A Great gadget for competitions
This super lightweight and compact altimeter is a brilliant device for both bragging rights (how high, how long, etc.) and for practical use.
Maybe you fly at a height restricted site and want to be sure you are flying within the rules. Maybe you want to trim your discuss launch glider for optimum launch height. Maybe you just want to prove to your mates that you really did have an hour long flight when they weren't about to see it.
What ever your reason to want one, the FD Micro Altimeter is a superb tool. It records altitute (air pressure) and temperature.
At 21mm x 13mm x 5mm, it is small enough to fit into the tightest of fuselages and at a mere 1.3g, you won't even know its there. It is able to function from a low 3.7v right up to 8.4v and will draw less than 7mA.
The FD Micro Altimeter can record up to 63 hours of data at a rate of 1 frame per second (1Hz) or less at higher frame rates of 2Hz, 4Hz or 8Hz.
Specification:
* Dimensions: 21mm x 13mm x 5mm
* Height Precision: 30cm
* Height Range: -500m~9000m
* Operating Voltage: 3.7v ~ 8.4v
* Sampling Frequency: 1Hz/2Hz/4Hz/8Hz
* Storage Capacity: >63h @ 1Hz
* Temperature Precision: 1oC
* Temperature Range: -10oC ~ +90oC
* Upload Interface: USB
* Weight: 1.3g
* Working Current: < 7mA
CLICK HERE FOR MANUAL
How to use FD-A to record the height
Plug the power line into FD-A and supply power to it. The blue LED on the FD-A will light, after 18s, it will start to record the height, the blue LED on the FD-A will flash, the flash of the frequency is related to the sampling frequency set. When the storage capacity>75%, the red LED on the FD-A will flash slowly; When storage > 85%, the red LED on the FD-A will flash quickly; When storage > 95%, the red LED will light on. Storage capacity up to 100%, FD-A will stop recording.
Connecting the FD-A to PC
Connect the FD- A with USB adapter and then plug into your PC. The blue LED on the FD-A will light if the FD-A - PC link is working. You may have to install the driver at the first time connecting to PC, the corresponding driver files in “drive” folder.
Double click the FD-Altimeter.exe file on the PC. You will see an opening screen: “Enjoy your flight with FD-A”. Two buttons give you a choice between controlling the link and displaying flight data.
Working with the USB Link
The Link button gives you a choice of Upload, Clear or Setup functions.
Upload: Initiates data transfer from the FD-A to a file (.fda) on the PC. The appropriate COM port must first be selected. The progress of the transfer will be shown by the bar display. The indicator light on the FD-A will be off during transfer and will come back on when the process is complete.
Clear: Deletes ALL DATE stored in the FD-A. The progress of deletion will be shown by the dialog box. The indicator light will be off during deletion and will come back on when the process is complete.
Setup: Allows choice of sampling frequency (1Hz or 2Hz or 4Hz or 8Hz– i.e., 1 or 2 or 4 or 8 samples per second).
Note: Do not unplug the FD-A or USB adapter while the link is working. In order to shorten the download time, we suggest you clear your FD-A capacity regularly.
Displaying Flight Data
The Curve button allows you to display a chart of altitude and temperature against time.
Click Open on the toolbar to show the available data files (.fda). Double click on a file and you will see a list of Flight Records identified by flight duration.
Double click on a flight record to display a curve of altitude and temperature during the flight. Click on the List button to show other flight records in the file.
The various buttons on the toolbar enable you to work with the display.
Drag enables you to move the curve. Mark shows the numerical value for a point on the curve. Screen Shot allows you to capture an image of the curve to share. Peak Search quickly finds the maximum altitude reached during the flight.
The Arrow buttons allow you to move the curve: Left, Right, Up, Down.
The Hzoom buttons adjust the X-axis (time) from 1 second to 2 hours per division.
The Vzoom buttons adjust the Y-axis (altitude) from 5m to 1000m per division.