Balloon Live Sensor
User
Manual
Page 20
Firmware FS.04.17
Date: 2021-05-13
Bluetooth Connectivity
The Balloon Live Sensor is equipped with a Bluetooth V4.0 module that allows multiple
simultaneous connections. A mobile device with the Balloon Live App is connected using a
dedicated Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connection for exclusive use by the app.
Up to three additional devices can be connected using a Bluetooth Serial device to receive
NMEA GPS position data.
Connecting the Balloon Live App with the Balloon Live
Sensor
The Balloon Live App is using a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connection to communicate
with the Balloon Live Sensor. BLE connections do not have to go through a pairing process
as for other Bluetooth connections. To allow the Balloon Live App to connect with a Balloon
Live Sensor it is sufficient to have Bluetooth enabled on the mobile device. The Balloon Live
App will be able to connect to any nearby Balloon Live Sensor that is turned on and not
already connected to a Balloon Live App running on another mobile device. A flashing phone
symbol for the Balloon Live App connection indicates that the device is ready to connect to
the app while a steady symbol indicates that the device is already connected. A Balloon Live
Sensor can only be connected to a single mobile device running the Balloon Live App at the
same time. It can of course be used from different mobile devices running the app at different
times.
Select GPS device type
To connect the Balloon Live App with the Balloon Live Sensor, first the GPS device type
must be changed from
Internal
to either
Balloon Live Sensor
or
Balloon Live Sensor (Internal
fallback)
. In most cases the
Balloon Live Sensor (Internal fallback)
type should be selected
to allow fallback to the internal GPS of the mobile device in case the connected Balloon Live
Sensor becomes unavailable (failure, empty battery, or out of Bluetooth signal range, NOT
failure to receive a GPS signal).
The fallback mode will ensure that a track continues to be recorded in the Balloon Live App
in such error scenarios which can be important for competition scoring. The track recorded
in the app will contain information to identify GPS positions that were recorded from the
Balloon Live Sensor and GPS positions that were recorded using the internal GPS from the
mobile device. This information can be used by scoring officials to judge the quality of the
recorded track.
Note:
The GPS device type can only be selected in
Training
mode of the Balloon Live App.
For
Competition
mode the GPS device type will be determined by the competition settings
on watchmefly.net, set by the competition officials.
Category 1 competitions may require that a track is only recorded using GPS data from the
Balloon Live Sensor. This can be achieved by selecting GPS device type
Balloon Live
Sensor
, and this would already be set in the competition settings on watchmefly.net.
