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Learning to Use Your

G-Wiz HCX Flight Computer

Version 1.0

Summary of Contents for HCX-50G

Page 1: ...F Fi ir rs st t F Fl li ig gh ht t Learning to Use Your G Wiz HCX Flight Computer Version 1 0...

Page 2: ...ility 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...

Page 3: ...cceleration can cause these contacts to come loose resulting in an open circuit during flight This momentary or permanent break in your power connection will cause a catastrophic flight failure Simila...

Page 4: ...rs on Windows XP 40 Appendix F Installing USB Drivers on Windows Vista 42 List of Procedures To Set Up the On Board Hardware 8 To Wire Up Your Power Connection 8 To Test the Setup 9 If You Do Not Hear...

Page 5: ...r burns out before you ignite the sustainer motor Fly extreme altitude flights where the HCX can measure barometric altitude as high as 100 000 feet above sea level ASL Fly very high G short burn time...

Page 6: ...celerometer and barometer the HCX can also record data from the analog input port This port can be used for Mechanical detection of launch using a break wire Data recording from a user provided analog...

Page 7: ...metric pressure to calculate altitude JP1 JP3 Safety Shunt Always use the safety shunt when your flight computer is controlling pyrotechnic events JP2 Pyro Current Jumper Sets high or low current oper...

Page 8: ...HCX 200 224 G Interactive Hardware Features Integrated speaker and bright blue LED that is visible in bright daylight conditions indicate configuration and operational status before the flight The bee...

Page 9: ...rs The flight computer s configuration is stored in non volatile EEPROM The flight computer records its data on a removable Mini SD memory card The flight computer records acceleration pressure and ev...

Page 10: ...switch at whatever location is most convenient for the configuration of your rocket High current open drain power MOSFET switches safely initiate the pyrotechnic events A reverse protection diode prot...

Page 11: ...ed to their pins Retain the antistatic bag to store your flight computer between uses Two nine volt battery adapters are included for your use If you misplace or damage either of the adapters please m...

Page 12: ...matting your Mini SD card see Formatting Mini SD cards for use in your G Wiz HCX in the Using your Flight Computer section of the User Manual 3 Remove the JP2 jumper o These pictures show where the JP...

Page 13: ...a double beep if the port has no continuity 6 There will be a one second pause and then the sequence will repeat from step b If You Do Not Hear the Correct Sequence 1 Note the exact status code readou...

Page 14: ...he flight computer is designed to be mounted with two 4 40 thread machine screws Appendix C has a drawing of the board showing the locations and dimensions of the mounting holes and other important fe...

Page 15: ...hunt plug is nearer to the aft end of the rocket Provide Atmospheric Access for the Flight Computer You will need to drill a hole in the payload bay to equalize the pressure inside and outside of the...

Page 16: ...flight computer 2 Listen to the flight computer status beep codes If they are incorrect a Shut down the HCX b Recheck your setup c Power it back up to check them again o A full list of the flight com...

Page 17: ...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 1...

Page 18: ...partners com Downloads install install html To Read the Data from your Mini SD Card 1 Make sure the G Wiz Flight Viewer program FlightView is installed on your computer 2 Put the Mini SD card into it...

Page 19: ...d click the Open button to open the flight file 8 Click the Flight Information tab if you want to add detailed information on the rocket and motor you used for the flight 9 Click the Flight Summary ta...

Page 20: ...window 11 Click the other tabs to see graphs of the measured and calculated data in graphical form To Save the Flight Data to your Personal Computer 1 Click the Save Document as button on the FlightV...

Page 21: ...h FAT or FAT32 file system on your personal computer For more information on all of the features available in FlightView see the Using FlightView Software chapter of the G Wiz HCX User Manual Conclusi...

Page 22: ...your answer Using the Safety Shunt Unless you are using motor ejection we recommend that you always include a pyro shunt in your flight computer setup When it is properly installed connecting JP1 and...

Page 23: ...ation settings for the G Wiz HCX flight computer are Staging is for first stage Low altitude deployment is set for 800 feet English units are used No delays are put into any of the events If these set...

Page 24: ...e G Wiz serial interface does not require any drivers to be installed 4 After the drivers have finished installing start FlightView 5 Go into the Preferences menu 6 Click the G Wiz Connection Port dro...

Page 25: ...ch your flight plan 3 Press Upload Exit when you are done 4 Disconnect the flight computer from FlightView 5 Power your flight computer off The new configuration will be loaded when the flight compute...

Page 26: ...light computer before you set it up for flight When you connect to your personal computer you only need to set up the HCX for single battery operation Also your jumper settings are not important durin...

Page 27: ...umper Modes Jumper Position Number With Jumper IN With Jumper OUT JP 2 Pyro current selection System allows High Current two batteries must be used System limited to low current one battery can be use...

Page 28: ...safety shunt This picture shows the black jumper connector you remove from the JP2 jumper pins 4 Put all the other jumpers IN Your flight computer is now enabled for low pyro current You must pull th...

Page 29: ...tus codes To Configure your Flight Computer 1 Connect your flight computer to your personal computer o See the instructions for connecting the flight computer in the Using FlightView Software section...

Page 30: ...to the safety shunt This picture shows the black jumper connector being installed on the JP2 Your flight computer is now enabled up for high pyro current To Wire the Pyro Ports 1 Wire the drogue chute...

Page 31: ...not the pattern you hear refer to Appendix B for a list of the Flight Computer Status codes To Configure your Flight Computer 1 Connect your flight computer to your personal computer o See the instruc...

Page 32: ...cated near the fin end of the flight computer next to the safety shunt 4 Put the JP7 jumper IN to enable the system for stage mode o The JP7 jumper is located just forward of the status LED on the far...

Page 33: ...terminals 6 Then it will pause and cycle the beep pattern again If this is not the pattern you hear refer to Appendix B for a list of the status codes To Configure your Flight Computer 1 Connect your...

Page 34: ...omputer next to the safety shunt This picture shows the jumper connector being removed from the JP2 pins 4 The other two jumpers must be IN Your flight computer is now enabled for low pyro current You...

Page 35: ...to your personal computer o See the instructions for connecting the flight computer in the Using FlightView Software section of the User Manual 2 Go into the Configuration menu 3 On the Main and Outpu...

Page 36: ...or high pyro current which is required when you use the HCX for any flight involving staging or clustering To Wire the Pyro Ports 1 Wire your main chute firing device to the Apogee terminals TB1 pins...

Page 37: ...nfiguration settings to match your flight plan o If you have any problems consult the Configuring your HCX section in the Using FlightView Software chapter of the User Manual 4 Select Upload and Exit...

Page 38: ...cal 4 User Selectable Programmable Low altitude pyro channel activation Programmable Default is 800 feet ADC resolution 12 bits or 1 22 mV bit Analog Input Channel Range Resolution Input Range 0 to 5...

Page 39: ...JP7 IN low pitch beeps 3 After a half second pause the beeper gives a short warble 4 LED turns off 5 There is a half second pause 6 Starting with pyro port one each pyro port reports status with eithe...

Page 40: ...your unit off 2 Attach a wire between the two Breakwire terminals TB2 pins 3 4 3 Connect your flight computer to FlightView 4 Go into the Configuration screen 5 Uncheck the Breakwire Launch Detect che...

Page 41: ...tialize card Reformat or replace card 3 beeps Wrong file system on card Reformat card as FAT or FAT32 4 beeps SD card read error Probable cause bad card 5 beeps SD card not FAT formatted Reformat card...

Page 42: ...First Flight Version 1 0 Printed 1 26 2008 Appendix C Mechanical Drawing When you design your flight computer s mounting system here are the important dimensions you need to know Page 38...

Page 43: ...tions GwizViewer 2 Double click the package icon named FTDIUSBSerialDriver 3 In your Utilities folder open the Terminal program 4 At the prompt type cd Library StartupItems FTDIReEnumerate and press R...

Page 44: ...ed tour 1 Log into your PC as an administrator before connecting the interface card for the first time 2 Connect your USB interface card o Windows XP will display this dialog box 3 Select No not this...

Page 45: ...WizViewer install directory and then navigate to the usbDrivers directory under it o The location shown here is the default installation directory if your main disk is C 8 Click Next o Windows XP will...

Page 46: ...unusual about an installation Windows gets confused This is a step by step tour of the process 1 Log into your PC as an administrator before you connect the interface card to your PC for the first tim...

Page 47: ...for drivers in Windows Update There is no way to tell it not to do so If you click on the Device Installation icon in the notification area of the taskbar you will see this progress window 4 Do not cl...

Page 48: ...Show me other options o Windows will now display 6 Click Browse my computer for driver software advanced o Windows will now open a file browser dialog box 7 Navigate to the directory where you instal...

Page 49: ...Click OK and Windows Vista will start to install the drivers o Windows will display 10 Click Install this Driver Anyway o When Windows tells you it has finished installing the drivers for the G Wiz U...

Page 50: ...manual you have any questions or problems with either your flight computer or the FlightView software please visit us on the web at http www gwiz partners com We maintain an FAQ on our web site In add...

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