUT or two JP7 IN low pitch beeps LED turns off and the sequence pauses for a half second Starting with Pyro Port I each pyro port reports status with a single quick beep for good continuity or a double beep for incomplete continuity tS 5 The sequence repeats from step 2 after a one second pause Non Fatal Error Status Codes Low Battery l The LED turns on then off The LED turns on and the beeper gives one JP7 OUT or two JP7 IN low pitch beeps After a half second pause the beeper gives a short warble LED turns off and the sequence pauses for a half second Starting with Pyro Port I each pyro port reports status with a single quick beep for good continuity or a double beep for incomplete continuity wa AR Sw NS 6 The sequence repeats from step 2 after a one second pause SD Card is Unplugged l The LED turns on then off 2 The beeper gives a long high pitch beep then a long low pitch beep 3 After a 3 4 second delay the normal status code starts
14. flight computers because of the chamber pressure oscillation inherent in the hybrid design The HCX uses DSP filtering to smooth out the thrust oscillations allowing it to more accurately sense launch detection and to compute the inertial data We have successfully tested the HCX with the Rattworks hybrid motors under varying conditions Flying with High Thrust Motors High thrust short burn time motors often have too short a burn time to be detected by launch algorithms HCX has been tested with Aerotech WARP9 propellant In tests we were able to detect launch in rockets with a recommend a minimum thrust to weight ratio of 10 1 If you are unsure your anticipated boost time will trigger the launch detect algorithm then use the break wire to ensure launch detection Page 19 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Using FlightView Software FlightView is the G Wiz G Wiz Flightview Aa Pa File Edit G Wiz Help interfaces with the G W1z a a E a ii a flight computers Starting a Sj a bJ 2 ad with version 2 8 FlightView includes configuration and data viewing support for the HCX flight computer If you are upgrading from l l another G Wiz flight An MERMA e l computer make sure you aae Changes to Flight Data File have the latest copy of Open Flight Data File FlightView You only need the one program to interface with both flight computers To install FlightView go to http www gwiz partners com Downloads inst
15. lt offset gt 2 5 lt offset gt lt sensitivity gt 0 04 lt sensitivity gt lt sample size gt 12 lt sample size gt lt sensor gt lt raw data index 0 radix 16 sample rate 500 gt 817 818 819 818 817 817 816 817 818 816 816 816 816 813 82e 914 8 41 867 865 85b 85e 864 862 7 9 7 9 7 a 7 9 7 9 0 0 lt raw data gt lt sensor index 1 name Unknown gt lt type gt static lt type gt lt units gt kPa lt units gt lt min gt 0O 0 lt min gt lt max gt 100 0 lt max gt lt offset gt 0 025 lt offset gt lt sensitivity gt 0 04028 lt sensitivity gt lt sample size gt 12 lt sample size gt lt sensor gt lt raw data index 1 radix 16 sample rate 500 gt d47 d47 d47 d47 d47 d47 d47 d47 d47 d47 d4 d48 d48 d48 d48 0 lt raw data gt lt events gt lt event data 0 index 17 name Movement gt lt event data 0 index 117 name Launch gt lt event data 1 index 1504 name Burnout gt lt event data 0 index 1504 name PyroOn gt lt event data 0 index 2039 name PyroOff gt lt event data 0 index 7269 name Apogee gt lt event data 1 index 7269 name PyroOn gt lt event data 1 index 7796 name PyroOff gt lt event data 0 index 22484 name AltDn gt lt event data 2 index 22484 name PyroOn gt lt event data 2 index 22997 name PyroOff gt lt event data 1 index 56082 name AltDn gt lt event data 3 inde
16. of my variable resistor is 1OOOmV unit Volt Page 43 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 E Edit Sensor Data x F4 Edit Sensor Data Name Applied Voltage Name applied Voltage Te Wottage tme Notae e l Acceleration a l Units Static Pressure Units Unit Scale Unit Scale Min Units i Min Units Max Units Sensitivity f ooo mv Unit 8 Click OK to close the dialog box and save your changes 9 In the flight data window note that the tab now has the name you gave it in the Edit Sensor Data dialog box Computer Data I Acceleration Graph Integrated Airspeed Graph Integrated Altitude Graph F pplied Vottage Cha Flight Information Flight Summary light Configuration Overlay Graph Altitude Graph Bire o Pyron 10 Click on the tab to see a graph of your data 11 Save the data onto your personal computer by clicking on File gt Save As 12 You can also save your flight data in txt csv or xml formats for additional analysis Page 44 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Appendix A Product Specifications Maximum acceleration 56 G 112G 225 G Maximum inertial altitude 32 bit math 100K feet MSL2 Maximum barometric altitude 70K feet MSL Limited by sensor linearity Number of pyro channels Maximum continuous current Per pyro channel One or Two We strongly recommend using 2 batteries 9 VDC transistor battery Duracell MN1604
17. on and the beeper gives one JP7 OUT or two JP7 IN low pitch beeps After a half second pause the beeper gives a short warble 3 LED turns off 4 The sequence pauses for a half second 5 Starting with Pyro Port l each pyro port reports status with a single quick beep for good continuity or a double beep for incomplete continuity 6 The sequence repeats from step 2 after a one second pause If you hear this sequence you have less than sixty minutes before your batteries die If possible change your batteries to avoid the risk of losing power during your flight If this is not possible because your rocket is already assembled and on the pad for example then ask the LCO to expedite your launch Un Plugged Mini SD Card l The LED turns on then off Page 15 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 The beeper gives a long high pitch beep then a long low pitch beep 2 After a 3 4 second delay the normal status code continues If the Mini SD card is missing or not installed correctly the flight computer will fire all the events but will not be able to record data Fatal Error Status Codes The Fatal Error codes are not built on a Normal Status code You cannot fly your flight computer until the problem is fixed Most of the Power On Self Test failures are caused by problems with the Mini SD card These you can correct by reformatting or replacing the Mini SD card Break Wire Error The unit
18. rigidly installed in the rocket payload bay Protect the flight computer from ejection gasses Ejection gasses are corrosive and will damage the flight computer Ejection gas damage will void your warranty Use good batteries If you are using non rechargeable batteries we recommend using Duracell brand Because many lower cost batteries have press fit contacts vibration and sudden acceleration might cause them to come loose resulting in a momentary or permanent break in your power connection Losing power will cause a catastrophic flight failure Make sure your batteries are properly secured to prevent them from pulling wires out of the terminal block pins and always use good quality battery connectors If you hear the breakwire launch error code power the unit off before attaching the break wire Recommended Battery Sizes e Using too small a battery might cause a low voltage failure and will reduce your operating time e Using too large a battery might damage the MOSFET switches with excessive current flow Page iii HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Table of Contents Odu HON ee tt ect et te er ee ee err rr re 1 COMM OMG MES eiea E E 2 Product Tea e E SEE EEE EE EERE 2 Using your Fiene COMPU E 3 nce nc sce sen er erne SESE eeePC nS up s9se eu EESTE TEPES ETE EEEIEE 5 Your Flight Computer and ACCESSOTICS cceeeee eee eee eee eee eee eens eee eens eae ea eae nenna nn nnne 6 Sewn Wp VOU CA tOr TH ML gagtee cece cteech
19. the beeper reads out in meters see Configuring your HCX in the Using FlightView Software chapter The flight computer must be turned off and then on before you can launch it again Your data will be safely stored on the SD card Each flight is saved under a sequential file number In the Configuration dialog box in FlightView you can configure the HCX to read out both the maximum speed and the maximum altitude If you select this option the altitude and speed readouts will alternate The status LED will light during the speed readout and be off during the altitude readout Launch Detection The G Wiz HCX flight computer uses firmware algorithms to prevent the unit from starting prematurely This is important because you do not want the flight computer to assume launch has occurred if you jostle or drop the unit The two extreme parameters the flight computer use to detect launch are e An acceleration of at least 2 2G for a minimum of 6 10 second This will detect launch in most rocket motors e An acceleration of at least 40 G for a minimum of 2 10 second This is often required to detect launch in high thrust motors If you are not certain your rocket will trigger launch within the range of these parameters use the breakwire port See Using the Breakwire Bypass Jumper for instructions on using a break wire Page 18 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Flying with Hybrid Motors Hybrid motors cause problems with some
20. the external shunt circuit 2 Power the unit on 3 Confirm that the flight computer status is giving the correct status beep code See Testing the Setup later in this chapter or Appendix B for a complete list of the status codes To Change Configuration Settings e The instructions for configuring your flight computer including descriptions of the options available are located in the Configuring your HCX section of the Using FlightView Software chapter The HCX Power System Depending on your flight plan you can operate the HCX with either one or two batteries e Nine volt batteries are optimal for all applications on this flight computer o Use batteries in the 7 5v to 15v range for the pyro circuit o Use batteries in the 7 5v to 12v range for the CPU and the CPU amp pyro circuits What the Jumper Does The JP2 jumper sets the current allowed in the system When JP2 is pulled OUT your HCX is set to low current mode When JP2 is put IN your HCX is set to high current mode In low current mode your pyro port current is limited to 1 amp whether you are using one or two batteries In high current mode you can use up to 8 amps of power at each of your pyro ports e If you put the JP2 jumper IN high current mode when you have only one battery attached the pyro circuit firing may draw too much power away from the CPU causing it to reset mid flight e If you pull the JP2 jumper OUT low current mode when you have two batteries at
21. to the flight computer by inserting the 8 pin connector into the matching socket JP6 on the HCX o See the photo at the beginning of this section Power the HCX unit on o It will start beeping its status In FlightView select G Wiz gt Connect from the main menu o The box in the bottom left of the window will say Connected to G Wiz HCX when the connection is made o If the box says Connection Closed or your flight computer continues to beep check to see if your COM port setting is correct and if your flight computer is attached correctly o If you do not know the correct port select the highest number port on the G Wiz menu first If this port does not connect then check the lower numbered ports To Connect with the G Wiz RS 232 Serial Interface Card Note You do not need to install any drivers for the G Wiz RS 232 Serial Interface l Attach the interface card to your computer using a straight through serial cable Page 29 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 o Refer to your computer documentation to identify the COM port where you are attaching your serial cable 2 Start FlightView 3 On the G Wiz menu select the COM port where you attached your serial cable and interface 4 Attach the interface card to the flight computer by inserting the 8 pin connector into the matching socket JP6 on the HCX o See the photo at the beginning of this section 5 Power the HCX unit on o It will start
22. visit us on the web at http www gw1z partners com We maintain an FAQ on our web site In addition the latest versions of both FlightView and the HCX Firmware are posted there for download You can email us at G Wiz Partners PO Box 320103 support gwiz partners com Los Gatos CA 95032 0101 Or write us at Page 57
23. wire your HCX will beep out the Low Battery warning If you are using two batteries we recommend that you disconnect the pyro battery whenever you disconnect the CPU battery Although the shunt plug will make safe the pyro ports the pyro circuit has a noticeable power drain It will deplete your battery if it is left connected for long time periods Setting up the On Board Hardware Using the Safety Shunt Unless you are using motor ejection it is recommended that you always include a pyro shunt in your flight computer setup The HCX includes a built in safety shunt JP 1 3 and its shunt plug Any time the HCX is mounted in the rocket in a position where you can insert the shunt plug through a hole in the airframe the built in shunt is the most practical method to safe your pyro ports bu b l a Page 9 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 When the shunt plug is properly installed connecting JP1 and JP3 it protects the pyro ports from accidentally firing In normal use insert the shunt before you power the unit on and remove it on the pad only after all other prep work is completed Once you remove the shunt the flight computer will arm the pyro outputs enabling them to fire when they are signaled by the firmware This picture shows the safety shunt correctly installed into the JP1 JP3 shunt connectors The HCX also has an additional parallel safety shunt input on TB2 pins 1 2
24. 00 Feet Meters o Is no longer at the value selected K JP7 IN Fire atter frst gt Burnout NN tric Fire afterdelayof 3 0 Seconds ae After 0 0 Seconds 7 Type the value at which you want aerate ae the event trigger ed i On Event baro_apogee Inertial Apogee Recommended O See your sensor s technical data Barometric Apogee For Tumbling Boosters f or sp e cifi C ati ons _ Lockout when airspeed near mach After loo Seconds n Click on the Outputs tab 9 In the Pyro 4 data box select analog input in the appropriate On Event and Off Event lists to match your flight plan 10 Type in any delays or counts as needed 11 Click Upload and Exit 12 Disconnect your flight computer from FlightView and power cycle the unit Cancel Upload amp Exit To Set Up the Flight Computer for User Data Input 1 Pull the breakwire jumper JP5 OUT 2 Attach the positive sensor output wire to the positive Break Wire Analog terminal TB2 pin 4 3 Attach the negative sensor output wire to the negative Break Wire Analog terminal TB2 pin 3 4 Install everything else per your flight plan To Test your Sensor If you want to do a test run of the sensor set up the flight computer and connect it to your personal computer e The Bench Test application shows continuity and voltage status for your installed sensor Page 42 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 e The Test Flight app
25. 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 To Attach a User Provided Sensor on the BreakWire Analog Inputs 1 Attach the positive wire of the sensor to pin 3 of terminal block 2 2 Attach the negative wire of the sensor to pin 4 of terminal block 2 o Make sure you configure the sensor in Flight View o Make sure you pull the JP5 jumper OUT Testing the Setup Every time you power on the flight computer it runs a diagnostic and beeps out its status The HCX has three types of status codes e Normal e Non fatal errors e Fatal errors If you want to hear samples of the status codes we have recordings on our website at http www gwiz partners com html hcx_beeps html Normal Status Code l The LED turns on then off The LED turns on and the beeper gives one JP7 OUT or two JP7 IN low pitch beeps LED turns off The sequence pauses for a half second Starting with Pyro Port I each pyro port reports status with a single quick beep for good continuity or a double beep for incomplete continuity 6 The sequence repeats from step 2 after a one second pause ia 2 iY Non Fatal Error Status Codes The Non Fatal error codes are variations of the Normal Status code The specific parts defining the error are printed in boldface While the noted problem will not prevent a launch you must correct it before the flight if you want full functionality in your flight computer Low Battery l The LED turns on then off 2 The LED turns
26. Full scale range OkPa 100kPa OkPa 100kPa Full scale spar 4 03V Offset a o Sensitivity sensor 2 mV kPa 40 28 mV kPa Voltage before amplification number stationarynumber 4096 Voltage after amplification 20mV voltage number stationarynumber 4 03V ampVoltage 4096 ae Divide the voltage by the sensitivity ampvoltage 40 28 me pressureDifference The Events As events occur they are listed in Column 3 If an event happened in a measurement interval this column will show the appropriate keyword Most of the events are self describing and are listed in the xm1 file below Page 50 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Exported Data in XML Format The xml data file has two main differences from the txt file First all of the specific sensor data is included in the file The other difference is the A to D conversion reads out in hexadecimal This is a section of the same flight as the data above lt xml version 1 0 encoding UTF 8 standalone no gt lt flight gt lt computer gt lt manufacturer url http www gwiz partners com gt G Wiz Partners lt manufacturer gt lt model gt hcex 50 lt model gt lt version gt 1 13 lt version gt lt sensors accel index 0 baro index 1 gt lt sensor index 0 name Unknown gt lt type gt accel lt type gt lt units gt Gs lt units gt lt min gt 56 0 lt min gt lt max gt 56 0 lt max gt
27. Sensor Connectors Top View e ae 2 2e4e ee PLA ARE wz i he t i 4 Mosfet Switches Mini SD Card Bottom View a e CPU The RISC processor that controls the Flight Computer e Mini SD Card Socket Insert a Mini SD card to record your flight data e MOSFET The MOSFET semiconductor switches are a safety feature which reduces power consumption and heat generation e Accelerometer The inertial acceleration is continually monitored during flight The acceleration data is used to calculate the integrated altitude e Pressure Sensor The barometric pressure is continually monitored during flight The barometric data is used to calculate the pressure altitude of the rocket based on the US Standard Atmosphere Model e JP1 amp JP3 Safety Shunt When the safety shunt plug is inserted into these connectors the pyro ports will not fire The pyro ports will still detect continuity and will report their status when the flight computer is powered on e JP2 Pyro Current Jumper With this jumper OUT the computer will be in low power mode limiting the current at each pyro port to 1 amp With this jumper IN you can use up to 8 amps from your batteries at each pyro port e JP7 Cluster Stage Jumper When this jumper is IN pyro will fire at the burnout event you choose When the jumper is OUT pyro 1 will fire when launch is detected approximately half a second into the flight e JP6 Communications Interface
28. Socket This connector attaches to either the G Wiz USB or RS 232 Interface cards Page 5 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 JPS Breakwire Bypass Jumper This jumper must be IN when you use a break wire for launch detection and OUT when you use the Break Wire Analog input to record data from a user provided sensor Terminal Blocks The pins in the two terminal blocks are used to attach wires to the Flight Computer Their functions are shown in this graphic pint Pin2 Pin3 Pina Pins Ping Pin7 Pina Pind Pin 10 Pint Pina Pin3 Pin4 Pins Ping Pean P eare Pro 1 Pro P02 P02 Prios Fyo3 Pye Pyros shunt shunt Input Input sare c pater o The Pyro Shunt port is a parallel input to the JP1 3 safety shunt Breaking this connection arms the pyro ports o The BreakWire Analog port is used in conjunction with the breakwire bypass jumper Beeper Gives an audible status indication Status LED Gives a visual status indication Your Flight Computer and Accessories Your flight computer comes in a pink antistatic zipper bag and also has these accessories Retain the antistatic bag to store your flight computer between uses Two nine volt battery adapters are included for your use If you SIN HEX 1009 Safety shunt plug j P Y AS iw R Mini SD card and adapter i Two 9v battery adapters Information sheet HEX Flight Computer Wisec 1126 7 aac Three small bla
29. a picture of the flight computer in simple single battery mode While you do not need to attach the jumper wire between the CPU and the pyro circuit we recommended you do so because otherwise you will get a very annoying low battery warning Negative CPL Battery Connection Installing the Communication Interface Drivers To connect your unit to a personal computer you need either a G Wiz USB interface card or a G Wiz RS 232 serial interface card along with the appropriate cable These are the same interface cards used to connect the LCX and MC2 flight a computers to FlightView oe T e Because the G Wiz flight computer is a serial device its USB connection works through lalla pil Bt the serial ports of your personal HS HX Comauteziies A ces SE oo computer Select the COM port S where your flight computer connects to your personal computer in the G Wiz menu e If you use a USB interface card the COM port is defined when you install the USB drivers e If you use a serial interface card see you personal computer documentation to identify the correct COM port p he i Sl ee 3 l E a i l al ta n l g ee Eee ae Oo To Install the G Wiz USB Interface Drivers Note you may need administrator access to install the drivers 1 Start FlightView 2 Select G Wiz gt COM Port and note the COM ports already assigned Page 28 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Attach the interface
30. ach or exceed Mach 1 check the Lockout when airspeed near mach box to prevent the shockwave at mach from causing deployment while the rocket 1s still accelerating Pyro 3 Low Altitude Pyro Port 3 deploys low altitude devices You attach your low altitude not always your main chute igniter s wires to pins 7 and 8 of terminal block 1 e You can deploy your chute when the rocket drops below a preset altitude You can set the altitude in increments of 100 anywhere from 100 to 25 500 feet or meters e You can deploy your chute at a given time after inertial apogee This is a special feature included for the ARLISS flights but may also be useful to provide two stage deployment in conditions where the computer cannot be exposed to atmospheric pressure Pyro 4 FlexPort Pyro Port 4 is user definable You attach your output wiring to pins 9 and 10 of terminal block 1 See the Attaching Pyro Devices section of the Basic Setup Procedure for uses of this port You can select an event to cause this port to turn on You can choose the same or a different event to turn the port off Delays are possible for both on and off events Some events may require additional information which can also be supplied Available events are Pyro 4 FlexPort e Launch Confirmed On Event baro_apogee v e Burnout N Nth Burnout After e Stage N Nth acceleration Nid e Inertial Apogee e Barometric Apogee Off Event descend_below e Ascending above lt A
31. ach the flight computer from the interface card 4 Remove the interface card and cable from your computer and store them in a safe place Page 31 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Configuring your HCX The HCX stores its configuration settings in nonvolatile EEPROM memory The factory default configuration settings for the G Wiz HCX flight computer are the same as those used for the earlier G Wiz flight computer products e Staging is for first stage e Apogee deployment occurs at inertial apogee e Low altitude deployment is set for 800 feet e English units are used e No delays are put into any of the events Your configuration settings are stored on the flight computer in EEPROM and will not change until you change them Caution If you change your configuration for a special flight plan be sure to change it back before your next flight To Configure the Flight Computer 1 Connect your flight computer to your personal computer o When you are connected the box in the bottom left of the window will say Connected to G Wiz HCX 2 Select G Wiz gt Configure from the menu o The Configuration dialog box will appear 3 Change the configuration on both the Main and Outputs tabs to match your flight plan o The options in each tab page are described in the rest of this section 4 Press Upload amp Exit when you are done o The Configuration dialog box will disappear when the process is complete 5 S
32. addition to graphing your flight data in FlightView you can save itin txt csv or xml formats for analysis with other programs For a discussion on how this data is used see the article How Flight Computers Work on our website at http www gwiz partners com Flight_Computers pdf 2048 3234 0 2048 3234 0 2048 3234 0 2048 3234 0 2048 3233 0 2048 3232 0 2305 3233 0 Movement 1 2305 3233 0 2305 3233 0 Each row of data is a single sample in chronological 9305 3234 0 order based on the sample rate you configured before the 2305 3234 0 flight 2305 3233 0 For Example At a sample rate of 500 samples per second this data shows movement 0 024 seconds 12 500 after the flight computer started recording A snippet of a flight data file in csv comma separated value format is shown in the box The first number is the accelerometer reading and the second is the barometer reading If you have installed a user provided sensor its data will be the third number The final item will show if a status change such as launch detection or a pyro port action occurs during the measurement interval Reading the Accelerometer Data These are the raw decimal sensor readings and need to be converted back into the appropriate numerical values using the specifications of the sensors in your HCX model The acceleration data in column 1 is output in the range of 0 to 4095 based on a twelve bit analog to digital converter ADC 0 is yo
33. al Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Miscellaneous The Miscellaneous group is used to e Select the sample rate to use during your flight You have a choice of six settings 66 67 samples per second _ Metric altitude readout setting 100 samples per second 200 samples per second 250 samples per second 333 samples per second 500 samples per second e Choose the measurement system English or SI for the readout at landing e Define if you want the maximum speed in addition to the maximum altitude read out after landing Miscellaneous Max Airspeed and Altitude at Landing Sample Rate per Second O O O O 0 0 Configure G Wiz HCX Main Outputs The Outputs Tab 3 Pyro 1 Cluster Stage Pyro 3 Low Altitude The Outputs tab in the Configuration FireBelow 300 Feet Meters 1 1 KJP7IN Fireafter ao Fire at Inertial Apogee dialog box allows you to determine cages oa aa when each output should fire Because After 0 0 __ Seconds each port has a specific function the ite poan Pyro 4 FlexPort window is organized into a separate inertial Apogee Recommended panao hi group for each port O Barometric Apogee For Tumbling Boosters ak ao _ Lockout when airspeed near mach e Pyro 1 is for cluster or upper epo Seconds baro_apouee ee Seconds Stage 1gnition e Pyro 2 is for apogee i o o deployment Upload amp Exit Cancel Help e P
34. all Anstall html and click on the correct installer for your operating system Follow the instructions on the page to install your software Context Sensitive Help Help Menu Connect Disconnect from Flight Computer Set Preferences When you open the FlightView program you will see the main window It has a standard menu bar and toolbar buttons This screenshot shows the buttons marked with their functions Changing Your Preferences To Set the FlightView Program Preferences 1 Start FlightView 2 From the main window select Edit gt Preferences or click the Set Preferences button on the menu bar 3 Inthe Preferences dialog box select the changes you want The options are discussed in detail in this section 4 Select OK to close the Preferences dialog box and accept your changes Options in the Preferences Dialog Box In the Preferences dialog box you control how information displays in FlightView The Preferences dialog box has three types of options e How the data is displayed e Default data options e Links to advanced features and DCS extensions Page 20 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Data Display Options Most of the options in the Preferences dialog box allow you to change how your flight data 1s displayed Preferences The Units Group Units C Use today s date by default in flight data Overlay Graph In the top left corner of the Preferences dialog S FI Show data points in
35. aximum Altitude integrated 2853 32 f Maximum Acceleration 198 79 fisec sec Maximum Acceleration 6 18 G Altitude of Max Acceleration 20 22 f Altitude of Mach Trans 0f Flight Length 131 28 sec Time to 2nd Stage burnout 0 sec Altitude of 2nd Stage Burnout Of This computer has been calibrated Not Connected to anything yet e Altitude based on data reading from the barometer e Integrated altitude based on data from the accelerometer e An overlay graph which combines several of the graphs plotted on the same time axis You can choose which graphs to show in the overlay tab by making selections in the Preferences dialog box See Changing Your Preferences for more information Page 24 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 cane Data Windows in a aoe Tamud fe 2nd integran Feed m Cort Bire a Pyroon U Ce Gire Pyroon B OVERR UN i 4 ine AiD N B OVERRUN i Integrated Altitude Graph GWiz PlightView ea Einm Acceleration Graph integrated Airspeed Graph e T E Overlay Graph Bar rometrie Altitude Feed Altude 2nd Intepred feed 400 oWire siz PyroOon Co Beds Da Lanc E Con OWire Pyrog on OVER Pyro umout ABDON E OVERRU NaP m L Jui a Aponte J f j Connected toc GWA HCX ns T Connected toc GAF HCX i oe Integrated Airspeed Graph Overlay Graph You can zoom in on the graphs by dragging your mouse over the time range you want to examine Cli
36. beeping its status 6 In FlightView select G Wiz gt Connect from the main menu o The box in the bottom left of the window will say Connected to G Wiz HCX o If the box says Connection Closed or your flight computer continues to beep check to see if your COM port setting is correct and if your flight computer is attached correctly Tip After your first connection FlightView will save the port preference in memory Unless you are connecting several different G Wiz flight computer models you should be able to skip step 3 for later connections Page 30 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 More G Wiz Menu Items When the HCX unit is connected the G Wiz menu will show several additional items e Disconnect e Configure e Bench Test e Sensor Statistics e Calibrate Accelerometer e Update HCX Firmware These menu items are described in more detail in the next few sections Disconnecting To Disconnect your HCX Flight Computer File Edit G Wiz Date Printed 5 30 2008 S Disconnect AMEE w Connect via Telemetry tT Set Telemetry Port Configure Bench Test Sensor Statistics Calibrate Accelerometer Update HCX Firmware 1 Select G Wiz gt Disconnect from the menu or click the Connect Disconnect button on the menu bar o The box in the bottom left of the window will say Connection Closed and your flight computer will start beeping 2 Power off your flight computer gt Det
37. bout the flight The Flight Summary tab gives you a snapshot look at your flight The other tabs contain graphs showing e Airspeed during the flight e Acceleration during the flight Date Printed 5 30 2008 File Edit G VWWiz Help EIEJEXESIS Altitude Graph Acceleration Graph Integrated Airspeed Graph I Integrated Altitude Graph Flight Information Flight Summary Flight Configuration Overlay Graph Flight ID FLT 4 Rocket Name Insanity Length Flight Date 21 January 2008 iy G Wiz HCX 50 v1 13 Launch Site TCC Max Diameter Motor s Used J415 Takeoff Weight Notes HCx electronics flown as primary on this flight MC as backup and an LCx just along for a ride Not Connected to anything yet G Wiz FlightView File Edit G Wiz Help JL F insanity HCx 080121 gwiz 55i Altitude Graph l Acceleration Graph integrated Airspeed Graph Integrated Altitude Graph Flight Information Fight Summary Flight Configuration Overlay Graph Recorded Max Acceleration 199 72 fisec sec Recorded Max Altitude 3030 f Maximum Altitude barometric 3044 9 f Maximum Airspeed 406 01 fisec Maximum Mach 0 36 Altitude of Max Airspeed 726 37 f Time to Mach 0 sec Time to Apogee 13 92 sec Time to booster burnout 3 01 sec Altitude of Booster Burnout 727 18 f Descent Rate 24 89 fisec Recorded Max Speed 405 91 fisec M
38. card to your personal computer using the supplied cable Your computer will start to install the USB drivers o In Windows 95 2000 a dialog box will appear asking where to find the drivers If you installed at the default location this will be C Program Files GWizViewer usbDrivers If C is your root directory o If you are connecting to an OS X 10 3 or earlier Macintosh computer and have any problems follow the procedure in described in Appendix E o If you are connecting to a computer running Windows XP follow the procedure described in Appendix F o The procedure for Windows Vista is similar to Windows XP The major difference is that the computer tries to look on line for the driver before asking if you have the driver available Follow the procedure described in Appendix G After your computer confirms driver installation look at the available COM ports Select the most recently installed COM port Note If you are using FlightView 2 9 or earlier you will find the COM port dropdown in the Preferences dialog box Connecting Your Flight Computer To Connect with the G Wiz USB Interface Card after Your Drivers have been Installed l 2 Attach the interface card to your personal computer using the supplied USB cable Start FlightView o The box in the bottom left of the window will say Not connected to anything yet On the G Wiz menu select the COM port you noted during the driver installation Attach the interface card
39. ceceeeesesececeeeeeeeesseeceeeessaeeeeeeceeseeeaeeees 23 Toae your Da IS eea EOE OEE O eoa ne orero 27 To Instalkthe G Wiz USB Interface Dii Vens a atc a ceeteroctudecunssesaasasthancescesdeacestedednashsdaeeondlescusceudicsasdsietengesene 28 To Connect with the G Wiz USB Interface Card after Your Drivers have been Installed 00 0 2 To Connect with the G W1z RS 232 Serial Interface Card cccccccccssesseecceccceeeesseeecceceeeaeeseeeceeeeeeeeeees 29 To Disconnect your HC X Fheht Computer seiceanna aa aa ii 31 To Configure the Plo nt Omi te ienen E er EE E EE EEEa 32 WO Use the TEF i at eae eane rro rao a Oa e ear eooni 37 Toupie yonr FN ATO e A E E EAE AEE EE R E A ERE 39 To Configure the Breakwire Analog Port in Flight View cccccssssssesesseeeeeceeeeeeeeeesesssseeessseeeeeeeeeees 4 To Configure the Breakwire Analog Port and the FlexPort in Flight View 2 0 0 0 eeeeeesssssesseeeeeeeseneeeenees 42 To Set Up the Flight Computer for User Data Input ec ccccccccccecssseeeeeeeeceeaeeeeseeceeeeeeaaeeseeeeeeeeseaeaees 42 EG TESST 9 OUI SCS OM passa cancer ascsp antes cenescodta E E AE E E sasanuncnetes 42 Fo Download and Scale your Pung MU Data essere AEE EE AEE EN 43 To Install the USB Drivers on a Macintosh 10 2 and Earlier ssssonennesesssseoenssssssssseersssssssseeesessssseeereesss 53 If after reading this manual you have any questions or problems with either your flight computer or the FlightView software please
40. ch option you check in this group Data File In the Data File group you e Set the date to be logged when Data File flight computer saves each flight file to the Mini SD card File Date o4i4i2008 e Define the maximum size file File size max 360448 to use on the Mini SD card File name Prefix 4 characters Fit e Identify the prefix for your file names to use on the Mini SD card File Timestamp To avoid weight size penalties the HCX does not have a real time clock If you want to log the flight date on your flight file set it here File Size Because the HCX pre allocates the file before each flight you must define a maximum file size You can set the file size either in bytes or by the number of seconds of data to record Because the file will crop to the size at landing you can use the maximum file size without worrying about running out of space on your Mini SD card While the FlightView program has a limitation on the size of file it can read the 4 megabyte file size is still generous Even at 500 samples per second FlightView can read a flight lasting at least twenty minutes But if you need to record a flight significantly larger than 4 megabyte you can still save it in a txt format Filename Prefix When your HCX writes the flight data onto the Mini SD card it gives it a sequential file name such as Flt 0001 GWz You can change the first four characters of the filename here Page 33 HCX User Manu
41. ck Yes to open the Save As dialog box To Save your Data Files e Select File gt Save as to o Give a new name to the file o Save the file to a new location o Save the data as a new file type If you select the Save option on a GWZ file FlightView will open the Save as dialog box If you select the Save option on a gwiz file FlightView will overwrite any information in the Flight Information tab However no flight data will be lost Warning Make sure you place your save files in the correct directory on your personal computer and do not re save them back on the Mini SD memory card After all your flight data is saved on your laptop computer format the Mini SD card to free up continuous memory for additional flights See Formatting Mini SD Cards for an explanation of why this is important Page 27 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Connecting your G Wiz HCX to your Personal Computer You still need to occasionally attach the G Wiz HCX flight computer directly to your personal computer in order to e Configure your HCX to your flight plan e Calibrate your HCX e Bench test your HCX he L aie eS e Get statistical data on the sensors Positive CPU Battery Connection e Update the HCX firmware CPU and Pyro Circuits Note You must have power on the flight computer in order to connect it Wire up your flight computer in single battery mode before you attach it to your personal computer This is
42. ck jumpers attached to their pins E F a aia Oo Go Oo OF ied i z Ei me Nonon oti ga COCICCCC CCM misplace or damage either of the adapters please make sure to purchase high quality well constructed battery adapters Cheaply made adapters might lose contact under the stresses of flight computer acceleration potentially causing catastrophic failure Page 6 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Setting Up your HCX for Flight While the specific setup of the flight computer will vary depending on your rocket and your flight plan the basic procedure remains the same e For more detail on setting up the hardware see the task specific sections later in this chapter e More information on the software is available in the Using FlightView Software section e Several specific hardware setups are shown in the Cookbook for Launch Setups chapter of the First Flight tutorial manual e A quick reference chart is available for download at our web site http www gwiz partners com Downloads Basic Setup Procedure To Set Up the On Board Hardware fi OUT 1 Install the shunt plug 2 Insert a FAT formatted Mini SD card into iv oe EEE the socket on the bottom side of the flight computer JP7 Cluster mode o See Formatting Mini SD Cards later in User analog input l launch this chapter for more information 3 Set the jumpers according to your flight plan Refer to the table for specific jumper data
43. ck the magnifying glass icon in the lower left corner to return the window to the original time range At the bottom of the graph is a legend of the symbols that mark the events in your flight The symbols point at the graph and are oriented so they interfere as little as possible with the graph You can modify the display s colors in the Preferences dialog box Page 25 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Printing your Flight Data When you click the Print menu item or the Print button on the toolbar all the tabs of your active data file will print You can also use the Copy command to copy the graphs into another program and print them at different sizes and in multiple colors The Edit Menu On the Edit menu you can manipulate your data G AMiz FlightView eee ee eee ee e The Copy command lets you copy and File Edit G wiz Help paste your flight data graphs to other fice k programs Preferences AIF e The Clip to Selection allows you to Manage Telemetry Profiles for DCS wiz remove unneeded data from your flight ee a file mal e You will also find the Preferences pe h good fo command here anonn aenn E48 a00 G Wyiz AlightvView A a a A r a E a st stet opr sess sree srree The G Wiz Menu On the G Wiz menu you have EE MILE SSS cEEEE HEHEHE GREER specialized features relating to your File Edit SEM Help flight computer a Ac E acc he e The Connect menu item amp Connect via T
44. d the pyro ports e In high current mode dual batteries can provide up to 8 amps of current to your pyro devices Safety e The on board safety shunt is wired in parallel with the terminals of an optional external shunt This allows you to place a pyro safety switch wherever you want in your rocket e High current open drain power MOSFET switches initiate the pyrotechnic events e The reverse protection diodes protect your flight computer from the damage that could be caused if you accidentally connect a battery backwards They also prevent unwanted high current events from occurring on the pyro ports e If you have configured your flight computer for breakwire detection the firmware checks the port s continuity at power on and sounds an alert if the break wire s circuit 1s open e The firmware prevents the stage cluster port from firing 1f the rocket has already passed apogee Page 4 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Using your Flight Computer JP2 Pyro Current JP5 Breakwire Beeper CPU JP7 Cluster Stage Communications Jumper Bypass Jumper Jumper Interface Socket F P URE PRRRHREE EERIE A pi TELLE AIIIN Tt os a 133 TEETE AED ENEEEE f E p aa ae F iir 5 is Apm j I i aTh ie i a AL a F t rj pA ee iiid i A A Eo l JP1 JP3 Terminal Terminal Status LED Accelerometer Pressure Safety Shunt Block TB1 Block TB2 ay
45. e from 0 to 25 seconds You can connect your HCX to a personal computer using the G Wiz USB or RS232 Interface Cards The Communication Interface cards attach to the communication interface socket This card is the same one used for the LCX and MC2 flight computers Once the flight computer is connected you can upload configurations and firmware upgrades through your personal computer You can set the recording rate between 66 67 samples per second and 500 samples per second in 6 user selectable settings Recording bit depth is 12 bits per sample Data Storage The firmware is stored in flash memory and can be conveniently upgraded by the user when new versions are released by G Wiz Partners The flight computer records flight data on a removable Mini SD memory card The Mini SD card can record multiple flights between downloads The included SD card adapter allows convenient download of flight data to your personal computer FlightView Software Available for Windows Macintosh and Linux systems Use it to o Download flight data recorded during the flight from the Mini SD memory card o Analyze and chart the recorded and calculated data from your flight o Save the flight data to your personal computer Page 3 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 o Configure your HCX flight computer o Bench test your HCX flight computer Power e In low current mode a single battery powers both the flight computer s CPU an
46. ecatang e EEEE EEEE 7 TSS US TNS C00 A teenie atone A E A T A TAE 15 Mounting the Flight Computer in your Rocket cceceeeeeee eee ee seen eeeeeseeeeeseeseeeeeseeeeeeeees 17 Reading Altitude Data after Recovering your Rocket cccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeseeseeseenees 18 Usine PUS 1S SONWANE EE EEEE E EE NE S 20 Chaneing Your PrerorenGC Sicista aei 20 Reading your Flight Data with Flight ViewW cccccceceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeseeseesaesaeeseeseneaes 22 The Ti n DUT VV OW cee aececececnce E E A E E EOE 24 Saving Flight Data to Your Computer ccceceecceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeseeseeseeseseeseeseesaeseesees 2 Connecting your G Wiz HCX to your Personal Computer ccecceeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeeees 28 Oey OUT TC ea E E E E S 32 Bem e Te E eea E E E E E 36 Reade emor aS O ee E senses ssaueee seeeeecoasceneseergenneedeaeceetaocs 38 CIE a E vet A A E A 39 Scaling Data from User Provided SeMnsorms ccccccceceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeseeseeseeseeseeseeteesensensees 41 7a 0 615 116 E E eee nee en een ee ee eee OA ee O E 45 APPS De E 46 APE e E E E E E 48 APPA Dee E E E E E EE 49 APON E e E E E E 53 APOR IF eare EEEE E E E E EEEE EE E ESE EE E EEE EEE EE EE E EEES 54 APO C a a E E E E 55 List Ol PrOCCdUNE S eet oectaeracicadcenttestacndtentonns den deeneseed anembentoneadentanadoectetnenesdvencceetanedieadagedaswarsaas 9 Page iv HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 I
47. eeps SD file creation error Secondary code Count the low pitched beeps and refer to the will beep File Creation Error chart SD file creation error Not enough space Reformat replace card Card Initialization Error Chart Second Set Block 1 Low Pitch Beep Code Problem Solution Accelerometer self test failure Do not fly Contact G Wiz Reformat card with 512 byte sectors 11 beeps SD card formatted as FAT 12 Unsupported format Reformat as FAT or FAT32 Card File Creation Error Chart Second Set Block 2 Low pitch File creation error 1 Do not fly Contact G Wiz SD card full Reformat or replace card SD card write error Replace card SD card directory error Replace card Unless the failure is due to a SD card problem that can be remedied by changing cards POST failures should be reported to G Wiz Support support gwiz partners com Do not fly the unit until the failure is repaired Page 47 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Appendix C Mechanical Drawing G Wiz HCX Flight Computer Mechanical Dimensions 5 90 5 200 365 Center Line miniSD carg 3 77 End HCX is supplied with standoffs that support 4 40 machine screws JP6 End View Page 48 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Appendix D Technical Data Analyzing Raw Data from the Flight Computer 2048 3234 0 2048 3233 0 2048 3232 0 2048 3233 0 2048 3233 0 In
48. elect G Wiz gt Disconnect from the menu 6 Power your flight computer off The new configuration will be ready when the flight computer is powered on again The Configuration Dialog Box When you open the Configuration dialog box FlightView reads the configuration memory of the HCX unit and displays the configuration data in the two tabs of the dialog box The Main Tab The Main tab of the Configuration dialog box contains input options Its functions are divided into 3 groups e Breakwire Analog Input e Data File e Miscellaneous Page 32 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 BreakWire Analog Input The BreakWire Analog Input group tells the flight computer how to use data from the Break Wire Analog terminals TB2 pins 3 4 Its primary function is to be a mechanical detection for launch when your rocket motor combination may be too fast or too slow for the acceleration sensors to confirm launch Important If you are using a break wire to detect the launch make sure to configure it on this menu as well as enabling it by putting IN the JP5 jumper Alternately you can use the Break Wire Analog terminals to record data from a user provided 3 3v or 5 0v sensor You can use the data recorded through this port to trigger events See Scaling Data from User Provided Sensors for more information on applications Tip If you are not attaching any wires to the Break Wire Analog terminal then it does not matter whi
49. elemetry tT e The Set Port menu item Dave ti Set Port p gives you a submenu of the Acceler active COM ports on your i TE aU cOM3 COM4 personal computer e The Read Memory item is unavailable because you read flight data directly from the Mini SD card rather than through your HCX e The User Data Scaling item will become available when you open a file containing data from a user provided sensor e After you connect your HCX to FlightView you see have additional items 10000 Caution The Connect via Telemetry and Set Telemetry Port menu items are only used for the DCS flight computer They will not connect to your HCX to FlightView Note If you are using FlightView 2 9 or earlier you will find the connection port list in the Preferences Dialog Box Page 26 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Saving Flight Data to Your Computer To archive your flight data save it to the hard drive of your personal computer FlightView can save in the following formats e gwiz e txt e csv e xml The gwiz files are formatted to display in FlightView The txt and csv files are text formatted flight data These formats allow your flight data to be used in spreadsheets and other analysis programs The xml is used for a more advanced data format which allows users to share the structured data on different computer systems When you close your memory set file FliightView will ask if you want to save Cli
50. em e The HCX uses the US Standard Atmosphere Model to calculate altitude from the pressure sensor readings e The HCX uses filtering to take into account the chamber pressure oscillation inherent in hybrid motors Page 2 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Data Output The beeper and LED indicate configuration and operational status of the flight computer before the flight The beeper and LED read out peak altitude after landing You can configure the unit to also beep out the maximum airspeed You can configure the beeper to read out in either Metric or English units You can program the fourth output channel to accommodate many different flight plans User Controls You can enable either cluster or stage mode on pyro channel 1 When you use pyro channel 1 for staging you can operate a Ist 2nd or 3rd stage event You can configure pyro channel 2 to fire either at either inertial or barometric apogee You can configure pyro channel 3 activate the low altitude event in 100 foot meter increments You can configure the low altitude event in either Metric or English units You can configure pyro channel 4 to o Activate an event based on data from a 3 3v or 5 0v user provided sensor o Activate an additional event based on data from the barometer or accelerometer o Turn off the same or a different event You can also delay activating any channel s event The delays are set in 0 1 second increments in a rang
51. er output devices The program allows you to selectively arm and fire the pyro ports if you want to test battery power or igniters If you want to fly a rocket with an external sensor attached to the Break Wire Analog terminals TB2 pins 3 4 you can test it here You can also get actual readings by running the Test Flight program described in the next section Sensor Self test Data Sensor Nominal Value Tolerance Barometer 100 kPa1 20 kPa kilopascals Accelerometer 1g Og or 1 g Accelerometer Self Test HCX 50 HCX 100 12g 29 HCX 200 30g 69 Press the Update button to re read all of the values Test Flight In the upper right corner of the Bench Test dialog box is a button marked Test Flight The Test Flight program initiates a simple 2 stage test flight and then follows its progress This program will test all the inertial related systems in the computer except the accelerometer itself by feeding simulated acceleration values to the flight computer The program behaves as if the data are real You can attach electric matches or lights to the pyro ports and watch them activate The actual value is dependent on weather conditions and the altitude where the test occurs Page 36 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 To Use the Test Flight Feature L Zz From the Bench Test dialog box press the Test Flight button In the Test Flight dialog box press the Start button o The flight computer wil
52. erate v0403 pDA38 Save the file Exit the editor Exit Terminal Restart the Macintosh o When you open FlightView you will see the available serial port installed by the USB driver Your computer is now ready to connect to your G Wiz HCX flight computer through the G Wi1z USB Interface Card Page 53 Date Printed 5 30 2008 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Appendix F Installing USB Drivers on XP Because installing our drivers on Windows XP is more complex than on the older Windows operating systems here is a guided tour I 10 11 12 13 14 Log into your PC as an administrator before attaching the interface card to your PC for the first time Install FlightView Attach the USB interface card to your PC o Windows XP will display the Found New Hardware dialog box Select No not this time and click Next o Windows XP will now ask where to find drivers Select Install from a list or specific location Advanced and click Next o Windows will now display the Please choose your search and installation options dialog box Select the Search for the best driver in these locations option De select the Search removable media checkbox Click the Include this location in the search checkbox In the edit field navigate to the directory where you installed FlightView and then to the usbDrivers directory under it o The location shown here is the default installation directory if you i
53. eries you can use one battery JP 7 Cluster or stage Stage mode enabled Cluster mode enabled selection JP 5 Breakwire bypass Breakwire launch detection User analog input 0 5v enabled enabled Using the Pyro Current Jumper When you use a single battery it is responsible for running the computer and firing all pyro ports Use low current mode by pulling the JP2 Jumper OUT This will to prevent the pyro ports from taking too much power from your CPU Page 10 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 e When you use two batteries one powers the CPU circuit and the other powers the pyro ports Use high current mode by putting the JP2 Jumper IN This will allow you to use higher power ejection charges on the pyro ports To Enable the Flight Computer for High Current Use e Put jumper JP2 IN o Attach two batteries to your terminal blocks To Enable the Flight Computer for Low Current Use e Pull jumper JP2 OUT o Attach one battery to your terminal blocks Using the Cluster Stage Jumper In the cluster mode the flight computer fires the clustered motors as soon as it detects and confirms launch This occurs approximately 0 5 seconds after the first movement of the rocket There is also a delay factor from the time the igniter fires until the time the motor or motors actually ignite See your motor manufacturer for more information on this delay In the stage mode the unit fires the sustainer after your prep
54. ge 40 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Scaling Data from User Provided Sensors As mentioned in the Using your Flight Computer chapter the Break Wire Analog port has an alternate function You can use it to plug in a user provided sensor This feature is designed for advanced users only Because rocketeers can use so many different instruments on this input port this manual does explain how to use the sensors themselves These instructions are only intended to explain how the interface works Your sensor which plugs into pins 3 and 4 of terminal block 2 must output in the 0 0 to 5 0 volt range to be recorded into the flight computer s memory Some examples of auxiliary instruments are e Pitot probes e Temperature sensors e An additional pressure sensor e An additional acceleration sensor e A scientific instrument hitching a ride on the rocket Overall Procedure Configure the Breakwire Analog input port in FlightView If you will use data from your sensor to generate an event also configure the FlexPort in FlightView Pull the Breakwire Bypass Jumper OUT Attach your sensor when you set up the flight computer negative lead to pin 3 and positive lead to pin 4 Fly and recover your rocket Download your flight data file from the Mini SD Card Scale your flight data Save your data Configuring the HCX to Accept User Data Note Connect your flight computer to FlightView to cha
55. gnaled by the flight computer Attaching Pyro Devices The G Wiz HCX has four pyro ports Three are dedicated ports e Cluster Staging on TB1 pins 3 4 e Apogee Deployment on TBI pins 5 6 e Low Altitude Deployment on TB1 pins 7 8 The fourth port called the FlexPort TB1 pins 9 10 is user programmable in FlightView It has many uses including e Backing up the primary ejection system e Flying a rocket with more than two stages e Using cluster launch and multiple stage ignition during the same flight e Turning a camera on and or off e Activating an event based on data from a user provided sensor If you have set up your HCX flight computer to use one battery you should test your electric matches before flying Many brands of electric matches will not ignite at the power levels provided by one battery You can test igniters and other devices for your flight computer using the Bench Test feature of FlightView Detailed information on using Bench Test is available in the Using FlightView Software chapter BreakWire Analog Terminals Caution If you are using these terminals make sure you set the JP5 jumper correctly To Set Up for a Breakwire Launch e Attach a wire between the two Break Wire Analog inputs It must be long enough that you can place it in a location where it will break during launch o Make sure you configure the breakwire launch in FlightView o Make sure you put the JP5 jumper IN Page 14 HCX User Manual Version
56. graphs Sa Aimoa s Big Engis Acceleration box is a group marked Units Here you can acai L Crop integrated data at apogee ae choose which of the four measurement systems OBigmetric a harometrc dat Z integrated Atitude you want to use to display your data Your SEEE choices are Default ID Pattern FLT 0 Use 0 for a number A or a for a letter English Data 1s displayed 1n feet Graph Background Speed E i E Graph Scales J integrated altitude B e Big English Data is displayed in miles Acceleration MEI Barometric Attitude MENN Metric _ D ata 1S displayed in meters Advanced Features Extensions Ok Cancel Help e Big Metric Data is displayed in kilometers The Overlay Graph Group In the top right corner are the options for your Overlay Graph Use the checkboxes to choose which graphs to show together If you do not choose any of the graphs the overlay graph tab will be empty The Graph Color Group The group of colored boxes in the bottom left allows you to choose the colors for your graphs Because the same colors are used on your overlay graph we recommend that you should use a different color for each of your graphs Other Ungrouped Options Show data points in graphs You can choose if you want to see the data points on your graphs Even if checked this option only takes effect when you are zooming in on a small enough graph area that the data poi
57. is configured for a breakwire launch but the break wire is not correctly attached l The beeper gives a short warble 2 The sequence repeats after a one second pause Warning If you hear this sequence you will not be able fly your rocket until the error is corrected Follow these instructions to correct the problem To Correct the Setup If You Want a Breakwire Flight 1 Power your unit off 2 Attach your break wire 3 Power on to continue To Correct the Setup If the Breakwire Mode was Configured by Mistake 1 Power your unit off 2 Attach a wire between the BreakWire terminals TB2 pins 3 4 3 Connect your flight computer to FlightView 4 Go into the Configuration screen 5 Click the Analog Input option button Power on Self Test Failure POST Failure l The beeper gives a long warble 2 After a half second delay the beeper gives up to 7 beeps identifying the type of failure 3 If you hear 5 or more beeps there will be another half second delay and you will hear another series of low pitch beeps giving a secondary code 4 The sequence repeats after a I second pause Warning If you hear this sequence Do not fly your computer Record the number of beeps and refer to the POST Failure Code Lookup Charts in Appendix B Unless you can correct the failure by changing SD cards contact G Wiz support support gwiz partners com before flying your unit Page 16 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5
58. l start beeping as if 1t were on the pad It will stop when it detects launch As each portion of the simulated flight completes its LED will light and its name in the Flight Sequence box will change from shaded to black type When the flight sequence is complete the flight computer s LED and beeper will read out the simulated altitude Press the Done button to close the Test Flight dialog box Disconnect the flight computer from the FlightView program Power the flight computer off s Test Flight Clicking Stant below will initiate a test flight sequence in the Flight Computer All events currently configured will be triggered The sequence of events from Launch to Landing can be tracked on these LEDs Flight Sequence Launch Apogee Booster Burnout Low Altitude 2nd Stage Burnout Landed Page 37 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Reading Sensor Statistics The Sensor Statistics application displays data readings from your flight computer You can choose the barometer accelerometer batteries or the analog input and see continuous readings either as a line graph or a histogram Its most valuable application is its ability to create real time graphs of data from user provided sensors you install on the Break Wire Analog port TB2 pins 3 4 You can use this to test your analog sensors before you fly them in your rocket Press the Graph button to get a line graph of your chosen sen
59. letely disassemble your rocket because the LCO has put a hold on launches until the wind dies down Make sure all your connections and switches can withstand the G forces applied during the flight Phone jack switches and twisting wires to close connections have been found to be extremely susceptible to acceleration and shock causing catastrophic failures Page 17 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Reading Altitude Data after Recovering your Rocket After landing the HCX computer will begin the readout phase The numbers are beeped out in quick sequences with very brief pauses between each number sequence e Zero is represented as a long beep e One is a single quick beep e Two is a pair of quick beeps e Nine is 9 quick beeps After the number sequence is read out the unit will pause for ONE FULL SECOND and then repeat the number sequences until you power off the unit This chart shows some examples Altitude feet Beep Code 5 081 Beep beep beep beep beep 5 long beep 0 beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep 8 beep 1 12 112 Beep 1 beep beep 2 beep 1 beep 1 beep beep 1 9 817 Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep 9 beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep 8 beep 1 beep beep beep beep beep beep beep 7 By default the system beeps out the measurements in feet If you want to configure the unit so that
60. lication runs a simulated flight where it records the data produced by your sensor and fires any events generated by your sensor e The Sensor Statistics application shows a live data feed from your sensor For more information see the Reading Sensor Statistics and Bench Testing sections in this manual Retrieving and Scaling your Sensor Data Note The examples shown here were created with a variable resistor on the input port To Download and Scale your Flight Data 1 Put the Mini SD memory card into your personal computer 2 Start FlightView 3 Open your flight file There is a new tab on the window Unknown Chan2 BEES SSE SSS cn File Edit G V iz Help amp connect Com LT ET nT TT Accele ph Integrated Altitude Graph Unknown Chan 2 Flight ne en ey oe ee een Overlay Graph Altitude E i Unknown 3500 SEU Data Scaling fn 4 Click on the tab You see no or worse erroneous scale or units for the data 5 Click G Wiz gt User Data Scaling o The Edit Sensor Data dialog box appears Edit Sensor Data Name Applied Voltage Type Voltage Units Unit Scale 1 Min Units Max Units Offset my Sensitivity 1000 m Unit Cancel OK Help 6 Select a name for your data 7 Fill in the specifications on your sensor from its manufacturer spec sheets o For example the sensitivity
61. ltitude gt After BE e Descending below lt Altitude gt NA e Landed T e Data from a sensor attached to the analog After you upload the new configuration power the flight computer off When you power it back on you can start using the new configuration Page 35 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Bench Testing The Bench Test menu item will e scan the sensors and ports of your File Edit G Wiz Help HCX and then display this dialog a a box Bench Test G Wiz 2333 ea G Wviz Model est Flight Here you Can See the Status of the Firmware Version Version 1 11 Test flight sensors and the batteries You can CPU Battery Voltage 8 1 volts i A Pyro Battery Voltage 8 1 volts also see the continuity state of all Barometer Reading 96 48kPa Acceleration Reading cal 0 1Gs Uncal 0 2Gs the input and output ports Each Accelerometer Selftest Status 12Gs Breakwire User Input JP5 In BYW Open item has a value and a quick Jumper JP Stage Cluster N TAR reference indicator light Cluster Stage Output Open Open Apogee Output Open D Open i Green 1S good Main Output Open Open e Red 1S bad User Pyro 3 Output Open Open e Yellow is questionable Connected to G WIZ HCX Continuity on the pyro outputs reads as Good if the igniter resistance is between 0 and 30 ohms Use this program to test electric matches or oth
62. ministrator before attaching the interface card for the first time a r a oe for your device 2 Attach your USB interface card and cable to your f gt Ask me again later PC e Windows will ask again the next time you plug in your device or log on o Windows Vista will display the Found New Don t show this message again for this device 7 our device will not function until you install driver software Hardware dialog box 3 Select Locate and install driver software o If you select Ask me again later the installation will stop To restart the installation process unplug the USB card and then plug it back in o Windows will start by looking for ii Installing device driver software x drivers in Windows Update Enia There is no way to tell Windows p not to do so If you click on the Installing device driver software Device Installation icon in the PEE Searching Windows Update notification area of the taskbar you will see the progress dialog box 4 Do not close the Progress dialog box o After searching for a few minutes Windows will ask you for a CD containing the drivers E Ww D Found New Hardware G Wiz USB Adaptor 5 Click I don t have the disc Show me other options Insert the disc that came with your G Wiz USB Adaptor If you have the disc that came with your device insert it now Windows will automatically O Window S will ask where to look search the disc for driver software for the drivers
63. nge its configuration To Configure the Breakwire Analog Port in FlightView 1 On the G Wiz menu click Configure On the Main tab of the Configure dialog box click Analog Input Select the Record User Input check box Click the Upload and Exit button On the menu bar select G Wiz gt Disconnect or click the Connect Disconnect button Power off the flight computer and detach it from the interface card a oe Page 41 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 To Configure the Breakwire Analog Port and the FlexPort in FlightView 1 On the G Wiz menu click TRTE Configure Main Outputs i BreakWire Analog Input Miscellaneous 2 In the Configure dialog box click i Analog Input L Metric altitude readout setting on the Main tab rare daeon ge i slashed co ee I _ Max Airspeed and Altitude at La 3 Click Analog Input Ii Record User input ample Rate per Sec 66 67 v 4 Select the Record User Input D Breakwire Launch Detect po ae al checkbox S 5 Select the Generate an Event when 7 value checkbox eh am a 6 Select the appropriate symbol in the File name Prefix 4 characters Ft drop down list to define if you want the event to trigger when the data o Is exactly at the value selected o Drops to or below the value ETSI selected Main Outputs o Rises above the value selected ee ed Pen R Fire Below 8
64. nsert your wire into the opening as shown in this picture Tighten the screw to make good contact between your wiring and the pin inside the terminal e Make sure you insert the wires completely into the openings in the terminal blocks e Use a screwdriver to tighten down the pins and prevent wires from coming loose in flight e Make sure you attach the positive and negative wires correctly Page 12 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Use screwdriver to tighten pin here Place wire in correct opening of terminal block here Attaching Battery Connectors When you power the G Wiz flight computer on you will hear a series of beeps This status readout will continue and audibly indicate any change until 1 you power it off 2 you link to the FlightView software or 3 the flight computer detects launch To Attach Power Wires If You are Using a Single Battery 1 Attach the positive wire to the CBatt terminal TB2 pin6 2 Attach the negative wire to the CBatt terminal TB2 pin5 3 Attach a jumper wire from the PBatt terminal TB1 pin1 to the CBatt terminal TB2 pin6 o Make sure you pull the JP2 jumper OUT Caution If you forget to attach the jumper wire in step 4 of this procedure your HCX will beep out the Low Battery warning Tip You can attach power wires for one battery to the PBatt terminals if your application makes using the CBatt terminals difficult Make sure you attach the jumper wire between the p
65. nstalled FlightView at C Program Files Click Next o Windows XP will display the Hardware Installation dialog box Press the Continue Anyway button Repeat steps 3 through 11 for the second driver Start FlightView and look for the most recently installed COM port Select it Date Printed 5 30 2008 Found New Hardware Wizard Welcome to the Found New Hardware Wizard Windows will search for current and updated software by looking on your computer on the hardware installation CD or on the Windows Update Web site with your permission Read our privacy policy Can Windows connect to Windows Update to search for software O Yes this time only Yes now and every time connect a device Click Next to continue Found New Hardware Wizard This wizard helps you install software for G Wiz USB Adaptor If your hardware came with an installation CD lt 6 or floppy disk insert it now What do you want the wizard to do O Install the software automatically Recommended Click Next to continue Cra Jie Found New Hardware Wizard Please choose your search and installation options Fra ta Search for the best driver in these locations Use the check boxes below to limit or expand the default search which includes local paths and removable media The best driver found will be installed C Search removable media floppy CD ROM Include this location in the search C Program Files
66. ntroduction The G Wiz HCX flight computer is a precision state of the art accelerometer based data recording flight computer Using its dual sensors altimeter and accelerometer this flight computer can e Air start clusters e Perform precision staging e Deploy a single chute at apogee e Deploy a drogue chute at apogee and a main chute at your preset altitude The processor at the heart of this third generation flight computer is an integrated 12 bit A to D converter with an 8 MIPS CPU core The HCX flight computer uses proprietary firmware algorithms These algorithms take full advantage of its dual sensor system to determine the key events in a rocket s flight including e Launch e Booster burn out e Sustainer ignition e Sustainer burn out e Inertial and barometric apogee events e Altitude both rising and falling e Landing HCX has four independent high current output ports Therefore it can simultaneously control four separate flight events including e Apogee deployment e Low altitude deployment e Starting of clustered motors e Midair ignition of upper stage motors e Activation of an event based on data from a user provided sensor The HCX has three models which can measure up to 56 112 or 224 G of positive negative acceleration Our unique shunt is designed to prevent the pyro ports from accidentally firing while you are working on or transporting your rocket The on board beeper starts t
67. nts do not obscure the graph Crop integrated data at apogee Because the accelerometer data taken after apogee is usually not very informative you have the option to crop the accelerometer data displays at apogee Selecting this option will give you a smaller cleaner graph Smooth barometric data If you record at a low sampling rate you may see noise in the barometer based graphs Select this smoothing filter to clean up the display Default Data Options Some of the other options set default data which you include when you first open a GWZ data set file Use today s date by default in flight data This is a means of date stamping your files when you open a GWZ file Default Launch Site If you usually fly at the same site you can type it in here The site name will appear in the Flight Information tab when you open a Gwz file Default ID Pattern Here you can choose a default pattern for flight ID names These ID names are not the same as the filename prefix you set in the Configuration dialog box These Page 21 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 names are used to identify the GWz files Every time you open a GWZ data set from any flight computer or storage device in your copy of FlightView it is named sequentially using this pattern This ID stays with the flight information even when you change file names You can see this ID name on the Flight Information tab of your flight data window Extensions
68. o read out the peak altitude upon landing HCX keeps track of multiple flights by recording the accelerometer and barometric sensor data in a file on a Mini SD card Our FlightView software which runs on Windows Mac OS X and Linux platforms reads the files from the Mini SD card This program analyzes your flight data presents it in graphical format and allows you to save the data to your personal computer Page 1 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Components Here are the major components of the G Wiz HCX flight computer More detailed information on each of these components can be found in the Using your Flight Computer section JP2 Pyro Current JP5 Breakwire Beeper CPU JP7 Cluster Stage Communications Jumper Bypass Jumper Jumper Interface Socket PUTTDEUTOEE ET 7 ii A a pi io JPI IPS Terminal Terminal Status LED Accelerometer Pressure Safety Shunt Block TB1 Block TB2 Sensor Connectors Top View SePeeeseere CCCPERE ia Mosfet Switches Mini SD Card Bottom View Product Features Hardware e Accurately measures barometric altitude as high as 70 000 feet above mean sea level MSL e The HCX flight computer comes in three models This chart shows the model numbers and the maximum acceleration each model can measure Maximum Acceleration 56G Firmware e Configuration settings are stored on non volatile EEPROM and stay in the flight computer until you change th
69. ositive PBatt terminal and the positive CBatt terminal or your flight computer will not function To Attach Power Wires If You are Using Two Batteries 1 Attach the wires for your pyro ports to the PBatt TB1 pin1 and the PBatt TB1 pin2 terminals 2 Attach another pair of battery wires to the CBatt TB2 pin6 and CBatt TB2 pin5 terminals o Make sure that the polarity is correct to each battery o Make sure you put the JP2 jumper IN Caution With this setup you do not use a jumper wire Tip You can see pictures of both these setups in the Cookbook for Launch Setups chapter of the First Flight manual Page 13 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Using an External Safety Shunt If you cannot use the on board safety shunt this terminal pair TB2 pins1 2 is wired in parallel to the on board shunt It allows you to place a safety shunt switch anyplace on your rocket so you can conveniently open the circuit when the flight computer is on the pad and ready for flight To Set Up the External Safety Shunt 1 Attach a switched wire to the two Pyro Shunt terminals TB2 pins 1 2 2 Close the switch to safe your pyro ports 3 Finish your flight computer setup per your flight plan 4 When you have finished preparing the rocket on the launch pad open the switch to arm the pyro ports Once you open the switch on the shunt the flight computer will arm the pyro outputs enabling them to fire when they are si
70. r manufacturer s website for updated driver software for your device gt Install this driver software anyway Only install driver software obtained from your manufacturer s website or disc Unsigned software from other sources may harm your computer or steal information w See details I Driver Software Installation Installing device driver software G Wiz USB Adaptor USB Serial Port Ready to use Waiting for user input Your computer is now ready to connect to your G Wiz HCX flight computer through the G Wiz USB Interface Card Page 56 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 List of Procedures TO Set Up tie On Board Tard W at 6 eessen r aenea ea aiae oaan ieiet 7 TO Attach Devices tothe Terminal lOCK S pssst csces vances tcenctse es i ENEE E 7 WG WSs CNS SC Coase E S EA T E E T E A EET 8 Tor Chan se Conieuraul On Seting Sincccccas s caceconvacosaancnscacoevsaquanauessccostassaaiarsacseseteesuaatesaiddaateasadenesodedanvenceantongaes 8 To Enable the Flight Computer for High Current USe cccccsecessccceccceeessesecceeeeeaaaeseeeeeeeeesaeaeeeeeeeeeeaas 11 To Enable the Flight Computer for Low Current Use esssssoonnesssssseoeresssssssserrsessssssceressssssseeeerssssseeereeess 11 To Enable the Flight Computer for Cluster Ignition seeeseeoennesssssseeerssssssseeresssssssseersssssssseeeeessssseeereesss 11 To Enable the Flight Computer for Staged Ignition 0oeeseeeenneees
71. rogrammed count of burnout events You can also program in a delay before the upper stage ignition See Configuring your HCX in the Using FlightView Software chapter for more details To Enable the Flight Computer for Cluster Ignition e Pull jumper JP7 OUT o Attach your pyro device wires to the Cluster Stage terminals TB1 pins 3 4 and configure the flight computer in FlightView to ignite the clustered motors To Enable the Flight Computer for Staged Ignition e Put jumper JP7 IN o Attach your pyro device wires to the Cluster Stage terminals TB1 pins 3 4 and configure the flight computer in FlightView to identify which stage is ignited and if any delays are used Using the Breakwire Bypass Jumper The primary purpose of the breakwire bypass jumper JP5 is to be a mechanical sensor for launch detection See the Launch Detection section for more information on when to use this feature In order for the breakwire bypass system to work you must e Put the breakwire bypass jumper JP5 IN e Attach a wire between the two Break Wire Analog terminals TB2 pins 3 4 e Configure the flight computer in FlightView The secondary function of JP5 uses pins 3 and 4 of terminal block 2 as a data input port If you remove the JP5 jumper you can attach an analog sensor to TB2 pins 3 4 See Scaling Data from User Provided Sensors in the Using FlightView Software chapter for more information on applications Page 11 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Prin
72. sor s output value e Press the Histogram button to see the data s variation Sensor Statistics Data shown includes Choose Sensor e Current The value just read e Mean That statistical mean of the last 100 samples e Std Dev The Standard Deviation of the last 100 Barometer O Accelerometer gt Pyro Battery samples 7 C CPU Battery e Std Variance The Standard Variance of the last 100 T samples 2 FlexPort e ENOB The Effective Number of Bits Essentially a measure of how clean the data 1s The vertical axis of the graph is the raw ADC analog to digital conversion number The data will be in the range of O to 4095 where 4095 is full voltage This is proportional to the actual values you can see in the Bench Test program so these readings are useful to see noise and time dependent changes This graph shows the voltage level of a nine volt This is a histogram of the same battery s voltage battery while the voltage dropped steadily over a period of nearly four minutes G Wiz Flight Viewer ioj x File G Wviz Help a oe B Statketics of 459 saniphies G Statistics of 2180 samples a bd Cent 16 Mean Wa Swin a Sad viano D0 EMR 1140 Current 1911 00 Mean 1910 96 Std Dev 0 1960 Std Variance 0 0384 ENOB 11 74 2020 Live Data 2000 ADU 1980 1960 1940 1920 1900 1880 1860 1840 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 2700 220 Connected to GAMIZ HCX 0
73. ssseeeesssssssseerrsssssssseressssssseeeeesssssseeereesss 11 To Enable the Flight Computer for a Breakwire Launch eesesssseoenesssssssserrssssssseceressssssseeeeesssssesereeees 12 To Enable the Flight Computer to Accept Analog Input e seseessssoenessssssseseresssssssseeressssssseeersssssseeereesss 12 To Attach Power Wires If You are Using a Single Battery noessssoennssssssssserrsssssssseresssssssseeeressssseeereesss 13 To Attach Power Wires If You are Using Two Batteries 200 0 cccccccccsssssssessseeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeaaaasaessessseseeeeeeees 13 Tose Upthe External Sateiy S DUN ebrr R T EOE 14 To Set Up tora Break wire Launch scsscsacacsscactosoencsceccnaueeaasdaencadssensGadasecnsbavseseaaddnengecdssacendsancatdonsemaanienctatess 14 To Attach a User Provided Sensor on the BreakWire Analog Inputs cccceccceessseseeeeeceeeeaeeeeeeeeeeeeas 15 To Correct the Setup If You Want a Breakwire Flight cc ccccsssssssssssseeeeecececeessseeuaaasesssseseeeeeeeess 16 To Correct the Setup If the Breakwire Mode was Configured by Mistake cc eececccccccsssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 16 ToSet the Flaehty iew Procram Preveren eS sess ie vasetetntonanidnnarsinsetewaaddanetisatnleanaedenenndaresvatoasinnancsonslecssadouatiinss 20 To Read Your Flight Data from the Mini SD Cardo ccccccccccccccccccceaseeeeesseseeeecececeeeeeeeseaasaeasssseseeseeeeess 23 To Read a Previously Saved Flight Data File cc cccccccsssssseece
74. t FlightView Select G Wiz gt Connect on the main menu Select Update HCX Firmware to display the Open dialog box Navigate to and select the update file Press Open to start the update process Make sure that nothing disturbs either computer during the update process ee o The box in the lower left corner of the main FlightView window will show the progress of your firmware upload o When the upload is complete you will see the Upload Successful dialog box Aedes l ro 9 Click OK ED Upload Successful reconnecting o The flight computer will start beeping and you will see the progress indicator for the programming process When it is complete you will see the Programming dialog box Page 39 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 Updating a i Programming should be Done Please power cycle the G Wiz and continue 10 Power cycle the flight computer 11 Click OK 12 Detach the flight computer from the interface card o Your update is now complete If for any reason the update fails power cycle the HCX and install the firmware again In some cases when the update is interrupted the firmware will completely uninstall and the flight computer will return to the factory state It will still connect to FlightView but the only option you will see on the G Wiz menu will be to install the firmware Caution If multiple failures occur report the problem to support gwiz partners com Pa
75. tached you will get a maximum of amp at each of your pyro ports no matter what size battery you use When to Use One Battery When you use a single battery it 1s responsible for running the computer and firing any pyro devices you have hooked up You should use a single battery only when Page 8 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 e You do not have any ejection charges e You are using a low power ejection charge You can test your ejection charges using the Bench Testing feature in FlightView When to Use Two Batteries When you use two batteries one powers the CPU circuit and the other powers the pyro ports This setup eliminates the risk of staging or ejection drawing power away from the CPU Pulling the JP2 jumper OUT allows up to 8 amps of power to go to each of your pyro ports This is of course limited by the size of the battery you attach to your pyro circuit At full charge a Duracell 9V battery will provide approximately 5 amps of power to each pyro port Always use two batteries when e You are using high power ejection charges e You are igniting cluster or stage motors e You want to be sure that your pyro ports will not take power away from your CPU Other Battery and Power Information When you use a single battery it needs to power both the CPU and pyro circuits You must attach a jumper wire between the positive CPU and Pyro terminals TB1 pin1 to TB2 pin6 If you forget to attach the jumper
76. ted 5 30 2008 Problems that will occur if you do not make the required changes all three places e If you configure the break wire in FlightView and correctly install the break wire but pull the jumper OUT you do not get a warning if the break wire comes loose before launch If the flight computer does not detect the launch it will not record any flight data e If you attach the wires to the terminal block and configure it for analog input in FlightView but put the jumper IN your data is not recorded e If you configure for breakwire detection in FlightView and put the jumper JP5 IN but do not attach the break wire you get a breakwire error warning and cannot fly until you correct the problem To Enable the Flight Computer for a Breakwire Launch e Put the jumper JP 5 IN o Make sure you configure the breakwire launch in FlightView and have your break wire attached to the terminal block pins To Enable the Flight Computer to Accept Analog Input e Pull the jumper JP5 OUT o Make sure you attach the sensor wires correctly and the select the Analog Input option in FlightView s configuration dialog box Attaching Devices to the Terminal Blocks To attach your wiring to the flight computer install each wire into the terminal blocks according to this schematic TB1 Pyro Port Pin Assignments Fini Fin2 Find Pina Pins Ping Pin7 Pn Ping Pin 10 P1 Pina Pina Pn Pins Pme Loosen the screw at the top of the terminal and i
77. ur maximum negative acceleration 4095 is your maximum positive acceleration and 1G absolute is approximately 2048 The core information for converting the readings 1s listed in the table below Accelerometer Specifications HCX 50 HCX 100 HCX 200 MMA 2202 MMA2204 MMA2301 Full Scale Range 56G 112G 225G Full Scale Span Sensitivity 40mV G 20mV G 10mV G Offset OG 2 5v Nominal 2 35v 2 5v Nominal 2 35v 2 5v Nominal 2 40v 2 65v 2 65v 2 60v For more information on the accelerometers see the manufacturer s web site at www freescale com Page 49 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 To get G values you need to reverse the process First take the digital number and convert it back to the voltage as output by the accelerometer number stationarynumber 4096 Then divide the voltage by the sensitivity 4 48 voltage voltage 04 acceleration Reading the Barometer Data The barometric pressure data in column 2 is also in the range O to 4095 12 bits This represents pressure data from 0 to 100 kPa approximately O tol4 psi The sensor used here is the MPX2102A by Motorola connected to a low noise op amp Pressure readings start high and decrease as your altitude increases Because this is a millivolt output sensor the data is amplified by 201 times before being sent to the ADC Barometer Specifications MPX2102A Specification Before Amplification After Amplification
78. x 56082 name PyroOn gt lt events gt Page 51 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 lt sensors gt lt computer gt lt notes date Jan 21 2008 id FLT 4 gt lt location gt TCC lt location gt lt rocket diameter 4 length 96 name Insanity weight 16 2 gt lt motors gt J415 lt motors gt lt rocket gt lt note gt HCx electronics flown as primary on this flight MC as backup and an LCx just along for a ride lt note gt lt notes gt lt calibration gt lt accel accel mult 1 minus g 33 05859375 offset 65425 one g 34 796875 zero g 7 953125 gt lt calibration gt lt config gt lt flags gt lt actions gt lt pyro port index 1 gt lt continuity value bad gt lt event name burnout on 100 0 value 1 gt lt pyro port gt lt pyro port index 2 gt lt continuity value good gt lt event name intertial apogee on 100 0 gt lt pyro port gt lt pyro port index 3 gt lt continuity value bad gt lt event name altitude descending on 100 0 value 1200 gt lt pyro port gt lt pyro port index 4 value on gt lt continuity value bad gt lt event name altitude descending value 100 gt lt pyro port gt lt pyro port index 4 value o0ff gt lt event delay 100 0 name landing value 0 gt lt pyro port gt lt actions gt lt battery name cpu value 8 38157958984375 gt lt batter
79. y name pyro value 5 3839599609375 gt lt config gt lt summary max accel 216 max altitude 3030 max speed 439 gt lt preflight gt lt base accel value 2072 gt lt base accel value 3399 gt lt preflight gt lt flight gt Page 52 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Appendix E Installing USB Drivers on Macintosh Installing the USB drivers on older Macintosh operating systems is more complex than the simple plug and play you get with operating systems of 10 3 and later To Install the USB Drivers on a Macintosh 10 2 and Earlier l A oF a ad 10 11 12 13 14 Log onto your computer as an administrator Unless you have FlightView 2 8 or later remove all older copies and install the latest version from our web site at www gwiz partners com Open the folder where FlightView was installed o This is usually Applications GwizViewer Double click the package icon named FTDIUSBSerialDriver In your Utilities folder open the Terminal program At the prompt type cd Library StartupItems FTDIReEnumerate and press RETURN Type sudo pico FTDIReEnumerate and press RETURN Type in your administrator password when requested by the system Find this line in the terminal editor window Library StartupItems FTDIReEnumerate ReEnumerate v0403 p6001 Replace it with these two lines Library StartupItems FTDIReEnumerate ReEnumerate v0403 pEE18 Library StartupItems FTDIReEnumerate ReEnum
80. y or damage to anyone or anything WARNING Do not use this device unless you completely understand and agree with all the above statements and conditions First time use of the G Wiz HCX flight computer signifies the user s acceptance of these terms and conditions How to Contact G Wiz Partners Please see our web site at http www gwiz partners com There we have the latest versions of all our user manuals device firmware and FlightView software We also have several options for you to contact us including email and shipping address information 2008 by Marjorie Lynch Freshner and G Wiz Partners Page ii HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Important Safety Precautions Use a checklist when you set up your flight computer and when you mount it in your rocket Dangers from ejection charges Make safe the ejection charges or disconnect the power whenever you transport the flight prepped unit Electrostatic discharge Static electricity may damage or destroy components on your flight computer Keep it in an antistatic bag when not in use Ground yourself before handling the flight computer Be especially cautious when using it in low humidity environments Mount the flight computer in the correct orientation Otherwise it will not operate properly The nose end is indicated on the board To confirm the orientation make sure the terminal block is at the aft or rear end of the flight computer Make sure the flight computer is
81. yro 3 is for low altitude deployment e Pyro 4 has multiple uses and is designed for you to configure according to your flight plan Pyro 1 Cluster Stage Pyro Port 1 ignites additional motors You attach the cluster or staging igniter s wires to pins 3 and 4 of terminal block 1 e You can ignite a cluster at liftoff Gf JP7 is OUT or stage an additional motor if JP7 is IN e You can add a delay of 0 to 25 0 seconds before triggering the event e When JP7 is IN you can also choose which stage 1st 2nd or 3rd you want to fire The flight computer identifies how many burnouts have occurred before it fires the stage event Pyro 2 Apogee Pyro Port 2 deploys apogee devices You attach your apogee either drogue or main chute igniter s wires to pins 5 and 6 of terminal block 1 Page 34 HCX User Manual Version 1 1 Date Printed 5 30 2008 e You can specify a delay just as you can with the pyro 1 port e You can configure the flight computer to use either inertial apogee or barometric apogee In most situations inertial apogee is more accurate However barometric apogee is useful when flying strap on boosters and in other situations where tumbling may occur because tumbling confuses the inertial apogee algorithm If your rocket exceeds the rated acceleration of your flight computer the HCX will wait until barometric apogee to activate Pyro Port 2 If you are using barometric apogee and you expect your rocket to appro

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