TeleMega

This is a high-end recording dual-deploy altimeter for high power model rocketry with integrated GPS and telemetry link. The features included make TeleMega the ideal choice for complex projects including sustainers on multi-stage projects. In particular, pyro events are configurable and can be based on time and various flight events and status, including angle from vertical.

For the latest TeleMega firmware and related ground station software, please visit the AltOS page on this site.

These are photos of production version 1.0 .. maybe someday we'll take photos of a newer version (?) .. but they look very similar:

Features

User View

  • Recording altimeter for high power model rocketry
  • Supports dual deployment and 4 additional pyro events.
    Pyro events are configurable and can be based on time and various flight events and status, including angle from vertical (for safety in staging and air start flights).
  • 70cm ham-band transceiver for telemetry downlink
  • Barometric pressure sensor good to 100k feet MSL
  • 1-axis 200-g accelerometer for motor characterization
  • 3-axis 16-g accelerometer for gyro calibration
  • 3-axis 2000 deg/sec gyros
  • 3-axis magnetic sensor
  • On-board, integrated GPS receiver
  • On-board non-volatile memory for flight data storage
  • Hardware can drive up to 4 RC-style servos
  • USB for power, configuration, and data recovery
  • Integrated support for LiPo rechargeable batteries
  • User choice of pyro battery configuration, can use primary LiPo or any customer-chosen separate pyro battery up to 12 volts nominal.
  • 3.25 x 1.25 inch board designed to fit inside 38mm airframe coupler tube

Developer View

  • Hardware Features of v2.0
    • ST Micros STM32L151 ARM Cortex M3 based Microcontroller
    • TI CC1200 High Performance RF Transceiver for Narrowband Systems
    • 150mA 3.3V LDO regulator
    • Winbond W25Q64FV serial flash memory
    • u-blox MAX-8Q GPS receiver
      • on-board TaoGlas passive patch antenna
      • async serial interface
    • Measurement Specialties MS5607 Micro Altimeter Module
      • Wide range — 120kPa to 1kPa (approximately -1500m to 31000m)
      • High precision — 2.4Pa resolution (approximately 20cm at sea level)
      • Factory calibrated.
    • Analog Devices ADXL375 3-Axis Digital MEMS Accelerometer
            * +- 200g full-scale
            * on-chip digitizer
      
    • Bosch BMI088 6-axis IMU
      • tri-axis angular rate sensor up to 2000 degrees/second
      • tri-axis accelerometer with +- 24g range
    • Memsic MMC5983MA 3-axis magnetometer
  • Software Features
    • Written mostly in C with some ARM assembler
    • Runs from on-chip flash, uses on-chip RAM, stores flight data to serial flash
    • USB serial emulation for "console" interface
  • Tools Used
  • Licenses

Artifacts

There is a single manual for TeleMega and most other Altus Metrum products, which is available in html and pdf formats.

An outline of the board with drill hole locations is available in pdf format.

The current hardware design files are available from git.gag.com in the project hw/telemega.

For those who don't have ready access to the gEDA suite, here are pdf snapshots of the files for Production PCB version 6.0 in more easily readable form:

History of TeleMega