ROL NEWS--G-Wiz DCS High End Flight Computer Released

G-Wiz DCS High End Flight Computer Released April 18, 2005 Web posted at: 1:17 PM EDT

(ROL Newswire) -- G-Wiz Partners, makers of full featured Flight Computers, are finally ready to introduce their most ambitious product ever.  The G-Wiz DCS is a high-end flight computer capable if sampling and recording data up to 1000 samples per second to a commonly available compact flash card.  It's optional barometric sensor has been tested in a vacuum chamber to over 120,000 feet at better then 16bits of precision.  7 channels of on-board, 12 bit user inputs, 5 fully programmable outputs, optional GPS and bi-directional Telemetry round out the package.  Full specifications and pricing are at

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To help raise the capitol to start manufacturing, G-Wiz is offering the first 15 systems pre-order.  Details at:
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Source: G-Wiz Partners

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The flight computer bar seems to keep rising and rising. What an incredible spec!

One question I have I couldn't find an answer for on you website......

What frequenc(y)ies does the telemetry operate at?

Regards

D
Reply to
Damian Hall

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You have *got* to be kidding! $400 and it doesn't even have a baro sensor on it...!?! I was quite looking forward to the release of this due to the Compact Flash storage and high rate of smapling. At that price I think I'll stick with My RDAS...

Reply to
Bob

To be honest you can forget the $400 price, the *real* price is $600 - the baro board does also add GPS/telemetry. Im not sure why anyone would want to buy the base board on its own, aside from spreading the cost or perhaps if you wanted to use it for data aquisition with your own sensors only. Oh, and you'll need a CF card too (but they're dirt cheap now).

How much would an RDAS, GPS board and telemetry unit set you back?

As a flight controller (i.e. a device to deploy your chutes and tell you how high the rocket went) the basic unit at $400 is less functional than a G-Wiz LC deluxe.

Reply to
Niall Oswald

Aren't "all" sensors optional?

Reply to
Jerry Irvine

Also the pre-order page suggests a $1299 investment not $400.

This indicates the system is beyond RDAS in some ways. Anything technical to verify this?

I like the high sampling rate and especially saving to an industry standard memory card.

Jerry

Reply to
Jerry Irvine

The only thing I would be worried about is the stresses on the SD card connector. They are not the most secure (mechanically) devices. If you look at the picture the mounting places the SD card on its side, so the launch may cause the card to pull away slightly from the top of the connector. Other then that the specs are nice.

Reply to
XAVIEN

Yeah, that too. Suggests to me that its really meant to be used as a complete system. However, if the basic unit could provide the same basic features as much cheaper altimeters, they might stand a better chance of getting them in people's hands - and then they can sell accessories to those people.

Higher sampling rate, more data storage. They also say the pressure sensor works up to 120,000ft, RDAS (and others) go up to around 40k.

More processing power for filtering etc seems to be another one. The pricing is certainly aimed squarely at the top 1% of the market! (I am not making any bogus statistical inferences, I just mean it aint cheap!)

As a data aquisition unit it looks very handy. The RDAS is good, but once you start logging multiple sensors the recording time goes down dramatically. How much of an issue that is really depends on your rocket - I would think that for most HPR flights the RDAS provides enough data storage, but if you're looking to sample multiple extra sensors at the full rate for more than a couple of minutes its limited. This may be an issue on high-altitude flights or those looking to gather experimental data.

Damian Hall's Uncle Bob a prime example of this!

Reply to
Niall Oswald
900mhz spread spectrum
Reply to
Greg Deputy

Sounds well worth it to me considering it is a fraction of rocket cost.

Given recent power and sophistication trends I might take issue with the top 1% arguement. It might more closely approximate 3% these days.

Jerry

Reply to
Jerry Irvine
[snipped...]

That's a bit bogus Jerry, I doubt most peoples rockets cost anywhere near $1200 or above. If I bought even the base unit on it's own it would cost more than most of the rockets I've built.

Cheers,

Reply to
Bob

I want higher data rates. The announced 1000 Hz sample rate sounds a bit marginal (although certainly better than RDAS at 200 Hz). I wanna be sure that I don't get aliasing errors from high-frequency thrust fluctuations.

-dave w

Reply to
David Weinshenker

I just completed programming mine. Samples at upto 1kHz. I put a active lowpass filter at the input. One channel only, acceleration.

But mine is only 1x 2in ;-)

RDH8

Reply to
Robert DeHate

You da man!!

Considering their price, you should be able to get $2500 for yours.

Reply to
Phil Stein

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