Getting an altimeter is just the first step in making your next altimeter-controlled rocket.   What battery do you use?  How do you attach and wire up everything?  How do you turn the altimeter off and on to arm it at the pad?  Don't let these questions slow down your next project.  Featherweight avionics bays and accessories make installation easy, reliable, efficient, and fun.

Featherweight Power Perch
The easiest way to install a Raven to your sled.  Just screw it down and fly!

The Power Perch.   Raven altimeter, sled and quarter not included.

Features:

• Provides a built-in connector for your Raven.  Just tighten the Raven's screw terminals, plug in the battery, and the electrical connections are done!

• Provides deployment charge electrical terminals for all 4 Raven outputs, with convenient double-wire terminals.
• Includes a magnetically-activated arm switch works like magic to turn your Raven on or off.  No need to align and drill your airframe for arm switches.
• 24 grams including altimeter and battery, about half the weight of a 9V battery alone.
• Makes it easy to transfer a Raven altimeter between rockets.

Power Perch User's manual

Featherweight Avionics Bay Kits

Assemble your world-class av-bay in 5 minutes!
Now available in 24mm, 29mm, and 38mm.

The 38mm Featherweight Av-bay.
Altimeter not included.

Features:

• Provides a built-in connector for your Raven.  Just tighten the Raven's screw terminals, plug in the battery, and the electrical connections are done!

• Provides deployment charge electrical terminals for all 4 Raven outputs, 2-3 of which are available at both ends of the av-bay, depending on size selected.  Combine that with the Raven's ability to work with either end up, and you get the most flexible av-bay setup available.
• Includes a magnetically-activated arm switch works like magic to turn your Raven on or off.  No need to align and drill your airframe for arm switches.
• Under 27 grams including altimeter, about half the weight of a 9V battery alone
• Everything fits into a 2" long coupler.
• The Featherweight av-bay's short length, low mass, and magnetically-activated arming, make it  the highest-performance Raven installation available.  In May 2010, it was used to fly an I motor over 17,000 feet and a J motor over 22,300 feet!

Included in the kit for $47  (38mm for $59):

• One active bulkhead, including arm switch, and connectors for the Raven and battery
• A passive bulkhead that goes at the other end of the av-bay.
• A li-polymer battery capable of 9 Amps of current.
• Threaded rods and lots of extra nuts.
• A laser-cut plywood battery restraint.
• Neodymium magnet with 1" arming activation range.
• 38mm version even includes a built-in battery charger, available separately for the 24mm and 29mm  versions.

Accessories:

• 1/4" nut driver.  If you don't have one already, get one for the 29mm or 38mm av-bays.  It makes assembly much more enjoyable.
• Stand-alone USB battery charger for use with the 24mm and 29mm av-bays.
• 2" long, filament wound fiberglass coupler (coming soon)
• A much larger magnet, capable of 2" arming range
• Each of the kit components are also available separately.

 

38mm Av-bay Installation Manual

29mm Av-bay & Battery Charger Manual

24mm Av-bay & Battery Charger Manual

Standalone Magnetic Switch

Magnetic switch:  $25

The magnetic switch is reliable and easy to use in any rocket installation.  It features:

• 3 combination mounting holes and wire terminals, with built-in solder holes for flexible, easy installation
• On/Off activation range of 1” with a small rare-earth magnet (included)
• Small footprint of 0.75” x 0.55” (1.4 cm x 1.9 cm)
• Current capability of 20 Amps for one second, or 12 Amps continuously.
• Flexible input voltage range of 3.5 to 16 V
• Low quiescent current draw of under 3 micro-Amps.  This switch can be left in standby for over a week without significantly draining even a tiny 135 mAhr lithium polymer battery.
• 100% solid-state surface-mount components, professionally assembled in the USA
• The output power state is indicated by a blue LED
• Each switch is individually tested.

This switch is an easy and fun way to arm and disarm any rocketry altimeter, without needing any exterior holes to be drilled or aligned.  Just connect the battery to the + and Ground terminals, and connect the altimeter power to the output terminal.  The switch is fun to turn on and off even when it’s not arming a rocket, working with a wave of a magnet as if by magic.

Screw Switches

$10 for 3

Ultra reliable and of course, ultra-small.  These screw switches are unique in that the underside of the screw head makes a reliable, preloaded contact to complete your circuit when it is snugged down.

Airstart safety switch:
These switches are great for adding another series switch to airstart ignitors for an additional layer of safety.  In that application, close the switch when the rocket is vertical, after the electronics are working and the deployment charges are armed.  The Raven will beep out the change in arm status for the airstart ignitors.

29mm Couplers and Small-Pattern Nuts

Strong, thick-walled blue tube couplers, precision laser-cut to the perfect length for the 29mm av-bays.  Includes 6 stainless steel 4-40 small-pattern nuts for use on the inside of the bulkhead  to make it easier to slide the coupler past the nuts.

$6 for one coupler and 6 nuts